I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3516 To amend the Fair Housing Act to prohibit discrimination based on source of income, veteran status, or military status. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 26, 2019 Mr. PETERS (for himself, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. SERRANO, and Ms. PRESSLEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Fair Housing Act to prohibit discrimination based on source of income, veteran status, or military status. 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 ‘‘Fair Housing Improve- 4 ment Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. PROHIBITING HOUSING DISCRIMINATION BASED 6 ON SOURCE OF INCOME, VETERAN STATUS, 7 OR MILITARY STATUS. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 9 3601 et seq.) is amended— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Jul 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3516.IH H3516 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3516 IH (1) in section 802 (42 U.S.C. 3602), by adding 1 at the end the following: 2 ‘‘(p) ‘Military status’ means a member of the uni- 3 formed services, as defined in section 101 of title 10, 4 United States Code. 5 ‘‘(q) ‘Source of income’ includes— 6 ‘‘(1) a housing voucher under section 8 of the 7 United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 8 1437f) and any form of Federal, State, or local 9 housing assistance provided to a person or family or 10 provided to a housing owner on behalf of a person 11 or family, including rental vouchers, rental assist- 12 ance, and rental subsidies from nongovernmental or- 13 ganizations; 14 ‘‘(2) income received as a monthly benefit 15 under title II of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 16 401 et seq.), as a supplemental security income ben- 17 efit under title XVI of the Social Security Act (42 18 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.), or as a benefit under the Rail- 19 road Retirement Act of 1974 (45 U.S.C. 231 et 20 seq.); 21 ‘‘(3) income received by court order, including 22 spousal support and child support; 23 ‘‘(4) any payment from a trust, guardian, con- 24 servator, or other relative; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Jul 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3516.IH H3516 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3516 IH ‘‘(5) any other lawful source of income or 1 funds, including savings accounts and investments. 2 ‘‘(r) ‘Veteran status’ means a veteran, as defined in 3 section 101 of title 38, United States Code.’’; 4 (2) in section 804 (42 U.S.C. 3604)— 5 (A) by inserting ‘‘source of income, veteran 6 status, military status,’’ after ‘‘familial status,’’ 7 each place that term appears; and 8 (B) in subsection (c)— 9 (i) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘To 10 make’’; and 11 (ii) by adding at the end the fol- 12 lowing: 13 ‘‘(2) Nothing in this title shall be construed to— 14 ‘‘(A) prohibit a lender from implementing a 15 loan program for veterans or based upon veteran 16 status or military status; or 17 ‘‘(B) prohibit an entity from providing housing 18 assistance under section 8(o)(19) of the United 19 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 20 1437f(o)(19)), the Homeless Providers Grant and 21 Per Diem program of the Department of Veterans 22 Affairs, or any other Federal housing assistance pro- 23 gram for veterans or based upon veteran status or 24 military status.’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Jul 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3516.IH H3516 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 3516 IH (3) in section 805 (42 U.S.C. 3605)— 1 (A) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘source 2 of income, veteran status, military status,’’ 3 after ‘‘familial status,’’; and 4 (B) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘source 5 of income, veteran status, military status,’’ 6 after ‘‘handicap,’’; 7 (4) in section 806 (42 U.S.C. 3606), by insert- 8 ing ‘‘source of income, veteran status, military sta- 9 tus,’’ after ‘‘familial status,’’; 10 (5) in section 808(e)(6) (42 U.S.C. 3608(e)(6)), 11 by inserting ‘‘source of income, veteran status, mili- 12 tary status,’’ after ‘‘handicap,’’; and 13 (6) in section 810(f) (42 U.S.C. 3610(f)), by 14 striking paragraph (4) and inserting the following: 15 ‘‘(4) During the period beginning on the date of en- 16 actment of the Fair Housing Improvement Act of 2019 17 and ending on the date that is 40 months after such date 18 of enactment, each agency certified for purposes of this 19 title on the day before such date of enactment shall, for 20 purposes of this subsection, be considered certified under 21 this subsection with respect to those matters for which the 22 agency was certified on that date. If the Secretary deter- 23 mines in an individual case that an agency has not been 24 able to meet the certification requirements within this 40- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Jul 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3516.IH H3516 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 3516 IH month period due to exceptional circumstances, such as 1 the infrequency of legislative sessions in that jurisdiction, 2 the Secretary may extend such period by not more than 3 6 months.’’. 4 (b) PREVENTION OF INTIMIDATION IN FAIR HOUS- 5 ING CASES.—Section 901 of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 6 (42 U.S.C. 3631) is amended by inserting ‘‘source of in- 7 come (as defined in section 802), veteran status (as de- 8 fined in section 802), military status (as defined in section 9 802),’’ before ‘‘or national origin’’ each place that term 10 appears. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Jul 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3516.IH H3516 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS