SHELTER Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6823 To expand the housing choice voucher program of the Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide temporary housing during the COVID-19 health crisis, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 12, 2020 Mr. HUFFMAN (for himself, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, and Mr. HASTINGS) in- troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Fi- nancial Services A BILL To expand the housing choice voucher program of the De- partment of Housing and Urban Development to provide temporary housing during the COVID-19 health crisis, 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 ‘‘COVID-19 Serving the 4 Homeless by Expanding the List of Tenant Eligible Resi- 5 dences Act of 2020’’ or the ‘‘SHELTER Act of 2020’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 May 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6823.IH H6823 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6823 IH SEC. 2. COVID-EMERGENCY HOUSING VOUCHER PROGRAM. 1 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 2 authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec- 3 essary for fiscal year 2020 to fund 500,000 incremental 4 vouchers for tenant-based assistance under the housing 5 choice voucher program under section 8(o) of the United 6 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)), to be 7 made available in accordance with such section 8(o) except 8 to the extent otherwise provided in this section. 9 (b) ELIGIBLE FAMILIES.—Housing voucher assist- 10 ance under this section may be provided on behalf only 11 of low-income families who, as of the creating a disaster 12 recovery voucher recovery program for individuals who 13 were unsheltered or living in shelters as of the declaration 14 on March 13, 2020, by the President under the Robert 15 T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 16 (42 U.S.C. 4121 et seq.) of the emergency relating to the 17 Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. 18 (c) ELIGIBLE DWELLING UNITS.—In addition to 19 dwelling units eligible to be rented using assistance under 20 section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937, 21 rental assistance under this section may be used to rent 22 dwelling units that meet the following requirements: 23 (1) TYPES OF HOUSING.—The dwelling unit is 24 of one of the following types: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 May 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6823.IH H6823 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6823 IH (A) SPECIAL HOUSING TYPES.—All special 1 housing types identified in section 982.601 of 2 the Secretary’s regulations (24 C.F.R. 3 982.601). 4 (B) JUNIOR ACCESSORY DWELLING 5 UNITS.—A dwelling unit that— 6 (i) does not exceed 500 square feet in 7 size; and 8 (ii) is contained entirely within an ex- 9 isting single-family structure. 10 Such a unit may include separate sanitation fa- 11 cilities and or may share sanitation facilities 12 with the existing structure. 13 (C) RECREATIONAL VEHICLES.—Rec- 14 reational vehicles that are equipped with a 15 bathroom and cooking facility. 16 (D) HOTEL AND MOTEL ROOMS.—Vacant 17 rooms in hotels and motels, except that in the 18 case of a hotel or motel that has an existing 19 contract with a public housing agency providing 20 rental assistance with respect to any rooms oc- 21 cupied by eligible families under subsection 22 (b)— 23 (i) the hotel or motel may, at its dis- 24 cretion, extend its existing contract with 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 May 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6823.IH H6823 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6823 IH the applicable public housing agency to 1 allow the families residing in the rooms to 2 extend their occupancies under such con- 3 tract using such voucher; or 4 (ii) in the case of a hotel or motel 5 that elects not to extend such contract, at 6 the discretion of the hotel or motel, the eli- 7 gible family may use such a voucher to 8 continue occupying such room. 9 (E) SHORT-TERM RENTAL UNITS.—A 10 dwelling unit made available for short-term 11 rental by the owner of the dwelling unit, includ- 12 ing by an online marketplace such as Airbnb or 13 HomeAway. 14 (F) TEMPORARY EMERGENCY SHELTER.— 15 A temporary emergency shelter that under the 16 10th proviso under the heading ‘‘Department of 17 Housing and Urban Development—Community 18 Planning and Development—Homeless Assist- 19 ance Grants’’ in title XII of subtitle B of the 20 CARES Act (Public Law 116–136) is eligible to 21 be assisted with amounts made available under 22 such heading. 23 (2) OWNER AGREEMENT.—The owner of the 24 dwelling unit is an individual and voluntarily agrees 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 May 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6823.IH H6823 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6823 IH to rent the dwelling unit in connection with assist- 1 ance under this section. 2 (3) KITCHEN.—The dwelling unit— 3 (A)(i) contains a kitchen or cooking facil- 4 ity; or 5 (ii) has access to a communal kitchen or 6 cooking facility; or 7 (B) is exempted from the requirement 8 under subparagraph (A) on a case-by-case basis 9 by the State or local government agency, public 10 housing agency, or other entity administering 11 such assistance. 12 (d) WAIVER OF ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—In 13 providing assistance under this section, the Secretary shall 14 waive the requirements under the following provisions of 15 section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 16 U.S.C. 1437f)— 17 (1) TENANT RENT CONTRIBUTION.—Subsection 18 (o)(2) of such section, relating to tenant contribu- 19 tions towards rent, except that any such waiver shall 20 expire on an individual’s return to work. 21 (2) ELIGIBLE FAMILIES.—Subsection (o)(4) of 22 such section, relating to the eligibility of individuals 23 and families to receive assistance. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 May 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6823.IH H6823 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6823 IH (3) VERIFICATION OF INCOME.—Subsections 1 (k) and (o)(5), relating to verification of income. 2 (4) LEASE TERM.—Subsection (o)(7)(A), relat- 3 ing to the requirement that leases shall be for a 4 term of 1 year. 5 (5) PORTABILITY.—Subsection (r)(1)(B), relat- 6 ing to restrictions on portability. 7 (e) USE OF FUNDS.—Notwithstanding any other pro- 8 vision of law, funds available for assistance under this sec- 9 tion— 10 (1) shall be available to cover the cost of— 11 (A) rent; 12 (B) security and utility deposits; 13 (C) relocation expenses, including expenses 14 incurred in relocating back to an assisted fam- 15 ily’s original area of residence; and 16 (D) such additional expenses as the Sec- 17 retary determines necessary; and 18 (2) shall be used by the Secretary— 19 (A) for payments to public housing agen- 20 cies, State or local government agencies, or 21 other voucher administrators for voucher assist- 22 ance under this section; and 23 (f) PAYMENT STANDARD.—For purposes of assist- 24 ance under this section, the payment standard for each 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 May 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6823.IH H6823 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6823 IH size of dwelling unit in a market area may not exceed 150 1 percent, or such higher percentage that the Secretary may 2 approve, of the fair market rental established under sec- 3 tion 8(c) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 for 4 the same size dwelling unit in the same market area, and 5 shall be not less than 70 percent of such fair market rent- 6 al. 7 (g) AUTHORITY TO CONTRACT WITH PHAS AND 8 OTHERS.—The Secretary may contract with any State or 9 local government agency or public housing agency, or in 10 consultation with any State or local government agency, 11 with any other entity, to administer assistance payments 12 under this section and ensure that such payments are pro- 13 vided in an efficient and expeditious manner. 14 (h) NONDISCRIMINATION.—In selecting individuals 15 or families for tenancy, a landlord or owner may not ex- 16 clude or penalize an individual or family solely because any 17 portion of the rental payment of that individual or family 18 is provided under this section. 19 (i) DURATION.—A voucher under this subsection for 20 rental assistance shall provide such assistance for a period 21 of 24 months, except that such period may be extended 22 if the Secretary considers necessary to respond to the pub- 23 lic health emergency relating to Coronavirus Disease 2019 24 (COVID-19) or for other reasons. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 May 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6823.IH H6823 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6823 IH (j) ALLOCATION.—Amounts made available for as- 1 sistance under this section shall be allocated to public 2 housing agencies based on the Secretary’s most recent 3 point-in-time count of the extent of homelessness in the 4 area served by such public housing agencies. 5 (k) DIRECT ADMINISTRATION BY SECRETARY.—If 6 the Secretary determines that a State or local government 7 agency, public housing agency, or other entity is unable 8 to implement this section due to the effects of the public 9 health emergency relating to COVID-19, the Secretary 10 may— 11 (1) directly administer a voucher program 12 under this section for the area affected; and 13 (2) perform the functions in connection with 14 such administration that are assigned by this sub- 15 section to a State or local agency, public housing 16 agency, or other entity. 17 (l) STUDY.—The Secretary shall conduct a study to 18 determine the feasibility of permanently authorizing the 19 types described in subparagraphs (B) through (D) of sub- 20 section (c)(1) as special housing types for purposes of the 21 housing choice voucher program under section 8(o) of the 22 United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)) 23 and identify permanent housing opportunities for families 24 and individuals assisted under this section. Not later than 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 May 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6823.IH H6823 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6823 IH the expiration of the 12-month period beginning on the 1 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall sub- 2 mit a report to the Congress specifying the results of and 3 recommendations from the study pursuant to this sub- 4 section. 5 (m) NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY OF ASSISTANCE.— 6 The Secretary shall establish procedures for State and 7 local agencies, public housing agencies, and other entities 8 administering assistance under this section to provide no- 9 tice of the availability of assistance under this section to 10 individuals or families that may be eligible for such assist- 11 ance. 12 (n) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this Act, the fol- 13 lowing definitions shall apply: 14 (1) COVID-19 EMERGENCY PERIOD.—The 15 term‘‘ COVID-19 emergency period’’ means the pe- 16 riod beginning on the date of the enactment of this 17 Act and ending upon the date of the expiration of 18 the 18-month period that begins upon the termi- 19 nation by the Federal Emergency Management 20 Agency of the emergency declared on March 13, 21 2020, by the President under the Robert T. Stafford 22 Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 23 U.S.C. 4121 et seq.) relating to the Coronavirus 24 Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 May 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6823.IH H6823 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6823 IH (2) PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCY.—The term 1 ‘‘public housing agency’’ has the meaning given such 2 term in section 3(b) of the United States Housing 3 Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)). 4 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 5 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 6 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR HOUS- 7 ING CHOICE VOUCHERS. 8 In addition to amounts authorized to be appropriated 9 under section 2(a), there is authorized to be appropriated 10 such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2020 to 11 fund 200,000 incremental vouchers for tenant-based as- 12 sistance under the housing choice voucher program under 13 section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 14 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)). 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:32 May 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6823.IH H6823 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS