Choice in Affordable Housing Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1820 To increase the number of landlords participating in the Housing Choice Voucher program. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 25, 2021 Mr. COONS (for himself and Mr. CRAMER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To increase the number of landlords participating in the Housing Choice Voucher program. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Choice in Affordable 4 Housing Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act— 7 (1) the term ‘‘Housing Choice Voucher pro- 8 gram’’ means the tenant-based assistance program 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:24 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1820.IS S1820 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1820 IS under section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act 1 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)); 2 (2) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 3 of Housing and Urban Development; and 4 (3) the term ‘‘Tribal Housing and Urban Devel- 5 opment-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing pro- 6 gram’’ means the demonstration program estab- 7 lished under paragraph (5) under the heading ‘‘TEN- 8 ANT-BASED RENTAL ASSISTANCE’’ under the heading 9 ‘‘PUBLIC AND INDIAN HOUSING’’ in title II of divi- 10 sion K of the Consolidated and Further Continuing 11 Appropriations Act, 2015 (Public Law 113–235; 12 128 Stat. 2732) (commonly known as ‘‘Tribal HUD- 13 VASH’’). 14 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 15 Congress finds the following: 16 (1) The Housing Choice Voucher program is 17 the Federal Government’s largest program helping 18 low-income families, the elderly, and persons with 19 disabilities to afford decent, safe, and sanitary hous- 20 ing in the private market. 21 (2) The Housing Choice Voucher program is 22 proven to have positive impacts on voucher holders, 23 including increased housing stability, reduced home- 24 lessness, and children lifted out of poverty. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:24 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1820.IS S1820 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1820 IS (3) As a public-private partnership, the Hous- 1 ing Choice Voucher program relies on the willingness 2 of private landlords to accept vouchers. 3 (4) Landlord participation is declining in the 4 Housing Choice Voucher program, with an average 5 of 10,000 housing providers leaving the program 6 each year between 2010 and 2016. 7 (5) Landlord participation is especially lacking 8 in ‘‘high-opportunity neighborhoods’’ that have low 9 poverty rates and good access to quality schools, 10 jobs, and public transportation. 11 (6) The Secretary has conducted and continues 12 to conduct research on landlord participation in the 13 Housing Choice Voucher program. 14 (7) The Moving to Work demonstration pro- 15 gram of the Department of Housing and Urban De- 16 velopment has given participating public housing 17 agencies the ability to test innovative strategies to 18 incentivize landlords to accept vouchers. 19 (8) Indian Tribes and tribally designated hous- 20 ing entities, which do not participate in the Housing 21 Choice Voucher program, benefit from the Tribal 22 Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs 23 Supportive Housing program, which provides rental 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:24 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1820.IS S1820 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1820 IS assistance to Native American veterans who are ex- 1 periencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness. 2 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 3 It is the sense of Congress that the Housing Choice 4 Voucher program should be improved to increase the num- 5 ber of landlords, particularly landlords with units in high- 6 opportunity neighborhoods, who accept vouchers in order 7 to expand housing choice and opportunity, and further fair 8 housing. 9 SEC. 5. INCENTIVIZING LANDLORD PARTICIPATION IN 10 HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER PROGRAM. 11 (a) ONE-TIME INCENTIVE PAYMENTS.—Section 8(o) 12 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 13 1437f(o)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 14 ‘‘(21) ONE-TIME INCENTIVE PAYMENTS.— 15 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 16 term ‘eligible unit’ means a dwelling unit 17 that— 18 ‘‘(i) is located in a census tract with 19 a poverty rate of less than 20 percent; and 20 ‘‘(ii) has not previously been subject 21 to a housing assistance payment contract 22 under this subsection. 23 ‘‘(B) INCENTIVE PAYMENT AUTHORITY.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:24 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1820.IS S1820 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1820 IS ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—To incentivize 1 landlords who own dwelling units in low- 2 poverty areas to enter into housing assist- 3 ance payment contracts under this sub- 4 section, the Secretary shall provide assist- 5 ance under this paragraph to public hous- 6 ing agencies to be used to offer a one-time 7 payment directly to the owner of an eligi- 8 ble unit entering into a housing assistance 9 payment contract with the public housing 10 agency for the eligible unit. 11 ‘‘(ii) AMOUNT.—The amount of an in- 12 centive payment made to an eligible owner 13 under clause (i) may not exceed 200 per- 14 cent of the monthly housing assistance 15 payment made to the eligible owner for the 16 eligible unit. 17 ‘‘(iii) CONDITIONS PERMITTED.—Sub- 18 ject to paragraph (7), a public housing 19 agency may require the owner of an eligi- 20 ble unit, as a condition of receiving an in- 21 centive payment under clause (i), to com- 22 mit to lease the eligible unit to tenants as- 23 sisted under this subsection for more than 24 1 year. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:24 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1820.IS S1820 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1820 IS ‘‘(iv) LIMIT.—The owner of an eligible 1 unit may not receive more than 1 incentive 2 payment under clause (i), regardless of— 3 ‘‘(I) the number of eligible units 4 owned by the owner; or 5 ‘‘(II) the number of public hous- 6 ing agencies with which the owner has 7 entered into housing assistance pay- 8 ment contracts.’’. 9 (b) SECURITY DEPOSIT PAYMENTS.—Section 8(o) of 10 the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 11 1437f(o)), as amended by subsection (a), is amended by 12 adding at the end the following: 13 ‘‘(22) SECURITY DEPOSIT PAYMENTS.— 14 ‘‘(A) SECURITY DEPOSIT PAYMENT AU- 15 THORITY.—The Secretary shall provide assist- 16 ance to public housing agencies to be used to 17 pay the owner of a dwelling unit assisted under 18 this subsection for a security deposit, or a sub- 19 stantial portion thereof, on behalf of the tenant 20 of the dwelling unit in accordance with subpara- 21 graph (B). 22 ‘‘(B) MINIMUM PHA REQUIREMENTS.—A 23 public housing agency that receives assistance 24 from the Secretary under subparagraph (A) 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:24 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1820.IS S1820 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1820 IS shall administer the assistance in accordance 1 with the following conditions: 2 ‘‘(i) The public housing agency shall 3 pay the owners of dwelling units assisted 4 under this subsection for a security de- 5 posit, or a substantial portion thereof, in 6 an amount determined by the public hous- 7 ing agency, on behalf of the tenants of the 8 dwelling units. 9 ‘‘(ii) In making payments to owners of 10 dwelling units under clause (i), the public 11 housing agency shall give priority to own- 12 ers of dwelling units occupied by extremely 13 low-income families. 14 ‘‘(iii) The owner of a dwelling unit 15 may deduct amounts from a security de- 16 posit payment received under clause (i) to 17 cover damages beyond normal wear and 18 tear caused by the tenant of the dwelling 19 unit, any member of the tenant’s house- 20 hold, or any guest or other person under 21 the tenant’s control. 22 ‘‘(iv) The public housing agency shall 23 conduct a damage claims process where- 24 by— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:24 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1820.IS S1820 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1820 IS ‘‘(I) in order to deduct amounts 1 from a security deposit payment re- 2 ceived under clause (i), the owner of 3 a covered dwelling unit must submit a 4 claim to the public housing agency 5 with an itemized list of damages and 6 evidence and request reimbursement; 7 and 8 ‘‘(II) the tenant of a covered 9 dwelling unit may refute a claim sub- 10 mitted under subclause (I). 11 ‘‘(v) The public housing agency 12 shall— 13 ‘‘(I) establish an amount of re- 14 pair costs for which a tenant will be 15 responsible; and 16 ‘‘(II) notify a tenant, upon the 17 tenant entering into a lease for a 18 dwelling unit assisted under this sub- 19 section, of the amount described in 20 subclause (I). 21 ‘‘(vi) The public housing agency may 22 determine what action to take if a tenant 23 demonstrates an inability to pay the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:24 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1820.IS S1820 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1820 IS amount of repair costs for which the ten- 1 ant is responsible under clause (v). 2 ‘‘(vii) At the end of a tenant’s occu- 3 pancy of a dwelling unit assisted under 4 this subsection, the landlord shall return to 5 the public housing agency any unused 6 amount of a security deposit payment re- 7 ceived under clause (i). 8 ‘‘(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 9 in subparagraph (B) shall be construed to pro- 10 hibit a public housing agency from establishing 11 additional conditions for the administration of 12 assistance received under subparagraph (A) in 13 accordance with applicable State and local 14 laws.’’. 15 (c) LANDLORD LIAISON BONUS PAYMENTS.—Section 16 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 17 1437f(o)), as amended by subsection (b), is amended by 18 adding at the end the following: 19 ‘‘(23) LANDLORD LIAISON BONUS PAYMENTS.— 20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each year, the Sec- 21 retary shall award 1 bonus payment to each 22 public housing agency that employs, contracts 23 with a service partner that employs, or dem- 24 onstrates an intent to employ or contract with 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:24 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1820.IS S1820 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1820 IS a service partner that employs, not less than 1 1 dedicated landlord liaison whose duties include, 2 with respect to the tenant-based assistance pro- 3 gram under subsection (o)— 4 ‘‘(i) conducting landlord outreach, re- 5 cruitment, and retention; 6 ‘‘(ii) educating and training landlords 7 regarding the program; and 8 ‘‘(iii) operating a phone hotline, online 9 portal, monitored email address, or other 10 mechanism designated by the Secretary for 11 landlord questions and concerns regarding 12 the program. 13 ‘‘(B) DEMONSTRATING COMPLIANCE.—The 14 Secretary shall determine how a public housing 15 agency may demonstrate that it offers or in- 16 tends to offer a landlord liaison service for pur- 17 poses of subparagraph (A). 18 ‘‘(C) AMOUNT.—The Secretary shall estab- 19 lish an amount for the landlord liaison bonus 20 payment authorized under subparagraph (A) 21 that— 22 ‘‘(i) may vary by region; 23 ‘‘(ii) does not exceed the 150 percent 24 of the average cost of employing, or con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:24 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1820.IS S1820 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1820 IS tracting with a service partner that em- 1 ploys, such a landlord liaison, based on 2 local market conditions; and 3 ‘‘(iii) is sufficient to incentivize public 4 housing agencies to employ, or contact 5 with a service partner that employs, such 6 a landlord liaison.’’. 7 (d) HOUSING PARTNERSHIP FUND.—Section 8 of the 8 United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f) is 9 amended by adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘(ee) HERSCHEL LASHKOWITZ HOUSING PARTNER- 11 SHIP FUND.— 12 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es- 13 tablish a fund, to be known as the ‘Herschel 14 Lashkowitz Housing Partnership Fund’, for the pur- 15 pose of incentivizing landlords to participate in the 16 tenant-based assistance program under subsection 17 (o) in accordance with paragraph (2) of this sub- 18 section. 19 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZED USES.—The Secretary shall 20 use amounts from the Housing Partnership Fund 21 for— 22 ‘‘(A) incentive payments under subsection 23 (o)(21); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:24 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1820.IS S1820 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1820 IS ‘‘(B) security deposit payments under sub- 1 section (o)(22); 2 ‘‘(C) landlord liaison bonus payments 3 under subsection (o)(23); and 4 ‘‘(D) other uses, as determined by a public 5 housing agency and approved by the Secretary, 6 designed primarily— 7 ‘‘(i) to recruit owners of dwelling 8 units, particularly dwelling units in census 9 tracts with a poverty rate of less than 20 10 percent, to enter into housing assistance 11 payment contracts under subsection (o); 12 and 13 ‘‘(ii) to ensure that owners that enter 14 into housing assistance payment contracts 15 as described in clause (i) of this subpara- 16 graph continue to lease their dwelling units 17 to tenants assisted under subsection (o). 18 ‘‘(3) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall require a 19 public housing agency that receives assistance from 20 the Herschel Lashkowitz Housing Partnership Fund 21 to submit an annual report to the Secretary on the 22 use of the assistance. 23 ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION OF ADDITIONAL APPRO- 24 PRIATIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:24 Jun 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1820.IS S1820 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1820 IS for deposit in the Herschel Lashkowitz Housing 1 Partnership Fund $100,000,000 for each of fiscal 2 years 2022 through 2026, to remain available until 3 expended.’’. 4 SEC. 6. TRIBAL HUD-VASH AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA- 5 TIONS. 6 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec- 7 retary of Housing and Urban Development $7,000,000 for 8 each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026 for the Tribal 9 Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Sup- 10 portive Housing program. 11 SEC. 7. HOUSING QUALITY STANDARDS. 12 (a) SATISFACTION OF INSPECTION REQUIREMENTS 13 THROUGH PARTICIPATION IN OTHER HOUSING PRO- 14 GRAMS.—Sec [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]