HR5038-118

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Housing Emergencies Lifeline Program Act of 2023 or the HELP Act of 2023.

2. Congressional findings The Congress finds that— housing is fundamentally an issue of economic and racial justice and a critical determinant of health; the 2008 financial crisis was a Great Depression-level event for Black Americans, wiping out decades of gains in Black homeownership, which has now fallen to its lowest rate since the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968; Black borrowers were 76 percent more likely to have lost their home to foreclosure than White borrowers during the foreclosure crisis; Black and Hispanic households continue to be about twice as likely as White households to rent their homes; in 2016, 58 percent of Black household heads and 54 percent of Hispanic household heads were renting their homes, compared with 28 percent of White household heads; while cost burdens affect households of all races and ethnicities, Black and Brown renters are much more likely to be burdened, with 55 percent of Black renters considered to be rent burdened compared to only 43 percent of White renters; Black households account for 12 percent of all households in the United States, but 19 percent of all renters and 26 of all renter households with extremely low incomes; prior to the coronavirus pandemic, it was estimated that around 3.7 million evictions are filed every year, a rate of about 7 every minute; across the United States, one in 20 renters faces an eviction every year, but for Black renters, the number is one in 11; the Department of Housing and Urban Development does not require the reporting or collection of eviction data, including among households in federally assisted housing, and should be required to do so; the American Civil Liberties Union’s analysis of Eviction Lab data found that, on average, Black renters had evictions filed against them at nearly twice the rate of White renters and that Black women specifically were filed against for eviction at double the rate of White renters or higher in 17 of 36 [S]tates; right to counsel is a matter of racial justice, equity, and ensuring equal protection under the law; nationally, it is estimated that more than 81 percent of landlords are represented in housing court proceedings, compared to less than 3 percent of tenants in such proceedings; a Massachusetts COVID–19 legal help project found that when providing full legal representation to low-income tenants, 90 percent of cases closed resulted in positive outcomes, with 70 percent of tenants remaining in their homes and 20 percent of tenants having more time to find a place to live; and a California study of the Shriver Civil Counsel Program found that 91 percent of Shriver cases ended with the eviction record sealed, 81 percent with the eviction not reported to a credit agency, and 71 percent with a neutral reference provided by the landlord, tenants in such cases saved nearly $800 more in reduced rent and other fees while paying holdover damages or attorney’s fees only half as often, and 71 percent of represented clients that had been required to move had obtained a new rental unit, compared to 43 percent of unrepresented tenants.

3. Database of eviction information The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall require each State and local entity that receives covered housing assistance to submit to the Secretary annual reports under this section regarding evictions from assisted dwelling units of the covered housing occurring during the preceding year. Each report submitted pursuant to subsection (a) shall include— for each household subject to an eviction proceeding during the year which the report covers— the reason or reasons that the eviction proceeding was undertaken and, in the case of any eviction proceeding undertaken in whole or in part based on an arrearage in rent owed, the amount of such arrearage and the amount of the tenant's required contribution toward rent; the date on which the household was ordered to be evicted; the address of the dwelling unit from which the household was evicted; whether the household was represented by legal counsel in any eviction proceeding, if such information is available; the number of days the household was given to vacate the dwelling unit, if such information is available; and whether a writ of execution was issued in regards to the eviction; and for each individual in any household subject to an eviction proceeding during the year which the report covers— the name of the individual; the annual income of the individual in the fiscal year prior to the year during which the individual was evicted, if available; the disability status of the individual evicted, if available; any available demographic information about the individual including race, ethnicity, age, and gender; any foster care history for the individual, if available; any serious physical health problems or serious mental illness of the individual, if such information is available; any history of prior homelessness of the individual, if such information is available; and whether the individual has a criminal record, if such information is available. The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall develop requirements for States and local entities that receive covered housing assistance that— provide that the provision of the information being collected under this subsection shall be voluntary on the part of any individual or household who is or was a tenant in an assisted dwelling unit of covered housing; provide limitations on how long the information described in paragraph (2) shall be retained; establish data privacy and security requirements for the information described in paragraph (2) that include appropriate measures to ensure that the privacy of the individuals and households is protected and that the information, including any personally identifiable information, is collected and used only for the purpose of submitting reports under paragraph (1); and confidentiality protections for data collected about any individuals who are survivors of intimate partner violence, sexual assault, or stalking. The Secretary shall establish a database for collecting and maintaining information submitted in reports pursuant to subsection (a). To the extent possible, such database shall be disaggregated by the smallest census tract, block group, or block possible for the data set, and by income, race, gender, disability, and all other protected classes under the Fair Housing Act. The Secretary shall establish appropriate measures regarding information in the database to ensure that, subject to paragraph (4), the privacy of the individuals and households is protected and that any personally identifiable information is not disclosed. The Secretary may make full and unredacted information available to academic institutions for the purpose of researching causes and solutions to evictions and adherence to civil rights protections.

5. Consumer reports Section 605(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following: An eviction, or any information related to an eviction or a proceeding seeking eviction, of a consumer from a rental dwelling. Any adverse item of information related to rent or utility arrears. The amendment made by this section shall apply to any consumer report (as defined in section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a)) issued on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. (9)An eviction, or any information related to an eviction or a proceeding seeking eviction, of a consumer from a rental dwelling. (10)Any adverse item of information related to rent or utility arrears..

6. Eviction information The Secretary shall, not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, issue rules that require each owner of a covered federally assisted rental dwelling unit to ensure that each tenant of such dwelling unit owned by such owner receives information, in writing— not less than once each year regarding— the rights and responsibilities of such owner with regard to eviction; and local organizations and resources that can provide assistance in eviction-related matters; and upon provision of any notice of eviction, stating the reason or reasons for the eviction. The Secretary shall, not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, establish a hotline to provide assistance with regard to eviction-related matters to tenants of covered federally assisted rental dwelling units.

7. Definitions For purposes of this Act: The term assistance means any grant, loan, subsidy, contract, cooperative agreement, or other form of financial assistance, but such term does not include the insurance or guarantee of a loan, mortgage, or pool of loans or mortgages. The term covered federally assisted rental dwelling unit means a residential dwelling unit that— is made available for rental; and for which assistance is provided, or that is part of a housing project for which assistance is provided, under any program administered by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, including— the public housing program under the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.); the program for rental assistance under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f); the HOME Investment Partnerships program under title II of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12721 et seq.); title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11360 et seq.); the Housing Trust Fund program under section 1338 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 4568); the program for supportive housing for the elderly under section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q); the program for supportive housing for persons with disabilities under section 811 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013); the AIDS Housing Opportunities program under subtitle D of title VIII of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12901 et seq.); the program for Native American housing under the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.); and the program for housing assistance for Native Hawaiians under title VIII of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4221 et seq.); or is a property, or is on or in a property, that has a federally backed mortgage loan or federally backed multifamily mortgage loan, as such terms are defined in section 4024(a) of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9058(a)). The term covered housing means a dwelling unit assisted with amounts made available, or a loan or mortgage made, insured, or guaranteed, under any of the following programs: The programs for tenant- and project-based rental assistance under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f). The program for public housing under the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.). The program for supportive housing for the elderly under section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q). The program for supportive housing for persons with disabilities under section 811 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013). The community development block grant program under title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.). The HOME Investment Partnerships program under titles I and II of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12704 et seq.). The program for housing opportunities for persons with AIDS under subtitle D of title VIII of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12901 et seq.). The programs for homeless assistance under title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11361 et seq.). The term covered housing assistance means assistance under any program specified in paragraph (3). The term legal counsel means full representation by an attorney throughout proceedings in issue. For the purposes of this Act, the term owner means any private person or entity, including a cooperative, an agency of the Federal Government, or a public housing agency, having the legal right to lease or sublease dwelling units. The term Secretary means Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.