Housing Assistance Council to hold Webinar Series on Rural Rental Preservation, Releases Implementation Tracker for Rural Provisions of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act
Sep 14, 2026
By Kayla Blackwell, NLIHC Senior Housing Policy Analyst
The Housing Assistance Council (HAC) announced two new resources for rural rental housing: a webinar series focused on preservation, with three events happening in October, and a new website to track implementation of the rural housing provisions of the “21st Century ROAD to Housing Act.” The tracker lists components of the bill that impact rural areas, including USDA Rural Housing Service programs, rural housing financing, Native American housing, and other areas that apply to all geographies.
HAC Rural Rental Housing Preservation Webinar Series
HAC’s new rural rental housing preservation webinar series takes place in October with three webinars focused on aspects of preservation. The series begins October 14, 2026, at 1:00 pm ET, with a focus on Section 515—a critical program from USDA offering financing for affordable rental apartments since 1962. The second webinar, on October 21 at 1:00 pm ET, highlights Stand-Alone Rental Assistance (SARA), a relatively new program from USDA offering rental assistance for eligible multifamily direct loan borrowers whose loans have reached mortgage maturity. SARA allows tenants living in rural housing properties to receive rental assistance through “decoupling.” Finally, the third webinar on October 28, at 1:00 pm ET, focuses on owning and operating Section 515 properties for long-term preservation of rural rental housing.
Rural Provisions of 21st Century ROAD to Housing Bill Implementation Tracker
The “21st Century ROAD to Housing Act” included many components of the “Rural Housing Service Reform Act,” an NLIHC priority. While the bill was enacted in July, there are several stages federal agencies must complete before the rural renters may see benefits from the new law. HAC’s new implementation tracker provides advocates an overview of what action is needed for each provision to be realized, and a status on what actions have been taken for implementation.
Register for each webinar in the Rural Rental Housing Preservation series.
View the “21st Century ROAD to Housing Act” Rural Implementation tracker.