No Free Rent for Freeloaders Act of 2025
No Free Rent for Freeloaders Act of 2025 would create a new financial penalty tied to HUD’s enforcement of the public housing community service and self-sufficiency requirement (the Section 12(c) rule under the U.S. Housing Act of 1937). Specifically, the bill requires the HUD Inspector General (IG) to annually assess how many public housing units are occupied by tenants who are not in compliance, and to publish the total federal subsidies allotted to those noncompliant units. The following year, that published amount would be rescinded from HUD’s Management and Administration (M&A) account. The bill also sets publication deadlines and a fallback timing if the regular appropriations process is delayed. In short, the measure aims to hold HUD financially accountable by clawing back administrative funding equal to the level of noncompliance in public housing, and by publicly reporting the scale of noncompliance each year.
Key Points
- 1Establishes a penalty on HUD for failing to enforce the public housing community service and self-sufficiency requirements (Section 12(c) of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937).
- 2The HUD Inspector General must, annually and for each public housing agency, monitor noncompliance and determine the total federal subsidies associated with units occupied by tenants not in compliance.
- 3The IG must publish, no later than September 30 of each fiscal year, in the Federal Register the amount of subsidies linked to noncompliant units.
- 4Each fiscal year, on October 15 (or the later date if specified), the amount published for the preceding year is rescinded from HUD’s Management and Administration account.
- 5If a general HUD appropriation act hasn’t been enacted by October 15, the rescission date becomes the date of enactment of the appropriation act, ensuring the clawback can still occur.