What This Bill Does
This bill sets quality standards for apartment buildings that receive government rental assistance money under a federal housing program. It requires these buildings to stay in decent, safe and sanitary condition and creates a process to check on problems and penalize owners who fail to meet standards.
Who It Affects
- Owners of apartment buildings receiving federal housing assistance payments
- Tenants living in these assisted buildings
- The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (the federal official in charge of housing programs)
- Performance-Based Contract Administrators (officials who oversee housing assistance contracts)
Key Provisions
- Building owners must maintain decent, safe and sanitary conditions as decided by the Secretary (Sec. 2)
- The Secretary's contract managers must survey tenants every six months to find ongoing or repeated problems with building condition or management (Sec. 2)
- Buildings with consistent or persistent problems get reported to the Secretary for fixing (Sec. 2)
- The Secretary can fine owners at least 1 percent of their yearly government payment if buildings fail standards or are repeatedly reported for problems (Sec. 2)
- Penalty money must be used for safe conditions at the problem building or to help tenants move, with priority given to tenants from the building that was penalized (Sec. 2)
What Changes
A new inspection and penalty system gets added to federal housing law. Buildings receiving government rental assistance will now face regular tenant surveys every six months, mandatory reporting of ongoing problems and financial penalties for owners who do not fix issues.
Important Definitions
- Decent, safe and sanitary conditions: Not specified in bill text
- Housing assistance payment contract: Not specified in bill text
Effective Date
Not specified in bill text
II
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
S. 581
To provide standards for physical condition and management of housing
receiving assistance payments under section 8 of the United States Hous-
ing Act of 1937.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH 1, 2023
Mr. RUBIO introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
A BILL
To provide standards for physical condition and management
of housing receiving assistance payments under section
8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937.
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 ‘‘Housing Accountability
4
Act of 2023’’.
5
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•S 581 IS
SEC. 2. STANDARDS FOR PHYSICAL CONDITION AND MAN-
1
AGEMENT OF HOUSING RECEIVING ASSIST-
2
ANCE PAYMENTS.
3
Section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937
4
(42 U.S.C. 1437f) is amended by inserting after sub-
5
section (v) the following:
6
‘‘(w) STANDARDS FOR PHYSICAL CONDITION AND
7
MANAGEMENT OF HOUSING RECEIVING ASSISTANCE PAY-
8
MENTS.—
9
‘‘(1) STANDARDS
FOR
PHYSICAL
CONDITION
10
AND MANAGEMENT OF HOUSING.—Any entity receiv-
11
ing assistance payments under this section shall
12
maintain decent, safe, and sanitary conditions, as
13
determined by the Secretary, for any structure cov-
14
ered under a housing assistance payment contract.
15
‘‘(2) SURVEY
OF
TENANTS.—The Secretary
16
shall develop a process by which a Performance-
17
Based Contract Administrator shall, on a semi-
18
annual basis, conduct a survey of the tenants of
19
each structure covered under a housing assistance
20
payment contract for the purpose of identifying con-
21
sistent or persistent problems with the physical con-
22
dition of the structure or performance of the man-
23
ager of the structure.
24
‘‘(3)
REMEDIATION.—A
structure
covered
25
under a housing assistance payment contract shall
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•S 581 IS
be referred to the Secretary for remediation if a Per-
1
formance-Based Contract Administrator identifies a
2
consistent or persistent problem with the structure
3
or the management of the structure based on—
4
‘‘(A) a survey conducted under paragraph
5
(2); or
6
‘‘(B) any other observation made by the
7
Performance-Based
Contract
Administrator
8
during the normal course of business.
9
‘‘(4) PENALTY
FOR
FAILURE
TO
UPHOLD
10
STANDARDS.—
11
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary may
12
impose a penalty on any owner of a structure
13
covered under a housing assistance payment
14
contract if the Secretary finds that the struc-
15
ture or manager of the structure—
16
‘‘(i) did not satisfactorily meet the re-
17
quirements under paragraph (1); or
18
‘‘(ii) is repeatedly referred to the Sec-
19
retary for remediation by a Performance-
20
Based Contract Administrator through the
21
process established under paragraph (3).
22
‘‘(B) AMOUNT.—A penalty imposed under
23
subparagraph (A) shall be in an amount equal
24
to not less than 1 percent of the annual budget
25
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•S 581 IS
authority the owner is allocated under a hous-
1
ing assistance payment contract.
2
‘‘(C) USE
OF
AMOUNTS.—Any amounts
3
collected under this paragraph shall be used
4
solely for the purpose of supporting safe and
5
sanitary conditions at applicable structures or
6
for tenant relocation, as designated by the Sec-
7
retary, with priority given to the tenants of the
8
structure that led to the penalty.
9
‘‘(5) APPLICABILITY.—This subsection shall not
10
apply to any property assisted under subsection
11
(o).’’.
12
SEC. 3. ISSUANCE OF REPORT.
13
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment
14
of this Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop-
15
ment shall submit to Congress a report that—
16
(1) examines the adequacy of capital reserves
17
for each structure covered under a housing assist-
18
ance payment contract under section 8 of the United
19
States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f);
20
(2) examines the use of funds derived from a
21
housing assistance payment contract for purposes
22
unrelated to the maintenance and capitalization of
23
the structure covered under the contract; and
24
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(3) includes any administrative or legislative
1
recommendations to further improve the living con-
2
ditions at those structures.
3
Æ
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