Washington, D.C., November 13, 2026 – David M. Dworkin, President and CEO of the National Housing Conference (NHC), issued the following statement on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) final rule on eligibility verification:
“HUD’s final rule on mixed-status households effectively ends prorated housing assistance for existing families in HUD-supported housing. In practice, it will force tens of thousands of people into an impossible choice of keeping a roof over their heads or separating their family. HUD’s concerns about immigration should be addressed through enforcement of existing laws, not by effectively evicting families who are here legally and creating expensive and burdensome processes for housing providers that are not capable of immigration enforcement.
This is a step backward that undermines decades of bipartisan policy precedent that has balanced statutory compliance, family stability, administrative feasibility, and prudent stewardship of scarce federal housing resources. We have made historic gains in the fight against homelessness. Last week, HUD announced the largest decrease in homelessness on record. To finalize a rule that will inevitably increase homelessness, displacing 80,000 people, nearly half of them children, is unnecessary and counterproductive.
At a moment when housing instability is at an all-time high, we need to focus on solutions that expand access and strengthen communities, not on policies that will predictably increase homelessness and diminish HUD’s capacity to serve its mission.”
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About the National Housing Conference (NHC): Founded in 1931, the National Housing Conference is the oldest and broadest housing coalition in America. NHC is a diverse continuum of affordable housing stakeholders who convene and collaborate through dialogue, advocacy, research, and education, to develop equitable solutions that serve our common interest—an America where everyone is able to live in a quality, affordable home in a thriving community. Politically diverse and nonpartisan, NHC is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. To learn more about NHC, visit www.nhc.org.