2026-09-27 · Federal · Legislation · Pending — not yet law

What happened. A bipartisan bill introduced June 30, 2026 would, if enacted, let the Federal Housing Administration insure loans made directly to condominium associations for repairs to common elements. H.R. 9569, the Making Condos Safer and Affordable Act of 2026, was referred to the House Financial Services Committee the same day and has had no further action.¹

What the bill would do

The bill is sponsored by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) with Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) as original cosponsor, and was announced around the anniversary of the 2021 Surfside collapse.² It has three parts:³

• Association borrowing (National Housing Act § 234). HUD could insure a mortgage “under which the mortgagor is the governing body of the condominium project,” to finance the “rehabilitation, alteration, repair, improvement, or replacement of any common system, infrastructure, facility, feature, portion, or area.” The loan could be secured by “future lien-based mandatory unit owner payments required pursuant to State statute, a recorded declaration of covenants, or lawful rule, by-law, or guideline,” and could not exceed “90 percent of the cost” of the work.
• Special assessments through 203(k). FHA's rehabilitation mortgage could be used to pay “a non-regular assessment charged by the governing body of the condominium project,” notwithstanding the FHA handbook, with a cap of 115 percent of the estimated post-rehabilitation value.
• Title I loans. The property-improvement loan limit for condominium special assessments would rise from $25,000 to $55,000, indexed to consumer prices.

Why it is getting attention

No existing FHA program lends to the association itself for structural work; associations borrow commercially, secured by assessment income, or levy special assessments. The bill arrives as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac tighten reserve and critical-repair standards for condominium projects, which raises the cost of deferred repairs for unit financing. The Community Associations Institute listed the bill among its priorities for its September 24, 2026 Capitol Hill advocacy day.⁴

What to watch next

• Additional cosponsors, a Senate companion, or a Financial Services Committee markup.
• The calendar: the 119th Congress ends January 3, 2027, and a bill that has not passed both chambers by then dies and would have to be reintroduced.

1. H.R. 9569 (119th Cong.), bill status, GovInfo ↩
2. Rep. Wasserman Schultz, press release on H.R. 9569 ↩
3. H.R. 9569 (119th Cong.), introduced text ↩
4. Community Associations Institute, 2026 advocacy summit priorities ↩