Fairness for Housing Communities Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2200 To deposit civil penalties and assessments collected for false claims and statements made with respect to public housing to a Fraud Compensation Fund at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 22, 2019 Ms. DUCKWORTH (for herself and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Hous- ing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To deposit civil penalties and assessments collected for false claims and statements made with respect to public hous- ing to a Fraud Compensation Fund at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. 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 ‘‘Fairness for Housing 4 Communities Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:12 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2200.IS S2200 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2200 IS SEC. 2. DEPOSITING CIVIL PENALTIES AND ASSESSMENTS 1 RELATING TO FALSE CLAIMS AND STATE- 2 MENTS IN FRAUD COMPENSATION FUND. 3 Section 3806(g) of title 31, United States Code, is 4 amended by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(F)(i) Any amount of a penalty or assess- 6 ment imposed by the Secretary of Housing and 7 Urban Development with respect to a claim or 8 statement made in connection with public hous- 9 ing assistance received under section 3 of the 10 United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 11 1437a) shall be returned to the Secretary of 12 Housing and Urban Development. 13 ‘‘(ii) The Secretary may establish a Fraud 14 Compensation Fund that shall consist only of 15 amounts returned to the Secretary of Housing 16 and Urban Development under clause (i). 17 ‘‘(iii) Each distribution from a Fraud 18 Compensation Fund established under clause 19 (ii) shall be allocated to public housing agencies 20 (as defined in section 3(b)(6) of the United 21 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 22 1437a(b)(6))) that were defrauded or otherwise 23 affected by a false claim or statement described 24 in clause (i). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:17 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2200.IS S2200 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2200 IS ‘‘(iv) If the Secretary establishes a Fraud 1 Compensation Fund under clause (ii), the Sec- 2 retary shall promulgate regulations to establish 3 a formula for allocating the allocations under 4 clause (iii).’’. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:12 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2200.IS S2200 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS