The Trump administration is rolling back an Obama-era housing policy that officials say saddled property owners with potentially indefinite liability and contributed to higher housing costs. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Department of Justice say the change will bring enforcement back in line with the Fair Housing Act and federal court rulings.
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From Fox News:
According to internal agency data, the previous policy forced property owners to spend more than $112 million in accessibility retrofits over the last five years just to qualify for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) refinancing—costs that HUD says directly choked off affordable housing supply.
The rule eliminates the ability to hold current property owners indefinitely liable for architectural deviations committed by original builders decades in the past. Under the updated enforcement framework, the clock for filing Fair Housing Act design and construction challenges begins on the exact date a building receives its official certificate of occupancy.
Individuals or advocacy groups now have a strict one-year deadline to file administrative complaints directly with HUD. For private civil lawsuits filed in federal court, the statute of limitations caps claims at two years from the completion of construction.
The dispute centers on HUD’s interpretation of the Fair Housing Act’s accessibility requirements for multifamily housing. Congress amended the law in 1988 to require certain newly constructed multifamily dwellings to incorporate accessibility features for people with disabilities. The law also established time limits for bringing complaints alleging discriminatory housing practices.
Under guidance adopted during the Obama administration in 2013, however, HUD treated certain design and construction violations as continuing violations. That interpretation could leave subsequent property owners facing liability for accessibility problems originating when a building was constructed, even years or decades after the original work was completed.
The Trump administration argues that approach went beyond what Congress authorized. The new guidance instead treats the completion of construction—generally marked by the issuance of a certificate of occupancy—as the point from which the statute of limitations begins to run. HUD says this approach also reflects appellate court precedent holding that a failure to properly design and construct a building occurs during construction rather than continuing indefinitely.
The financial implications could be significant. HUD says one third-party inspection firm alone identified nearly $49 million in required accessibility work across roughly 500 refinancing transactions since 2019. The agency also cited industry reports indicating that uncertainty surrounding potential liability discouraged some property owners from seeking FHA-backed financing, with one major affordable multifamily lender attributing more than $1 billion in lost HUD-insured loan volume over four years to the previous guidance.
HUD Secretary Scott Turner framed the rollback as part of the administration’s broader effort to reduce regulatory costs affecting America’s housing market. Importantly, the change does not eliminate the Fair Housing Act’s protections for people with disabilities. Tenants may still seek reasonable modifications or accommodations for their individual needs under existing law. Rather, the administration says the change limits retroactive liability for original construction defects once the statutory filing periods have expired.
With housing affordability remaining a serious concern for families across the nation, the administration is arguing that unnecessary regulatory costs ultimately make it harder to build, finance, and maintain affordable housing. At the same time, policymakers face the responsibility of protecting Americans with disabilities while ensuring federal agencies enforce laws as Congress actually wrote them. Let’s pray for wisdom as federal officials seek to balance those responsibilities and address the pressures making housing increasingly difficult for American families to afford.
Share your prayers for American families struggling with housing costs in the comments.
(Excerpt from Fox News. Photo Credit: Frans van Heerden/pexels).
