Housing Fairness Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4969 To authorize funds to prevent housing discrimination through the use of nationwide testing, to increase funds for the Fair Housing Initiatives Program, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 7, 2020 Ms. CORTEZ MASTO (for herself, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. SANDERS, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. VAN HOL- LEN, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. KAINE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To authorize funds to prevent housing discrimination through the use of nationwide testing, to increase funds for the Fair Housing Initiatives Program, and for other pur- poses. 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 ‘‘Housing Fairness Act 4 of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:07 Dec 12, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4969.IS S4969 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4969 IS SEC. 2. DEFINITION. 1 In this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec- 2 retary of Housing and Urban Development. 3 SEC. 3. TESTING FOR DISCRIMINATION. 4 (a) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITY UNDER FHIP.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 561(a) of the Hous- 6 ing and Community Development Act of 1987 (42 7 U.S.C. 3616a(a)) is amended— 8 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and 9 (2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, 10 and adjusting the margins accordingly; 11 (B) in the matter preceding subparagraph 12 (A), as so redesignated— 13 (i) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and 14 inserting the following: 15 ‘‘(1) GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND COOPERATIVE 16 AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary’’; and 17 (ii) by inserting after ‘‘discriminatory 18 housing practices’’ the following: ‘‘or, in 19 the case of grants, contracts, or coopera- 20 tive agreements for activities under sub- 21 paragraph (C), with qualified private, non- 22 profit fair housing enforcement organiza- 23 tions that have demonstrated expertise in 24 managing and implementing regional or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:07 Dec 12, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4969.IS S4969 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4969 IS national testing programs to address sys- 1 temic fair housing issues’’; 2 (C) in subparagraph (A), as so redesig- 3 nated, by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 4 (D) in subparagraph (B), as so redesig- 5 nated, by striking ‘‘paragraph (1).’’ and insert- 6 ing ‘‘subparagraph (A); and’’; and 7 (E) by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(C) programs of regional or national test- 9 ing and investigations to— 10 ‘‘(i)(I) detect and document dif- 11 ferences in the treatment of persons seek- 12 ing to rent or purchase housing or obtain 13 or refinance a home mortgage loan; and 14 ‘‘(II) measure patterns of differential 15 treatment because of the status of a 16 renter, home buyer, or borrower as a mem- 17 ber of a protected class under the Fair 18 Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.); and 19 ‘‘(ii) measure the prevalence, nature, 20 and extent of discriminatory practices cov- 21 ered under the Fair Housing Act. 22 ‘‘(2) ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS.— 23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The results of any 24 testing and investigations under paragraph 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:07 Dec 12, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4969.IS S4969 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4969 IS (1)(C) may be used as the basis for the Sec- 1 retary, any Federal agency authorized to bring 2 such an enforcement action, or any State or 3 local government or agency, public or private 4 nonprofit organization or institution, or other 5 aggrieved party within the meaning of the Fair 6 Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.) or other 7 substantially equivalent State or local fair hous- 8 ing law, or other public or private entity with 9 which the Secretary has entered into a contract 10 or cooperative agreement under this section to 11 commence, undertake, or pursue any investiga- 12 tion or enforcement action to remedy any dis- 13 criminatory housing practice (as that term is 14 defined in section 802 of the Fair Housing Act 15 (42 U.S.C. 3602)) uncovered as a result of the 16 testing and investigations. 17 ‘‘(B) TESTING.—Testing conducted under 18 paragraph (1)(C) shall not constitute a viola- 19 tion of any provision of criminal law or the 20 Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 et 21 seq.).’’. 22 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND- 23 MENT.—Section 561(a)(2) of the Housing and Com- 24 munity Development Act of 1987 (42 U.S.C. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:07 Dec 12, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4969.IS S4969 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4969 IS 3616a(a)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘subsection 1 (a)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(1)(A)’’. 2 (b) REGULATIONS.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 4 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec- 5 retary shall issue regulations that apply the min- 6 imum tester training standards required under sec- 7 tion 125.107 of title 24, Code of Federal Regula- 8 tions (or any successor regulation), to organizations 9 conducting testing under paragraph (1)(C) of sec- 10 tion 561(a) of the Housing and Community Develop- 11 ment Act of 1987 (42 U.S.C. 3616a(a)), as added 12 by subsection (a)(1)(E) of this section. 13 (2) APPLICABILITY TO ALL TESTING ACTIVI- 14 TIES.—On and after the date on which the regula- 15 tions issued under paragraph (1) take effect, the 16 minimum tester training standards described in that 17 paragraph shall apply to any testing activities con- 18 ducted under section 561 of the Housing and Com- 19 munity Development Act of 1987 (42 U.S.C. 20 3616a), as amended by subsection (a)(1) of this sec- 21 tion. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:07 Dec 12, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4969.IS S4969 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4969 IS SEC. 4. FAIR HOUSING INITIATIVES PROGRAM. 1 (a) AMENDMENTS TO PROGRAM.—Section 561 of the 2 Housing and Community Development Act of 1987 (42 3 U.S.C. 3616a) is amended— 4 (1) in subsection (b)— 5 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘private 6 nonprofit’’ and inserting ‘‘qualified’’; and 7 (B) in paragraph (2), in the matter pre- 8 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘private 9 nonprofit’’ and inserting ‘‘qualified’’; 10 (2) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the 11 following: 12 ‘‘(3) PROGRAM-EARNED INCOME.—No restric- 13 tion on the use of program-earned income received 14 by a qualified fair housing enforcement organization 15 shall apply after the grant period for the organiza- 16 tion ends.’’; 17 (3) in subsection (d)— 18 (A) in paragraph (1)— 19 (i) in subparagraph (C), by striking 20 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 21 (ii) in subparagraph (D), by striking 22 the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 23 (iii) by inserting after subparagraph 24 (D) the following: 25 ‘‘(E) websites and other media outlets.’’; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:07 Dec 12, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4969.IS S4969 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4969 IS (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘or other 1 public or private entities’’ and inserting ‘‘or 2 other public or private nonprofit entities’’; 3 (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘or other 4 public or private entities’’ and inserting ‘‘or 5 other public or private nonprofit entities’’; and 6 (D) by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding any other 8 provision of this section, a State or local agency cer- 9 tified by the Secretary under section 810(f) of the 10 Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3610(f)) may receive 11 assistance under this subsection only to carry out 12 activities eligible for assistance under this subsection 13 in areas in which no qualified fair housing enforce- 14 ment organization is available to carry out those ac- 15 tivities. 16 ‘‘(5) ELIGIBILITY.—Notwithstanding any other 17 provision of this section, if an award of funding 18 under subsection (b) for multiple fiscal years has 19 been made to a qualified fair housing enforcement 20 organization, the organization shall be, subject only 21 to the availability of amounts provided in appropria- 22 tion Acts, eligible to receive funding under this sub- 23 section for each fiscal year covered by the award 24 under subsection (b).’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:07 Dec 12, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4969.IS S4969 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4969 IS (4) in subsection (e)— 1 (A) in paragraph (1)— 2 (i) by inserting ‘‘CONGRESSIONAL NO- 3 TIFICATION.—’’ after ‘‘(1)’’; and 4 (ii) by striking ‘‘Banking, Finance 5 and Urban Affairs’’ and inserting ‘‘Finan- 6 cial Services’’; and 7 (B) by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In providing assistance under 9 this section with respect to a metropolitan statistical 10 area for which there are multiple applications for as- 11 sistance, the Secretary shall give priority to applica- 12 tions submitted by qualified fair housing enforce- 13 ment organizations that have experience in con- 14 ducting fair housing enforcement activities.’’; 15 (5) by striking subsection (g) and inserting the 16 following: 17 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 19 appropriated to carry out this section— 20 ‘‘(A) $58,000,000 for each of fiscal years 21 2021 through 2025, of which— 22 ‘‘(i) $55,000,000 shall be available for 23 any activities under this section other than 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:07 Dec 12, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4969.IS S4969 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4969 IS programs under subsection (a)(1)(C), of 1 which— 2 ‘‘(I) not less than $38,000,000 3 shall be for private enforcement initia- 4 tives authorized under subsection (b); 5 ‘‘(II) not less than $1,500,000 6 shall be for the fair housing organiza- 7 tions initiative under subsection (c); 8 ‘‘(III) not less than $10,000,000 9 shall be for the education and out- 10 reach initiative under subsection (d), 11 of which— 12 ‘‘(aa) not less than 13 $8,000,000 shall be for local edu- 14 cation and outreach activities; 15 and 16 ‘‘(bb) not less than 17 $2,000,000 shall be for national 18 media activities; and 19 ‘‘(IV) any remaining amounts 20 shall be used for any program activi- 21 ties authorized under this section; and 22 ‘‘(ii) $3,000,000 shall be available 23 only for programs under subsection 24 (a)(1)(C); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:07 Dec 12, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4969.IS S4969 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4969 IS ‘‘(B) $70,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1 2026 through 2031, of which— 2 ‘‘(i) $65,000,000 shall be available for 3 any activities under this section other than 4 programs under subsection (a)(1)(C), of 5 which— 6 ‘‘(I) not less than $44,000,000 7 shall be for private enforcement initia- 8 tives authorized under subsection (b); 9 ‘‘(II) not less than $1,500,000 10 shall be for the fair housing organiza- 11 tions initiative under subsection (c); 12 ‘‘(III) not less than $12,500,000 13 shall be for the education and out- 14 reach initiative under subsection (d), 15 of which— 16 ‘‘(aa) not less than 17 $10,000,000 shall be for local 18 education and outreach activities; 19 and 20 ‘‘(bb) not less than 21 $2,500,000 shall be for national 22 media activities; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:07 Dec 12, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4969.IS S4969 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 4969 IS ‘‘(IV) any remaining amounts 1 shall be used for any program activi- 2 ties authorized under this section; and 3 ‘‘(ii) $5,000,000 shall be available 4 only for programs under subsection 5 (a)(1)(C). 6 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY.—Any amount appropriated 7 under this section shall remain available until ex- 8 pended to carry out the provisions of this section. 9 ‘‘(3) AWARD OF FUNDING.— 10 ‘‘(A) NOTICE.—Not later than 90 days 11 after the date of enactment of any Act making 12 amounts available to carry out this section, the 13 Secretary shall issue a Notice of Funding Avail- 14 ability with respect to the amounts. 15 ‘‘(B) AWARD.—Not later than 180 days 16 after the date of enactment of any Act making 17 amounts available to carry out this section, the 18 Secretary shall award the amounts.’’; 19 (6) in subsection (h)(1), in the matter following 20 subparagraph (C), by inserting ‘‘and meets the cri- 21 teria described in subparagraphs (A) and (C)’’ be- 22 fore the period at the end; and 23 (7) in subsection (j)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:07 Dec 12, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4969.IS S4969 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 4969 IS (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 1 by inserting ‘‘regarding that fiscal year,’’ after 2 ‘‘comprehensive report’’; 3 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and the 4 use of such funds during the preceding fiscal 5 year’’ and inserting ‘‘, the use of such funds, 6 and outcomes such as the number of housing 7 units made available and accessible to protected 8 classes under the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 9 3601 et seq.)’’; 10 (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘during 11 the preceding fiscal year’’; and 12 (D) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘during 13 the preceding fiscal year’’. 14 (b) STUDY.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct 16 a study to determine— 17 (A) the feasibility, efficiency, and effective- 18 ness of converting the Fair Housing Initiatives 19 Program under section 561 of the Housing and 20 Community Development Act of 1987 (42 21 U.S.C. 3616a), as amended by this Act, into a 22 noncompetitive entitlement program to provide 23 general operating funding to qualified fair hous- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:07 Dec 12, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4969.IS S4969 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 4969 IS ing enforcement organizations, as defined in 1 subsection (h) of that section; 2 (B) the appropriate levels of funding for 3 such a program, taking into consideration the 4 number of such qualified fair housing enforce- 5 ment organizations; and 6 (C) the factors that should be considered 7 in providing for an equitable distribution to 8 qualified fair housing enforcement organiza- 9 tions. 10 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 11 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 12 submit a report to Congress setting forth the results 13 of the study conducted under paragraph (1), which 14 shall include any recomme [Text truncated for display. 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