The Big Picture
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has announced how the agency plans to implement its January 2025 final rule, HOME Investment Partnerships Program [HOME]: Program Updates and Streamlining. This rule, issued by the Biden administration shortly before the presidential transition, initially added or amended 22 federal landlord-tenant requirements applicable to HOME-assisted rental housing and households receiving Tenant-Based Rental Assistance.
In their latest announcement, HUD has delayed the effective date of the final rule indefinitely for all provisions not currently in effect, until the publication of an additional final rule, and published a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNPRM), re-opening an opportunity for the public to comment on proposed changes by June 1, 2026.
The National Apartment Association (NAA) previously joined its coalition partners in a letter encouraging HUD to implement many of the 2025 proposed changes to the HOME program, which would better align HOME with other affordable programs to benefit residents while also streamlining and modernizing the program. However, several of the provisions presented new, onerous requirements that would ultimately disincentivize housing provider participation in the HOME program.
Deeper Dive
In this SNPRM, HUD is proposing to remove many of the landlord-tenant provisions mandated by the 2025 rule, including:
- Required lease provisions and addenda, including policies which could have run contrary to existing state and local laws on security deposits, utility billing and notices of change in ownership and “landlord access;”
- Mandated tenants right to organize and create “tenant associations,” similar to “tenant unions,” that could seek to negotiate rents or disputes with their housing provider as a group, as a way to bypass existing individual lease agreements;
- Enhanced retaliation protections that would have created subjective tests for business decisions and penalized housing providers who needed to impose or increase fees on renters;
- Requirements for housing providers to take immediate corrective actions and increased inspection schedules for all health and safety deficiencies (instead HUD will reprioritize only life-threatening deficiencies);
- Required forms of communication between housing providers and their residents, including contact information for the owner, property manager and participating jurisdiction (PJ) in the lease; and
- Allowances for PJs to exceed the maximum per-unit subsidy by 10 percent for projects that met a separately described green building standard.
While there were many positive aspects of the January 2025 final rule for housing providers, the National Apartment Association (NAA) is grateful that HUD is taking this important step towards partial rescission. In previous comments, NAA and its coalition partners cautioned HUD against this approach to policymaking given “the extensive state and local regulatory frameworks in place with respect to tenant protections.”
HUD does plan to retain or expand some of the 2025 final rule’s provisions, such as:
- Applying “good cause” eviction standards, which limit the circumstances allowed by regulation for the termination of tenancy or the refusal to renew tenancy. NAA remains concerned about this provision’s impact on housing providers’ right to nonrenewal and that it would create a federal good cause, also known as “just cause”, standard on the highly localized eviction process;
- Proposing to revise 24 CFR 92.251(a)(3)(vi)(A) to state that housing units must have a carbon monoxide detector installed in a manner that meets or exceeds standards described in chapters 9 and 11 of the 2018 International Fire Code, consistent with the inspection requirements of other HUD programs;
- Retaining existing 30-day notice of termination requirements for housing subsidized by HOME and adds an exemption for housing providers to terminate tenancies more quickly in accordance with existing laws if the renter poses a direct threat to the safety of other residents or employees of the housing or an imminent and serious threat to the property; and
- Mandating that renters in HOME-subsidized housing can only be required to pay the costs of eviction actions if the renter loses in court and the court orders the renter to pay the costs. Current regulation does not require a court order.
Advocacy Perspective
The National Apartment Association (NAA) appreciates HUD’s commitment to reducing unnecessary and burdensome regulations which impede housing providers’ ability to manage their business. Rescinding key aspects of the 2025 HOME final rule was one of NAA and the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC)’s top regulatory priorities provided to the Trump Administration. Several of the proposed changes to the HOME program will help reduce costs, improve access and expand affordable housing opportunities nationwide.
NAA and NMHC plan to provide comments on HUD’s proposed final rule by the deadline and elevate the rental housing industry’s perspective on these changes. Our associations look forward to continuing to work with HUD and the Trump Administration on our shared housing goals.
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