The House voted 396-13 to pass its amended version of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act on May 20. The ball is once again in the Senate’s court to determine what happens next with the bill, which has gained strong bipartisan support from lawmakers and within the financial services sector.
The bipartisan legislation was designed to tackle the nationwide housing inventory and affordability crisis by reducing regulatory barriers to home construction and loan origination.
Its key provisions include restoring certain community banking supports, establishing pilot programs for small-dollar mortgages and limiting the acquisition of single-family homes by large institutional investors, in line with an executive order issued in January.
Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) President and CEO Bob Broeksmit released a statement welcoming the bill’s advancement thanking House Financial Services Committee Chair French Hill (R-Ark.), Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and other lawmakers who supported the legislation.
“The House revisions addressed many key concerns raised by MBA and other stakeholders, strengthening the legislation while preserving important measures in the Senate’s bill to boost housing supply and expand access to affordable mortgage credit,” Broeksmit said. “The Senate’s quick passage of this bill and President Trump’s signature will help advance meaningful housing affordability solutions for our nation’s homeowners and renters.”
Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said in a statement, “ICBA and the nation’s community banks strongly support bipartisan House passage of the amended housing bill, which includes pro-community bank regulatory reforms that will help spur home construction and alleviate the housing crisis.”
Among the few contentious portions of the bill to be ironed out are disagreements over tenant protections and investor mandates.
The Senate’s version featured broader language limiting institutional investors and had fewer exceptions. It also included an additional requirement that single-family homes built by “mega-landlords” – corporate entities, private equity firms or Real Estate Investment Trusts that own thousands of residential properties as long-term rentals - be sold to individual homebuyers within seven years. The House version prohibits institutional investors with 350 or more single-family homes from purchasing additional properties.
Among the more notable changes the House made to the bill was the addition of a community-banking provision the Senate removed from its version of the bill. This provision was intended to promote new community bank formation and streamline examinations for smaller institutions, which held 57 percent of one-to-four family residential construction loans in 2024.
The Senate must vote on the amended version of the bill to determine the next steps in its path to potentially becoming a much anticipated law.
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