Representatives Cleaver (D-MO) and Nunn (R-IA) Reintroduce “Rural Housing Service Reform Act”

By Alayna Calabro, NLIHC Senior Policy Analyst and San Kwon, NLIHC Policy Intern 

Representatives Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) and Zach Nunn (R-IA) reintroduced the bipartisan “Rural Housing Service Reform Act” (H.R.4957) on August 14. The bill—a companion to a bipartisan Senate bill of the same name (see Memo, 4/14)—aims to preserve affordable housing, improve the administration of housing programs run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Housing Service (RHS), and expand access to affordable housing in rural communities. NLIHC endorses the “Rural Housing Services Reform Act” in both the House and Senate. The Senate version recently advanced through the Senate Banking Committee as part of the bipartisan “Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream (ROAD) to Housing Act” (see Memo, 8/4). 

The bill proposes several reforms to the existing RHS program, including making Section 515 properties easier for non-profits to acquire, creating a permanent USDA pilot program, aligning USDA’s income measuring to HUD, modernizing the USDA’s foreclosure process, updating home repair loan rules, expanding Section 502 loan guarantees to include accessory dwelling and home daycare, and requiring faster loan approval timelines.   

“Tragically, as communities struggle to build more housing and rural housing programs are unable to keep up with demand, residents in rural Missouri and beyond are struggling to stay afloat,” said Representative Cleaver in a press release for the bill. “Congress must take action to lower costs by cutting through unnecessary red tape and modernizing existing housing programs to maximize efficiency and draw more private investment—which is precisely what the bipartisan Rural Housing Service Reform Act will do.” 

“Too many programs meant to help are outdated, buried in red tape, and no longer work for the families they were created to serve. This bipartisan bill cuts through that bureaucracy to protect affordable housing, speed up repairs, and modernize USDA’s tools—so rural families, seniors, and workers can build their future right here in Iowa,” said Representative Nunn in a press release. 

“NLIHC is proud to support the bipartisan ‘Rural Housing Service Reform Act,’ which would make much-needed, common-sense improvements to USDA Rural Housing Service programs to ensure they better meet the affordable housing needs of rural communities,” said NLIHC President and CEO Renee M. Willis. “Rural areas have some of the most pressing—and most challenging—affordable housing needs, and I applaud Representatives Cleaver and Nunn for leading this bill.” 

Learn more about the bill here. 

Read the bill text here.