Obama-era mandate slashed after being blamed for 'skyrocketing' housing costs

FIRST ON FOX: In a bid to tackle the nation’s housing affordability crisis, the Trump administration has scrapped a controversial Obama-era mandate blamed for driving up property costs and stifling the affordable housing supply.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), alongside the Department of Justice , jointly rescinded an Obama-era policy that allowed third parties to file accessibility-related complaints over original building design flaws indefinitely, putting subsequent building owners on the hook for millions of dollars years after a project is completed, even if they were not the original builders.

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.

ONE UNEXPECTED PRICE SURGE MOST AMERICANS DON'T SEE IS RAISING THE STAKES FOR TRUMP BEFORE NOVEMBER 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.

Once those respective windows close, property owners are shielded from retroactive, building-wide liability for original architectural flaws, though individual tenants retain the right to seek reasonable modifications for their specific housing needs at any time under existing Fair Housing Act protections.

"[The Obama-era regulation] dramatically expanded the scope of the Fair Housing Act by declaring that deviations from HUD’s accessibility guidelines, at the point of initial construction, gave rise to strict liability against the builder in perpetuity," the new guidance says "That interpretation was egregiously wrong.

It exceeded the Department’s statutory authority, failed to increase the supply of accessible housing for individuals with disabilities, and imposed an unwarranted and unduly prejudicial burden on American homebuilders." According to internal transaction data and industry reports provided to HUD, the financial toll of the previous policy extended far beyond standard compliance fees typically associated with federally-backed refinancing.