Coronavirus Housing Counseling Improvement Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6704 To authorize additional funding for housing counseling services, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 5, 2020 Mrs. AXNE (for herself and Ms. WATERS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To authorize additional funding for housing counseling services, 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 ‘‘Coronavirus Housing 4 Counseling Improvement Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 6 The Congress finds that— 7 (1) the spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 8 (COVID–19), which is now considered a global pan- 9 demic, is expected to negatively impact the incomes 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:37 May 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6704.IH H6704 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6704 IH of potentially millions of homeowners, renters, indi- 1 viduals experiencing homelessness, and individuals at 2 risk of homelessness, making it difficult for them to 3 pay their mortgages or rents on time; 4 (2) housing counseling is critical to ensuring 5 that homeowners, renters, individuals experiencing 6 homelessness, and individuals at risk of homeless- 7 ness have the resources they need to manage finan- 8 cial hardships from the COVID-19 crisis; 9 (3) foreclosure mitigation services are also crit- 10 ical to address the needs of homeowners who lose 11 employment and income because of the pandemic 12 and who face serious delinquency or mortgage de- 13 fault, or are in foreclosing proceedings during this 14 period; 15 (4) evaluations from the National Foreclosure 16 Mitigation Counseling program revealed that home- 17 owners at risk of or facing foreclosure are better 18 served when they have access to a housing counselor 19 and a range of tools and resources to help them 20 avoid losing their home and have the support they 21 need to tailor the best possible response to their sit- 22 uation. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:37 May 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6704.IH H6704 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6704 IH SEC. 3. FUNDING FOR HOUSING COUNSELING SERVICES. 1 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 2 authorized to be appropriated to the Neighborhood Rein- 3 vestment Corporation (in this section referred to as the 4 ‘‘Corporation’’) established under the Neighborhood Rein- 5 vestment Corporation Act (42 U.S.C. 8101 et seq.) 6 $700,000,000 for fiscal year 2020 for assistance under 7 section 106 of the Housing and Urban Development Act 8 of 1968 (12 U.S.C. 1701x) for housing counseling serv- 9 ices, which shall remain available until September 30, 10 2023. 11 (b) PRIORITIZATION OF HOUSING COUNSELING 12 SERVICES.—Of any amounts made available pursuant to 13 subsection (a), not less than 40 percent shall be provided 14 to counseling organizations that target counseling services 15 regarding loss mitigation to minority and low-income 16 homeowners, renters, individuals experiencing homeless- 17 ness, and individuals at risk of homelessness or provide 18 such services in neighborhoods with high concentrations 19 of minority and low-income homeowners, renters, individ- 20 uals experiencing homelessness, and individuals at risk of 21 homelessness. 22 (c) ELIGIBLE USES.—Amounts made available pur- 23 suant to subsection (a) may be used in such amounts as 24 the Corporation determines for costs of— 25 (1) public education and outreach; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:37 May 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6704.IH H6704 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6704 IH (2) direct services, including the full range of 1 services provided by housing counselors to assist 2 homeowners, renters, individuals experiencing home- 3 lessness, and individuals at risk of homelessness, in- 4 cluding the practices, tools, and innovations in fore- 5 closure mitigation that were utilized in the National 6 Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program, and fi- 7 nancial capability, credit counseling, homeless coun- 8 seling, and rental counseling; 9 (3) equipment and technology, including broad- 10 band internet and equipment upgrades needed to en- 11 sure timely and effective service delivery; and 12 (4) training, including capacitating housing 13 counseling staff in various modes of counseling, in- 14 cluding rental and foreclosure, delivery of remote 15 counseling utilizing improved technology, enhanced 16 network security, and supportive options for the de- 17 livery of client services; 18 all of which may be billed as direct costs. 19 (d) DISBURSEMENT.—The Corporation shall disburse 20 all amounts made available pursuant to subsection (a) as 21 expeditiously as possible, through grants to housing coun- 22 seling intermediaries approved by the Department of 23 Housing and Urban Development, State housing finance 24 agencies, and NeighborWorks organizations. The aggre- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:37 May 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6704.IH H6704 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6704 IH gate amount provided to NeighborWorks organizations 1 shall not exceed 15 percent of the total amounts made 2 available pursuant to subsection (a). 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:37 May 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6704.IH H6704 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS