Fair Housing Enforcement Emergency Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6382 To provide assistance for fair housing enforcement activities associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 24, 2020 Mr. GREEN of Texas (for himself, Mr. MEEKS, and Mr. CLEAVER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Serv- ices, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide assistance for fair housing enforcement activities associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, 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 Housing Enforce- 4 ment Emergency Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF COVID-19 EMERGENCY PERIOD. 6 For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘COVID-19 emer- 7 gency period’’ means the period that begins upon the date 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 Apr 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6382.IH H6382 2 •HR 6382 IH of the enactment of this Act and ends upon the date of 1 the termination by the Federal Emergency Management 2 Agency of the emergency declared on March 13, 2020, by 3 the President under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 4 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 4121 et seq.) 5 relating to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) 6 pandemic. 7 SEC. 3. FAIR HOUSING ACTIVITIES. 8 (a) FHIP; FHAP.— 9 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 10 ensure that fair housing organizations and State and 11 local civil rights agencies have sufficient resources to 12 deal with expected increases in fair housing com- 13 plaints, to investigate housing discrimination, includ- 14 ing financial scams that target protected classes, as- 15 sociated with or resulting from the COVID-19 pan- 16 demic, and during such pandemic, there is author- 17 ized to be appropriated for contracts, grants, and 18 other assistance— 19 (A) $55,000,000 for the Fair Housing Ini- 20 tiatives Program under section 561 of the 21 Housing and Community Development Act of 22 1987 (42 U.S.C. 3616a); and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 Apr 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6382.IH H6382 3 •HR 6382 IH (B) $35,000,000 for the Fair Housing As- 1 sistance Program under the Fair Housing Act 2 (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.). 3 Amounts made available pursuant to this paragraph 4 may be used by such organizations and agencies to 5 establish the capacity to and to carry out activities 6 and services by telephone and online means, includ- 7 ing for individuals with limited English proficiency 8 and individuals with a disability in accordance with 9 requirements under the Americans With Disabilities 10 Act of 1990. 11 (2) PRIVATE ENFORCEMENT INITIATIVE.—In 12 entering into contracts for private enforcement ini- 13 tiatives under 561(b) of the Housing and Commu- 14 nity Development Act of 1987 (42 U.S.C. 3616a(b)) 15 using amounts made available pursuant to para- 16 graph (1)(A) of this subsection, the Secretary of 17 Housing and Urban Development shall give priority 18 to applications from qualified fair housing enforce- 19 ment organizations that have at least 2 years of fair 20 housing testing experience. 21 (3) 3-YEAR AVAILABILITY.—Any amounts made 22 available pursuant paragraph (1) that are allocated 23 for a grantee and remain unexpended upon the expi- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 Apr 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6382.IH H6382 4 •HR 6382 IH ration of the 3-year period beginning upon such allo- 1 cation shall be recaptured by the Secretary. 2 (b) OFFICE OF FAIR HOUSING AND EQUAL OPPOR- 3 TUNITY.—There is authorized to be appropriated 4 $200,000,000 for the Office of Fair Housing and Equal 5 Opportunity of the Department of Housing and Urban 6 Development for costs of fully staffing such Office to en- 7 sure robust enforcement of the Fair Housing Act during 8 the COVID-19 pandemic, including ensuring that— 9 (1) assistance provided under this Act is pro- 10 vided and administered in a manner that affirma- 11 tively furthers fair housing in accordance with the 12 Fair Housing Act; 13 (2) such Office has sufficient capacity for in- 14 take of housing discrimination complaints by tele- 15 phone and online mechanisms, including for individ- 16 uals with limited English proficiency and individuals 17 with a disability in accordance with requirements 18 under the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 19 and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 20 (29 U.S.C. 794); and 21 (3) such Office has the capacity to respond to 22 all housing discrimination complaints made during 23 the COVID-19 pandemic within time limitations re- 24 quired under law. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 Apr 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6382.IH H6382 5 •HR 6382 IH In the hiring of staff using amounts made available pursu- 1 ant to this subsection, the Secretary of Housing and 2 Urban Development shall consider and hire, at all levels 3 of employment and to the greatest extent possible, a di- 4 verse staff, including by race, ethnicity, gender, and dis- 5 ability status. The Secretary shall submit a report to the 6 Congress describing compliance with the preceding sen- 7 tence on a quarterly basis, for each of the first 4 calendar 8 quarters ending after the date of the enactment of this 9 Act. 10 SEC. 4. FAIR HOUSING GUIDANCE AND EDUCATION. 11 (a) PROHIBITION OF SHOWINGS.—Not later than the 12 expiration of the 30-day period beginning on the date of 13 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Housing and 14 Urban Development shall issue guidance for owners of 15 dwelling units assisted under housing assistance programs 16 of the Department prohibiting, during the COVID-19 17 emergency period, of any showings of occupied assisted 18 dwelling units to prospective tenants. 19 (b) EDUCATION.—There is authorized to be appro- 20 priated $10,000,000 for the Office of Fair Housing and 21 Equal Opportunity of the Department of Housing and 22 Urban Development to carry out a national media cam- 23 paign to educate the public of increased housing rights 24 during COVID-19 emergency period, that provides that 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 Apr 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6382.IH H6382 6 •HR 6382 IH information and materials used in such campaign are 1 available— 2 (1) in the languages used by communities with 3 limited English proficiency; and 4 (2) to persons with disabilities. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 Apr 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6382.IH H6382