Community Development

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Emergency Relief: President Donald J. Trump signs a Presidential Memorandum to deliver emergency price relief for American families and defeat the cost-of-living crisis

On January 22, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum to deliver emergency price relief for American families and defeat the cost-of-living crisis.  The Presidential Memorandum recognizes a critical component of the crushing cost of everyday living. The Biden Administration imposed complex regulatory burdens and radical policies designed to weaken American production. This includes action to drastically lower the cost of housing and expand housing supply, eliminate unnecessary administrative expenses and rent-seeking practices that drive up healthcare costs, eliminate counterproductive requirements raising the costs of home appliances, create employment opportunities for American workers including drawing discouraged workers into the labor force, and eliminate harmful, coercive “climate” policies driving up the costs of food and fuel.  Click the title to learn more.

Biden-Harris Administration Awards nearly $3.6 Billion in Homelessness Assistance Funding to Communities Nationwide

On January 17, 2025, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced nearly $3.6 billion in Continuum of Care (CoC) program awards for nearly 7,000 projects that provide housing assistance and supportive services to people experiencing homelessness, as well as costs related to planning and data collection. As a result of HUD extending application deadlines for disaster impacted areas, this is the first of two FY 2024 CoC award announcements. “These awards are a significant investment in resources to end homelessness,” said HUD Agency Head, The Honorable Adrianne Todman. “Throughout the Biden-Harris Administration, HUD has furthered its commitment to addressing homelessness through major funding advancements and through programs like this one that provide critical funding, powered by a community-centered approach, to rehouse people in need.” Click the title to learn more.

HUD Charges Homeowners’ Association with Race and Color Discrimination

On January 16, 2025, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that it is charging a homeowners association with housing discrimination for enacting rules designed to effectively remove Black residents utilizing housing choice vouchers from a community in the Town of Providence Village. HUD’s Charge alleges that the respondents’ actions were based on race and color. The Charge further alleges that the respondents filed retaliatory legal action designed to intimidate residents’ safety for exercising their fair housing rights and failed to act when heightened racial tensions left complainants fearing for their safety. The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination because of race and color. The Act also makes it unlawful to intimidate or threaten a person for engaging in a protected activity such as filing a fair housing complaint with HUD.“No resident should be subjected to housing discrimination based on their race and color or face adverse action for asserting their legal rights,” said Diane M. Shelley, HUD’s Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. “This Charge demonstrates HUD’s commitment to enforcing the full breadth of the Fair Housing Act and making sure all residents have access to fair housing.” Click the title to learn more.

HUD Updates Options to Help Homeowners Keep Their Homes

On January 16, 2025, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), through its Federal Housing Administration (FHA), announced an updated set of permanent options for mortgage servicers to help borrowers with FHA-insured single-family mortgages keep their homes or otherwise avoid foreclosure when they fall behind on their mortgage payments. The options, commonly referred to as FHA’s loss mitigation “waterfall,” builds off and update the temporary options FHA implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic based on FHA and mortgage servicers’ experience in helping more than two million struggling borrowers stay in their homes over the last four years. Servicers must implement and make these options available to borrowers beginning February 2, 2026. FHA’s current, temporary COVID-19 options will remain in place through February 1, 2026.  Click the title to learn more.

HUD Awards Nearly $137 Million in Grants to Increase Affordable Housing and Supportive Services for Seniors and Disabled Persons

On January 15, 2025, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD's) Office of Multifamily Housing Programs announced that it has awarded $97 million in grants to non-profit organizations to support new development or rehabilitation of affordable multifamily homes and rental assistance for seniors. In addition, HUD has awarded $40 million in grants to increase the availability of service coordinators who connect seniors and disabled persons with critical resources.  “The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to ensuring that our seniors have access to homes they can afford,” said HUD Agency Head Adrianne Todman. “Too many seniors are facing housing instability and homelessness.  As a country, we must do more to ensure that we are caring for those who came before us. It is the right thing to do.”  Click the title to learn more.