U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Housing Service Publishes Final Rule Rescinding 30-Day Notification Requirements for Nonpayment of Rent

By Kayla Blackwell, NLIHC Senior Housing Policy Analyst and Sarita Kelkar, NLIHC Policy Intern  

On February 25, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Housing Service (RHS) published a final rule removing the required 30-day notice prior to eviction due to nonpayment of rent in Section 515 and 514 Multi-Family Housing (MFH) properties. This regulation comes shortly after HUD released an interim rule revoking their 30-day notice requirement (see Memo, 2/2/26 and further analysis in today’s Memo), though the regulations differ. The final rule is effective February 25, 2026, and comments are not being accepted. 

In April 2024, the USDA RHS implemented a final rule requiring Section 515, 514, and 516 MFH program borrowers to provide tenants with written notification 30 days prior to a lease termination or eviction action due to nonpayment of rent—in part, enforcing the precedent established by the “Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.” The CARES Act, which went into effect March 2020, emerged out of a series of federal COVID-19 relief bills and among other provisions, created the 30-day notice period for operators of housing subsidized under Section 515, 514, and 516 housing programs.  

In the 2026 final rule, RHS suggests that the 2024 rule “introduced additional regulatory oversight for RHS MFH properties that proved unnecessary because compliance with the CARES Act 30-day notice is generally captured by MFH project management requirements.” Notably, MFH property owners must still comply with the 30-day notice requirement for nonpayment of rent as reflected in the statute, separate from the 2026 RHS final rule.  

Read the RHS final rule here.  

Learn more about the CARES Act in a Memo from the National Housing Law Project here.