What This Bill Does
This bill sets standards for apartment buildings and housing that receive federal rent assistance payments. It requires these buildings to maintain safe and sanitary conditions and creates a system to check on building conditions and hold owners accountable when problems exist.
Who It Affects
Property owners who receive federal housing assistance payments for their buildings. Tenants living in these federally assisted buildings. The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
Key Provisions
• Property owners must maintain decent, safe and sanitary conditions in buildings that receive federal housing assistance payments (Sec. 2, paragraph 1).
• A Performance-Based Contract Administrator must survey tenants every six months to identify ongoing or repeated problems with building conditions or management (Sec. 2, paragraph 2).
• Buildings with identified problems must be referred to the Secretary for remediation if problems are consistent or persistent (Sec. 2, paragraph 3).
• The Secretary can impose penalties on owners whose buildings fail to meet standards or are repeatedly referred for problems. These penalties must equal at least 1 percent of the owner's annual housing assistance payment amount (Sec. 2, paragraph 4).
• Penalty money collected must be used to support safe conditions in the buildings or to help tenants relocate, with priority given to tenants from buildings where the penalty originated (Sec. 2, paragraph 4).
What Changes
If this bill becomes law, property owners receiving federal housing assistance will face new requirements to maintain buildings in safe condition and new consequences if they do not comply. The Secretary gains new power to collect penalties from owners with persistent problems.
Important Definitions
The bill does not explicitly define "decent, safe and sanitary conditions." The bill refers to a "Performance-Based Contract Administrator" but does not define this term.
I
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION H. R. 1281
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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 1, 2023
Mr. COHEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Financial Services
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
VerDate Sep 11 2014
22:30 Mar 16, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1281.IH
H1281
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2
•HR 1281 IH
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
26
VerDate Sep 11 2014
22:30 Mar 16, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1281.IH
H1281
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3
•HR 1281 IH
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
VerDate Sep 11 2014
22:30 Mar 16, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1281.IH
H1281
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4
•HR 1281 IH
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
VerDate Sep 11 2014
22:30 Mar 16, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1281.IH
H1281
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5
•HR 1281 IH
(3) includes any administrative or legislative
1
recommendations to further improve the living con-
2
ditions at those structures.
3
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014
22:30 Mar 16, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H1281.IH
H1281
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS