2026-09-27 · Federal · Legislation

What happened. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act (H.R. 6644) became Public Law 119-101 on July 11, 2026. After the House agreed 358–32 to the Senate's final amendment on June 23, the bill was presented to the President on June 29 and became law without a signature.¹ The act does not regulate homeowners' associations directly — the phrases “homeowners association” and “community association” do not appear in the enrolled text — but several provisions reach who buys and what gets built inside association-governed communities.²

Large-investor purchase limits

Section 1001 provides that “no large institutional investor may purchase, or enter into a contract to directly or indirectly purchase, any single-family home.” A large institutional investor is a for-profit entity with investment control of “not less than 350 single-family homes,” and a single-family home is a structure with “2 or fewer dwelling units,” excluding manufactured homes.²

• The prohibition takes effect 180 days after enactment — early January 2027 — and sunsets after 15 years.
• Civil penalties reach the greater of $1,000,000 per violation or three times the purchase price.
• Existing holdings do not have to be sold.
• Exceptions cover build-to-rent homes (including in communities “made up of single-family homes that are both owner- and renter-occupied”), renovate-to-rent homes, foreclosure and loss-mitigation acquisitions, and certain new or renovated 55-and-over housing.

Manufactured homes without a chassis

Section 301 changes the federal definition of “manufactured home” from a structure built “on a permanent chassis” to one built “with or without a permanent chassis.” Each state has one year (two for states whose legislatures meet biennially) to certify that chassis-less homes receive the same legal treatment as chassis-built ones; in a state that does not certify, new chassis-less homes cannot be manufactured, installed or sold. The act preserves existing federal preemption of state and local construction standards under 42 U.S.C. 5403(d).²

Zoning incentives, not covenant overrides

HUD's model zoning frameworks must recommend “the elimination of restrictions against accessory dwelling units,” and new grants reward jurisdictions for expanding by-right ADUs and small multi-unit housing. These provisions are directed at state and local land-use law. Nothing in the enrolled text overrides a recorded declaration or private covenant.²

FHA financing

Section 211 raises the per-unit FHA mortgage limits for condominium projects under National Housing Act § 234(e) — for example, “striking ‘$42,048’ and inserting ‘$185,011’” — and rewrites the cooperative limits under § 213. Section 303 lets FHA Title I property-improvement loans finance “construction of additional or accessory dwelling units.”³

What it changes for associations

• Buyer pool. From early 2027, sales of detached homes and duplexes inside HOAs to entities controlling 350 or more homes are restricted, subject to the build-to-rent and other exceptions. Association leasing rules are untouched by the act; it regulates the purchaser, not the community.
• Covenant language. Many declarations restrict “mobile homes” or “manufactured homes.” Whether such a covenant reaches a chassis-less factory-built home is a question of the covenant's own wording under state law; the federal definition change does not itself answer that question.
• Accessory units. State and local ADU mandates prompted by the new grants reach private covenants only where a state statute says so.

What to watch next

• Treasury's optional implementing rules on the investor ban, developed with HUD, FHFA and the SEC.
• HUD's revised construction standards for chassis-less homes, and state certifications due July 2027.

1. H.R. 6644 (119th Cong.), bill status, GovInfo ↩
2. H.R. 6644, 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, enrolled text ↩
3. H.R. 6644, enrolled text, Congress.gov ↩