PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Congressional Research Service
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People & committees
Rep. Lieu, Ted [D-CA-36] · D–CA
Legislative record
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Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: May 10, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-03-18 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed Prevent Homelessness Act of 2025 would create a federal fund for annual grants to local organizations that coordinate homelessness assistance. Programs would help families in the legally defined extremely low-income and very low-income categories who cannot meet housing-related obligations because of financial hardship. Assistance could cover rent, mortgages, utilities, repairs, and certain services and everyday costs that support housing stability. Grants would depend on Congress providing funding through separate appropriations laws.
This Act may be cited as the Prevent Homelessness Act of 2025.
Amounts in the Fund shall be available, to the extent provided in advance in appropriations Acts, only for making annual grants under this section, in the amount determined pursuant to subsection (f), to continua of care to provide short-term assistance under emergency housing assistance programs
provides financial assistance only on behalf of extremely low-income families and very low-income families who— (A) are unable to meet housing-related obligations (as described in subsection (d) of this section) due to a financial hardship
Amounts from grants under this section for an emergency housing assistance program shall be used to provide financial assistance only to meet housing-related obligations
other short-term costs the payment of which increase housing stability for an extremely low-income family or a very low-income family, including costs for gas, groceries, automotive repair, public transportation, furniture, application fees, reunification services, and such other costs as the Secretary may provide.
The bill would require the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to establish and administer the Housing Stabilization Fund through its specified homelessness assistance office. Grants would go to continua of care—collaborative applicants serving geographic areas under the existing federal Continuum of Care Program. A continuum of care or an organization it selects would operate the assistance program within that area.
The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, acting through the Office of Special Needs Assistance Programs of the Office of Community Planning and Development, shall establish and administer a fund to be known as the Housing Stabilization Fund.
(1) is carried out by a continuum of care or other agency, organization, or entity selected by a continuum of care; (2) operates within the geographical area served by the continuum of care;
The term continuum of care means a collaborative applicant established and operating for a geographic area for purposes of the Continuum of Care Program under subtitle C of title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11381 et seq.).
Assistance would be limited to extremely low-income and very low-income families unable to meet housing-related obligations because of financial hardship. Qualifying hardships would include family or health crises, unexpected expenses, unsafe or unhealthy living conditions, situations covered by a referenced housing law, and additional situations HUD allows. The bill incorporates income definitions from existing law without reproducing their thresholds.
(3) provides financial assistance only on behalf of extremely low-income families and very low-income families who— (A) are unable to meet housing-related obligations (as described in subsection (d) of this section) due to a financial hardship, which shall include the situations described in clause (i) of section 3(a)(3)(B) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(a)(3)(B)(i)), a family or health crisis, unexpected expenses, unsafe or unhealthy living conditions, and such other situations as the Secretary may provide;
The terms extremely low-income family and very low-income family have the meanings given such terms in section 3(b) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)).
Families would need evidence that they cannot meet housing-related obligations, such as overdue utility or rent notices or eviction notices. When those notices are unavailable, a continuum of care could establish other ways to identify inability to pay, in consultation with HUD. Programs would also have to coordinate with applicable local systems for prioritizing homelessness assistance and meet additional HUD requirements.
(B) provide evidence of such inability to meet housing related obligations, which may include past-due utilities or rent notices, eviction notices, and such other evidence as the Secretary may provide, except that a continuum of care may, in consultation with the Secretary, provide for additional manners of identifying inability to meet housing related obligations in situations in which such notices are not available;
(4) provides for coordination with any local homeless prioritization criteria, including the Coordinated Entry System or any other evidence-based analytic targeting tool, applicable within the area in which the program will be carried out, in accordance with such requirements as the Secretary shall provide; and (5) meets such other requirements as the Secretary may establish.
Programs could pay upcoming rent, subject to an eight-month limit within the preceding twelve months, whether or not the assisted months are consecutive. Monthly assistance could not exceed what HUD finds reasonable compared with similar privately rented, unassisted homes in the area. Programs could separately pay overdue rent based on the actual amount owed.
(1) prospective rent due, except that such assistance may not— (A) be provided for a family for more than 8 months (whether consecutive or not) within the preceding 12 months; or (B) exceed on a monthly basis the amount that the Secretary determines is reasonable in comparison with rents charged for comparable dwelling units located in the same area in the private, unassisted local market; (2) rental arrears, with payments based on actual rent amount due;
Programs could pay current or overdue mortgage payments. Mortgage assistance would be limited to eight months within the preceding twelve months, whether or not consecutive, and to a monthly amount set by HUD.
(3) mortgage payments due, including amounts past due, except that such assistance may not be provided for a household for more than 8 months (whether consecutive or not) within the preceding 12 months and may not exceed on a monthly basis such amount as the Secretary shall determine;
Other eligible expenses would include current or overdue utility bills, security deposits, and repairs needed to make a home habitable, including insulation and window, door, or roof repairs.
(4) utility payments due, including amounts past due; (5) housing repairs necessary to make the premises habitable, including installing insulation, window repair, door repair, roof repair, and other repairs;
(9) security deposit payments due;
Programs could pay for services addressing mental and behavioral health, domestic violence, child welfare, employment counseling, substance abuse treatment, and other needs. Eligible costs would also include housing counseling, outreach, mediation, case management, and legal help with eviction, foreclosure, or other issues affecting a family's ability to keep its housing.
(6) costs of obtaining services for behavioral, emotional, and mental health issues, domestic violence issues, child welfare issues, employment counseling, substance abuse treatment, or other services; (7) costs of obtaining housing counseling or advice, including outreach, mediation, and case management; (8) costs of obtaining legal assistance relating to eviction, foreclosure, and other issues relating to a family retaining its housing;
Programs could also cover other short-term costs whose payment increases housing stability for eligible families. Listed examples include gas, groceries, car repairs, public transportation, furniture, application fees, and reunification services. HUD could allow additional costs.
(10) other short-term costs the payment of which increase housing stability for an extremely low-income family or a very low-income family, including costs for gas, groceries, automotive repair, public transportation, furniture, application fees, reunification services, and such other costs as the Secretary may provide.
To receive a grant for a fiscal year, a continuum of care would have to submit an application and obtain HUD approval. HUD would decide what information is needed to ensure the grant is used according to the bill.
The Secretary shall require, for a continuum of care to receive a grant under this section for a fiscal year, that the continuum of care submit to the Secretary, and the Secretary approve, an application containing such information as the Secretary considers necessary to ensure that grant amounts are used in accordance with this section.
For fiscal year 2027, all available grant funding would be distributed through a formula—a set of allocation rules. In each later fiscal year, 80 percent would be distributed by formula and 20 percent through a competition among continua of care.
(A) Fiscal year 2027 For fiscal year 2027, any amounts made available from the Fund for grants under this section shall be allocated for grants to continua of care according to the formula established pursuant to paragraph (2). (B) Succeeding fiscal years For each fiscal year thereafter, of any amounts made available from the Fund for grants under this section— (i) 80 percent shall be allocated for grants to continua of care according to the formula established pursuant to paragraph (2); and (ii) 20 percent shall be allocated for grants to continua of care according to a competition pursuant to paragraph (3).
HUD would establish the allocation formula by regulation for applicants it approves. The formula would consider the area's extremely low-income population severely burdened by housing costs, including people experiencing unsheltered homelessness; its very low-income population; and other factors HUD chooses. The bill directs HUD to determine the data for those factors based on its most recent Point-In-Time Homeless Count.
The Secretary shall, by regulation, establish a formula for use to allocate amounts in the Fund for grants for a fiscal year, in accordance with paragraph (1), for continua of care whose applications for such year for such assistance have been approved pursuant to subsection (e).
The formula required by subparagraph (A) shall be designed to take into consideration, for the area served by a continuum of care— (i) the extent of the population that are extremely low-income families, including the homeless population that is unsheltered, who are severely cost-burdened by housing-related costs, including obligations described in subsection (d); (ii) the extent of the population that are very low-income families; and (iii) such other factors as the Secretary may provide. The Secretary shall determine data to be used for the factors considered under the formula based on the most recently conducted Point-In-Time Homeless Count administered by the Secretary.
HUD would establish the grant competition by regulation using measurable criteria. Those criteria would target the lowest-income households and encourage use of other nonfederal funding, homelessness prevention, problem-solving and diversion methods, innovative assistance, and connections to other public benefits. To the greatest extent possible, criteria would use already required reporting or otherwise avoid new burdens on applicants.
The Secretary shall, by regulation, establish a competition for use to allocate amounts in the Fund for grants for a fiscal year for continua of care pursuant to paragraph (1)(B)(ii), which shall be based on measurable criteria that— (A) to the greatest extent possible, are required to be collected and reported to the Department of Housing and Urban Development or any other Federal agency under other provisions of law already in effect or otherwise do not impose new burdens on continua of care; (B) provide for targeting of assistance made available under an emergency housing assistance program to households having the lowest incomes; (C) encourage the leveraging of other non-Federal funds for providing assistance under an emergency housing assistance program; (D) encourage emergency housing assistance programs assisted with grants under this section to provide preventive assistance to avoid homelessness; and (E) encourage problem-solving and diversion methods, including the applicant’s capacity and interest in providing innovative delivery of housing stability interventions and connecting households to other public benefits that promote housing stability.
The bill would authorize Congress to appropriate $100 million for the fund in each fiscal year from 2027 through 2031. This authorization would not itself provide the money: grants would depend on advance appropriations.
There is authorized to be appropriated for the Fund $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2031.
Amounts in the Fund shall be available, to the extent provided in advance in appropriations Acts, only for making annual grants under this section
The supplied official-actions snapshot, updated May 10, 2025, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Financial Services on March 18, 2025.
Source snapshot updated 2025-05-10T08:05:44Z. 2025-03-18: Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services. 2025-03-18: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-03-18. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy rider was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places outside formula or competitive allocation was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow carve-out, special exemption, or preferential exception was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. Ordinary eligibility for the program's intended beneficiaries is not classified as a targeted benefit. This conclusion does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: May 10, 2025. How PlainBill uses AI