Fair Chance at Housing Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2076 To reform the screening and eviction policies for Federal housing assistance in order to provide fair access to housing, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 10, 2019 Ms. HARRIS (for herself and Mr. BOOKER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To reform the screening and eviction policies for Federal housing assistance in order to provide fair access to housing, and for other purposes. 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 Chance at Hous- 4 ing Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. DATA COLLECTION; COMPLIANCE; DEFINITIONS. 6 Subtitle F of the Quality Housing and Work Respon- 7 sibility Act of 1998 (42 U.S.C. 13661 et seq.) is amend- 8 ed— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Jul 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2076.IS S2076 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2076 IS (1) in section 578(c) (42 U.S.C. 13663(c)), by 1 striking ‘‘section 579(a)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 2 579B(3)’’; 3 (2) by redesignating section 579 as section 4 579B; 5 (3) by inserting after section 578 (42 U.S.C. 6 13663) the following: 7 ‘‘SEC. 579. DATA COLLECTION. 8 ‘‘(a) APPLICATIONS.— 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall require 10 each public housing agency and owner to submit a 11 report to the Secretary on an annual basis that con- 12 tains the following information for the preceding 12- 13 month reporting period: 14 ‘‘(A) The number of applications for ad- 15 mission to federally assisted housing or a feder- 16 ally assisted housing program reviewed by the 17 public housing agency, including by the review 18 panel of the public housing agency, or owner. 19 ‘‘(B) The number of applications for ad- 20 mission to federally assisted housing or a feder- 21 ally assisted housing program reviewed by the 22 public housing agency, including by the review 23 panel of the public housing agency, or owner for 24 covered criminal conduct. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Jul 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2076.IS S2076 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2076 IS ‘‘(C) The number of denials of applications 1 for admission to federally assisted housing or a 2 federally assisted housing program rendered by 3 the public housing agency or owner on the basis 4 of covered criminal conduct. 5 ‘‘(D) The number of denials described in 6 subparagraph (C) pursuant to which the appli- 7 cant filed a request for informal review. 8 ‘‘(E) The number of denials described in 9 subparagraph (C) that were overturned fol- 10 lowing informal review. 11 ‘‘(F) The information required under sub- 12 paragraphs (A) through (E) disaggregated by 13 the race of the applicant, the ethnicity of the 14 applicant, the sex of the applicant, and whether 15 the applicant had a disability as defined by sec- 16 tion 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 17 U.S.C. 794). 18 ‘‘(2) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The information col- 19 lected pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be subject to 20 the same confidentiality requirements of section 21 576(b)(2)(F) that are applicable to information 22 gathered in the process of screening for criminal 23 convictions. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Jul 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2076.IS S2076 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2076 IS ‘‘(b) TERMINATIONS.—The Secretary shall require 1 each public housing agency and owner to submit a report 2 to the Secretary on an annual basis that contains the fol- 3 lowing information for the preceding 12-month reporting 4 period: 5 ‘‘(1) The number of terminations of tenancy 6 and terminations of assistance initiated by the public 7 housing agency or owner. 8 ‘‘(2) The number of terminations of tenancy 9 and terminations of assistance rendered by the pub- 10 lic housing agency or owner on the basis of covered 11 criminal activity. 12 ‘‘(3) For each termination of tenancy or assist- 13 ance based on covered criminal conduct, the specific 14 type or types of covered criminal conduct involved, 15 including the disposition of any criminal charges 16 against the tenant or participant. 17 ‘‘(4) The information required under para- 18 graphs (1) through (3) disaggregated by the race of 19 the applicant, the ethnicity of the applicant, the sex 20 of the applicant, and whether the applicant had a 21 disability as defined by section 504 of the Rehabili- 22 tation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794).’’; 23 (4) by inserting after section 579, as added by 24 paragraph (3), the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Jul 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2076.IS S2076 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2076 IS ‘‘SEC. 579A. COMPLIANCE. 1 ‘‘A public housing agency or owner of federally as- 2 sisted housing, as applicable, shall be solely responsible for 3 compliance with the requirements of this subtitle, notwith- 4 standing the use of any third party for such purposes. In 5 a case of failure of a public housing agency or owner to 6 comply with the requirements of this subtitle, the Sec- 7 retary may withhold funds made available for the federally 8 assisted housing program under which the failure to com- 9 ply occurred from the agency or owner.’’; and 10 (5) in section 579B, as so redesignated— 11 (A) by striking ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—’’; 12 (B) by striking paragraph (1) and insert- 13 ing the following: 14 ‘‘(1) CONVICTION.— 15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘conviction’ 16 means judgment of guilt or nolo contendere or 17 any disposition arising therefrom. 18 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSIONS.—Such term does not 19 include— 20 ‘‘(i) an arrest or any disposition there- 21 from that did not result in a conviction; 22 ‘‘(ii) any criminal disposition for an 23 offense committed prior to the defendant’s 24 18th birthday; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Jul 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2076.IS S2076 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2076 IS ‘‘(iii) a conviction that has been ex- 1 punged, sealed, or subject to similar judi- 2 cial relief; 3 ‘‘(iv) a disposition received through 4 successful completion of diversion, deferred 5 adjudication, deferred entry of judgment, 6 drug court, or similar judicial program 7 under State law; or 8 ‘‘(v) any other criminal disposition not 9 deemed a conviction under State or Fed- 10 eral law.’’; 11 (C) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and 12 (3) as paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively; 13 (D) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 14 following: 15 ‘‘(2) COVERED CRIMINAL CONDUCT.— 16 ‘‘(A) ADMISSION TO FEDERALLY ASSISTED 17 HOUSING.— 18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘covered 19 criminal conduct’ means, with respect to 20 admission to federally assisted housing, 21 criminal conduct— 22 ‘‘(I) for which the applicant or a 23 member of the household of the appli- 24 cant has been convicted of a felony 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Jul 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2076.IS S2076 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2076 IS under State or Federal criminal law; 1 and 2 ‘‘(II) that threatens the health or 3 safety of other tenants, the employees, 4 or the owner or public housing agen- 5 cy. 6 ‘‘(ii) EXCLUSIONS.—Notwithstanding 7 any other provision of law, such term does 8 not include, with respect to admission to 9 federally assisted housing— 10 ‘‘(I) a conviction for a drug of- 11 fense for which the person served a 12 sentence of less than 10 years; 13 ‘‘(II) an offense or offenses re- 14 lated to fees or back payments associ- 15 ated with incarceration; 16 ‘‘(III) any other legal financial 17 obligation; or 18 ‘‘(IV) a conviction for which the 19 person was sentenced only to proba- 20 tion. 21 ‘‘(B) TERMINATION OF TENANCY OR AS- 22 SISTANCE.— 23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘covered 24 criminal conduct’— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Jul 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2076.IS S2076 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2076 IS ‘‘(I) means, with respect to ter- 1 mination of tenancy or assistance, 2 criminal conduct committed by the 3 tenant or any member of the house- 4 hold of the tenant while receiving 5 Federal housing assistance, that 6 threatens the health or safety of other 7 tenants, the employees, or the owner 8 or public housing agency; and 9 ‘‘(II) includes criminal conduct 10 described in section 16(f)(1) of the 11 United States Housing Act of 1937 12 (42 U.S.C. 1437n(f)(1)). 13 ‘‘(ii) EXCLUSIONS.—Such term does 14 not include, with respect to termination of 15 tenancy or assistance— 16 ‘‘(I) a misdemeanor; 17 ‘‘(II) an arrest for an offense for 18 which the applicant was not subse- 19 quently adjudicated or convicted; 20 ‘‘(III) any juvenile adjudication 21 or conviction, including convictions 22 where a juvenile was tried as an adult; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Jul 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2076.IS S2076 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2076 IS ‘‘(IV) a conviction that has been 1 expunged, sealed, or subject to similar 2 judicial relief under State law; 3 ‘‘(V) criminal citations or infrac- 4 tions regardless of classification; 5 ‘‘(VI) non-criminal citations; 6 ‘‘(VII) a disposition received 7 through successful completion of di- 8 version, deferred adjudication, de- 9 ferred entry of judgment, drug court, 10 or similar judicial program under 11 State law; 12 ‘‘(VIII) a conviction for which 13 the person was sentenced only to pro- 14 bation; 15 ‘‘(IX) an offense or offenses re- 16 lated to fees or back payments associ- 17 ated with incarceration; 18 ‘‘(X) child support payments or 19 back pay associated with barriers, in- 20 cluding incarceration, homelessness, 21 unemployment, or disability; or 22 ‘‘(XI) disciplinary infractions 23 committed by elementary or secondary 24 school students, or school related 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Jul 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2076.IS S2076 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 2076 IS issues that are not criminal in nature, 1 but may have led to justice involve- 2 ment.’’; 3 (E) in paragraph (3), as so redesignated— 4 (i) in subparagraph (G), by inserting 5 ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon at the end; 6 (ii) in subparagraph (H), by striking 7 ‘‘; or’’ and inserting a period; and 8 (iii) by striking subparagraph (I); and 9 (F) in paragraph (4), as so redesignated, 10 by adding after the period at the end the fol- 11 lowing: ‘‘For purposes of sections 576 and 577, 12 such term does not include an owner of feder- 13 ally assisted housing described in paragraph 14 (3)(B).’’. 15 SEC. 3. SCREENING OF APPLICANTS FOR FEDERALLY AS- 16 SISTED HOUSING. 17 (a) SCREENING OF APPLICANTS.—Section 576 of the 18 Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 (42 19 U.S.C. 13661) is amended to read as follows: 20 ‘‘SEC. 576. SCREENING OF APPLICANTS FOR FEDERALLY 21 ASSISTED HOUSING. 22 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY TO DENY ADMISSION FOR CRIMI- 23 NAL CONDUCT.—Except as otherwise provided by this sec- 24 tion and in addition to any other authority to screen appli- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Jul 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2076.IS S2076 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 2076 IS cants, in selecting among applicants for admission to fed- 1 erally assisted housing or a federally assisted housing pro- 2 gram, including persons seeking to join a household cur- 3 rently receiving Federal housing assistance, a public hous- 4 ing agency or owner of such housing (as applicable) may 5 deny an applicant admission to the program or to federally 6 assisted housing based on any criminal conduct only if the 7 agency or owner determines, based on an individualized 8 review of the totality of the circumstances, that the appli- 9 cant or any member of the household of the applicant was 10 engaged in covered criminal conduct, within a reasonable 11 period of time preceding the date on which the applicant 12 household would otherwise be admitted to the federally as- 13 sisted housing or to the program. 14 ‘‘(b) INDIVIDUALIZED REVIEW OF THE TOTALITY OF 15 THE CIRCUMSTANCES.— 16 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—Before denying admis- 17 sion to an applicant pursuant to subsection (a), a 18 public housing agency or owner of federally assisted 19 housing shall conduct an individualized review of the 20 totality of the circumstances regarding the criminal 21 conduct at issue. 22 ‘‘(2) REVIEW PANEL FOR PUBLIC HOUSING AND 23 TENANT-BASED RENTAL ASSISTANCE APPLICANTS.— 24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Jul 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2076.IS S2076 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 2076 IS ‘‘(i) GUIDANCE FOR REVIEW 1 PANEL.—The Secretary shall issue guid- 2 ance requiring each public housing agency 3 to establish a review panel to conduct the 4 individualized review required under para- 5 graph (1) with respect to applications for 6 federally assisted housing specified in sub- 7 paragraphs (A) and (B) of section 8 579B(3). 9 ‘‘(ii) MITIGATING EVIDENCE.—An ap- 10 plicant may present mitigating evidence for 11 the review panel to determine whether the 12 applicant should be admitted. 13 ‘‘(B) MEMBERSHIP.—Each review panel 14 described in this paragraph shall include not 15 less than 1 resident representative. 16 ‘‘(C) NOTICE.—Applicants shall be notified 17 in writing of their panel review not less than 14 18 days before date of the review, and notice shall 19 be provided in accordance with subsection (c). 20 ‘‘(D) CONVICTION INFORMATION.— 21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A public housing 22 agency shall produce a detailed criminal 23 conviction report to be used by the review 24 panel in the review process. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:20 Jul 17, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2076.IS S2076 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 2076 IS ‘‘(ii) CORRECTION OF ERRORS.—If an 1 applicant identifies an error on the crimi- 2 nal conviction report used by the review 3 panel, the applicant shall have the oppor- 4 tunity to defer his or her application prior 5 to panel review to correct the report. 6 ‘‘(iii) SHARING.—A report described 7 in this subparagraph shall be shared only 8 with the applicant and members of the re- 9 view panel. 10 ‘‘(E) BURDEN OF PROOF.—A public hous- 11 ing agency may not deny admission to an appli- 12 cant unless the agency determines, by a prepon- 13 derance of the evidence, that the [Text truncated for display. 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