21st Century ROAD to Housing Act Becomes Law

CARH’S BROADCAST E-MAIL – Legislative Alert

July 13, 2026

On July 11, 2026, after years of advocacy by CARH and our members, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act (ROAD Act) became law, bringing permanent decoupling of Section 521 Rental Assistance (RA) from maturing Section 514 and 515 mortgages into the housing statute for the first time.

The legislation advanced with overwhelming bipartisan support with the Senate approving the final package by a vote of 85–5 on June 22, and the House followed with a 358–32 vote on June 23. After Congress sent the bill to the White House, the President did not sign or veto it. Under Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution, when a bill is presented to the President, he has ten days (excluding Sundays) to sign or veto it while Congress remains in session; if he does neither and Congress has not adjourned, the bill becomes law automatically at the end of that period. Therefore, the ROAD Act became law automatically when the ten‑day period expired at midnight on July 11, 2026.

For CARH members who have spent years planning around mortgage maturity, enactment of the ROAD Act marks the moment when CARH’s core rural preservation priorities move from temporary, pilot‑based authority to permanent law. Since Fiscal Year 2024, the Appropriations Acts for the United States Department of Agriculture have contained language allowing for a pilot demonstration program for decoupling.

Central to this permanent program are the provisions of the ROAD Act that were adopted from the Rural Housing Service Reform Act of 2025 (S. 1260/H.R. 4957), a bipartisan rural housing package sponsored in the Senate by Senators Tina Smith (D-MN) and Michael Rounds (R-SD), and in the House by Representatives Zachary Nunn (R-IA) and Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO). For several years, CARH has worked with these members of Congress to advance the Rural Housing Service Reform Act, and those provisions are now included in the broader, bipartisan housing bill. The ROAD Act also permanently authorizes the Multifamily Preservation and Revitalization (MPR) program and includes provisions intended to improve coordination and reduce inefficiencies in preservation transactions. In that respect, the ROAD Act is not simply a broad housing package with a few rural provisions attached; it is the vehicle through which CARH’s long-sought rural preservation agenda has now been enacted.

While permanent RA decoupling and the Rural Housing Service Reform Act provisions are the centerpiece of the ROAD Act for CARH members, the ROAD Act also includes broader reforms that matter for affordable housing finance and administration, which include increasing the cap on bank public welfare investments, modernizing aspects of the HOME program, making adjustments to the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program, encouraging stronger coordination between RD and HUD through memorandums of understanding, and streamlining environmental review requirements for certain housing activities under NEPA and related federal processes. Together, these changes reflect the broader bipartisan intent behind the ROAD Act in reducing unnecessary administrative barriers, improving inter-agency coordination, and expanding tools that support housing preservation and production across markets, including rural communities.

Next step in ensuring that the provisions of the ROAD Act are implemented as envisioned will be the various agencies promulgation of regulations. CARH will closely monitor this regulatory process, engage with RD on implementation questions, and provide members with updates as more details become available. For now, it is enough to recognize that the long-sought statutory changes have been enacted, with broad bipartisan support, and that further implementation guidance will follow from RD reflecting years of sustained advocacy and technical engagement by CARH’s National Office and its members to achieve these outcomes.

There are further details on the ROAD Act in the upcoming edition of CARH News. It is important to note here that the enactment of this legislation took several years, as is the case with many issues brought before Congress. We would like to acknowledge the work of CARH’s board of directors, executive officers who testified at various Congressional hearings, and the grassroots work of CARH members in general. Thank you for your efforts and support!

For other news and information affecting the affordable rural housing industry, please visit the Newsroom on CARH’s website, www.carh.org.