HOMEFRONT Act of 2025
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Patronis introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Summary
What This Bill Does
The HOMEFRONT Act exempts nearly all military housing from National Historic Preservation Act requirements and bans nondisclosure agreements for military housing tenants. The bill allows the Department of Defense to build, renovate, or demolish most military family and unaccompanied housing without federal or state historic preservation reviews, while protecting buildings already listed as historic sites.
Who Benefits and How
The Department of Defense benefits from faster housing construction and renovation projects without lengthy historic preservation reviews. Military housing construction contractors gain easier permitting and reduced project timelines, leading to more contracts and faster revenue. Military service members and their families benefit from strengthened tenant protections - landlords can no longer force them to sign nondisclosure agreements that prevent reporting housing problems, mold, or safety issues.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Private military housing operators face new compliance requirements and cannot use nondisclosure agreements to silence tenant complaints, increasing their legal exposure. State Historic Preservation Officers lose oversight authority over most military housing properties, reducing their jurisdiction and review fees. Historic preservation consultants and architectural firms lose business from military housing projects that no longer require preservation assessments and documentation.
Key Provisions
- Exempts all military family housing and unaccompanied housing (barracks) from National Historic Preservation Act requirements unless the Secretary of Defense specifically opts a facility back in
- Caps the number of housing units subject to preservation rules at 0.1% of total military housing inventory
- Protects military housing already listed on the National Register of Historic Places as of January 20, 2025 from the exemption
- Prohibits landlords from requiring military housing tenants to sign nondisclosure agreements related to leases or housing services
- Makes existing nondisclosure agreements void if they work against tenant interests, regardless of when they were signed
- Allows nondisclosure agreements only as part of litigation settlements
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Exempts most military housing from National Historic Preservation Act requirements and prohibits nondisclosure agreements for military housing tenants.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Streamline military housing construction and renovation by exempting most units from historic preservation review while strengthening tenant protections against nondisclosure agreements"
Likely Beneficiaries
- Department of Defense (reduced regulatory burden for housing projects)
- Military housing construction contractors (faster permitting and construction timelines)
- Military service members and families (stronger tenant rights, faster housing improvements)
Likely Burden Bearers
- Historic preservation advocates (loss of oversight over military housing with historic significance)
- State Historic Preservation Officers (reduced jurisdiction over military properties)
- Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (diminished role in military housing decisions)
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Defense
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology