I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8886 To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for prohibitions on eviction, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 7, 2020 Mr. COHEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for prohibitions on eviction, 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 ‘‘Emergency Eviction 4 Enforcement Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. PROHIBITIONS ON EVICTION. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part 1 of title 18, United States 7 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 Dec 22, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8886.IH H8886 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8886 IH ‘‘CHAPTER 125.—PROHIBITIONS ON 1 EVICTION 2 ‘‘2741. Prohibition on eviction during national emergency. ‘‘§ 2741. Prohibition on eviction during national 3 emergency 4 ‘‘(a) CIVIL ACTION.—Any person injured by a viola- 5 tion of this section may bring a cause of action for injunc- 6 tive relief and damages equal to three times to amount 7 of the injury, and may be awarded attorneys’ fees. 8 ‘‘(b) IN GENERAL.—Whoever, being a lessor of a cov- 9 ered dwelling, knowingly— 10 ‘‘(1) repossesses or physically attempts to re- 11 possess a covered dwelling from a tenant of the cov- 12 ered dwelling without a duly issued order from a 13 court of jurisdiction; 14 ‘‘(2) threatens, harasses, intimidates, or creates 15 a hostile environment for a tenant of a covered 16 dwelling for the purpose of causing the tenant to va- 17 cate the covered dwelling; or 18 ‘‘(3) impairs the habitability of a covered dwell- 19 ing (including suspending utility service, changing 20 locks, refusing to repair structure, plumbing, elec- 21 trical, ventilation systems, maintain appliances in 22 state of good repair) for the purpose of causing the 23 tenant to vacate the covered dwelling, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 Dec 22, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8886.IH H8886 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8886 IH shall be punished as provided in subsection (c). 1 ‘‘(c) PUNISHMENTS.—Whoever violates subsection 2 (b) shall— 3 ‘‘(1) for a first offense, be imprisoned not more 4 than 1 year or fined under this title, or both; and 5 ‘‘(2) for each subsequent offense, be imprisoned 6 for not more than 5 years or fined under this title, 7 or both. 8 ‘‘(d) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘dwell- 9 ing’— 10 ‘‘(1) has the meaning given the term in section 11 802 of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3602); and 12 ‘‘(2) includes houses and dwellings described in 13 section 803(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 3603(b)). 14 For purposes of this section, a dwelling shall be located 15 in an area designated by the President as a national emer- 16 gency, for the duration of the designation, under the Na- 17 tional Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), Public 18 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d), or Robert T. Staf- 19 ford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 20 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.).’’. 21 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters 22 for such part is amended by adding at the end the fol- 23 lowing: 24 ‘‘125. Prohibitions on eviction ................................................................. 2741’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 Dec 22, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8886.IH H8886 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS