Bad Landlord Database Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3371 To require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to create a database of owners of properties receiving tenant-based assistance, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 2, 2020 Mr. HAWLEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to create a database of owners of properties receiving tenant-based assistance, 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 ‘‘Bad Landlord Data- 4 base Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:24 Mar 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3371.IS S3371 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3371 IS SEC. 2. OVERSIGHT OF LANDLORD COMPLIANCE WITH 1 HOUSING QUALITY STANDARDS. 2 Section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 3 (42 U.S.C. 1437f) is amended by adding at the end the 4 following: 5 ‘‘(ee) HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER LANDLORD DATA- 6 BASE.— 7 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year 8 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 9 Secretary shall, in cooperation with all public hous- 10 ing agencies, create a database of owners of prop- 11 erties receiving tenant-based assistance, which shall 12 include— 13 ‘‘(A) a comprehensive list of all properties 14 owned by each owner that are receiving or have 15 previously received tenant-based assistance; 16 ‘‘(B) for each property listed under sub- 17 paragraph (A), the identity of any private indi- 18 vidual or entity that has the legal right to lease 19 or sublease dwelling units within the property; 20 ‘‘(C) a comprehensive list of all actions 21 taken by the Secretary and any public housing 22 agency against an owner for violations of the 23 terms of a housing assistance payments con- 24 tract related to the property or of the housing 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:24 Mar 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3371.IS S3371 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3371 IS quality standards established under subsection 1 (o)(8)(B); and 2 ‘‘(D) a comprehensive list of all previous or 3 ongoing litigation related to the programs au- 4 thorized under subsection (o) between the 5 owner and any public housing agency. 6 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC DISCLOSURES.— 7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 8 maintain and make available to the public a 9 list, using information from the database estab- 10 lished under paragraph (1), of all owners of 11 properties receiving tenant-based assistance, 12 which shall include— 13 ‘‘(i) the identity of any private indi- 14 vidual or entity that has the legal right to 15 lease or sublease dwelling units within each 16 property; 17 ‘‘(ii) all actions described to in para- 18 graph (1)(C); and 19 ‘‘(iii) all litigation described in para- 20 graph (1)(D). 21 ‘‘(B) PRIVACY.—Any information made 22 available under subparagraph (A)— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:24 Mar 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3371.IS S3371 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3371 IS ‘‘(i) shall be made available in a man- 1 ner that protects the privacy of current 2 and former tenants of the properties; and 3 ‘‘(ii) shall not include, and where ap- 4 propriate shall redact, the addresses of the 5 properties and dwelling units owned by the 6 owners or other personally identifiable in- 7 formation of tenants. 8 ‘‘(3) PENALTY.—Any property owner who 9 knowingly provides misleading or inconsistent infor- 10 mation to the Secretary or public housing agencies, 11 or to units of general local government or other enti- 12 ties approved by the Secretary to conduct inspec- 13 tions under subsection (o)(11), relating to the data- 14 base established under paragraph (1) with the intent 15 to undermine transparency or avoid sanction, shall 16 be guilty of a violation of section 1012 of title 18, 17 United States Code, and shall be prohibited there- 18 after from being awarded any contract by the Fed- 19 eral Government. 20 ‘‘(4) INSPECTOR GENERAL.— 21 ‘‘(A) INVESTIGATIONS.—The Inspector 22 General of the Department of Housing and 23 Urban Development may investigate any sus- 24 pected or alleged effort by an owner to cir- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:24 Mar 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3371.IS S3371 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3371 IS cumvent the data collection needs identified by 1 the Secretary to carry out this subsection by 2 providing misleading or inconsistent informa- 3 tion. 4 ‘‘(B) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years 5 after the date of enactment of this subsection, 6 the Inspector General of the Department of 7 Housing and Urban Development shall issue a 8 report documenting obstacles to maintaining 9 consistent records within the database estab- 10 lished under paragraph (1), including— 11 ‘‘(i) deficiencies in information sub- 12 missions by owners; 13 ‘‘(ii) inconsistent documentation by 14 public housing agencies; and 15 ‘‘(iii) legal restructuring or renaming 16 of ownership entities by owners with the 17 intent to evade transparency. 18 ‘‘(5) AUDITS AND ASSESSMENTS.—Not later 19 than 2 years after the date of enactment of this sub- 20 section, the Secretary shall— 21 ‘‘(A) audit the performance of public hous- 22 ing agencies with the requirements under this 23 subsection; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:24 Mar 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3371.IS S3371 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3371 IS ‘‘(B) update the section 8 management as- 1 sessment program of the Department of Hous- 2 ing and Urban Development to consider compli- 3 ance with the requirements under this sub- 4 section.’’. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:24 Mar 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3371.IS S3371 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS