Prevent Evictions Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2486 To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to award grants for landlord-tenant mediation programs. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 17, 2019 Ms. HASSAN (for herself, Mr. KAINE, and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop- ment to award grants for landlord-tenant mediation pro- grams. 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 ‘‘Prevent Evictions Act 4 of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:55 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2486.IS S2486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2486 IS (1) COVERED GRANT.—The term ‘‘covered 1 grant’’ means an implementation grant or program 2 expansion grant. 3 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 4 ty’’ means a State or a court thereof, a political sub- 5 division of a State or a court thereof, a Tribal gov- 6 ernment, or any other appropriate public or non- 7 profit entity as determined by the Secretary, that is 8 formulating or carrying out a program that pri- 9 marily involves meditation between landlords and 10 tenants. 11 (3) IMPLEMENTATION GRANT.—The term ‘‘im- 12 plementation grant’’ means a grant awarded under 13 section 5(b). 14 (4) PROGRAM EXPANSION GRANT.—The term 15 ‘‘program expansion grant’’ means a grant awarded 16 under section 5(c). 17 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 18 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 19 (6) SMALL-DOLLAR EVICTION.—The term 20 ‘‘small-dollar eviction’’ means an eviction resulting 21 from an eviction case brought against a tenant for 22 nonpayment of rent in which the unpaid amount is 23 less than 1 month’s rent. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:55 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2486.IS S2486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2486 IS SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds the following: 2 (1) Landlords often make their largest profit 3 margins in low-income neighborhoods. This is in 4 part due to the difference between the perceived risk 5 of low-income tenants defaulting on their rent and 6 the actual risk. 7 (2) A significant proportion of eviction money 8 judgments—in some jurisdictions, potentially more 9 than 40 percent—are for less than 1 month’s rent, 10 based on median rent per census tract. 11 (3) According to the book ‘‘Evicted: Poverty 12 and Profit in the American City’’ by Matthew 13 Desmond, families and individuals who are evicted 14 are more likely to experience a decline in mental and 15 physical health, have poor attendance in school, and 16 have more trouble holding a job. 17 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 18 It is the sense of Congress that— 19 (1) landlord-tenant mediation is a valuable and 20 cost-effective way to keep tenants in their homes, 21 and more investment in that type of mediation is 22 warranted; 23 (2) there is a lack of research on the potential 24 for certain types of insurance to be cost-effective 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:55 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2486.IS S2486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2486 IS interventions that keep tenants in their homes, 1 which warrants future study; 2 (3) eviction should be a last resort; and 3 (4) reducing the number of small-dollar evic- 4 tions will produce a substantial return on investment 5 for individuals and families and for society as a 6 whole. 7 SEC. 5. LANDLORD-TENANT MEDIATION COMPETITIVE 8 GRANT PROGRAM. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award com- 10 petitive grants under subsections (b) and (c) to eligible 11 entities to assist those entities in establishing and admin- 12 istering, or continuing, landlord-tenant mediation pro- 13 grams. 14 (b) IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 16 competitive grants to eligible entities to assist the 17 entities in establishing and administering landlord- 18 tenant mediation programs. 19 (2) TERM.—The term of an implementation 20 grant shall be 2 years. 21 (3) AMOUNT.—The amount of an implementa- 22 tion grant shall be not more than $1,500,000. 23 (4) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity may use 24 an implementation grant to establish— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:55 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2486.IS S2486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2486 IS (A) a statewide mediation program; or 1 (B) a mediation program in a political sub- 2 division of a State or in the jurisdiction of an 3 Indian Tribe that demonstrates a high need for 4 such a program due to— 5 (i) the rate of evictions in the political 6 subdivision or Tribal jurisdiction; or 7 (ii) other characteristics of the polit- 8 ical subdivision or Indian Tribe that con- 9 tribute to the rate of evictions in the polit- 10 ical subdivision or Tribal jurisdiction. 11 (5) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 12 the cost of a mediation program established using an 13 implementation grant may not exceed 50 percent. 14 (c) PROGRAM EXPANSION GRANTS.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 16 competitive grants to eligible entities to assist the 17 entities in continuing activities related to landlord- 18 tenant mediation. 19 (2) TERM.—The term of a program expansion 20 grant shall be 3 years. 21 (3) AMOUNT.—The amount of a program ex- 22 pansion grant shall be not more than $1,000,000. 23 (4) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—Amounts 24 made available to an eligible entity under a program 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:55 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2486.IS S2486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2486 IS expansion grant shall be used to supplement, and 1 not supplant, contributions made by the eligible enti- 2 ty for existing landlord-tenant mediation activities. 3 (d) GENERAL RULES FOR COVERED GRANTS.— 4 (1) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity may use 5 a covered grant to pay for operating costs, staff sal- 6 aries, mediator compensation, information tech- 7 nology, interpreters, outreach services, and recruit- 8 ment. 9 (2) GOOD FAITH PARTICIPATION.—An eligible 10 entity that receives a covered grant shall encourage 11 each party participating in the landlord-tenant medi- 12 ation program funded by the grant to make a good 13 faith effort to discuss potential resolutions. 14 (3) GEOGRAPHIC AND POPULATION DIVER- 15 SITY.—The Secretary shall ensure, to the maximum 16 extent practicable, that recipients of covered grants 17 represent— 18 (A) diverse geographical areas of the 19 United States; and 20 (B) States, political subdivisions of States, 21 and Indian Tribes of varying population sizes. 22 (4) FREE TO TENANTS.—A tenant may not be 23 charged for participating in landlord-tenant medi- 24 ation funded by a covered grant. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:55 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2486.IS S2486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 2486 IS (e) OVERSIGHT REQUIREMENTS.—For each year of 1 a covered grant received by an eligible entity, the eligible 2 entity shall submit to the Secretary a report that— 3 (1) describes how the eligible entity used the 4 grant funds during that year; and 5 (2) includes any performance data, relating to 6 programs funded by the covered grant, that the eli- 7 gible entity submitted to a State or political subdivi- 8 sion thereof, if applicable. 9 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 10 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 11 such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2020 and 12 each fiscal year thereafter. 13 SEC. 6. STUDY AND DEMONSTRATION OF EVICTION-PRE- 14 VENTING INSURANCE MODELS. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after 16 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 17 study, and submit to Congress a report on— 18 (1) insurance models designed to reduce evic- 19 tions or expand access to rental opportunities for 20 tenants, such as rental payment insurance; 21 (2) the cost of various insurance models de- 22 scribed in paragraph (1); and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:55 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2486.IS S2486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 2486 IS (3) the effects of various insurance models de- 1 scribed in paragraph (1) on tenants, landlords, and 2 housing markets. 3 (b) OBJECTIVES.—In conducting the study under 4 subsection (a), the Secretary shall seek to— 5 (1) better understand insurance models de- 6 scribed in that subsection that are not widely avail- 7 able in the United States; 8 (2) assess the viability of the insurance models 9 in United States markets and how the insurance 10 models could be implemented through private, pub- 11 lic, or subsidized programs; 12 (3) determine whether insurance models in 13 which the insurance policy is purchased by the ten- 14 ant, the landlord, or a public entity would be most 15 effective in achieving the objectives under this sub- 16 section; 17 (4) study any existing relevant insurance pro- 18 grams and the effectiveness of those programs, both 19 domestically and internationally; 20 (5) study how Federal mortgage insurance pro- 21 grams could help inform the structure or breadth of 22 the insurance models; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:55 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2486.IS S2486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 2486 IS (6) study how the insurance models could be 1 structured in order to best prevent evictions, par- 2 ticularly small-dollar evictions; 3 (7) study how to structure the insurance models 4 in order to prevent moral hazard; 5 (8) study the potential for the insurance models 6 to serve as a bridge for tenants between— 7 (A) participating in more cost-intensive, 8 longer-term housing programs, such as public 9 housing under the United States Housing Act 10 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.) or rental as- 11 sistance under section 8 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 12 1437f); and 13 (B) leaving the programs described in sub- 14 paragraph (A) entirely; 15 (9) study how the insurance models could be 16 tailored to target or benefit lower-income families or 17 vulnerable renters; and 18 (10) study the extent to which the insurance 19 models could be paired with landlord-tenant medi- 20 ation efforts. 21 (c) RESULTS OF STUDY.— 22 (1) REPORT.—The Secretary shall include in 23 the report under subsection (a)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:55 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2486.IS S2486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 2486 IS (A) a description of any insurance models 1 that— 2 (i) have the strongest potential to 3 achieve the objectives under subsection (b); 4 and 5 (ii) could be tested through a dem- 6 onstration project; and 7 (B) a proposal for a demonstration project 8 to test the most promising insurance model de- 9 scribed in subparagraph (A). 10 (2) DEMONSTRATION PROJECT PRIORITY FOR 11 GRANT RECIPIENTS.—In selecting the jurisdiction in 12 which to conduct the demonstration project proposed 13 under paragraph (1)(B), the Secretary shall give pri- 14 ority to jurisdictions served by a recipient of a cov- 15 ered grant. 16 (3) BUDGET REQUEST.—After submitting the 17 report under subsection (a), the Secretary shall in- 18 clude in the first annual budget request that the 19 Secretary submits to Congress under section 1105 of 20 title 31, United States Code, a request for funds for 21 the demonstration proposal described in paragraph 22 (1)(B). 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:55 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2486.IS S2486 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS