Cortez Masto, Beatty Introduce Legislation to Reauthorize HOME Program

Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (D-OH) recently introduced the HOME Investment Partnerships Program Reauthorization and Improvement Act (S. 3793/H.R. 7075) to reauthorize the HOME program, increase the authorized funding level to $5 billion, and make a number of needed program improvements. The legislation, if enacted, would represent the first time the HOME program was reauthorized in three decades, since 1994.

NCSHA worked closely with both offices to design the legislation so it would address challenges state housing finance agencies have experienced as HOME program participating jurisdictions (PJs). As chair of the HOME Coalition, NCSHA also coordinated with other national groups involved in HOME program advocacy to ensure stakeholders’ pain points could be alleviated through the bill.

Highlights of the legislation include:

• Authorizing $5 billion in HOME funding for fiscal year (FY) 2024 — an increase from the $2.1 billion authorization level established in 1994 — and increasing funding for the program five percent annually through FY 2028.
• Increasing the cap on administrative costs from 10 to 15 percent.
• Amending Community Housing Development Organization requirements to enable additional nonprofit organizations to qualify as eligible partners for state and local PJs.
• Providing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) flexibility to terminate the HOME affordability period in cases of foreclosure or if a property is no longer financially viable due to unforeseen circumstances that could not have been reasonably contemplated by either the PJ or the project’s owner.
• Allowing state PJs to inspect properties in accordance with a national standard rather than state and local codes (HUD’s NSPIRE protocol for physical inspections will apply to HOME as of October 1, 2024).
• Giving additional authority in high-cost areas to provide down payment assistance and other support for prospective homeowners and easing the use of the resale option for HOME-funded homeownership activities.
• Establishing protections for active-duty service members to sell their homes in the event of deployment or permanent change of station — or beneficiaries in the event of a service member’s death.
• Eliminating the 24-month commitment deadline, codifying a provision that has been included in appropriations legislation in recent years and allowing additional flexibility to construct new housing units in a variety of market conditions.
• Permitting PJs to allow community land trusts to maintain preemptive purchase rights, in accordance with the terms of the legal instrument used to ensure lasting affordability.
• Establishing a loan guarantee program under HOME similar to the Community Development Block Grant Section 108 loan guarantee program to allow state and local PJs to leverage limited federal resources and expand program impact.

The bill text, a section-by-section summary, and a one-page summary are available here.

While the legislation does not currently have a Republican lead partner in either chamber, NCSHA is continuing its advocacy with Senate and House Republicans so that the legislative could achieve bipartisan support.