I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6785 

To reform rural housing programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 14, 2023 

Mr. LUETKEMEYER (for himself and Mr. CLEAVER) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in 

addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently 

determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To reform rural housing programs, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Rural Housing Service Reform Act of 2023’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—STREAMLINING AND UPDATES 

Sec. 101. Application of multifamily mortgage foreclosure procedures to multifamily mortgages held by the Secretary of Agriculture and 

preservation of the rental assistance contract upon foreclosure. 

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Sec. 102. Study on rural housing loans for housing for low- and moderate-income families. 

Sec. 103. Authorization of appropriations for staffing needs and information 

technology upgrades. 

TITLE II—RURAL HOUSING PRESERVATION AND REVITALIZATION 

Sec. 201. Permanent establishment of housing preservation and revitalization 

program. 

Sec. 202. Eligibility for rural housing vouchers. 

Sec. 203. Amount of voucher assistance. 

Sec. 204. Rental assistance contract authority. 

Sec. 205. Funding for technical improvements. 

TITLE III—NATIVE CDFI RELENDING 

Sec. 301. Native CDFI relending program. 

TITLE IV—SECTION 504 LOANS AND GRANTS 

Sec. 401. Modifications to loans and grants for minor improvements to farm 

housing and buildings. 

TITLE V—RURAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE 

GRANTS 

Sec. 501. Rural Community Development Initiative. 

TITLE VI—REPORTS 

Sec. 601. Annual report on rural housing programs. 

Sec. 602. GAO report on Rural Housing Service technology. 

TITLE VII—RURAL HOUSING VOUCHER PROGRAM 

Sec. 701. Adjustment to rural development voucher amount. 

TITLE VIII—TRANSFERS TO NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS 

Sec. 801. Transfer of multifamily rural housing projects. 

TITLE IX—TERM OF DIRECT LOANS MADE BY THE RURAL 

HOUSING SERVICE 

Sec. 901. Extension of loan term. 

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1 TITLE I—STREAMLINING AND 

2 UPDATES 

3 SEC. 101. APPLICATION OF MULTIFAMILY MORTGAGE 

4 FORECLOSURE PROCEDURES TO MULTI5 FAMILY MORTGAGES HELD BY THE SEC6 RETARY OF AGRICULTURE AND PRESERVA7 TION OF THE RENTAL ASSISTANCE CON8 TRACT UPON FORECLOSURE. 

9 (a) MULTIFAMILY MORTGAGE PROCEDURES.—Sec10 tion 363 of the Multifamily Mortgage Foreclosure Act of 

11 1981 (12 U.S.C. 3702) is amended— 

12 (1) in paragraph (2)— 

13 (A) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

14 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

15 (B) in subparagraph (E), by striking the 

16 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

17 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(F) section 514, 515, or 538 of the Hous19 ing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1484, 1485, 

20 1490p).’’; and 

21 (2) in paragraph (10)— 

22 (A) by striking ‘‘means the Secretary’’ and 

23 inserting the following: ‘‘means— 

24 ‘‘(A) the Secretary’’; 

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1 (B) in subparagraph (A), as so designated, 

2 by striking the period at the end and inserting 

3 ‘‘, with respect to a multifamily mortgage de4 scribed in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), (D), or 

5 (E) of paragraph (2); and’’; and 

6 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re8 spect to a multifamily mortgage described in 

9 paragraph (2)(F).’’. 

10 (b) PRESERVATION OF CONTRACT.—Section 521(d) 

11 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1490a(d)) is 

12 amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law in 

14 managing and disposing of any multifamily property that 

15 is owned or has a mortgage held by the Secretary, and 

16 during the process of foreclosure on any property with a 

17 contract for rental assistance under this section— 

18 ‘‘(A) the Secretary shall maintain any rental as19 sistance payments that are attached to any dwelling 

20 units in the property; and 

21 ‘‘(B) the rental assistance contract may be used 

22 to provide further assistance to existing projects 

23 under 514, 515, or 516.’’. 

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1 SEC. 102. STUDY ON RURAL HOUSING LOANS FOR HOUSING 

2 FOR LOW- AND MODERATE-INCOME FAMI3 LIES. 

4 Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment 

5 of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall conduct a 

6 study and submit to Congress a publicly available report 

7 on the loan program under section 521 of the Housing 

8 Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1490a), including— 

9 (1) the total amount provided by the Secretary 

10 in subsidies under such section 521 to borrowers 

11 with loans made pursuant to section 502 of such Act 

12 (42 U.S.C. 1472); 

13 (2) how much of the subsidies described in 

14 paragraph (1) are being recaptured; and 

15 (3) the amount of time and costs associated 

16 with recapturing those subsidies. 

17 SEC. 103. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR 

18 STAFFING NEEDS AND INFORMATION TECH19 NOLOGY UPGRADES. 

20 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec21 retary of Agriculture for each of fiscal years 2024 through 

22 2028 such sums as may be necessary for increased staff23 ing needs and information technology upgrades to support 

24 all Rural Housing Service programs. 

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1 TITLE II—RURAL HOUSING 

2 PRESERVATION AND REVI3 TALIZATION 

4 SEC. 201. PERMANENT ESTABLISHMENT OF HOUSING PRES5 ERVATION AND REVITALIZATION PROGRAM. 

6 Title V of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1471 

7 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 545. HOUSING PRESERVATION AND REVITALIZATION 

9 PROGRAM. 

10 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall carry 

11 out a program under this section for the preservation and 

12 revitalization of multifamily rental housing projects fi13 nanced under section 514, 515, or 516. 

14 ‘‘(b) NOTICE OF MATURING LOANS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) TO OWNERS.—On an annual basis, the 

16 Secretary shall provide written notice to each owner 

17 of a property financed under section 514, 515, or 

18 516 that will mature within the 4-year period begin19 ning upon the provision of the notice, setting forth 

20 the options and financial incentives that are avail21 able to facilitate the extension of the loan term or 

22 the option to decouple a rental assistance contract 

23 pursuant to subsection (f). 

24 ‘‘(2) TO TENANTS.— 

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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—On an annual basis, 

2 for each property financed under section 514, 

3 515, or 516, not later than the date that is 2 

4 years before the date that the loan will mature, 

5 the Secretary shall provide written notice to 

6 each household residing in the property that in7 forms them of— 

8 ‘‘(i) the date of the loan maturity; 

9 ‘‘(ii) the possible actions that may 

10 happen with respect to the property upon 

11 that maturity; and 

12 ‘‘(iii) how to protect their right to re13 side in federally assisted housing, or how 

14 to secure housing voucher, after that ma15 turity. 

16 ‘‘(B) LANGUAGE.—Notice under this para17 graph shall be provided in plain English and 

18 shall be translated to other languages in the 

19 case of any property located in an area in which 

20 a significant number of residents speak such 

21 other languages. 

22 ‘‘(c) LOAN RESTRUCTURING.—Under the program 

23 under this section, in any circumstance in which the Sec24 retary proposes a restructuring to an owner or an owner 

25 proposes a restructuring to the Secretary, the Secretary 

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1 may restructure such existing housing loans, as the Sec2 retary considers appropriate, for the purpose of ensuring 

3 that those projects have sufficient resources to preserve 

4 the projects to provide safe and affordable housing for low5 income residents and farm laborers, by— 

6 ‘‘(1) reducing or eliminating interest; 

7 ‘‘(2) deferring loan payments; 

8 ‘‘(3) subordinating, reducing, or reamortizing 

9 loan debt; 

10 ‘‘(4) providing other financial assistance, in11 cluding advances, payments, and incentives (includ12 ing the ability of owners to obtain reasonable re13 turns on investment) required by the Secretary; and 

14 ‘‘(5) permanently removing a portion of the 

15 housing units from income restrictions when sus16 tained vacancies have occurred. 

17 ‘‘(d) RENEWAL OF RENTAL ASSISTANCE.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—When the Secretary pro19 poses to restructure a loan or agrees to the proposal 

20 of an owner to restructure a loan pursuant to sub21 section (c), the Secretary shall offer to renew the 

22 rental assistance contract under section 521(a)(2) 

23 for a 20-year term that is subject to annual appro24 priations, provided that the owner agrees to bring 

25 the property up to such standards that will ensure 

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1 maintenance of the property as decent, safe, and 

2 sanitary housing for the full term of the rental as3 sistance contract. 

4 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL RENTAL ASSISTANCE.—With 

5 respect to a project described in paragraph (1), if 

6 rental assistance is not available for all households 

7 in the project for which the loan is being restruc8 tured pursuant to subsection (c), the Secretary may 

9 extend such additional rental assistance to unas10 sisted households at that project as is necessary to 

11 make the project safe and affordable to low-income 

12 households. 

13 ‘‘(e) RESTRICTIVE USE AGREEMENTS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—As part of the preserva15 tion and revitalization agreement for a project, the 

16 Secretary shall obtain a restrictive use agreement 

17 that is recorded and obligates the owner to operate 

18 the project in accordance with this title. 

19 ‘‘(2) TERM.— 

20 ‘‘(A) NO EXTENSION OF RENTAL ASSIST21 ANCE CONTRACT.—Except when the Secretary 

22 enters into a 20-year extension of the rental as23 sistance contract for a project, the term of the 

24 restrictive use agreement for the project shall 

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1 be consistent with the term of the restructured 

2 loan for the project. 

3 ‘‘(B) EXTENSION OF RENTAL ASSISTANCE

4 CONTRACT.—If the Secretary enters into a 20- 

5 year extension of the rental assistance contract 

6 for a project, the term of the restrictive use 

7 agreement for the project shall be for the longer 

8 of— 

9 ‘‘(i) 20 years; or 

10 ‘‘(ii) the remaining term of the loan 

11 for that project. 

12 ‘‘(C) TERMINATION.—The Secretary may 

13 terminate the 20-year use restrictive use agree14 ment for a project before the end of the term 

15 of the agreement if the 20-year rental assist16 ance contract for the project with the owner is 

17 terminated at any time for reasons outside the 

18 control of the owner. 

19 ‘‘(f) DECOUPLING OF RENTAL ASSISTANCE.— 

20 ‘‘(1) RENEWAL OF RENTAL ASSISTANCE CON21 TRACT.—If the Secretary determines that a matur22 ing loan for a project cannot reasonably be restruc23 tured in accordance with subsection (c) because it is 

24 not financially feasible or the owner does not agree 

25 with the proposed restructuring, and the project was 

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1 operating with rental assistance under section 521 

2 and the recipient is a borrower under section 514 or 

3 515, the Secretary may renew the rental assistance 

4 contract, notwithstanding any provision of section 

5 521, for a term, subject to annual appropriations, of 

6 20 years. 

7 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL RENTAL ASSISTANCE.—With 

8 respect to a project described in paragraph (1), if 

9 rental assistance is not available for all households 

10 in the project for which the loan is being restruc11 tured pursuant to subsection (c), the Secretary may 

12 extend such additional rental assistance to unas13 sisted households at that project as is necessary to 

14 make the project safe and affordable to low-income 

15 households. 

16 ‘‘(3) RENTS.—Any agreement to extend the 

17 term of the rental assistance contract under section 

18 521 for a project shall obligate the owner to con19 tinue to maintain the project as decent, safe and 

20 sanitary housing and to operate the development as 

21 affordable housing in a manner that meets the goals 

22 of this title, except that the Secretary shall establish 

23 standards for the setting of rents. 

24 ‘‘(4) CONDITIONS FOR APPROVAL.— 

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1 ‘‘(A) PLAN.—Before the approval of a 

2 rental assistance contract authorized under this 

3 section, the Secretary shall require the owner to 

4 submit to the Secretary a plan that identifies fi5 nancing sources and a timetable for renovations 

6 and improvements determined to be necessary 

7 by the Secretary to maintain and preserve the 

8 project. 

9 ‘‘(B) AUTOMATIC APPROVAL.—If a plan 

10 submitted under subparagraph (A) is not acted 

11 upon by the Secretary within 30 days of the 

12 submission, the rental assistance contract is 

13 automatically approved for not more than a 1- 

14 year period. 

15 ‘‘(g) MULTIFAMILY HOUSING TRANSFER TECHNICAL

16 ASSISTANCE.—Under the program under this section, the 

17 Secretary may provide grants to qualified nonprofit orga18 nizations and public housing agencies to provide technical 

19 assistance, including financial and legal services, to bor20 rowers under loans under this title for multifamily housing 

21 to facilitate the acquisition or preservation of such multi22 family housing properties in areas where the Secretary de23 termines there is a risk of loss of affordable housing. 

24 ‘‘(h) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of any amounts 

25 made available for the program under this section for any 

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1 fiscal year, the Secretary may use not more than 

2 $1,000,000 for administrative expenses for carrying out 

3 such program. 

4 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

5 authorized to be appropriated for the program under this 

6 section $200,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 

7 through 2028. 

8 ‘‘(j) RULEMAKING.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

10 after the date of enactment of the Rural Housing 

11 Service Reform Act of 2023, the Secretary shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) publish an advance notice of proposed 

13 rulemaking; and 

14 ‘‘(B) consult with appropriate stake15 holders. 

16 ‘‘(2) INTERIM FINAL RULE.—Not later than 1 

17 year after the date of enactment of the Rural Hous18 ing Service Reform Act of 2023, the Secretary shall 

19 publish an interim final rule to carry out this sec20 tion.’’. 

21 SEC. 202. ELIGIBILITY FOR RURAL HOUSING VOUCHERS. 

22 Section 542 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 

23 1490r) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY OF HOUSEHOLDS IN SECTIONS

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1 vide rural housing vouchers under this section for any low2 income household (including those not receiving rental as3 sistance) residing for a term longer than the remaining 

4 term of their lease that is in effect on the date of mortgage 

5 maturity, in a property financed with a loan under section 

6 514 or 515 or a grant under section 516 that has— 

7 ‘‘(1) been prepaid with or without restrictions 

8 imposed by the Secretary pursuant to section 

9 502(c)(5)(G)(ii)(I); 

10 ‘‘(2) been foreclosed; or 

11 ‘‘(3) matured after September 30, 2005.’’. 

12 SEC. 203. AMOUNT OF VOUCHER ASSISTANCE. 

13 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the 

14 case of any rural housing voucher provided pursuant to 

15 section 542 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 

16 1490r), the amount of the monthly assistance payment for 

17 the household on whose behalf the assistance is provided 

18 shall be determined as provided in subsection (a) of such 

19 section 542, including providing for interim and annual 

20 review of the voucher amount in the event of a change 

21 in household composition or income or rental rate. 

22 SEC. 204. RENTAL ASSISTANCE CONTRACT AUTHORITY. 

23 Section 521(d) of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 

24 U.S.C. 1490a(d)), as amended by section 101(b), is 

25 amended— 

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1 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

2 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) 

3 and (C) as subparagraphs (C) and (D), respec4 tively; 

5 (B) by inserting after subparagraph (A) 

6 the following: 

7 ‘‘(B) upon request of an owner of a project fi8 nanced under section 514 or 515, the Secretary is 

9 authorized to enter into renewal of such agreements 

10 for a period of 20 years or the term of the loan, 

11 whichever is shorter, subject to amounts made avail12 able in appropriations Acts;’’; 

13 (C) in subparagraph (C), as so redesig14 nated, by striking ‘‘subparagraph (A)’’ and in15 serting ‘‘subparagraphs (A) and (B)’’; and 

16 (D) in subparagraph (D), as so redesig17 nated, by striking ‘‘subparagraphs (A) and 

18 (B)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (A), (B), 

19 and (C)’’; 

20 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘shall’’ and 

21 inserting ‘‘may’’; and 

22 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(4) In the case of any rental assistance contract au24 thority that becomes available because of the termination 

25 of assistance on behalf of an assisted family— 

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1 ‘‘(A) at the option of the owner of the rental 

2 project, the Secretary shall provide the owner a pe3 riod of not more than 6 months before unused as4 sistance is made available pursuant to subparagraph 

5 (B) during which the owner may use such assistance 

6 authority to provide assistance on behalf of an eligi7 ble unassisted family that— 

8 ‘‘(i) is residing in the same rental project 

9 that the assisted family resided before the ter10 mination; or 

11 ‘‘(ii) newly occupies a dwelling unit in the 

12 rental project during that 6-month period; and 

13 ‘‘(B) except for assistance used as provided in 

14 subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall use such re15 maining authority to provide assistance on behalf of 

16 eligible families residing in other rental projects 

17 originally financed under section 514, 515, or 516.’’. 

18 SEC. 205. FUNDING FOR TECHNICAL IMPROVEMENTS. 

19 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

20 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Agri21 culture such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 

22 2024 for improving the technology of the Department of 

23 Agriculture used to process and manage housing loans. 

24 (b) TIMELINE.—The improvements required under 

25 subsection (a) shall be made within the 5-year period beVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:25 Jan 04, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6785.IH H6785
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1 ginning upon the appropriation of amounts under sub2 section (a), and those amounts shall remain available until 

3 the expiration of that 5-year period. 

4 TITLE III—NATIVE CDFI 

5 RELENDING 

6 SEC. 301. NATIVE CDFI RELENDING PROGRAM. 

7 Section 502 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 

8 1472) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(j) SET ASIDE FOR NATIVE COMMUNITY DEVELOP10 MENT FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

12 ‘‘(A) the term ‘Alaska Native’ has the 

13 meaning given the term ‘Native’ in section 3(b) 

14 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 

15 U.S.C. 1602(b)); 

16 ‘‘(B) the term ‘appropriate congressional 

17 committees’ means— 

18 ‘‘(i) the Committee on Agriculture of 

19 the Senate; 

20 ‘‘(ii) the Committee on Indian Affairs 

21 of the Senate; 

22 ‘‘(iii) the Committee on Banking, 

23 Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate; 

24 ‘‘(iv) the Committee on Agriculture of 

25 the House of Representatives; 

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1 ‘‘(v) the Committee on Natural Re2 sources of the House of Representatives; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(vi) the Committee on Financial 

5 Services of the House of Representatives; 

6 ‘‘(C) the term ‘community development fi7 nancial institution’ has the meaning given the 

8 term in section 103 of the Community Develop9 ment Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 

10 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4702); 

11 ‘‘(D) the term ‘Indian Tribe’ has the 

12 meaning given the term ‘Indian tribe’ in section 

13 4 of the Native American Housing Assistance 

14 and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 

15 4103); 

16 ‘‘(E) the term ‘Native community develop17 ment financial institution’ means an entity— 

18 ‘‘(i) that has been certified as a com19 munity development financial institution by 

20 the Secretary of the Treasury; 

21 ‘‘(ii) that is not less than 51 percent 

22 owned or controlled by members of Indian 

23 Tribes, Alaska Native communities, or Na24 tive Hawaiian communities; and 

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1 ‘‘(iii) for which not less than 51 per2 cent of the activities of the entity serve In3 dian Tribes, Alaska Native communities, 

4 or Native Hawaiian communities; 

5 ‘‘(F) the term ‘Native Hawaiian’ has the 

6 meaning given the term in section 801 of the 

7 Native American Housing Assistance and Self8 Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4221); 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(G) the term ‘priority Tribal land’ 

11 means— 

12 ‘‘(i) any land located within the 

13 boundaries of— 

14 ‘‘(I) an Indian reservation, pueb15 lo, or rancheria; or 

16 ‘‘(II) a former reservation within 

17 Oklahoma; 

18 ‘‘(ii) any land not located within the 

19 boundaries of an Indian reservation, pueb20 lo, or rancheria, the title to which is held— 

21 ‘‘(I) in trust by the United States 

22 for the benefit of an Indian Tribe or 

23 an individual Indian; 

24 ‘‘(II) by an Indian Tribe or an 

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1 tion against alienation under laws of 

2 the United States; or 

3 ‘‘(III) by a dependent Indian 

4 community; 

5 ‘‘(iii) any land located within a region 

6 established pursuant to section 7(a) of the 

7 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 

8 U.S.C. 1606(a)); 

9 ‘‘(iv) Hawaiian Home Lands, as de10 fined in section 801 of the Native Amer11 ican Housing Assistance and Self-Deter12 mination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4221); or 

13 ‘‘(v) those areas or communities des14 ignated by the Assistant Secretary of In15 dian Affairs of the Department of the Inte16 rior that are near, adjacent, or contiguous 

17 to reservations where financial assistance 

18 and social service programs are provided to 

19 Indians because of their status as Indians. 

20 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this subsection 

21 is to— 

22 ‘‘(A) increase homeownership opportunities 

23 for Indian Tribes, Alaska Native Communities, 

24 and Native Hawaiian communities in rural 

25 areas; and 

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1 ‘‘(B) provide capital to Native community 

2 development financial institutions to increase 

3 the number of mortgage transactions carried 

4 out by those institutions. 

5 ‘‘(3) SET ASIDE FOR NATIVE CDFIS.—Of 

6 amounts appropriated to make direct loans under 

7 this section for each fiscal year, the Secretary may 

8 use not more than $50,000,000 to make direct loans 

9 to Native community development financial institu10 tions in accordance with this subsection. 

11 ‘‘(4) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—A Native 

12 community development financial institution desiring 

13 a loan under this subsection shall demonstrate that 

14 the institution— 

15 ‘‘(A) can provide the non-Federal cost 

16 share required under paragraph (6); and 

17 ‘‘(B) is able to originate and service loans 

18 for single family homes. 

19 ‘‘(5) LENDING REQUIREMENTS.—A Native com20 munity development financial institution that re21 ceives a loan pursuant to this subsection shall— 

22 ‘‘(A) use those amounts to make loans to 

23 borrowers— 

24 ‘‘(i) who otherwise meet the require25 ments for a loan under this section; and 

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1 ‘‘(ii) who— 

2 ‘‘(I) are members of an Indian 

3 Tribe, an Alaska Native community, 

4 or a Native Hawaiian community; or 

5 ‘‘(II) maintain a household in 

6 which not less 1 member is a member 

7 of an Indian Tribe, an Alaska Native 

8 community, or a Native Hawaiian 

9 community; and 

10 ‘‘(B) in making loans under subparagraph 

11 (A), give priority to borrowers described in that 

12 subparagraph who are residing on priority Trib13 al land. 

14 ‘‘(6) NON-FEDERAL COST SHARE.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A Native community 

16 development financial institution that receives a 

17 loan under this section shall be required to 

18 match not less than 20 percent of the amount 

19 received. 

20 ‘‘(B) WAIVER.—In the case of a loan for 

21 which amounts are used to make loans to bor22 rowers described in paragraph (5)(B), the Sec23 retary shall waive the non-Federal cost share 

24 requirement described in subparagraph (A) with 

25 respect to those loan amounts. 

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1 ‘‘(7) REPORTING.— 

2 ‘‘(A) ANNUAL REPORT BY NATIVE

3 CDFIS.—Each Native community development 

4 financial institution that receives a loan pursu5 ant to this subsection shall submit an annual 

6 report to the Secretary on the lending activities 

7 of the institution using the loan amounts, which 

8 shall include— 

9 ‘‘(i) a description of the outreach ef10 forts of the institution in local communities 

11 to identify eligible borrowers; 

12 ‘‘(ii) a description of how the institu13 tion leveraged additional capital to reach 

14 prospective borrowers; 

15 ‘‘(iii) the number of loan applications 

16 received, approved, and deployed; 

17 ‘‘(iv) the average loan amount; 

18 ‘‘(v) the number of finalized loans 

19 that were made on Tribal trust lands and 

20 not on Tribal trust lands; and 

21 ‘‘(vi) the number of finalized loans 

22 that were made on priority Tribal land and 

23 not priority Tribal land. 

24 ‘‘(B) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

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1 ment of this subsection, and every year there2 after, the Secretary shall submit to the appro3 priate congressional communities a report that 

4 includes— 

5 ‘‘(i) a list of loans made to Native 

6 community development financial institu7 tions pursuant to this subsection, including 

8 the name of the institution and the loan 

9 amount; 

10 ‘‘(ii) the percentage of loans made 

11 under this section to members of Indian 

12 Tribes, Alaska Native communities, and 

13 Native Hawaiian communities, respectively, 

14 including a breakdown of loans made to 

15 households residing on and not on Tribal 

16 trust lands; and 

17 ‘‘(iii) the average loan amount made 

18 by Native community development finan19 cial institutions pursuant to this sub20 section. 

21 ‘‘(C) EVALUATION OF PROGRAM.—Not 

22 later than 3 years after the date of enactment 

23 of this subsection, the Secretary and the Sec24 retary of the Treasury shall conduct an evalua25 tion of and submit to the appropriate congresVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:25 Jan 04, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6785.IH H6785
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1 sional committees a report on the program 

2 under this subsection, which shall— 

3 ‘‘(i) evaluate the effectiveness of the 

4 program, including an evaluation of the de5 mand for loans under the program; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) include recommendations relating 

7 to the program, including whether— 

8 ‘‘(I) the program should be ex9 panded to such that all community de10 velopment financial institutions may 

11 make loans under the program to the 

12 borrowers described in paragraph (5); 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(II) the set aside amount para15 graph (3) should be modified in order 

16 to match demand under the program. 

17 ‘‘(8) GRANTS FOR OPERATIONAL SUPPORT.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

19 make grants to Native community development 

20 financial institutions that receive a loan under 

21 this section to provide operational support and 

22 other related services to those institutions, sub23 ject to— 

24 ‘‘(i) the satisfactory performance, as 

25 determined by the Secretary, of a Native 

26 

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1 community development financial institu2 tion in carrying out this section; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) the availability of funding. 

4 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT.—A Native community de5 velopment financial institution that receives a 

6 loan under this section shall be eligible to re7 ceive a grant described in subparagraph (A) in 

8 an amount equal to 20 percent of the direct 

9 loan amount received by the Native community 

10 development financial institution under the pro11 gram under this section as of the date on which 

12 the direct loan is awarded. 

13 ‘‘(9) OUTREACH AND TECHNICAL ASSIST14 ANCE.—There is authorized to be appropriated to 

15 the Secretary $1,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

16 2024, 2025, and 2026— 

17 ‘‘(A) to provide technical assistance to Na18 tive community development financial institu19 tions— 

20 ‘‘(i) relating to homeownership and 

21 other housing-related assistance provided 

22 by the Secretary; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) to assist those institutions to 

24 perform outreach to eligible homebuyers 

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1 relating to the loan program under this 

2 section; or 

3 ‘‘(B) to provide funding to a national orga4 nization representing Native American housing 

5 interests to perform outreach and provide tech6 nical assistance as described in clauses (i) and 

7 (ii), respectively, of subparagraph (A). 

8 ‘‘(10) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—In addition to 

9 other available funds, the Secretary may use not 

10 more than 3 percent of the amounts made available 

11 to carry out this subsection for administration of the 

12 programs established under this subsection.’’. 

13 TITLE IV—SECTION 504 LOANS 

14 AND GRANTS 

15 SEC. 401. MODIFICATIONS TO LOANS AND GRANTS FOR 

16 MINOR IMPROVEMENTS TO FARM HOUSING 

17 AND BUILDINGS. 

18 Section 504(a) of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 

19 U.S.C. 1474) is amended by striking ‘‘$7,500’’ and insert20 ing ‘‘$15,000’’. 

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1 TITLE V—RURAL COMMUNITY 

2 DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE 

3 GRANTS 

4 SEC. 501. RURAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE. 

5 Subtitle E of the Consolidated Farm and Rural De6 velopment Act (7 U.S.C. 2009 et seq.) is amended by add7 ing at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 381O. RURAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INITIA9 TIVE. 

10 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en12 tity’ means— 

13 ‘‘(A) a private, nonprofit community-based 

14 housing or community development organiza15 tion; 

16 ‘‘(B) a rural community; or 

17 ‘‘(C) a federally recognized Indian Tribe. 

18 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE INTERMEDIARY.—The term ‘eli19 gible intermediary’ means a qualified— 

20 ‘‘(A) private, nonprofit organization; or 

21 ‘‘(B) public organization. 

22 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab23 lish a Rural Community Development Initiative, under 

24 which the Secretary shall provide grants to eligible inter25 mediaries to carry out programs to provide financial and 

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1 technical assistance to eligible entities to develop the ca2 pacity and ability of eligible entities to carry out projects 

3 to improve housing, community facilities, and community 

4 and economic development projects in rural areas. 

5 ‘‘(c) AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—The amount of a grant 

6 provided to an eligible intermediary under this section 

7 shall be not more than $250,000. 

8 ‘‘(d) MATCHING FUNDS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible intermediary re10 ceiving a grant under this section shall provide 

11 matching funds from other sources, including Fed12 eral funds for related activities, in an amount not 

13 less than the amount of the grant. 

14 ‘‘(2) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive para15 graph (1) with respect to a project that would be 

16 carried out in a persistently poor rural region, as de17 termined by the Secretary.’’. 

18 TITLE VI—REPORTS 

19 SEC. 601. ANNUAL REPORT ON RURAL HOUSING PRO20 GRAMS. 

21 Title V of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1471 

22 et seq.), as amended by this Act, is amended by adding 

23 at the end the following: 

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1 ‘‘SEC. 546. ANNUAL REPORT. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall submit to 

3 the appropriate committees of Congress and publish on 

4 the website of the Department of Agriculture an annual 

5 report on rural housing programs carried out under this 

6 title, which shall include significant details on the health 

7 of Rural Housing Service programs, including— 

8 ‘‘(1) raw data sortable by programs and by re9 gion regarding loan performance; 

10 ‘‘(2) the housing stock of those programs, in11 cluding information on why properties end participa12 tion in those programs, such as for maturation, pre13 payment, foreclosure, or other servicing issues; and 

14 ‘‘(3) risk ratings for properties assisted under 

15 those programs. 

16 ‘‘(b) PROTECTION OF INFORMATION.—The data in17 cluded in each report required under subsection (a) may 

18 be aggregated or anonymized to protect participant finan19 cial or personal information.’’. 

20 SEC. 602. GAO REPORT ON RURAL HOUSING SERVICE 

21 TECHNOLOGY. 

22 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

23 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

24 shall submit to Congress a report that includes— 

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1 (1) an analysis of how the outdated technology 

2 used by the Rural Housing Service impacts partici3 pants in the programs of the Rural Housing Service; 

4 (2) an estimate of the amount of funding that 

5 is needed to modernize the technology used by the 

6 Rural Housing Service; and 

7 (3) an estimate of the number and type of new 

8 employees the Rural Housing Service needs to mod9 ernize the technology used by the Rural Housing 

10 Service. 

11 TITLE VII—RURAL HOUSING 

12 VOUCHER PROGRAM 

13 SEC. 701. ADJUSTMENT TO RURAL DEVELOPMENT VOUCH14 ER AMOUNT. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 

16 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture 

17 shall issue regulations to establish a process for adjusting 

18 the voucher amount provided under section 542 of the 

19 Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1490r) after the issuance 

20 of the voucher following an interim or annual review of 

21 the amount of the voucher. 

22 (b) INTERIM REVIEW.—The interim review described 

23 in subsection (a) shall, at the request of a tenant, allow 

24 for a recalculation of the voucher amount when the tenant 

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1 experiences a reduction in income, change in family com2 position, or change in rental rate. 

3 (c) ANNUAL REVIEW.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The annual review described 

5 in subsection (a) shall require tenants to annually 

6 recertify the family composition of the household 

7 and that the family income of the household does 

8 not exceed 80 percent of the area median income at 

9 a time determined by the Secretary. 

10 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—If a tenant does not re11 certify the family composition and family income of 

12 the household within the time frame required under 

13 paragraph (1), the Secretary of Agriculture— 

14 (A) shall consider whether extenuating cir15 cumstances caused the delay in recertification; 

16 and 

17 (B) may alter associated consequences for 

18 the failure to recertify based on those cir19 cumstances. 

20 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Following the annual 

21 review of a voucher under subsection (a), the up22 dated voucher amount shall be effective on the 1st 

23 day of the month following the expiration of the 

24 voucher. 

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1 (d) DEADLINE.—The process established under sub2 section (a) shall require the Secretary of Agriculture to 

3 review and update the voucher amount described in sub4 section (a) for a tenant not later than 60 days before the 

5 end of the voucher term. 

6 TITLE VIII—TRANSFERS TO 

7 NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS 

8 SEC. 801. TRANSFER OF MULTIFAMILY RURAL HOUSING 

9 PROJECTS. 

10 Section 515 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 

11 1485) is amended— 

12 (1) in subsection (h), by adding at the end the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(3) TRANSFER TO NONPROFIT ORGANIZA15 TIONS.—A nonprofit or public body purchaser, in16 cluding a limited partnership with a general partner 

17 that is a nonprofit or is controlled by a nonprofit, 

18 may purchase a property for which a loan is made 

19 or insured under this section that has received a 

20 market value appraisal, without addressing rehabili21 tation needs at the time of purchase, if the pur22 chaser— 

23 ‘‘(A) makes a commitment to address re24 habilitation needs during ownership and long25 term use restrictions on the property; and 

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1 ‘‘(B) at the time of purchase, accepts long2 term use restrictions on the property.’’; and 

3 (2) in subsection (w)(1), in the first sentence in 

4 the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking 

5 ‘‘9 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘50 percent’’. 

6 TITLE IX—TERM OF DIRECT 

7 LOANS MADE BY THE RURAL 

8 HOUSING SERVICE 

9 SEC. 901. EXTENSION OF LOAN TERM. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 502(a)(2) of the Housing 

11 Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1472(a)(2)) is amended— 

12 (1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before ‘‘The Secretary’’; 

13 (2) in subparagraph (A), as so designated, by 

14 striking ‘‘paragraph’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph’’; 

15 and 

16 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(B) The Secretary may extend the period of 

18 any loan made under this section in accordance with 

19 terms and conditions as the Secretary shall pre20 scribe, but in no event shall the total term of the 

21 loan exceed 40 years.’’. 

22 (b) APPLICATION.—The amendment made under 

23 subsection (a) shall apply with respect to loans made 

24 under section 502 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 

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1 1472) before, on, or after the date of enactment of this 

2 Act. 

Æ