21st Century ROAD to Housing Act

Authorizes a four-year FHA pilot program to increase access to home mortgages of $100,000 or less by offering lender incentives, fee adjustments, and direct consumer grants for down payments and closing costs.

Authorizes a pilot program through October 2031 to grant funds to local governments, tribes, and nonprofits to run "whole-home repair" initiatives, providing home repair grants to low-income homeowners and forgivable loans to small-scale landlords of affordable rentals.

Mandates HUD to adjust local CDBG allocations from fiscal years 2030 through 2043 by penalizing jurisdictions with slow housing growth rates with a 10 percent funding cut and distributing those funds as bonuses to fast-growing jurisdictions.

Amends federal safety standards to allow manufactured homes to be built without a permanent chassis, requires states to certify that they treat chassis-less homes under the same laws as traditional manufactured housing, and bars the sale of these homes in non-certified states.

Bars large institutional investors from buying single-family homes through October 2041, allows civil penalties up to $1 million or triple the purchase price for violations, and establishes a HUD tenant helpline to handle landlord-tenant disputes.

Prohibits the Federal Reserve from issuing or creating a central bank digital currency, or digital assets that function like one, directly or indirectly through intermediate banks through December 31, 2030.

Instructs the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to allocate housing counseling grants in a geographically diverse manner that targets both urban and rural areas.

Authorizes HUD to conduct performance reviews of housing counseling agencies, evaluate individual counselor performance against comparable mortgage default rates, and establish a testing, probation, or suspension process for counselors deemed incompetent.

Authorizes HUD to deny renewal funding to noncompliant housing counseling agencies, provided they receive 60 days' notice and an opportunity to request an informal conference.

Guarantees mortgage borrowers who are at least 30 days delinquent on federally backed loans the opportunity to participate in housing counseling, with certain FHA-related counseling costs covered by the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund.

Directs HUD to issue model building code language and best practices for states and localities to permit "point-access block" residential structures up to six stories with a single exit stairway, and authorizes a seven-year pilot program to award competitive grants for projects demonstrating this building type.

Exempts the Department of Agriculture (USDA) from conducting environmental studies or reports when funding the construction or modification of rural housing on pre-existing infrastructure sites (infill sites) that are not in high-risk disaster zones.

Requires Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) recipients to maintain a online, searchable public database of undeveloped land they own, and allows grant funds to be used to build and maintain this database starting October 2026.

Establishes a three-year HUD pilot program providing grants to public housing agencies and assisted housing owners to install and test internet-connected temperature sensors in rental units to monitor compliance with heating and cooling mandates.

Directs HUD to publish zoning framework guidelines and best practices for state and local governments—addressing matters like parking minimums, lot sizes, and accessory dwelling units—while abolishing the Regulatory Barriers Clearinghouse.

Allows HUD to give priority weighting to competitive grant applications for housing construction, rehabilitation, or preservation if the projects are located in or benefit designated federal Qualified Opportunity Zones.

Increases the cap on public welfare investments that national and state member banks can make from 15 percent to 20 percent of their capital and surplus, and requires biennial regulatory reports on these investments.

Amends CDBG eligibility rules to allow local governments to use up to 20 percent of their block grants for the new construction of affordable housing.

Allows HUD to streamline environmental reviews by categorizing certain federally assisted projects as "special projects" and permits federally recognized Indian Tribes to assume these environmental review responsibilities.

Directs HUD to expand and reclassify various housing-related activities—such as tenant-based rental assistance, minor property rehabilitations, and select infill construction—to exempt them from or lower their environmental review requirements.

Establishes a five-year competitive grant program for local planning and regional organizations to develop housing plans, reform zoning codes, and improve community development strategies, excluding physical construction work.

Establishes a seven-year, $200 million annual competitive grant program to reward municipal, county, and tribal governments that objectively expand their local housing supply through density incentives, parking reforms, or streamlined permitting.

Authorizes HUD to award grants to local, municipal, and tribal governments to acquire pre-reviewed residential building designs (pattern books) to streamline and expedite local housing construction permits.

Establishes a HOME pilot program from fiscal years 2027 through 2031 to award competitive grants to local jurisdictions to convert vacant and abandoned commercial or industrial buildings into affordable housing.

Substantially raises FHA statutory multifamily mortgage loan limits and index-adjusts them annually starting July 2025 based on the residential construction price index.

Removes the expiration date of the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program, increases the cap on public housing unit chemical conversions to 555,000, and establishes tenant lease protections and mandatory annual HUD impact assessments.

Directs HUD to study and propose rules for alternative FHA construction loan draw schedules to reduce barriers for modular and manufactured home builders, and provides study grants for standardized uniform modular building codes.

Amends the National Housing Act to raise FHA property improvement and manufactured home purchase loan limits, expands eligibility to accessory dwelling unit construction, and requires annual limit indexing.

Establishes a seven-year competitive grant program under CDBG to fund manufactured housing community infrastructure improvements, home repairs, or the outright replacement of units built before June 1976.

Directs the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to report on loan originator commissions and evaluate regulatory thresholds that restrict small-dollar home loan originations under $100,000.

Revises FHA appraiser requirements, allows real estate appraisers helper-trainees to assist in FHA valuations, and authorizes federal grants to state licensing agencies and schools to address appraiser workforce shortages.

Authorizes a 10-year HUD pilot program for up to 25 local entities and 5,000 low-income families that auto-enrolls tenant rent hikes from increased wages into escrow savings accounts, allowing penalty-free withdrawals for self-sufficiency goals.

Alleviation of housing voucher administrative burdens by allowing public housing agencies to skip inspections if properties passed equivalent federal housing programs audits within 12 months, and allows pre-approval of vacant units for new landlords.

Reforms the HOME Investment Partnerships Program by broadening income eligibility, authorizing infrastructure funding, establishing shared-equity homeownership rules, exempting small projects from certain hiring standards, and allowing environmental review exemptions for minor infill housing.

Amends rural housing statutes to make FHA foreclosure protections applicable to USDA-guaranteed multifamily loans, refines loan restructuring under preservation programs, and relieves primary borrowers of liability once a USDA-guaranteed mortgage is assumed by a new eligible buyer.

Directs USDA to establish the Rural Community Development Initiative to supply capacity-building grants of up to $500,000 for local nonprofits, rural communities, and Indian tribes.

Authorizes USDA to provide rural housing vouchers to low-income households living in prepaid, foreclosed, or matured multifamily properties originally financed under Rural Housing Service programs.

Allows homelessness support grants recipients to obtain waivers of certain federal spending boundaries through fiscal year 2030, provided they do not relocate or threaten homeless individuals without offering emergency shelters or housing options.

Launches the Office of Disaster Management and Resiliency at HUD and establishes the Long-Term Disaster Recovery Fund to issue predictable formulas-based CDBG disaster recovery grants following catastrophic storms.

Allows HUD to expand the Moving to Work demonstration program to 25 high-performing public housing agencies, giving them broader voucher-funding flexibility while setting strict income parameters and research reporting mandates.

Requires federal housing enterprises to include a disclaimer on the Uniform Residential Loan Application notifying military veterans that they may qualify for a VA Home Loan, and reforms loan form questions regarding military service.

Excludes veterans' disability benefits from income-eligibility calculations when determining eligibility for federal supported housing vouchers or housing built on VA property.