Recent
Announcements

On October 2, 2006, the National Rural Housing Coalition reported that the full House of Representatives did not address H.R. 5039, the Saving America's Rural Rental Housing Act of 2006, before adjourning. Congress will reconvene after the November election, and it seems unlikely that the House will vote on the measure during that lame duck session. No equivalent measure has been introduced in the Senate.

H.R. 5039 has three major provisions. It would:

• remove prepayment restrictions on pre-1989 Section 515 projects;
• authorize vouchers for tenants in prepaying properties; and
• create a revitalization program for all Section 515 properties.

The bill was passed by the House Financial Services Committee on June 14. The committee report includes a Congressional Budget Office cost estimate, which apparently is the focus of current concerns.

The text of H.R. 5039 is available at http://thomas.loc.gov (search for the bill by number). For more information about rural rental housing preservation, visit HAC's preservation page here.