HAC’s Veterans Data Central has been updated with the most recent information and data. Veterans Data Central is a simple, easy to use, on-line resource that provides essential information on the social, economic, and housing characteristics of veterans in the United States. This data and information can help support sound strategies and policies to help veterans. Learn more at https://veteransdata.info/.
The National Housing Conference has compiled information on the federal government shutdown’s impact on a range of sources of housing and community development funding. Both HUD and USDA have indicated that, despite the shutdown, they have enough funding to cover rental assistance programs for the month of November. HAC led an effort by several stakeholders who are asking USDA RD to communicate with multifamily owners and managers about Section 521 Rental Assistance, operations, transactions, and the like.
HAC would like to compile information about the shutdown’s impact on the rural communities, organizations, homeowners, and renters who rely on federal housing support. Please let us know about your situation in an email to hac@ruralhome.org.
Expanding the limitations on “reduction in force” layoffs during the shutdown, on October 28 a federal judge replaced an October 15 temporary restraining order with a preliminary injunction that will last indefinitely. Federal agencies may not enforce the RIFs already issued during the shutdown or issue additional RIFs in programs, projects, or activities where workers are represented by the unions that brought the suit. Several unions have joined the suit, which was originally brought by just two of them. The order covers large parts of the federal government, including USDA, HUD, and the Treasury Department.
Over the 20 years since Hurricane Katrina, high-population counties and parishes on the Gulf Coast have experienced the greatest dollar losses from disasters. Yet smaller counties and parishes in Louisiana and Mississippi – such as Cameron, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, and Hancock – have the highest per capita losses, exceeding $150,000 per person in 2024 dollars. Source: Urban Institute, Disasters and the Gulf Coast, 20 Years after Hurricane Katrina.
Missing Census data during the shutdown? Visit Rural Data Central. We have data for suburban and urban communities too!
The CDFI Fund has received strong support after reports that the administration sent layoff notices to the agency’s entire remaining staff. More than 100 Republican Senators and Representatives, spearheaded by Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Rep. Young Kim (R-CA), signed a letter to the Treasury Department and OMB emphasizing CDFIs’ “important role in supporting economic development in rural, tribal and other underserved communities.” Similar letters were sent by 120 House Democrats, by seven bankers associations, and by Native CDFIs, Tribal Nations, and their partners.
An October 21 memo from the Office of Management and Budget reminds federal agencies that President Trump has instructed them to repeal regulations “without notice and comment” if possible. “To date,” the OMB Memo states, “agencies do not appear to be fully maximizing their energy in carrying out these directives.” It explains some ways for agencies to approach deregulation, including presuming that required government-to-government consultations with Tribes or state and local governments can take place through the standard publication of requests for comments.
HUD has further extended the effective date of portions of its January 2025 HOME regulation. Rather than October 30, 2025, parts of the rule will now be effective on April 30, 2026.
USDA is opening about 2,100 FSA offices to enable farmers to access assistance programs, although local USDA Rural Development field offices remain closed. The department took similar action during the 2018-2019 government shutdown.
Two new Urban Institute analyses using data on Ohio’s state-level Opportunity Zones program confirm previous findings on the national OZ program. The Geographic Spread of Opportunity Zone Capital points out that – before the July 2025 program changes to support rural places – the tax incentive did not draw investment to all designated OZs; rural areas and small cities received less support than large cities. Insights into Opportunity Zone Project Types reports that Ohio’s program supported residential real estate more than other kinds of development but the housing it produced was not necessarily affordable. When users did develop affordable housing, they combined the OZ incentive with other resources such as Low-Income Housing Tax Credits or the HOME program.
According to a blog post by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, home prices continued to outpace incomes in many large markets across the country last year. After a minor drop in 2023, home price-to-income ratios continued to rise in 2024 to match high post-pandemic levels. The article includes interactive graphics that illustrate affordability changes in the largest metropolitan areas across the country from 1980 to 2024.
Insurance for Good provides a resources page with information about residual insurance from state or federal programs, which fills gaps when homeowners cannot find or afford insurance in the private market. These programs take a variety of forms, including earthquake insurance in California and the now-expired National Flood Insurance Program.
Essential Funding for Essential Housing, a policy brief from the National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders and the Center for Affordable Housing Lending, describes the critical role that federal funds play in building and maintaining affordable rental housing. It depicts the layers of needed funding – the capital stack – as a Jenga game, where a disruption in one source can lead to the collapse of the entire thing.
HAC job listings and application links are available on our website.
HAC’s loan fund provides low interest rate loans to support single- and multifamily affordable housing projects for low-income rural residents throughout the U.S. and territories. Capital is available for all types of affordable and mixed-income housing projects, including preservation, new development, farmworker, senior and veteran housing. HAC loan funds can be used for pre-development, site acquisition, site development, construction/rehabilitation and permanent financing. Contact HAC’s loan fund staff at hacloanfund@ruralhome.org, 202-842-8600.
Please note: HAC is not able to offer loans to individuals or families. Borrowers must be nonprofit or for-profit organizations or government entities (including Tribes).
Please credit the HAC News and provide a link to HAC’s website. Thank you!
On October 10, the administration began eliminating federal jobs through reductions in force. (RIFs are unlike furloughs, which are temporary.) Unions representing federal employees sued the administration, charging the RIFs violate the law. After an October 15 hearing, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order, finding the layoffs are probably illegal.
The layoffs included the entire remaining staff at the CDFI Fund, effective December 13, according to news media including American Banker and Tribal Business News. An Office of Management and Budget court filing indicated that a total of over 4,100 employees at seven departments, including HUD and Treasury but not USDA, were laid off, and that other agencies were also considering RIFs. The OMB court filing showed that 442 HUD staff were RIF’d and Bloomberg reported that over 100 of them were fair housing staff in field offices.
RIFs could be “revised” after the shutdown ends, according to administration instructions to agencies.
HAC is spearheading an effort by several stakeholders asking USDA RD to communicate with multifamily owners and managers about navigating the shutdown. We are also participating with other partners to support the reversal of agency staff RIFs, especially at the CDFI Fund. Additional actions are being developed.
The Senate approved the ROAD to Housing Act and several provisions related to Community Development Financial Institutions on October 9 as amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act. The ROAD to Housing Act includes the RHS Reform Act, which HAC has endorsed, and several other pieces of housing legislation. The CDFI provisions include one permanently authorizing the Native CDFI Relending Program in USDA’s Section 502 program. The House passed its version of the NDAA on September 10 without these amendments. A House-Senate conference committee will decide whether to include these provisions in the final NDAA.
Residents of counties outside metropolitan areas have lower average housing expenses than those in other geographies and the lowest housing cost burden rates (40.9%). But with relatively low incomes, these counties have the highest rates of residual income cost burdens – that is, residents’ income does not cover housing and all other expenses – at 73.4%, a full 14.6 percentage points higher than urban counties in large metro areas. Source: The Rent Eats More: Residual Income Housing Cost Burdens from 2019-2023, Joint Center for Housing Studies, Harvard University.
Missing Census data during the shutdown? Visit Rural Data Central. We have data for suburban and urban communities too!
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which oversees national banks, has announced several modifications intended to reduce the regulatory burden for community banks. The changes include two proposed rule revisions. One would eliminate the Fair Housing Home Loan Data System. OCC states that the data collection duplicates and is inconsistent with other efforts. Comments will be due 30 days after the proposed rule change is published in the Federal Register. Another would simplify licensing requirements for banks and savings institutions with under $30 million in assets. Comments on those changes will be due 60 days after publication.
The full agenda for the 2025 National Rural Housing Conference is online, allowing you to plan your schedule ahead of time. Log in as a participant here (or register if you haven’t yet!) and select your agenda items when prompted. Your registration includes access to three days of plenaries, networking, and more than 40 workshops on topics covering homeownership, rental preservation, disaster recovery, infrastructure, and policy updates.
You may also wish to attend the pre-conference sessions or one of the two free symposia on November 4. The Heirs’ Property Symposium will bring together practitioners, researchers, funders, and advocates to explore the complexities of heirs’ property and residential land tenure across rural America. The Summit on Rural Homelessness will offer a day of presentations, panels, and discussions – a unique opportunity to focus on homelessness in a rural context.
The Activate Rural Summit, a free three-day virtual gathering on October 21-23, will feature artists, organizers, and community leaders who are reimagining what’s possible in rural places through creativity and collaboration. Each day of the summit will explore a different theme at the intersection of arts, community, and transformation including community engagement, the impact of creative spaces, and navigating the road ahead.
The National Housing Law Project has published materials for tenants and for legal advocates explaining the rights of USDA and HUD tenants during the government shutdown. The tenant flyer includes both English and Spanish versions in a single document.
Noting that homebuilders claim updating requirements for energy efficiency will reduce the number of new homes built, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy analyzed new single-family and multifamily construction permits in five states before and after new building codes were adopted. It found no apparent effect on construction.
A Minnesota Public Radio story, Why a Rural Energy Co-op is Getting Involved in Housing, reports that People’s Energy Cooperative is seeking a housing developer for a five-acre plot it owns near the growing Mayo Clinic where affordable housing is in short supply. The town of Oronoco needs affordable starter homes for working families, a local official says. This development would also benefit the co-op because it would mean more residential customers.
Reducing Homelessness in the US: A Solutions-Focused, Research-Based Explainer explores policy and approaches to increasing housing stability. The article examines the impacts of reductions in federal funding and approaches including housing first frameworks, zoning, tiny homes, and resources of specific vulnerable populations, though it does not address rural homelessness separately. It is published by the Journalist’s Resource at Harvard, a site that works to “bridge the gap between academia and journalism, informing the news by empowering journalists to use evidence-based research.”
The Urban Institute’s recent National Survey of Nonprofit Trends and Impacts, which includes entities across a range of service areas, found that a third of nonprofits reported experiencing federal, state, or local government funding disruptions in the first four to six months of 2025. These organizations were more likely to report reductions to staff, programming, and future hiring. Even nonprofits that do not receive government funding reported that these disruptions have altered the philanthropic funding landscape, presenting fundraising challenges. Furthermore, two-thirds of nonprofits anticipated that demand for their programs will increase in the next 12 months.
Matt Black, a photographer from the Central Valley of California, was recently awarded a MacArthur Fellowship for “chronicling the impacts of inequality and hardship on people and places.”
HAC job listings and application links are available on our website.
HAC’s loan fund provides low interest rate loans to support single- and multifamily affordable housing projects for low-income rural residents throughout the U.S. and territories. Capital is available for all types of affordable and mixed-income housing projects, including preservation, new development, farmworker, senior and veteran housing. HAC loan funds can be used for pre-development, site acquisition, site development, construction/rehabilitation and permanent financing. Contact HAC’s loan fund staff at hacloanfund@ruralhome.org, 202-842-8600.
Please note: HAC is not able to offer loans to individuals or families. Borrowers must be nonprofit or for-profit organizations or government entities (including Tribes).
Please credit the HAC News and provide a link to HAC’s website. Thank you!
UPDATED as of 8:00 pm Eastern time on Tuesday, October 14.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has posted an updated version of its Frequently Asked Questions During a Lapse in Appropriations, dated October 3, 2025. Several of the questions and answers relate to treatment of government contracts and awards during a shutdown.
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October 1, 2025 — With Congress unable to agree on appropriations bills or a continuing resolution, many government activities stopped at the end of September 30, the last day of fiscal year 2025. The closure is likely to last for at least several days, because the House is not scheduled to be in session until October 6. The last time this occurred, the shutdown lasted a record 35 days, from December 22, 2018 to January 25, 2019.
What activities continue: The administration determines what federal agency functions must be continued during a shutdown. Staff who carry out those essential functions, as well as staff whose positions are not funded through annual appropriations and political appointees confirmed by the Senate, are required to work during the shutdown, but are not paid until the shutdown ends. Other staff are furloughed – they do not work during the shutdown but after it ends they are paid for the time they did not work. If a shutdown lasts more than a few days, determinations of crucial tasks and needed workers may shift.
Agency RIFs: In the last week of September there was significant concern that this shutdown would lead to many federal employees losing their jobs, based on an Office of Management and Budget memo telling agencies to “consider” issuing reduction in force (RIF) notices for employees whose job funding lapsed and whose work tasks were “not consistent with the President’s priorities.”
RIFs and furloughs are different things; a furlough is a temporary layoff with back pay later, whereas a RIF terminates a job, although a RIF’d employee receives a 60-day notice and may be transferred to a different position.
Only a few federal agencies incorporated RIF plans into their shutdown contingency plans, however, and USDA and HUD were not among them. Overall, the current furloughs reportedly impact around 550,000 federal workers, 23% of the current workforce.
USDA shutdown plan: USDA’s current plan has one page devoted to Rural Development. It shows that nearly 83% of RD’s staff are furloughed, compared to 49% of the department’s total staff. “Limited” RD activities will continue, including making Section 521 Rental Assistance payments for contracts already in effect, for as long as the funding is available. RD staff have told stakeholders that available RA funds will cover the program at least until the end of October.
RD does not have authority to renew RA contracts that expire during the shutdown.
According to the plan, the agency will continue servicing loans “only as necessary to protect RD’s interest in properties.” This seems to imply what past RD plans stated explicitly – no new loans, grants, or loan guarantees would be issued during a shutdown.
HUD shutdown plan: HUD’s plan seems to indicate that almost 94% of its employees are furloughed, with 16% of them to be recalled intermittently, but that many of its programs are functioning.
Programs such as HOME, CDBG, and Continuum of Care will continue to disburse funds when funds have been obligated and no further action by HUD employees is necessary. When HUD review or action is required, the department will recall employees “as necessary to avoid an imminent threat to the safety of human life or property.”
Monthly subsidy programs such as public housing, housing choice vouchers, and multifamily assistance contracts, will continue to operate while funding is available. Unlike USDA, HUD does have the authority to renew Project-Based Rental Assistance contracts that expire during the shutdown.
The plan notes that “nearly all of HUD’s fair housing activities will cease during a lapse” in appropriations.
National Flood Insurance Program expiration: The continuing resolution that funded the government from March 15 through September 30 authorized NFIP, so the program expired after September 30. FEMA can continue to pay claims so long as it has funds available, but it must stop issuing or renewing policies.
Long-term effects: At this point, it is difficult to determine how long the current closure may last and what its long-term impacts may be. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that around 750,000 workers could be furloughed every day of the shutdown, with the daily cost of their compensation totaling roughly $400 million.
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NOTE: As of mid-afternoon Eastern time on September 29, 2025, HAC could find no new information about what might happen to rural housing programs in the event of a federal government shutdown. If we receive any news we will post it here.
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Follow HAC’s reporting on appropriations in the HAC News (subscribe here) and on our web pages for USDA and HUD funding.
Federal agencies are required to prepare contingency plans identifying which functions will continue during a government shutdown and which will not. The summary below is based on the most recent plans posted online for USDA, HUD, and the Treasury Department. All of them were prepared during the Biden administration. USDA’s January 2024 shutdown plans are still online, while HUD’s and Treasury’s plans have been removed and not replaced. OMB’s shutdown page refers readers to individual agencies. OMB’s September 2023 FAQs remain online.
A brief federal government shutdown probably would not impact most people who receive housing assistance but, at some point after the first few days, the housing effects would begin to be noticeable. In fiscal year 2019, a record 35-day shutdown from December 22, 2018 to January 25, 2019 led some owners of USDA-financed rental properties, unaware that the agency had enough Section 521 Rental Assistance (RA) funding to last through January, to threaten to evict tenants who could not pay full rent on their own. Fortunately, Congress reached a funding agreement before any RA renewals were missed that February. (More details about the 2019 shutdown are included at the end of this post.)
Rural Development’s contingency plan, dated January 2024, indicates that State Directors, their staff, and some employees in the Washington, DC national office and the Customer Servicing Center in St. Louis would continue working during a shutdown.
RD’s plan says that Section 521 Rental Assistance would continue “only … if a threat to RD’s property interests becomes imminent (day 30) …, and funding remains available under existing rental assistance agreements. … On and after the 30th calendar day of a funding lapse, RD will assign the minimum number of employees needed to disburse Rental Assistance payments, pursuant to the exception for the protection of property (RD’s security interest), on the presumption that, after 30 days, the threats to RD’s property will have become and will continue to be imminent.”
The amount needed for RA can vary considerably from month to month. The RA payments each month are for the RA contracts that expired during that month, and each payment obligates a full year of RA funding. For example, the RA contracts that expired during November 2024 and were renewed in late November or early December will not be impacted again until they expire in November 2025.
The contingency plan does not have a provision – which was included in a previous version – stating that, if the agency has used up all its RA funds, “additional servicing options” could be provided to rental properties. In 2019, for example, USDA was considering permitting owners to use project reserves to cover costs. That shutdown ended before the agency completely ran out of RA money, so they did not have to decide whether to allow the use of reserves.
According to USDA’s contingency plan, no new loans or grants would be committed during a shutdown. No new loan guarantees would be issued under any of the housing programs or the community facilities program. For Section 502 guaranteed loans only, lenders and borrowers could choose to proceed with closing if USDA had already issued a valid conditional commitment. The lender would be assuming the risk until the shutdown ended and a guarantee was issued.
RD activities that are considered necessary to preserve the government’s property would continue during a shutdown, and loans and escrow accounts are considered to be government property. Therefore RD would keep processing nightly updates for each RD financial system, making insurance and tax payments from borrowers’ escrow accounts, and “reconciling and submitting for initial processing” collection activity including amortized payments and payoff activity. Some foreclosure sales would go forward. Servicing of existing guaranteed loans would continue, including processing loss claims.
Disbursements of construction loans and grants would continue during a shutdown.
HUD’s plan is dated August 2023. It explains that, since 2019, appropriations language has allowed HUD’s salaries and expenses funding to be carried over into the next fiscal year. The plan explains that funds remaining from an expired continuing resolution – such as the CR that ends on December 20 – cannot be used for new obligations. The department’s senior leadership would decide how much of that funding to use and for what functions.
Programs operating with HUD funding that was obligated before a shutdown would continue to operate. Much of the Federal Housing Administration’s and Ginnie Mae’s work would continue during a shutdown. Monthly subsidy programs, however – including public housing operating subsidies, housing choice vouchers, and multifamily assistance contracts – would operate only while funding remained available. If they ran out of money during a shutdown, they would cease to operate.
The Treasury Department’s plan, dated September 2023, states that the CDFI Fund’s programs would not operate during a shutdown, without providing any further details.
Generally, during a shutdown, federal staff in the affected agencies do not work unless their functions are considered essential. Furloughed employees are also not allowed to do their jobs voluntarily while the government is closed. In the past, Congress and the President have usually agreed to pay furloughed employees retroactively after a shutdown ends, but they are not required to do so.
Presidential appointees (i.e., agency officials who were confirmed by the Senate) are not furloughed. They are not paid, however, unless funds for their salaries are appropriated after the shutdown ends. “Schedule C” employees, also known as political appointees (these jobs do not require Senate confirmation), are subject to the same rules as civil service employees to determine whether their roles are essential during a shutdown.
A 2023 Office of Management and Budget document explains that during a shutdown a federal contractor can proceed with work that is not impacted by the lapse in funding. For example, if an agency has already obligated funds representing the entire price under a contract or task order before the funding lapse began, the contractor can conduct the work. At the agency, however, routine operational and administrative activities relating to contract or grant administration cannot continue.
Fiscal year 2019 began on October 1, 2018 with parts of the federal government, including USDA and HUD, open under continuing resolutions. After a final CR expired, they did close down on December 22. The government reopened on January 25, 2019, under another CR that expired on February 15. A final consolidated appropriations act was signed into law by President Trump on February 15.
The first HAC News issue after the shutdown began, published on January 15, 2019, reported that limited functions were continuing at USDA’s national office in Washington, DC and the Customer Service Center in St. Louis. Loan closings were not taking place and applications were not being processed.
USDA RD was able to renew Section 521 Rental Assistance contracts that expired in December and January. If the shutdown had continued, however, the agency would not have had enough money to renew the approximately 700 RA contracts that expired in February and 1,000 in March.
By January 25, 2019, when a deal was reached for a three-week CR, the HAC News reported that USDA was considering short-term measures, such as allowing owners to use project reserves to cover costs, but had not yet finalized any plans or notified property owners/managers. The need for providing information directly from USDA had become clear when managers of USDA-financed properties in Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, and Mississippi sent notices to tenants telling them their RA was ending in January and they would be responsible for paying their full rent, then backpedaled when informed by USDA the RA would be paid.
After the shutdown ended, the February 11, 2019 HAC News quoted a notice USDA sent to owners and managers of USDA-financed properties with Section 521 Rental Assistance: “We are pleased to inform you that Rental Assistance for Section 514/515 properties has been obligated through April. … We understand that the most recent lapse in appropriations created anxiety and uncertainty regarding the status of your contract obligations. We are hopeful that this communique and the fact that all contracts are obligated through April will provide you reassurance and operational predictability in your management of these critical low-income resources throughout rural America. Thank you for your partnership in delivering the Rural Housing Service affordable housing mission.”
A January 2019 memo from the National Housing Law Project explained the rights of federally assisted tenants during the government shutdown. NHLP is preparing an updated memo for a possible October 2023 shutdown.
On February 1, 2019, after the shutdown ended, USDA’s single-family programs office announced it would issue new Certificates of Eligibility to all Section 502 direct applicants who had valid COEs on December 21 before the government shut down. The agency did not have enough money to obligate additional Section 502 direct loans until it received funding beyond February 15, however.
Section 504 repair loans and grants were available on February 1. USDA planned to prioritize applicants with immediate health and safety hazards.
There were additional housing-related impacts from the FY19 shutdown, and only a few are summarized below.
Some HUD Project-Based Rental Assistance contracts expired early in the shutdown, as reported in the January 15, 2019 HAC News. About 21,500 households with average incomes under $13,000 per year were impacted by the expiration of 650 PBRA contracts that ended in December. More were expiring in January and February and HUD would need to determine whether it had funds available to renew them. Property owners could use their reserves, if available, to cover shortfalls. Public housing capital funding was unavailable, and operating funds would not be able to carry public housing authorities beyond February.
The shutdown’s effect in Indian Country was “substantial and unique,” the Center for Indian Country Development at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve reported, although calculating a dollar amount was not possible. Because of the unique relationship between the U.S. and Tribes, Tribal services are often closely tied to federal funding. Government employment is disproportionately high in Indian Country, Tribal staff such as those who plow reservation roads were furloughed, and Tribal education funds were in danger.
Disaster spending, particularly funding for Puerto Rico’s recovery from Hurricane Maria in 2017, was also delayed by the 2019 shutdown. Congress had appropriated $20 billion in CDBG-DR funds for Puerto Rico, but only $1.5 billion of that money was approved before the shutdown, and HUD did not disburse it during the shutdown. HUD approval of disaster spending plans or amendments from California, Florida, Georgia, Missouri and the U.S. Virgin Islands was also put on hold.
With Congress unable to agree on appropriations bills or a continuing resolution, many government activities stopped at the end of September 30, the last day of fiscal year 2025.
What activities continue: The administration determines what federal agency functions must be continued during a shutdown. Staff who carry out those essential functions, as well as staff whose positions are not funded through annual appropriations and political appointees confirmed by the Senate, are required to work during the shutdown, but are not paid until the shutdown ends. Other staff are furloughed – they do not work during the shutdown but after it ends they are paid for the time they did not work. If a shutdown lasts more than a few days, determinations of crucial tasks and needed workers may shift. Overall, the current furloughs reportedly impact around 550,000 federal workers, 23% of the current workforce.
USDA shutdown plan: USDA’s contingency plan has one page devoted to Rural Development. It shows that nearly 83% of RD’s staff are furloughed, compared to 49% of the department’s total staff. “Limited” RD activities will continue, including making Section 521 Rental Assistance payments for contracts already in effect, for as long as the funding is available. RD staff have told stakeholders that available RA funds will cover the program at least until the end of October. RD does not have authority to renew RA contracts that expire during the shutdown. According to the plan, the agency will continue servicing loans “only as necessary to protect RD’s interest in properties.” This seems to imply what past RD plans stated explicitly – no new loans, grants, or loan guarantees will be issued during the shutdown.
HUD shutdown plan: HUD’s plan seems to indicate that almost 94% of its employees are furloughed, with 16% of them to be recalled intermittently, but that many of its programs are functioning. Programs such as HOME, CDBG, and Continuum of Care will continue to disburse funds when funds have been obligated and no further action by HUD employees is necessary. When HUD review or action is required, the department will recall employees “as necessary to avoid an imminent threat to the safety of human life or property.” Monthly subsidy programs such as public housing, housing choice vouchers, and multifamily assistance contracts will continue to operate for as long as funding is available. Unlike USDA, HUD does have the authority to renew Project-Based Rental Assistance contracts that expire during the shutdown.
National Flood Insurance Program expiration: The continuing resolution that funded the government from March 15 through September 30 authorized NFIP, so the program expired after September 30. FEMA can continue to pay claims so long as it has funds available, but it will stop issuing new policies or renewing existing policies.
More information and updates: HAC has posted some additional details on our website and will add more information as it becomes available.
The big reconciliation bill enacted in July included provisions supporting investments in underserved rural census tracts. Notice 2025-50 from the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service offers guidance on two of those provisions. First, it addresses the law’s definition of “rural area”: any area other than a city or town with a population greater than 50,000, and any urbanized area contiguous and adjacent to a city or town with a population greater than 50,000. Second, it explains that as of July 4, 2025, the substantial improvement threshold for property located in an Opportunity Zone comprised entirely of a rural area was reduced to 50%. The notice identifies 3,309 of the 8,764 current OZs where the new threshold now applies. Guidance on the new round of OZs to be designated under the revised law will be issued in the future.
There are an estimated 4.3 million government workers in rural communities, comprising 17% of the rural workforce. Nationally, government workers make up 14% of the overall workforce. Source: HAC tabulations of the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019-2023 American Community Survey Data.
Missing Census data during the shutdown? Visit Rural Data Central. We have data for suburban and urban communities too!
The Community Heart & Soul Seed Grant Program provides $10,000 and requires a $10,000 cash match from the participating municipality or a partnering organization. Local governments (Tribal, town, or county), nonprofit organizations, and informal resident-led groups are eligible. Communities must have populations under 30,000. “Community Heart & Soul is a four-phase, step-by-step process that brings residents together to identify and honor the unique character of their town and the emotional connection of the people who live there. For most communities, completing the four phases takes about two years. But the completion of the Community Heart & Soul model is really just the beginning. It launches a new way of doing business that nurtures a more vibrant community far into the future.”
Project for Public Spaces’ Community Placemaking Grants for fall 2025 will offer three nonprofits or public agencies $100,000 each in direct funding, as well as placemaking technical assistance and capacity building, to transform a street or mobility hub into a lively community gathering place that improves street safety and mobility. Sites must be located in Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, or Texas. Applications are due October 13.
The Rural Schools Collaborative’s Grants in Place provide up to $2,500 to rural educators to carry out place-based education projects in their local communities. Covering all subjects and ages, these place-based efforts increase student engagement, elevate teacher leadership, and promote rural school and community connections. Applications are due October 24.
The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund is notifying some applicants for the CDFI Financial Assistance program that they can amend their applications by October 27 in order to be considered for funding. The notice of fund availability, originally published in January, has been revised. “Climate-focused financing” was eliminated as an eligible activity, categories based on race and ethnicity (except for Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Alaska Natives) were eliminated as “eligible markets,” and the definition of “healthy foods” was refined. The CDFI Fund announced awards under the Technical Assistance programs for CDFIs and Native American CDFIs on September 30 and said it expects to make additional awards later this winter.
Whistleblowers sue HUD on fair housing enforcement: On September 22, five attorneys who had worked in HUD’s Office of Fair Housing filed a suit charging HUD with violating fair housing law by curtailing their work, pressuring them to resign, and assigning them to different offices, leaving the fair housing office with six attorneys rather than its previous 22.
Fair housing enforcement to focus on intentional discrimination: HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity intends to prioritize its resources, focusing on cases with the strongest evidence of intentional discrimination, according to a recent memo. The document indicates that HUD will not consider discrimination based on neighborhood characteristics, disparate impact, redlining or reverse redlining, appraisal bias, environmental justice, or gender identity.
Some fair housing guidance documents withdrawn: Citing compliance burdens, inconsistency with governing law, and other reasons, OFHEO has formally withdrawn several guidance documents. The canceled notices related to a variety of topics including limited English proficiency, service animals, special purpose credit programs, criminal records, source of income testing, and advertising on digital platforms.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency requests input on its housing goals for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for 2026-2028. Comments are due November 3.
Explaining that its Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program and the related mortgage-backed securities program have faced challenges, HUD asks for information about their functioning and suggestions for changes. Comments are due December 1.
A September 19 announcement identifies new Rural Development State Directors for Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, and Montana and indicates that Monica Mason is now Senior Advisor for the Rural Housing Service. Her background includes financial services, real estate, marketing, and media.
HUD has posted its FY26 lists of Difficult Development Areas and Qualified Census Tracts for the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program.
Compliance dates for HUD’s National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate final rule have been extended several times. October 1, 2026 is now the compliance date for the Emergency Solutions Grants, Continuum of Care, HOME, and Housing Trust Fund programs. January 31, 2027 is the new compliance date for the Housing Choice Voucher, Project-Based Voucher, and Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation programs.
Noting that extreme heat is the leading weather-related cause of death in the U.S., the Government Accountability Office examined FEMA’s support for states and localities experiencing extreme heat events. GAO recommends that FEMA should identify evidence for Tribal, state, and local governments to use in cost-benefit analyses for projects addressing extreme heat; establish a plan to incorporate additional extreme heat activities into its own benefit-cost analysis processes; develop examples modeling mitigation projects focused on extreme heat; and identify gaps in its programs for assisting Tribal, state, and local governments to address extreme heat events.
September 30 was the last day of work for more than 100,000 federal workers who accepted the government’s “deferred resignation” offer. A total of about 275,000 workers are expected to leave under the various departure plans implemented in 2025 (including some through attrition), the White House told The Guardian. Lawsuits related to at least some of the policies are ongoing.
An article in the Daily Yonder highlights rural communities along the Southeast coast that are disproportionately at higher flood risk. With a spotlight on heirs’ property owners in the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, reporter Sarah Melotte estimates that 58,500 residents across Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina will be at risk for coastal flooding by 2050. Rural counties are 30% of the counties in the geographic focus area for this analysis, but they comprise 70% of the counties with the highest risk of coastal flooding.
HAC job listings and application links are available on our website.
HAC’s loan fund provides low interest rate loans to support single- and multifamily affordable housing projects for low-income rural residents throughout the U.S. and territories. Capital is available for all types of affordable and mixed-income housing projects, including preservation, new development, farmworker, senior and veteran housing. HAC loan funds can be used for pre-development, site acquisition, site development, construction/rehabilitation and permanent financing. Contact HAC’s loan fund staff at hacloanfund@ruralhome.org, 202-842-8600.
Please note: HAC is not able to offer loans to individuals or families. Borrowers must be nonprofit or for-profit organizations or government entities (including Tribes).
Please credit the HAC News and provide a link to HAC’s website. Thank you!
Buxbaum first encountered HAC while advocating to preserve USDA’s Section 515 rural rental housing. After moving to Maine in 2007 to join Coastal Enterprises, Inc., she deepened her focus on rural markets and the expiring-use risks facing 515 properties. Drawn to HAC’s mission and record, she joined the board and later served as chair.
Laura Buxbaum. Photo by Chris Kleponis.
Her time in leadership coincided with important board work. The board set term limits, strengthened financial and HR systems, and managed an executive transition that could have unsettled any mission-driven nonprofit. “I am so proud that we were able to hire an excellent CEO to replace our respected and greatly loved leader of many years.” Buxbaum says. “It’s not easy to find someone willing and able to step into those shoes. Change can be hard, even when it’s ultimately positive.” Colleagues credit her with keeping meetings disciplined and inclusive. “Laura consistently brought insight and commitment to Board discussions,” says former director Peter Carey. “While serving as Board Chair, Laura effectively moved the business of each meeting forward, while fulfilling the role of Chair in a way that respected the voice of each member.” Theresa Singleton, HAC board member, adds: “Laura’s leadership and her friendship mean so much to so many people. She has led the board with humor, candor, grit, and focus. I am so very grateful to her for all that she has done for HAC and for rural communities. She should be proud of the legacy she leaves behind.”
Under the new leadership she helped recruit—and with firm board backing—HAC expanded lending, strengthened its policy voice, and continued to produce research that clarifies rural housing needs. Buxbaum’s hope for the years ahead is straightforward: “It’s my hope that HAC will hold steadfast to its mission through challenging times. I expect HAC to continue to shine a light on the needs and opportunities in rural communities, and to advocate for what is right and important.” Her counsel to those who follow is just as direct: “Once a HACster, always a HACster! You are lucky to be part of this organization – if you bring your best self to the work, and persist, you will find it so rewarding. Know that this work truly makes a difference to so many people. Keep it up!”
Tom Manning-Beavin. Photo by Chris Kleponis.
Manning-Beavin’s relationship with HAC stretches back nearly three decades—to a job posting in the paper HAC News that set him on a national path. After college, he coordinated emergency home repairs with the Appalachia Service Project in McDowell County, West Virginia. “That summer introduced me to work with tangible purpose,” he says. By 1997 he had joined HAC’s staff to help underwrite the organization’s first Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP) award.
He joined HAC’s board in 2015—just after, as he recalls, HAC’s congressional appropriation “went away,” forcing the organization to rethink how it sustained deep work with the lowest-capacity rural partners. “That was a watershed moment and forced a lot of soul searching,” he says. The outcome, in his telling, was a more entrepreneurial HAC: a loan fund that became “a tremendous vehicle for positive change,” a go-to role in preserving the Section 515 portfolio, evolving technical assistance, and research that opened doors to new partners.
Colleagues describe him as patient and exacting in finance matters. “Tom is the whole package. With his experience as a developer of rural housing, his respected voice as advocate for Appalachia, and his background as a former HAC staffer, Tom brought a wide perspective to his role as Board member. His commitment to HAC’s mission and to the HAC team were always present. Exceptionally generous with his time and energy, Tom invested untold hours in his role as a board member and especially as Treasurer. He is a person of thoughtfulness and unquestioned integrity, and through the years I served alongside him, I often sought his perspective on issues that arose,” Carey says. Others underline the character behind the résumé. “Every interaction with Tom is defined by his genuine kindness, his sharp intellect, and his concern and caring for rural people and communities. You walk away feeling better about the world around us just knowing that people like Tom exist. He exemplifies every quality of a true HACster and will be missed,” says Theresa Singleton.
Manning-Beavin highlights HAC’s Section 515 preservation push as emblematic of its purpose. The portfolio houses some of rural America’s most vulnerable residents, and nonprofit owners needed a lender willing to engage. “HAC stepped out of its comfort zone, and sought to share the burden of leading an effort to find solutions,” he says. He also points to internal entrepreneurship—like the R2 research initiative—as a path to new relevance, and he resists the idea of HAC morphing into a membership network. Rural America, he argues, needs a partner that works with anyone trying to improve housing conditions for people with low incomes. His parting advice is succinct: “Keep the faith. The work is hard, but absolutely vital to the organizations and communities we serve. If it were easy, then ‘the market’ would already be doing it.”
Peers see both directors as leaders who paired judgment with initiative. Nick Mitchell-Bennett calls Buxbaum “Driven yet able to enjoy her life.” and Manning-Beavin “Pensive with lots of questions.” The imprint they leave is institutional and cultural; they helped set a tone for board service: ask precise questions, welcome debate, keep the mission in view. HAC today is better equipped to finance preservation and production, advise local practitioners, and publish research that informs policy and practice.
HAC thanks Laura Buxbaum and Tom Manning-Beavin for their service and example. The next cohort of directors inherits their standard—and the same charge: keep faith with rural communities, and continue the work.
As October 1 – the beginning of fiscal year 2026 – approaches, it is not clear whether parts of the federal government will shut down. A continuing resolution that would last through November 21 has been introduced in the House. It would keep most housing programs at current funding levels, but it does incorporate an administration request giving HUD flexibility to use unobligated funds to make up shortfalls in tenant-based rental assistance.
Updated agency shutdown plans have not been posted. There is no new information to add to HAC’s web post from March summarizing what a shutdown could mean for rural housing. USDA’s January 2024 shutdown plans are still online, while HUD’s and Treasury’s plans have been removed and not replaced. OMB’s shutdown page is blank and its September 2023 FAQs remain online.
The Census Bureau’s annual reports on income and poverty show there were few changes from 2023 to 2024. Median income did not change significantly for white or white non-Hispanic households from 2023 to 2024, but declined by 3.3 percentage points for Black households. Income for the wealthiest 10% of households increased 4.2% while it did not change for lower-earning groups. The official poverty rate fell 0.4 percentage points to 10.6% in 2024. The Supplemental Poverty Measure rate (which takes account of assistance provided to lower-income families as well as other variables not covered in the official poverty rate) was 12.9% in 2024, not statistically different from 2023’s rate. Nationwide, the SPM was 2.9 percentage points higher than the official poverty rate (13.1% SPM compared to 10.2% official), but outside metro areas the official poverty rate was higher (12.1% SPM compared to 13.7% official).
Separately, the Census Bureau released new data showing that median monthly housing costs for U.S. homeowners with a mortgage increased to $2,035 in 2024 from $1,960 (inflation-adjusted) in 2023. For renters, the median cost of rent plus utilities rose to $1,487 in 2024 from $1,448 in 2023 (adjusted for inflation).
The ROAD to Housing Act and a package of provisions related to Community Development Financial Institutions have not yet been, but could still be, added to the Senate’s National Defense Authorization Act, which so far has not been considered on the Senate floor. The House passed its version of the NDAA on September 10 without housing-related amendments.
The Government Accountability Office, an independent agency that works for Congress, recently issued two reports on the Federal Emergency Management Agency and says it is preparing more.
Disaster Assistance High-Risk Series: Federal Response Workforce Readiness, published September 2, notes that efforts are underway to review the federal role in disaster response but FEMA’s responsibilities have not yet changed. GAO reviewed 2024 and 2025 limitations on the agency’s workforce capacity and expressed concerns about FEMA’s ability to meet demands. GAO says that later this fall it will publish a second report looking closely at state and local disaster capabilities.
A September 15 GAO decision examines FEMA’s compliance with the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, which limits the circumstances under which the administration can withhold funds appropriated by Congress. GAO concludes that FEMA “has violated the ICA by improperly withholding or delaying the obligation or expenditure of budget authority” appropriated for FY25 to the Emergency Food and Shelter Program and the Shelter and Services Program. It found no violations for several other FEMA programs. It intends to issue other decisions addressing amounts appropriated in prior fiscal years, as well as amounts appropriated and set aside for the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program.
Marking the occasion, the Library of Congress, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, and others are “paying tribute to the generations of Hispanic Americans who have positively influenced and enriched our nation and society.”
Median income in the U.S. was estimated at $83,730 in 2024, not statistically different from the 2023 estimate of $82,690. Outside metropolitan areas the estimated median income was $63,750 in 2024, also not a statistically significant change from $64,140 in 2023. Source: Census Bureau, Income in the United States: 2024.
Federally recognized Tribes and Tribally Designated Housing Entities are eligible for the Indian Housing Block Grant competitive program to increase housing opportunities for low-income Tribal communities. Apply by January 15, 2026. Tribes and Tribal organizations may apply for the Community Development Block Grant Program for Indian Tribes and Alaska Native Villages by November 24. These grants can be used for housing, community facilities, or economic development benefiting low- and moderate-income people. ICDBG-Imminent Threat grants, which have no application deadline, are to eliminate or lessen problems that pose an imminent threat to public health or safety of Tribal residents.
The Hometown Grants program provides up to $50,000 for shovel-ready projects in towns with populations under 50,000. Offered by T-Mobile and administered with assistance from Main Street America, the program helps fund projects that foster local connections, like technology upgrades, outdoor spaces, the arts, and community centers. Elected officials, town managers/employees, Tribal leaders, and nonprofit community leaders can apply. Awards are made quarterly; deadlines are on the last days of March, June, September, and December.
On September 18 the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Commodity Markets, Digital Assets, and Rural Development held a hearing on USDA’s Rural Development: Delivering Vital Programs and Services to Rural America. Witness testimony focused on the essential roles played by RD’s community facilities and business programs, as well as the critical need for RD’s field offices. RD’s housing programs do not fall under the Agriculture Committee’s jurisdiction, but their importance was mentioned at the hearing.
A September 4 memo from Rural Housing Service Administrator George Kelly provides instructions to field staff on the use of Disaster Assistance Funds through the Section 533 Housing Preservation Grant program, the Section 502 direct loan program, and the Rural Disaster Home Repair Grant program. Funds must be used for recovery from specific disasters, as detailed in the notice.
HUD has changed the deadline for comments on its FY26 Fair Market Rents to October 1 rather than September 22.
The National Alliance to End Homelessness and Women’s Development Corporation filed a lawsuit on September 11 regarding the Continuum of Care Builds program, which supports new permanent supportive housing. Funds were appropriated in 2022 and will expire if not obligated by September 30, 2025. The lawsuit charges that HUD’s third notice of funding opportunity for the program illegally imposed criteria related to ideology and created a last-minute application process even though HUD had issued two previous NOFOs for the same funds. On September 12, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting HUD from making awards under the September 5 NOFO and suspending the September 30 expiration date.
Issuing the most recent decision in American Federation of Government Employees v. U.S. Office of Personnel Management, a case that has traveled to the Supreme Court and back, a federal judge ruled that the administration illegally fired over 25,000 probationary federal employees early in 2025. Judge William Alsup determined he could not order agencies to rehire people because the Supreme Court held that they could be fired while the litigation proceeds. The decision applies to USDA and some other agencies but not to all the agencies involved in the suit. The government has filed notice that it will appeal the ruling.
HUD is “evaluating current needs for data from” the Rental Housing Finance Survey and the Survey of Market Absorption of New Multifamily Units. It requests information from the public on uses of the data and other comments or concerns about the two surveys. Comments are due November 10.
The New Housing Leadership: Unlocking State and Local Solutions to America’s Housing Crisis will be presented on October 1 by the National Housing Trust. The session is intended to provide new messaging strategies surrounding the role of local organizations in housing, lessons from unlikely allies and partnerships, and concrete pathways for local housing leadership.
On September 23, the Economic Innovation Group will offer a webinar titled OZs 2.0: What State and Local Leaders Need to Know. The session is intended to provide state and local policymakers and their staff with practical guidance on the reconciliation bill’s changes to the Opportunity Zones program, including state designations of a new round of OZs in 2026.
The three federal agencies that oversee banks and thrifts will hold a public outreach meeting on October 30 in Kansas City and online. The session is part of a periodic review to identify outdated or unneeded regulations. Members of the public can register to present oral comments. Additional sessions will be announced in the future.
The Underserved Mortgage Markets Coalition, a group of 40 organizations including HAC, convened by the National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders, has released its guiding priorities for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These imperatives ask Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to maintain and expand nationwide access to affordable, sustainable mortgages and rental housing, and to serve rural places fairly. UMMC has also relaunched its website at underservedmortgagemarkets.org, which includes comprehensive resources for policymakers and the public about the critical role Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac play in providing access to long-term affordable mortgage credit throughout the country.
The Hispanic Federation and the National Low-Income Housing Coalition published a new toolkit highlighting lessons learned by the Citizen Advisory Committee carrying out the Community Development Block Grants-Disaster Recovery program in Puerto Rico. HUD now recommends all disaster-stricken jurisdictions create such advisory groups. From understanding the program and its funding flexibility to the creation of an operational guide in English and Spanish, this toolkit seeks to build on the success of local CACs.
A new publication from the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, A Place-Based Economic Development Strategy to Foster Rural U.S. Prosperity, highlights the importance of centering rural racial diversity, cross-sector economies, and innovation when developing investment and policy strategies.
Rural Williams County, Ohio has a considerable manufacturing base and a substantial housing shortage. This Rural Ohio County is Building its Own Way Out of a Housing Shortage, an article from the Ohio Newsroom, describes how a local public-private partnership, Williams County Port Authority, has raised funds from the county and local businesses to develop market-rate workforce housing. It has now built and sold 16 single-family homes and is working on a duplex and a senior living community.
HAC job listings and application links are available on our website.
HAC’s loan fund provides low interest rate loans to support single- and multifamily affordable housing projects for low-income rural residents throughout the U.S. and territories. Capital is available for all types of affordable and mixed-income housing projects, including preservation, new development, farmworker, senior and veteran housing. HAC loan funds can be used for pre-development, site acquisition, site development, construction/rehabilitation and permanent financing. Contact HAC’s loan fund staff at hacloanfund@ruralhome.org, 202-842-8600.
Please note: HAC is not able to offer loans to individuals or families. Borrowers must be nonprofit or for-profit organizations or government entities (including Tribes).
Please credit the HAC News and provide a link to HAC’s website. Thank you!
Congress returned to work this week, facing the start of fiscal year 2026 on October 1. Legislators are expected to consider passing a continuing resolution to keep the government open because they will not be able to finish the 13 annual appropriations bills this month. A CR could last for a few months or for the entire fiscal year.
It is also possible that all or part of the federal government could shut down. There seems to be no new information to add to HAC’s web post from March summarizing what a shutdown could mean for rural housing. USDA’s January 2024 shutdown plans are still online, while HUD’s and Treasury’s plans have been removed and not replaced. OMB’s shutdown page is blank and its September 2023 FAQs remain online.
The full Senate has approved its FY26 appropriations bill for USDA, while the House’s USDA bill has passed the Appropriations Committee but has not yet been considered by the House itself. Transportation-HUD funding measures have passed the Appropriations Committees in both houses but have not been taken up by either body. Details are posted on HAC’s site for both USDA and HUD.
Comments on USDA’s reorganization plan, which was announced in late July, will now be accepted through September 30. Members of Congress and others had urged the department to provide more time for feedback, as well as to make comments public and to share a more detailed proposal when available.
FEMA encourages using the month to prepare for emergencies. The 2025 theme is Preparedness Starts at Home. HAC’s Rural Resilience website offers tools for readiness, response, and recovery, including HAC’s detailed guide, Prepare Your Organization to Respond and Recover from Natural and Man-Made Disasters.
The observance focuses on mental health and addiction recovery. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration explains that the month is intended to promote and support new evidence-based treatment and recovery practices, the nation’s strong and proud recovery community, and the dedication of service providers and communities who make recovery possible. SAMHSA offers a digital toolkit and other resources.
Approximately 8.5% of mortgage loans originated in rural and small-town areas in 2024 were considered “high cost” loans compared to 6% nationally. A mortgage loan is classified as “high cost” if its interest rate is 1.5% (or more) higher than the prime rate for first lien loans. Source: HAC tabulations of 2024 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Data.
Data from the 2024 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act is now available on Rural Data Central! Visit Rural Data Central to learn more about housing finance in your community.
The Laura Jane Musser Fund Rural Initiative has grant funding available to encourage collaborative and participatory efforts among citizens in rural communities that will help to strengthen their towns and regions in civic areas such as economic development, business preservation, arts and humanities, public space improvements, and education. Eligible applicants are nonprofits and local units of government working in rural communities of 10,000 or less in Colorado, Hawaii, Minnesota, Wyoming, and select counties in New York, North Carolina, and Texas. Applications will be available from September 2 through October 2.
The 2018 Farm Bill has been extended twice and is now set to expire September 30. Some topics that are usually addressed in the five-year Farm Bill, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and farm subsidies, were covered in July’s big budget reconciliation measure. Therefore there may be a lower sense of urgency about passing a “skinny” Farm Bill this month, resulting in another one-year extension.
The Department of Energy establishes energy conservation standards for manufactured housing based on the International Energy Conservation Code. Standards set by DOE in 2022 have not yet gone into effect. The IECC was updated in 2024 and costs have changed since 2022, so DOE is considering revisiting its analysis. Comments are due December 2.
A 2024 final rule made “non-permanent resident aliens” eligible for Section 184 loan guarantees, as well as U.S. citizens and “lawful permanent resident aliens.” HUD is now making “non-permanent resident aliens” ineligible. Explaining that only enrolled Tribal members can receive these guarantees and are almost always citizens, HUD states the change will have little impact, so it is publishing an interim final rule without taking comments or holding Tribal consultations first. The rule will be effective on October 6. Comments are due November 3.
HUD requests input on a demonstration program “designed to increase understanding of how enhanced recipient reporting can help reduce the risk of fraud, waste, and abuse across grant programs.” Nine voluntary recipients of funds from the public housing, CDBG-Disaster Recovery, and Continuum of Care programs will justify grant expenditures by uploading supporting evidence such as receipts, invoices, or pay records. Comments are due November 3.
HUD Secretary Scott Turner posted on X a letter asking public housing agencies to review the citizenship status of all residents in HUD-assisted housing, threatening loss of funding or program eligibility for PHAs that do not comply. HUD’s press office posted that the effort was aimed at preventing undocumented residents from receiving aid. HUD programs are already restricted to citizens and to noncitizens with specific statuses such as green card holders and refugees. Undocumented people may live with eligible family members in HUD-assisted housing and assistance is prorated according to the number of eligible and ineligible people in the household. A fact sheet on eligibility and information sharing requirements is available in English and Spanish from the National Housing Law Project. Turner’s announcement does not apply to the rural housing programs at USDA, which issued a notice in July about ineligibility based on legal status.
FEMA contracts for fiscal year 2025 tell states and disaster assistance groups their programs cannot assist undocumented people and must cooperate with immigration enforcement efforts. The Washington Post reports that aid groups and disaster experts believe these new requirements will be difficult to fulfill and may violate state and local laws. The FY25 contract terms also forbid advancement of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
On August 21, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced presidential appointees for Rural Development and Farm Service Agency state director positions in several states.
A new Novogradac Opportunity Zones 2.0 Mapping Tool shows what census tracts are likely or unlikely to be eligible for designation as Opportunity Zones under the newly permanent OZ program. The process for nominating and designating the next set of OZs officially begins July 1, 2026.
The CSH Supportive Housing Services Staffing and Budget Tool is intended to support agencies, communities, and project planners to estimate comprehensive costs for supportive housing services. It allows the user to model out scattered site and project-based programs and input their average staffing costs, budget assumptions, and productivity expectations to determine rates needed for a fiscally sustainable program.
An opinion essay published by the New York Times, Wilted Lettuce. Rotten Strawberries. Here’s What Happens When You Round Up Farmworkers, describes how California’s $60 billion farm economy depends on immigrant labor but is struggling amidst recent ICE raids in fields and packing houses that are driving workers away, leaving strawberries, lettuce, and other crops to rot. With as many as 70% of farmworkers not showing up, the ripple effects include higher grocery prices, more food waste, and lost jobs across the food supply chain. The authors argue that treating longtime, law-abiding farmworkers as criminals threatens not just families but America’s food security itself.
HAC job listings and application links are available on our website.
HAC’s loan fund provides low interest rate loans to support single- and multifamily affordable housing projects for low-income rural residents throughout the U.S. and territories. Capital is available for all types of affordable and mixed-income housing projects, including preservation, new development, farmworker, senior and veteran housing. HAC loan funds can be used for pre-development, site acquisition, site development, construction/rehabilitation and permanent financing. Contact HAC’s loan fund staff at hacloanfund@ruralhome.org, 202-842-8600.
Please note: HAC is not able to offer loans to individuals or families. Borrowers must be nonprofit or for-profit organizations or government entities (including Tribes).
Please credit the HAC News and provide a link to HAC’s website. Thank you!
President Trump issued an executive order on August 7 requiring federal agencies to ensure their grants fit the administration’s priorities, can be terminated at any time by the administration, and are controlled by senior political appointees. Existing awards must be revised “to permit immediate termination for convenience.” Awards may not support racial preferences, transgender people, illegal immigration, or “any other initiatives that compromise public safety or promote anti-American values.” The order instructs agencies to make grants “to a broad range of recipients rather than to a select group of repeat players.” It also requires OMB to “appropriately limit the use of discretionary grant funds for costs related to facilities and administration.”
HUD Secretary Scott Turner announced on X that “HUD will solely use English for all Departmental business and services. We are one people, united, and we will speak with one voice and one language to deliver on our mission.” HUD will continue to provide communications services to people with disabilities. The change to English-only aligns with an executive order President Trump issued in March, making English the official language of the U.S.
According to the Census Bureau’s most recent Community Resilience Estimates for Heat, approximately 82% of rural and small-town census tracts experienced “extreme” heat exposure in 2022. Source: HAC tabulations of U.S. Census Bureau Community Resilience Estimate for Heat data.
Several senators have proposed to attach housing-related bills as amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act, although they are not related to defense. NDAA is more likely to be passed by Congress than the housing provisions alone so, if these amendments are accepted, their chances of passage will increase. The ROAD to Housing Act, which incorporates the Rural Housing Service Reform Act and was approved by the Senate Banking Committee on July 29, is one of these amendments. Another is a package of provisions related to Community Development Financial Institutions, which includes authorization for USDA’s Section 502 Native CDFI relending program. The RHS Reform Act has also been recently reintroduced as a stand-alone measure in the House; it was reintroduced in the Senate in April.
As of August 12, FEMA requires disaster survivors to have email addresses in order to register for aid, Wired reports. The agency will communicate through email and online accounts and will make payments electronically.
Reversing a lower court decision from several months ago, an appellate court held on August 15 that federal courts cannot yet consider challenges to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau staff cuts and other actions to halt the agency’s work. Staffing actions must go through the civil service review process, the court said. It decided that charges about other activities could be heard only if they were claimed to be unconstitutional or if harmful results had already occurred. Since the decision was made by a three-judge panel, the plaintiffs can now appeal the ruling to the full appeals court for the District of Columbia circuit. If layoffs proceed, they will impact about 90% of the agency’s staff.
The administration ended FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program earlier this year, but several states filed suit challenging that decision. On August 5, the judge hearing State of Washington v. FEMA issued a preliminary injunction barring the agency from spending BRIC’s funding for other purposes while court proceedings continue.
Glen Smith, whose background is in farming and agri-business in Iowa, is nominated to serve as Under Secretary of Rural Development. He will need to be approved by the Senate. Neal Robbins will become Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development, a position not requiring Senate review. He is from North Carolina with public and private sector experience in manufacturing, rural economic development, and financial transactions. Anthony Priest, appointed Chief of Staff for the Rural Housing Service, has worked in real estate development, product development, and education.
HUD has released Fair Market Rents for fiscal year 2026. Comments are due September 22.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced on X and YouTube that his agency is ending the Solar for All program, one of three Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund programs. The administration previously moved to terminate the GGRF’s National Clean Investment Fund and Clean Communities Investment Accelerator, and July’s big reconciliation bill repealed all three.
About 12 million households nationwide receive both Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. The highest rates of dual enrollment are in Central Appalachia, the U.S.-Mexico border region, the Mississippi Delta, and parts of some large metropolitan areas, the Urban Institute reports. As a result, those areas are likely to be seriously impacted by the recently adopted budget reconciliation bill, which cuts both programs.
The Asset Funders Network has released a new brief on the role of Community Development Financial Institutions in increasing homeownership. The brief and a related webinar provide an overview of the history and role of CDFIs in underserved communities, the ways in which CDFIs support clients through funding or other services, and a variety of strategies for philanthropy to help ensure the stability of CDFIs in the future as housing affordability continues to decrease and other funding streams become more limited. The materials include many rural examples.
USA Today provides an in-depth look at the issue of heirs’ property and the challenges some families face in retaining and protecting their generational property. This two-part series describes Saul Blair’s efforts to preserve his family’s property in rural Georgia, purchased over 100 years ago by his great-grandfather following his emancipation from slavery.
The Billion-Dollar Remote Work Opportunity that Rural America Can’t Reach, commentary published by Fortune, points out that internet usage/subscription rates are low in rural communities, even those where broadband is now available. Many residents – most often older – do not understand its value, although they could benefit from remote work and services like telemedicine. The author recommends a “social strategy,” perhaps including temporary free access, to overcome reluctance.
A new book, Ending Redlining Through a Community-Centered Reform of the Community Reinvestment Act, explains how financial institutions can invest in and respond to the needs of underserved neighborhoods. The publication includes case studies on CRA in rural America and Native American areas.
At the 2025 National Rural Housing Conference in November, HAC will present its prestigious Rural Housing Service Awards. These awards recognize individuals whose exceptional leadership, commitment, and lasting contributions have significantly advanced affordable housing and community development in rural America. Submit nominations here by August 29.
HAC job listings and application links are available on our website.
HAC’s loan fund provides low interest rate loans to support single- and multifamily affordable housing projects for low-income rural residents throughout the U.S. and territories. Capital is available for all types of affordable and mixed-income housing projects, including preservation, new development, farmworker, senior and veteran housing. HAC loan funds can be used for pre-development, site acquisition, site development, construction/rehabilitation and permanent financing. Contact HAC’s loan fund staff at hacloanfund@ruralhome.org, 202-842-8600.
Please note: HAC is not able to offer loans to individuals or families. Borrowers must be nonprofit or for-profit organizations or government entities (including Tribes).
Please credit the HAC News and provide a link to HAC’s website. Thank you!
The Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream (ROAD) to Housing Act, S. 2651, was approved unanimously by the Senate Banking Committee on July 29. The bill, which HAC supports, combines provisions from around 30 different housing bills, including the Rural Housing Service Reform Act (endorsed by HAC), the Streamlining Rural Housing Act, the HUD-USDA-VA Interagency Coordination Act, and the Whole-Home Repairs Act. It would reauthorize the HOME program, provide permanent authorization for the PRICE manufactured housing program and the CDBG-Disaster Recovery program, streamline FHA financing for modular/manufactured housing, and support affordable housing in numerous other ways. The ROAD to Housing Act does not include the RHS Reform Act’s provision to permanently authorize the Section 502 Native CDFI relending program, but in the committee markup Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) indicated that she and Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD) hope to prioritize moving that provision forward as a stand-alone bill.
On August 1, the full Senate approved three FY26 appropriations bills, including the measure for USDA. It would hold many of the rural housing programs at their current funding levels while increasing Section 502 direct funding to $1 million from the current $880 million. Details are posted on HAC’s site. The House has not yet considered the USDA funding bill passed by its Appropriations Committee, which would provide lower amounts for several rural housing programs. Both houses are now in recess until after Labor Day. Fiscal year 2026 begins on October 1, 2025.
The FY26 Transportation-HUD funding bill approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee on July 24 would provide $1.25 billion for the HOME program, which would receive no funding under the House version of the bill. The Senate bill would also increase funding for housing vouchers, project-based rental assistance, homeless assistance grants, Section 202 elderly housing, and Section 811 housing for people with disabilities. SHOP would be set at $13 million, up from $12 million in FY25, and the Rural Capacity Building program would receive $8 million. It would provide $3.1 billion for CDBG compared to this year’s $3.3 billion. Details are available here. Neither the House nor the Senate would renew expiring Emergency Housing Program vouchers. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities provides state-by-state and demographic estimates of the loss of Housing Choice Vouchers under the House and Senate THUD proposals.
President Trump issued an executive order on July 24 titled Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets, calling for institutional treatment of people experiencing homelessness, prioritization of funding to states and cities that criminalize homelessness, and an end to Housing First policies and harm reduction approaches. Many of these policies are determined by state and local laws, however. The National Alliance to End Homelessness has published the first two of a series of blog posts explaining the order and its impacts.
Immigrants make up 14% of physicians and surgeons in rural areas, compared to 5% of the overall rural workforce. They are 28% of agricultural workers. Source: Kaiser Family Foundation, What Role Do Immigrants Play in the Rural Workforce?
The Federal Housing Finance Agency has doubled the amounts Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can invest per year in Low Income Housing Tax Credits from $1 billion each to $2 billion each. Half of the $4 billion total will be reserved for difficult to serve LIHTC markets and at least 20 percent of that half will be for Duty to Serve rural communities. HAC issued a statement applauding the move.
Nonprofits, public agencies, and Tribes can apply by September 4 for the FY25 Section 533 Housing Preservation Grant program. The $13.1 million available includes $2.1 million for disaster assistance and $500,000 each for recovery from Hurricanes Fiona in Puerto Rico and Helene in Tennessee. Awardees can make grants or low-interest loans to repair or rehabilitate housing owned by or rented to low- or very low-income rural residents. A nonprofit cannot receive funds directly from USDA for a rental property it owns.
Applications are due August 21 for four Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) initiatives. A federal judge required HUD to reopen the competitions, issuing a temporary restraining order on July 28 in National Fair Housing Alliance v. HUD. The case, filed in June, challenges HUD’s failure to award FY24 FHIP funds under funding opportunity notices it published in September 2024 and its failure to disburse funds under previously awarded multi-year grants. The judge ordered HUD to explain its timeline and to file weekly reports on its progress in making the awards before September 30, when the funding expires. The reopened opportunities are:
Enterprise Community Partners has posted the first full draft of its 2026 Green Communities Criteria and requests public comment by August 27. It describes Green Communities as the only green building standard created with, and for, the affordable housing sector.
A bipartisan group of 26 senators has written to OMB director Russell Vought urging him to release monies appropriated for the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund in FY25. The letter points out that the CDFI Fund closed applications periods for five of its programs months ago but has not yet made awards, while applications for other programs have not yet been announced. The senators ask OMB to issue a spending plan outlining timelines for obligating its funds.
On August 1, USDA announced it will accept comments on the reorganization plan it released on July 24. Input from “all stakeholders, including USDA employees, members of Congress, and agricultural and nutrition partners,” can be emailed to reorganization@usda.gov by August 26. Deputy Secretary Stephen Vaden told a congressional committee he believes a majority of employees who will be asked to relocate will accept transfers from Washington, DC to other parts of the country. He also said the reorganization will “leave the county-level footprint [which includes RD offices] alone.”
A memo from the Attorney General offers guidance “to ensure that recipients of federal funding do not engage in unlawful discrimination,” including through diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. The memo’s examples of unlawful practices include prioritizing hiring candidates from “underrepresented groups,” establishing a Black Faculty Caucus, and favoring minority-owned or women-owned businesses. Recommended best practices include focusing on skills and qualifications in selection processes and including nondiscrimination clauses in contracts.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency proposes to repeal its Fair Lending, Fair Housing, and Equitable Housing Finance Plans regulation. The rule has required Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to each adopt a plan every three years identifying barriers to sustainable housing opportunities faced by one or more underserved communities, goals and objectives with respect to the identified barriers, and meaningful actions to support accomplishment of the goals and objectives. Comments are due September 26.
The SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery (SOAR) model assists caseworkers to help clients who have a mental illness, medical impairment, or a substance use disorder and are experiencing or at risk of homelessness to access Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance. As of August 18, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is ending funding for technical assistance to SOAR caseworkers and the resource website at https://soarworks.samhsa.gov/ will become unavailable. Archived versions of the site should still be accessible through the Internet Archive. Policy Research Associates, which has run the SOAR TA Center since 2009, offers a recorded webinar explaining how organizations can continue using the SOAR model.
USDA seeks nominations for four open positions on its Tribal Advisory Committee. Nominations can be submitted by representatives of Tribes, Tribal organizations, or national or regional organizations with relevant expertise such as national or regional Tribal serving organizations, land-grant institutions, and Native CDFIs. The deadline is September 22.
On October 1, USDA RD will begin to evaluate compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act using a new interim final rule that applies throughout the department. RD’s announcement says that funding applications submitted before October 1 “will continue to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis under prior NEPA policies and procedures or [the interim final rule].”
A HUD notice offers guidance to grantees under the Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS program on implementing the National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate. It addresses how to inspect units for compliance with the NSPIRE rule and how to ensure corrections are made, as well as statutory requirements for carbon monoxide alarms or detectors and smoke alarms. The compliance date for these standards is February 2, 2026.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition, the Protecting Immigrant Families Coalition, and Just Solutions Collective will hold a webinar entitled Immigration & Disaster Recovery: Rights, Access, and Where We Go from Here, on August 12. This session, intended for advocates for immigrant communities and disaster recovery practitioners, will address protecting communities while navigating the disaster recovery system.
A new report from the Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies, summarized in a blog posted titled Home Repairs Are Out of Reach for Many Lower-Income Homeowners, highlights the challenges of home repair and maintenance for lower-income households. In 2023, 2.9 million homeowners lived in homes classified as inadequate. Lower-income households, with less resources, spend more on maintenance of habitability rather than discretionary upgrades.
At the 2025 National Rural Housing Conference in November, HAC will present its prestigious Rural Housing Service Awards. These awards recognize individuals whose exceptional leadership, commitment, and lasting contributions have significantly advanced affordable housing and community development in rural America. Submit nominations here by August 29.
HAC job listings and application links are available on our website.
HAC’s loan fund provides low interest rate loans to support single- and multifamily affordable housing projects for low-income rural residents throughout the U.S. and territories. Capital is available for all types of affordable and mixed-income housing projects, including preservation, new development, farmworker, senior and veteran housing. HAC loan funds can be used for pre-development, site acquisition, site development, construction/rehabilitation and permanent financing. Contact HAC’s loan fund staff at hacloanfund@ruralhome.org, 202-842-8600.
Please note: HAC is not able to offer loans to individuals or families. Borrowers must be nonprofit or for-profit organizations or government entities (including Tribes).
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