This notice informs the public that inflation adjustments of civil monetary penalty amounts required by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended ...
This notice informs the public that inflation adjustments of civil monetary penalty amounts required by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (the 2015 Act) are not being made for 2026.
DATES:
September 24, 2026.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Scott Knittle, Principal Deputy General Counsel, Office of the General Counsel, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW, Washington, DC 20024; telephone number 202-402-2244 (this is not a toll-free number). HUD welcomes and is prepared to receive calls from individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, as well as from individuals with speech or communication disabilities. To learn more about how to make an accessible telephone call, please visit
www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/telecommunications-relay-service-trs.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (the 2015 Act) (Pub. L. 114-74, Sec. 701), which further amended the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 (Pub. L. 101-410), requires agencies to make annual adjustments to civil monetary penalty (CMP) amounts for inflation. The annual adjustment is based on the percent change between the U.S. Department of Labor's Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (“CPI-U”) for the month of October preceding the date of the adjustment, and the CPI-U for October of the prior year (28 U.S.C. 2461 note, section (5)(b)(1)). Pursuant to the 2015 Act, adjustments are rounded to the nearest dollar.[1]
II. This Notice
On April 17, 2026, the Office of Management and Budget informed the heads of executive departments and agencies that “Due to the government shutdown, [the Bureau of Labor Statistics] was unable to produce the October 2025 data. Based on the lack of October 2025 CPI-U data, which is needed to make adjustments under the 2015 Act, there will be no updated cost-of-living adjustment multiplier for 2026 and agencies will continue using the 2025 civil monetary penalty levels as applicable.” [2]
As such, this notice informs the public that the statutory annual inflation adjustments of civil monetary penalty amounts are not being made for 2026 and that all HUD civil money
( printed page 60638)
penalties are maintained at their 2025 level.
2.
OMB Memorandum M-26-11:
Cancellation of Penalty Inflation Adjustments for 2026, Regarding the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015,
April 17, 2026, pp. 1-2.
www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/telecommunications-relay-service-trs
Pub. L. 114-74