Federal Disaster Housing Stability Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8142 To provide for a moratorium on evictions from and foreclosures on residences during a major disaster or emergency, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 1, 2020 Mrs. DEMINGS (for herself, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. NORTON, Mr. LAWSON of Flor- ida, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, and Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide for a moratorium on evictions from and fore- closures on residences during a major disaster or emer- gency, 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 ‘‘Federal Disaster 4 Housing Stability Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:01 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8142.IH H8142 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8142 IH SEC. 2. FORECLOSURE MORATORIUM. 1 Except with respect to a vacant or abandoned prop- 2 erty, in the case of any disaster, a servicer of a Federally 3 backed mortgage loan on a property located within the dis- 4 aster area with respect to such disaster may not, during 5 the moratorium period with respect to such area, initiate 6 any judicial or non-judicial foreclosure process, move for 7 a foreclosure judgment or order of sale, or execute a fore- 8 closure-related eviction or foreclosure sale. 9 SEC. 3. EVICTION MORATORIUM. 10 (a) MORATORIUM.—In the case of any disaster, the 11 lessor of a covered dwelling that is located within the dis- 12 aster area with respect to such disaster may not, during 13 the moratorium period with respect to such area— 14 (1) make, or cause to be made, any filing with 15 the court of jurisdiction to initiate a legal action to 16 recover possession of the covered dwelling from the 17 tenant for nonpayment of rent or other fees or 18 charges; or 19 (2) charge fees, penalties, or other charges to 20 the tenant related to such nonpayment of rent. 21 (b) NOTICE.—In the case of any disaster, the lessor 22 of a covered dwelling unit that is located within the dis- 23 aster area with respect to such disaster— 24 (1) may not require the tenant to vacate the 25 covered dwelling unit before the date that is 30 days 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:01 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8142.IH H8142 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8142 IH after the date on which the lessor provides the ten- 1 ant with a notice to vacate; and 2 (2) may not issue a notice to vacate under 3 paragraph (1) until after the expiration of the mora- 4 torium period with respect to such area. 5 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 6 For purposes of this Act, the following definitions 7 shall apply: 8 (1) COVERED DWELLING.—The term ‘‘covered 9 dwelling’’ means a dwelling that is occupied by a 10 tenant— 11 (A) pursuant to a residential lease; or 12 (B) without a lease or with a lease ter- 13 minable under State law; and 14 (2) DISASTER.—The term ‘‘disaster’’ means— 15 (A) any national emergency declared by 16 the President under the National Emergencies 17 Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.); or 18 (B) any major disaster or emergency de- 19 clared by the President under the Robert T. 20 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist- 21 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 4121 et seq.). 22 (3) DISASTER AREA.—The term ‘‘disaster area’’ 23 means, with respect to a disaster, any area that at 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Sep 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8142.IH H8142 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8142 IH any time is subject to the declaration of such dis- 1 aster. 2 (4) DWELLING.—The term ‘‘dwelling’’— 3 (A) has the meaning given the term in sec- 4 tion 802 of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 5 3602); and 6 (B) includes houses and dwellings de- 7 scribed in section 803(b) of such Act (42 8 U.S.C. 3603(b)). 9 (5) FEDERALLY BACKED MORTGAGE LOAN.— 10 The term ‘‘Federally backed mortgage loan’’ in- 11 cludes any loan (other than temporary financing 12 such as a construction loan) that— 13 (A) is secured by a first or subordinate lien 14 on residential real property (including indi- 15 vidual units of condominiums and cooperatives) 16 designed principally for the occupancy of from 17 1 to 4 families, including any such secured 18 loan, the proceeds of which are used to prepay 19 or pay off an existing loan secured by the same 20 property; and 21 (B) is made in whole or in part, or in- 22 sured, guaranteed, supplemented, or assisted in 23 any way, by any officer or agency of the Fed- 24 eral Government or under or in connection with 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:01 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8142.IH H8142 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8142 IH a housing or urban development program ad- 1 ministered by the Secretary of Housing and 2 Urban Development or a housing or related 3 program administered by any other such officer 4 or agency, or is purchased or securitized by the 5 Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation or 6 the Federal National Mortgage Association. 7 (6) MORATORIUM PERIOD.—The term ‘‘morato- 8 rium period’’ means, with respect to a disaster area, 9 the period that— 10 (A) begins upon the declaration of the dis- 11 aster for which such declaration was made; and 12 (B) ends upon the later of— 13 (i) the date on which the effectiveness 14 of such declaration terminates for such 15 area; or 16 (ii) the date on which a certification 17 under section 5(b) for the State in which 18 such area is located is published in the 19 Federal Register. 20 SEC. 5. TERMINATION OF MORATORIUM PERIOD BY UNEM- 21 PLOYMENT RATE. 22 (a) MONITORING.—In the case of a disaster, the Sec- 23 retary of Labor shall continually monitor the unemploy- 24 ment rate for each State in which any disaster area with 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:01 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8142.IH H8142 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8142 IH respect to such disaster is located to determine the first 1 time after the beginning of the moratorium period with 2 respect to any such disaster area that the unemployment 3 rate for the State has been less than 8.5 percent for each 4 of 2 consecutive calendar months, each such month com- 5 mencing after the beginning of the moratorium period. 6 (b) CERTIFICATION.—In the case of a disaster, the 7 Secretary of Labor shall, upon making a determination 8 that the unemployment rate for a State, as determined 9 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, has been less than 8.5 10 percent for each of 2 consecutive calendar months, each 11 such month commencing after the beginning of the mora- 12 torium period with respect to a disaster area located with- 13 in such State, immediately cause to be published in the 14 Federal Register a certification of such unemployment 15 rate for such months for such State for purposes of deter- 16 mining the termination of the moratorium period for such 17 disaster area. 18 SEC. 6. APPLICABILITY. 19 This Act shall apply with respect to any disaster for 20 which the declaration of the disaster is in effect on the 21 date of the enactment of this Act and any disaster for 22 which such declaration is made after such date of enact- 23 ment. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:34 Sep 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8142.IH H8142 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS