House Passes Luetkemeyer Legislation to Reform Housing Policies in America for First Time in Decades

Washington, D.C. – February 4, 2016 – (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-03) issued the following release after House passage of H.R. 3700, the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act.

“Today Members of Congress joined together to break the trend of failed federal housing policies, Luetkemeyer said.” “This comprehensive, bipartisan legislation represents the first real reforms to the programs and processes at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the United States Department of Agriculture’s Rural Housing Service (RHS) in decades. The success of housing programs should not be judged by the number of federal dollars spent. Instead, we are looking outside the box to streamline HUD and RHS policies and eliminate duplicative programs and waste. The future of housing can and should look different and today, my colleagues and I stood together and passed what is the first step to changing our nation’s housing policies.”

“I am pleased that my colleagues and I were able to successfully pass a piece of legislation that will make important reforms to our public housing programs and strengthen rural housing services,” said U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO).

H.R. 3700 passed in the House of Representatives with a vote of 427-0. The bill was approved the House Financial Services Committee by a vote of 44-10.

H.R. 3700 includes provisions to:

– Ensures that veterans have fair access to housing and homeless assistance programs.
– Authorize the RHS single family housing guaranteed loan program to delegate approval authority to preferred lenders.
– Extend the period for which a family could use a family unification housing voucher and increase the ceiling for the Family Unification Program voucher age requirement.
– Provides a thoughtful limitation on public housing tenancy for over-income residents.