Housing Provisions in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260)
INSIGHTi
Housing Provisions in the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260)
February 10, 2021
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260, enacted on December 27, 2020) contains
regular annual appropriations for housing and homelessness programs in the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the U.S.
Department of Veteran Affairs (VA). The act also contains numerous additional housing provisions,
including emergency provisions in response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
This Insight serves as a guide to outline housing provisions contained in P.L. 116-260. It includes links to
other CRS products pertaining to some programs discussed below. This Insight will be updated as
additional CRS products become available. Note that links to legislative text are currently to the enrolled
bill and will be updated when the public law text is available.
Division A – Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug
Administration, and Related Appropriations Act, 2021
Title III – Rural Development Programs
Title III of Division A contains FY2021 appropriations for the Rural Housing Service (RHS).
Division H – Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and
Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2021
Title V – General Provisions
Section 533 provides $638 million to carry out a Low-Income Household Drinking
Water and Wastewater Emergency Assistance Program, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Division J – Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related
Agencies Appropriations Act, 2021
Title II – Department of Veteran Affairs
Title II of Division J includes FY2021 appropriations for veteran housing loan programs and programs
serving veterans who are experiencing homelessness. (The Joint Explanatory Statement contains details
for homeless veteran programs.)
Division L – Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and
Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2021
Title II – Department of Housing and Urban Development
Title II of Division L contains FY2021 appropriations for the Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD).
Title III – Related Agencies
Title III of Division L contains FY2021 appropriations for the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation
(NeighborWorks America) and the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH).
Title IV – General Provisions
Title IV of Division L contains general provisions affecting various housing-related programs and
accounts.
Division N – Additional Coronavirus Response and Relief
Title III – Continuing the Paycheck Protection Program and Other Small Business
Support
Section 316 amends Section 7(a)(36) of the Small Business Act to make housing cooperatives eligible for
participation in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
Title V – Banking
Subtitle A – Emergency Rental Assistance
Section 501 provides $25 billion to the Treasury Department for grants to states and localities to fund
emergency rental assistance.
Section 502 extended the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) order to temporarily halt
residential evictions for covered renters through January 31, 2021.
Section 542 provides temporary authority for HUD to insure 223(d) operating loss loans for eligible
healthcare facilities with existing mortgages insured through the Federal Housing Administration’s
Section 232 Mortgage Insurance for Residential Care Facilities program or the Section 242 Mortgage
Insurance for Hospitals program that are experiencing COVID-19-related losses.
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Division Q – Financial Services Provisions and Intellectual Property
Title I – Financial Services Provisions
Section 101 requires that carbon monoxide alarms or detectors be installed in certain federally assisted
housing units, effective two years from the date of enactment (December 27, 2022). This includes an
authorization of $101.4 million in appropriations per annum for fiscal years 2021, 2022, and 2023.
Section 102 makes Indian Tribes and tribally designated housing entities (TDHEs) eligible to receive
homeless assistance grants through the Continuum of Care (CoC) program.
Section 103 makes a number of changes to the way former foster youth access federal rental assistance.
Section 104 requires HUD to renew all CoC projects with grant awards expiring in calendar year 2021 for
an additional 12 months on a noncompetitive basis. It also renews CoC planning and Unified Funding
Agency awards expiring in calendar year 2021. HUD has identified and published programs that are
eligible for noncompetitive renewal.
Section 105 allows HUD to guarantee loans under the Section 184 Indian Home Loan Guarantee Program
prior to receiving certain trailing documents, subject to certain conditions.
Division EE – Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020
Title I – Extension of Certain Expiring Provisions
Subsection B – Certain Provisions Extended Through 2025
Section 114 extends the exclusion for canceled mortgage debt through the end of 2025. This extension
also reduced the maximum amount of debt that qualifies for the exclusion.
For additional information on this provision, see CRS In Focus IF11535, The Tax
Treatment of Canceled Mortgage Debt, by Mark P. Keightley
Subtitle C – Extension of Certain Other Provisions
Section 133 extends the ability to deduct mortgage insurance premiums through the end of 2021.
Section 146 extends the energy efficient home credit to qualified homes purchased through the end of
2021.
Title II – Other Provisions
Section 201 establishes a minimum rehabilitation credit rate of 4% for the Low Income Housing Tax
Credit (LIHTC) program.
For additional information on LIHTC, see CRS Report RS22389, An Introduction to the
Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, by Mark P. Keightley
Section 202 extends the reduced alternative depreciation system (ADS) recovery period to property
placed in service prior to 2018. P.L. 115-97 (commonly referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, or
TCJA) reduced the ADS recovery period for certain electing real property trades or businesses from 40
years to 30 years for property placed in service after 2018.
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Title III – Disaster Tax Relief
Section 305 increases LIHTC state allocations in qualified disaster zones for calendar years 2021 and
2022.
Division FF – Other Matter
Title X – Bankruptcy Relief
Section 1001 includes certain provisions related to mortgages and bankruptcy. Among other things, it
allows certain debtors who have defaulted on their mortgage payments due to COVID-19 to obtain a
discharge of their debts in bankruptcy even if they have failed to make certain payments required by their
bankruptcy plan.
Author Information
Alyse N. Minter
Research Librarian
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