Published in the Federal Register on February 20, 2026, HUD’s proposed rule, “Housing and Community Development Act of 1980: Verification of Eligible Status,” would make significant changes to housing programs covered by Section 214.
The rule would require verification of U.S. citizenship or eligible immigration status for all applicants and recipients, regardless of age, while largely ending the use of prorated rental assistance for mixed status families, or households that include at least one U.S. citizen or eligible immigrant living with one or more ineligible household members. It would also expand documentation requirements for households already receiving assistance, with significant implications not only for affected families, but also for housing providers responsible for carrying out new verification, documentation, and recertification requirements.
Public comments are due by April 21, 2026, and TAAHP plans to submit public comment before the deadline.
Texas Impact
A December 2025 analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities shows that HUD’s proposed rule could have broad effects in Texas across the covered assisted housing programs. The data reflects households and individuals receiving assistance through Public Housing, Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance, Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation, and the Housing Choice Voucher program.
The clearest direct impact is on 4,500 mixed status households in Texas that could be prohibited from receiving assistance under the rule. The data also shows that the proposal’s expanded documentation and verification requirements could affect hundreds of thousands of assisted Texans.
Source: CBPP analysis of 2024 HUD administrative data. All numbers are rounded. Citizen and non-citizen columns may not sum to the total because of rounding or missing citizenship data.