The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act became Public Law 119-101 on July 11, 2026, becoming law without the President’s signature after the ten-day period under Article I, Section 7 elapsed. The bipartisan legislation seeks to expand the nation’s housing supply by modernizing federal housing programs, supporting small-dollar mortgage lending, revising community bank regulations, and restricting certain institutional purchases of single-family homes.
The law pairs a broad set of housing measures with nine community banking provisions.
Specifically, the law:
- Supports small-dollar mortgages. HUD may establish a four-year FHA pilot for mortgages of $100,000 or less, including lender payments, borrower assistance, and technical support. The CFPB must also study how Regulation Z’s points-and-fees thresholds affect these loans.
- Modernizes manufactured housing programs. The law expands the federal manufactured housing definition, increases certain FHA Title I loan limits, and permits financing for qualifying accessory dwelling units.
- Revises community bank requirements. Certain custodial deposits held by qualifying banks with less than $10 billion in assets will not be treated as brokered deposits. The law also raises the threshold for less frequent examinations from $3 billion to $6 billion.
- Limits institutional home purchases. Subject to exceptions, for-profit entities controlling at least 350 single-family homes may not acquire additional homes beginning January 7, 2027, which is 180 days after enactment. Violations may result in substantial civil penalties.
- Restricts a federal digital dollar. The Federal Reserve may not issue a retail central bank digital currency, directly or through an intermediary, through December 31, 2030.
Putting It Into Practice: The law builds on the administration’s earlier initiative targeting institutional ownership of single-family homes (previously discussed here). Its mortgage, manufactured housing, bank funding, and investor-purchase provisions will require substantial agency implementation and may lead to new rulemakings and guidance. The prohibition on a retail central bank digital currency also forecloses, at least through 2030, a policy option that has shaped payments and digital asset planning for several years, and firms that built product or partnership strategies around a potential retail CBDC should revisit those assumptions. Mortgage lenders, banks, manufactured housing finance providers, servicers, and institutional investors should identify the provisions applicable to their operations and monitor implementation deadlines and agency activity.