Federal

Choice in Affordable Housing Act of 2023

Source: Congress.gov · 4,543 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill creates new programs to encourage landlords to rent their apartments and houses to people using housing vouchers (rental assistance paid by the government). The bill focuses on getting more landlords to participate, especially in neighborhoods with lower poverty rates. It also makes changes to how inspections and fair market rents work for the Housing Choice Voucher program. ##

Who It Affects

- Private landlords who rent housing to voucher holders - Families and elderly people receiving housing vouchers - People with disabilities receiving housing assistance - Public housing agencies (government organizations that manage voucher programs) - Native American veterans through the Tribal Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program - The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (the federal official who runs housing programs) ##

Key Provisions

- The Secretary will provide one-time payments to landlords who rent apartments in low-poverty areas (census tracts with poverty rates below 20 percent) and who have never participated in the voucher program before. These payments cannot exceed 200 percent of the monthly rent assistance amount. (Sec. 5(a)) - Public housing agencies may pay security deposits on behalf of tenants, with priority given to landlords renting to extremely low-income families. Agencies must establish a damage claims process where landlords can request reimbursement for damage beyond normal wear and tear. (Sec. 5(b)) - Each public housing agency that employs or contracts with at least one dedicated staff member to handle landlord questions, provide landlord outreach, and manage landlord concerns will receive an annual bonus payment. This bonus cannot exceed 150 percent of the average cost of employing such a person in that region. (Sec. 5(c)) - A new Herschel Lashkowitz Housing Partnership Fund will be created to pay for these incentive programs and other efforts to recruit and retain landlords. (Sec. 5(d)) - Apartments in buildings that passed inspections through other federal housing programs (low-income housing tax credit program, HOME Investment Partnerships Program, or Rural Housing Service) within the last 12 months will be automatically approved without needing another inspection. (Sec. 7(a)) - New landlords may request early inspections of their units before a tenant selects them. If approved, the unit stays approved for 60 days. When the housing agency assigns a family to the program, it must provide them a list of pre-approved units. (Sec. 7(b)) - Within 3 years, the Secretary must expand the use of small area fair market rents (rent limits based on ZIP code rather than entire metro areas) to at least 3 times as many metropolitan areas as were using them in a November 2016 federal rule. If this would lower someone's rent assistance, they keep their current higher amount. (Sec. 8) ##

What Changes

If enacted, this bill will: - Provide federal funding to pay landlords one-time bonuses for renting to voucher holders in low-poverty neighborhoods for the first time - Allow public housing agencies to pay security deposits on behalf of tenants - Fund dedicated staff positions at housing agencies to recruit and help landlords - Speed up the inspection process for new participating landlords - Expand use of smaller geographic areas to set fair market rents, allowing vouchers to work in more neighborhoods - Create an annual reporting requirement to measure whether the law is successfully attracting more landlords to the program - Authorize funding for the Tribal Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program ##

Important Definitions

- **Housing Choice Voucher program**: The federal government's largest rental assistance program, which gives low-income families, elderly people, and people with disabilities vouchers (payments) to help them afford private market housing (Sec. 2(1)) - **Eligible unit**: An apartment or house located in a neighborhood where fewer than 20 percent of people live below the poverty line and that has never before had a voucher tenant (Sec. 5(a)(A)) - **New landlord**: An owner who has never entered into a voucher housing contract with any public housing agency before (Sec. 7(b)(B)(I)) - **Small area fair market rent**: The rental price limit set for a specific ZIP code within a metropolitan area, rather than for the entire metro area (Sec. 8(a)(F)(i)(II)) - **High-opportunity area**: An area defined by the Secretary that does not include any neighborhood where 20 percent or more of people live below the poverty line (Sec. 10(a)(2)) - **Tribal Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program**: A federal program providing rental help to Native American veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness (Sec. 2(3)) ##

Effective Date

Not specified in bill text

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 32 To increase the number of landlords participating in the Housing Choice Voucher program. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 24 (legislative day, JANUARY 3), 2023 Mr. COONS (for himself, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. WARNOCK, Ms. SMITH, and Mr. MORAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To increase the number of landlords participating in the Housing Choice Voucher program. 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 ‘‘Choice in Affordable 4 Housing Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act— 7 (1) the term ‘‘Housing Choice Voucher pro- 8 gram’’ means the tenant-based assistance program 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Jan 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S32.IS S32 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 32 IS under section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act 1 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)); 2 (2) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 3 of Housing and Urban Development; and 4 (3) the term ‘‘Tribal Housing and Urban Devel- 5 opment-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing pro- 6 gram’’ means the demonstration program estab- 7 lished under paragraph (5) under the heading ‘‘TEN- 8 ANT-BASED RENTAL ASSISTANCE’’ under the heading 9 ‘‘PUBLIC AND INDIAN HOUSING’’ in title II of divi- 10 sion K of the Consolidated and Further Continuing 11 Appropriations Act, 2015 (Public Law 113–235; 12 128 Stat. 2732) (commonly known as ‘‘Tribal 13 HUD–VASH’’). 14 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 15 Congress finds the following: 16 (1) The Housing Choice Voucher program is 17 the Federal Government’s largest program helping 18 low-income families, the elderly, and persons with 19 disabilities to afford decent, safe, and sanitary hous- 20 ing in the private market. 21 (2) The Housing Choice Voucher program is 22 proven to have positive impacts on voucher holders, 23 including increased housing stability, reduced home- 24 lessness, and children lifted out of poverty. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Jan 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S32.IS S32 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 32 IS (3) As a public-private partnership, the Hous- 1 ing Choice Voucher program relies on the willingness 2 of private landlords to accept vouchers. 3 (4) Landlord participation is declining in the 4 Housing Choice Voucher program, with an average 5 of 10,000 housing providers leaving the program 6 each year between 2010 and 2016. 7 (5) Landlord participation is especially lacking 8 in ‘‘high-opportunity neighborhoods’’ that have low 9 poverty rates and good access to quality schools, 10 jobs, and public transportation. 11 (6) The Secretary has conducted and continues 12 to conduct research on landlord participation in the 13 Housing Choice Voucher program. 14 (7) The Moving to Work demonstration pro- 15 gram of the Department of Housing and Urban De- 16 velopment has given participating public housing 17 agencies the ability to test innovative strategies to 18 incentivize landlords to accept vouchers. 19 (8) Indian Tribes and tribally designated hous- 20 ing entities, which do not participate in the Housing 21 Choice Voucher program, benefit from the Tribal 22 Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs 23 Supportive Housing program, which provides rental 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Jan 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S32.IS S32 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 32 IS assistance to Native American veterans who are ex- 1 periencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness. 2 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 3 It is the sense of Congress that the Housing Choice 4 Voucher program should be improved to increase the num- 5 ber of landlords, particularly landlords with units in high- 6 opportunity neighborhoods, who accept vouchers in order 7 to expand housing choice and opportunity, and further fair 8 housing. 9 SEC. 5. INCENTIVIZING LANDLORD PARTICIPATION IN 10 HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER PROGRAM. 11 (a) ONE-TIME INCENTIVE PAYMENTS.—Section 8(o) 12 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 13 1437f(o)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 14 ‘‘(22) ONE-TIME INCENTIVE PAYMENTS.— 15 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 16 term ‘eligible unit’ means a dwelling unit 17 that— 18 ‘‘(i) is located in a census tract with 19 a poverty rate of less than 20 percent; and 20 ‘‘(ii) has not previously been subject 21 to a housing assistance payment contract 22 under this subsection. 23 ‘‘(B) INCENTIVE PAYMENT AUTHORITY.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Jan 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S32.IS S32 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 32 IS ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—To incentivize 1 landlords who own dwelling units in low- 2 poverty areas to enter into housing assist- 3 ance payment contracts under this sub- 4 section, the Secretary shall provide assist- 5 ance under this paragraph to public hous- 6 ing agencies to be used to offer a one-time 7 payment directly to the owner of an eligi- 8 ble unit entering into a housing assistance 9 payment contract with the public housing 10 agency for the eligible unit. 11 ‘‘(ii) AMOUNT.—The amount of an in- 12 centive payment made to an eligible owner 13 under clause (i) may not exceed 200 per- 14 cent of the monthly housing assistance 15 payment made to the eligible owner for the 16 eligible unit. 17 ‘‘(iii) CONDITIONS PERMITTED.—Sub- 18 ject to paragraph (7), a public housing 19 agency may require the owner of an eligi- 20 ble unit, as a condition of receiving an in- 21 centive payment under clause (i), to com- 22 mit to lease the eligible unit to tenants as- 23 sisted under this subsection for more than 24 1 year. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Jan 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S32.IS S32 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 32 IS ‘‘(iv) LIMIT.—The owner of an eligible 1 unit may not receive more than 1 incentive 2 payment under clause (i), regardless of— 3 ‘‘(I) the number of eligible units 4 owned by the owner; or 5 ‘‘(II) the number of public hous- 6 ing agencies with which the owner has 7 entered into housing assistance pay- 8 ment contracts.’’. 9 (b) SECURITY DEPOSIT PAYMENTS.—Section 8(o) of 10 the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 11 1437f(o)), as amended by subsection (a), is amended by 12 adding at the end the following: 13 ‘‘(23) SECURITY DEPOSIT PAYMENTS.— 14 ‘‘(A) SECURITY DEPOSIT PAYMENT AU- 15 THORITY.—The Secretary shall provide assist- 16 ance to public housing agencies to be used to 17 pay the owner of a dwelling unit assisted under 18 this subsection for a security deposit, or a sub- 19 stantial portion thereof, on behalf of the tenant 20 of the dwelling unit in accordance with subpara- 21 graph (B). 22 ‘‘(B) MINIMUM PHA REQUIREMENTS.—A 23 public housing agency that receives assistance 24 from the Secretary under subparagraph (A) 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Jan 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S32.IS S32 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 32 IS shall administer the assistance in accordance 1 with the following conditions: 2 ‘‘(i) The public housing agency shall 3 pay the owners of dwelling units assisted 4 under this subsection for a security de- 5 posit, or a substantial portion thereof, in 6 an amount determined by the public hous- 7 ing agency, on behalf of the tenants of the 8 dwelling units. 9 ‘‘(ii) In making payments to owners of 10 dwelling units under clause (i), the public 11 housing agency shall give priority to own- 12 ers of dwelling units occupied by extremely 13 low-income families. 14 ‘‘(iii) The owner of a dwelling unit 15 may deduct amounts from a security de- 16 posit payment received under clause (i) to 17 cover damages beyond normal wear and 18 tear caused by the tenant of the dwelling 19 unit, any member of the tenant’s house- 20 hold, or any guest or other person under 21 the tenant’s control. 22 ‘‘(iv) The public housing agency shall 23 conduct a damage claims process where- 24 by— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Jan 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S32.IS S32 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 32 IS ‘‘(I) in order to deduct amounts 1 from a security deposit payment re- 2 ceived under clause (i), the owner of 3 a covered dwelling unit must submit a 4 claim to the public housing agency 5 with an itemized list of damages and 6 evidence and request reimbursement; 7 and 8 ‘‘(II) the tenant of a covered 9 dwelling unit may refute a claim sub- 10 mitted under subclause (I). 11 ‘‘(v) The public housing agency 12 shall— 13 ‘‘(I) establish an amount of re- 14 pair costs for which a tenant will be 15 responsible; and 16 ‘‘(II) notify a tenant, upon the 17 tenant entering into a lease for a 18 dwelling unit assisted under this sub- 19 section, of the amount described in 20 subclause (I). 21 ‘‘(vi) The public housing agency may 22 determine what action to take if a tenant 23 demonstrates an inability to pay the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Jan 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S32.IS S32 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 32 IS amount of repair costs for which the ten- 1 ant is responsible under clause (v). 2 ‘‘(vii) At the end of a tenant’s occu- 3 pancy of a dwelling unit assisted under 4 this subsection, the landlord shall return to 5 the public housing agency any unused 6 amount of a security deposit payment re- 7 ceived under clause (i). 8 ‘‘(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 9 in subparagraph (B) shall be construed to pro- 10 hibit a public housing agency from establishing 11 additional conditions for the administration of 12 assistance received under subparagraph (A) in 13 accordance with applicable State and local 14 laws.’’. 15 (c) LANDLORD LIAISON BONUS PAYMENTS.—Section 16 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 17 1437f(o)), as amended by subsection (b), is amended by 18 adding at the end the following: 19 ‘‘(24) LANDLORD LIAISON BONUS PAYMENTS.— 20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each year, the Sec- 21 retary shall award 1 bonus payment to each 22 public housing agency that employs, contracts 23 with a service partner that employs, or dem- 24 onstrates an intent to employ or contract with 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Jan 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S32.IS S32 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •S 32 IS a service partner that employs, not less than 1 1 dedicated landlord liaison whose duties include, 2 with respect to the tenant-based assistance pro- 3 gram under subsection (o)— 4 ‘‘(i) conducting landlord outreach, re- 5 cruitment, and retention; 6 ‘‘(ii) educating and training landlords 7 regarding the program; and 8 ‘‘(iii) operating a phone hotline, online 9 portal, monitored email address, or other 10 mechanism designated by the Secretary for 11 landlord questions and concerns regarding 12 the program. 13 ‘‘(B) DEMONSTRATING COMPLIANCE.—The 14 Secretary shall determine how a public housing 15 agency may demonstrate that it offers or in- 16 tends to offer a landlord liaison service for pur- 17 poses of subparagraph (A). 18 ‘‘(C) AMOUNT.—The Secretary shall estab- 19 lish an amount for the landlord liaison bonus 20 payment authorized under subparagraph (A) 21 that— 22 ‘‘(i) may vary by region; 23 ‘‘(ii) does not exceed the 150 percent 24 of the average cost of employing, or con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Jan 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S32.IS S32 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •S 32 IS tracting with a service partner that em- 1 ploys, such a landlord liaison, based on 2 local market conditions; and 3 ‘‘(iii) is sufficient to incentivize public 4 housing agencies to employ, or contact 5 with a service partner that employs, such 6 a landlord liaison.’’. 7 (d) HOUSING PARTNERSHIP FUND.—Section 8 of the 8 United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f) is 9 amended by adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘(ee) HERSCHEL LASHKOWITZ HOUSING PARTNER- 11 SHIP FUND.— 12 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es- 13 tablish a fund, to be known as the ‘Herschel 14 Lashkowitz Housing Partnership Fund’, for the pur- 15 pose of incentivizing landlords to participate in the 16 tenant-based assistance program under subsection 17 (o) in accordance with paragraph (2) of this sub- 18 section. 19 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZED USES.—The Secretary shall 20 use amounts from the Housing Partnership Fund 21 for— 22 ‘‘(A) incentive payments under subsection 23 (o)(22); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Jan 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S32.IS S32 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •S 32 IS ‘‘(B) security deposit payments under sub- 1 section (o)(23); 2 ‘‘(C) landlord liaison bonus payments 3 under subsection (o)(24); and 4 ‘‘(D) other uses, as determined by a public 5 housing agency and approved by the Secretary, 6 designed primarily— 7 ‘‘(i) to recruit owners of dwelling 8 units, particularly dwelling units in census 9 tracts with a poverty rate of less than 20 10 percent, to enter into housing assistance 11 payment contracts under subsection (o); 12 and 13 ‘‘(ii) to ensure that owners that enter 14 into housing assistance payment contracts 15 as described in clause (i) of this subpara- 16 graph continue to lease their dwelling units 17 to tenants assisted under subsection (o). 18 ‘‘(3) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall require a 19 public housing agency that receives assistance from 20 the Herschel Lashkowitz Housing Partnership Fund 21 to submit an annual report to the Secretary on the 22 use of the assistance. 23 ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION OF ADDITIONAL APPRO- 24 PRIATIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Jan 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S32.IS S32 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 13 •S 32 IS for deposit in the Herschel Lashkowitz Housing 1 Partnership Fund $100,000,000 for each of fiscal 2 years 2024 through 2028, to remain available until 3 expended.’’. 4 SEC. 6. TRIBAL HUD–VASH AUTHORIZATION OF APPRO- 5 PRIATIONS. 6 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec- 7 retary of Housing and Urban Development $7,000,000 for 8 each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028 for the Tribal 9 Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Sup- 10 portive Housing program. 11 SEC. 7. HOUSING QUALITY STANDARDS. 12 (a) SATISFACTION OF INSPECTION REQUIREMENTS 13 THROUGH PARTICIPATION IN OTHER HOUSING PRO- 14 GRAM [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]

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