| House Passes Housing for the 21st Century Act While Trump Continues to Ask for Institutional Investor Ban: On February 9, 2026, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Housing for the 21st Century Act through an overwhelmingly bipartisan 390-9 vote vote. The Senate has been considering the similar, but not identical, ROAD to Housing Act, which received strong bipartisan support in the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and passed the full Senate as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) but not as a standalone bill. The House did not agree to include the ROAD to Housing Act in the final version of the NDAA. It is unclear whether and on what timeline the Senate will either take up the Housing for the 21st Century Act or push forward the ROAD to Housing Act as a standalone bill. In the meanwhile, the White House has reportedly reacted to the House’s passage of the Housing for the 21st Century Act by reiterating its desire for the inclusion of a ban on the purchase of single-family homes by institutional investors in any housing package. Despite combining many bills into one, the Housing for the 21st Century Act itself, if passed, would be unlikely to significantly move the needle on the country’s housing affordability and homelessness crises. Many of the provisions included are modestly helpful while a few conversely might be mildly counterproductive. By and large, however, they are not transformative, and they are unlikely to be accompanied by the kind of financial investment in the housing system that is needed to deliver results.
One provision that should be low-hanging fruit for improvement is Section 205 of the bill, which incorporates some of the language of the Choice in Affordable Housing Act. The Choice in Affordable Housing Act is a worthy piece of legislation that PRRAC has supported, but the Housing for the 21st Century Act includes only the provisions of that bill relating to Housing Quality Standards inspections for units that households with Housing Choice Vouchers are seeking to lease and omits the portions of that bill that would provide public housing authorities with the much-needed flexibility to use funds to assist households with security deposit payments and to provide landlords with one-time bonus payments to incentivize participation in the program. The inspection provisions are helpful, but they are far from the most important part of the original bill. Congress has the opportunity to fix that before final passage of legislation. At the same time, it is a positive development that the Housing for the 21st Century Act does not include provisions relating to the expansion of the Moving to Work program that are included in the ROAD to Housing Act and that lack adequate safeguards to protect tenants. Perhaps the most profound takeaway to be drawn from Congress’s deliberations over bipartisan housing legislation is that it is clear that elected officials recognize the direness of the housing affordability crisis and want to be seen to be doing something tangible about it. PRRAC will continue to monitor this situation as it evolves. Other news and resourcesPRRAC and Allies Submit Comment Letter in Opposition to HUD’s Proposed Disparate Impact Rule Rescission: On February 13, 2026, PRRAC, joined by partners from the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, submitted a comment letter in strong opposition to the proposed rescission of its disparate impact rule by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Incisive Economic Analysis of Rent Stabilization and Zohran Mamdani’s Proposed Rent Freeze: Professor J.W. Mason, an economist at John Jay College, has an excellent analysis of the economics of rent stabilization and rent freezes in a piece published in Phenomenal World. A Break from the Parade of Horribles – Black History Month Trivia Edition: In this Update’s installment of A Break from the Parade of Horribles, we are presenting a Black History Month trivia quiz. Respond by email (to tdelgo@prrac.org) with your answers by the end of the day tomorrow, February 20th. We have some great prizes, including a book and some PRRAC swag (a very nice camping mug), in store for the winners. Of course, this is all on the honor system, so no Googling! There is a theme – maybe not quite a meta – cutting across these questions and their correct answers. Let us know what you think that is though nothing other than bragging rights is riding on it! 1) Which author penned the experimental Harlem Renaissance novel Cane, published in 1923? a) Nella Larsen b) Jean Toomer c) Sherwood Anderson d) Claude McKay 2) The cover of what band’s eponymous 1982 album, which set a standard for hardcore punk that no subsequent artist has ever matched, features a lightning bolt striking the top of a prominent building? a) X-Ray Spex b) Black Flag c) Death d) Bad Brains 3) What future big city mayor organized with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee to register voters in McComb, Mississippi in 1960? a) Marion Barry b) Andrew Young c) Coleman Young d) Unita Blackwell 4) What Historically Black College or University (HBCU) has for a namesake a Civil War general and Freedmen’s Bureau commissioner who later served much less admirably when commanding United States troops in the war against the Nez Perce people? a) Fisk University b) Morehouse College c) Howard University d) Lincoln University 5) What former public housing community continues to be the site of the legendary outdoor summer basketball competition, the Goodman League? a) Cabrini Green b) Barry Farm c) Pruitt-Igoe d) Lexington Terrace |
