At one minute past midnight on Saturday, the biggest American housing law in about three decades quietly came into force. And it got covered as a story about a signature that didn't happen. * NBC News: "Major housing affordability bill is now law even though Trump didn't sign it." NPR: "Largest housing affordability bill in decades becomes law without Trump's signature." Same star in both: the pen. The housing — the thing in the law's actual name — is set dressing. * NBC's web address is even more honest about the journey. The URL still reads "landmark-housing-bill-trump-trashed-will-become-law-unless-vetoes." Headlines get rewritten; slugs remember. This story has been about one man's feelings since the first draft. * In fairness, the no-signature routine is a genuine constitutional party trick — president neither signs nor vetoes, Congress stays in session, ten days pass, poof: law. And Trump did his bit for the drama, calling the bill a "big yawn" and "of minor importance compared to lower interest rates," per CNN. When the president reviews legislation like a bored film critic, that's quotable. We're not pretending it isn't. * But look what was competing for that headline space, per CNN's own rundown of the law: mega-landlords who already own 350-plus single-family homes are banned from buying more. Empty offices get money to become apartments. Falling-down houses get repair grants and forgivable loans. Factory-built homes get a push. In other words: the two numbers normal people actually track — the rent and the mortgage. * Credit where due, CNN's headline at least made the full journey: "Sweeping housing affordability bill becomes law, despite Trump's delay. Here's what it actually means for the housing market." Starts in the Oval Office, but it ends at your front door. * Someone Googling "will my rent go down" this weekend got a wall of headlines answering a different question: how does the president feel about it. He feels it's a yawn. Great. Now you know — sleep tight in the apartment the law was actually about.