National Senior Citizens Pet Ownership Protection Act

Summary: National Senior Citizens Pet Ownership Protection Act - Amends the Housing and Urban-Rural Recovery Act of 1983 to prohibit owners and managers of federally assisted rental housing from preventing elderly and disabled tenants from owning or having household pets.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National Senior Citizens Pet 
Ownership Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. PET OWNERSHIP.

    Section 227 of the Housing and Urban-Rural Recovery Act of 1983 (12 
U.S.C. 1701r-1) is amended--
            (1) by striking the section heading and inserting the 
        following new section heading:

``pet ownership by elderly and disabled families in federally assisted 
                           rental housing'';

            (2) by striking subsection (d);
            (3) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (d);
            (4) by inserting after subsection (b) the following new 
        subsection:
    ``(c) Pet Ownership by Elderly Families in Other Federally Assisted 
Housing.--
            ``(1) Rights of tenants.--No owner or manager of any other 
        federally assisted rental housing may--
                    ``(A) as a condition of tenancy or otherwise, 
                prohibit or prevent any tenant in such housing who is 
                an elderly family from owning common household pets or 
                having common household pets living in the dwelling 
                accommodations of such tenant in such housing;
                    ``(B) as a condition of tenancy or otherwise, 
                prohibit or prevent any tenant in such housing who, 
                during such tenancy, was an elderly family who owned or 
                had a common household pet living in the dwelling 
                accommodations of such tenant in such housing from 
                continuing to own or have the pet in the accommodations 
                after the tenant no longer qualifies as an elderly 
                family; or
                    ``(C) restrict or discriminate against any elderly 
                family in connection with admission to, or continued 
                occupancy of, such housing by reason of the ownership 
                of such pets by, or the presence of such pets in the 
                dwelling accommodations of, such person.
            ``(2) Regulations.--
                    ``(A) Requirement.--The Secretary of Housing and 
                Urban Development and the Secretary of Agriculture 
                shall each issue such regulations as may be necessary 
                to ensure--
                            ``(i) compliance with the provisions of 
                        paragraph (1) with respect to any program of 
                        assistance referred to in subsection (e)(3) 
                        that is administered by such Secretary; and
                            ``(ii) attaining the goal of providing 
                        decent, safe, and sanitary housing for elderly 
                        families.
                    ``(B) Management guidelines.--Such regulations 
                shall establish guidelines under which the owner or 
                manager of any other federally assisted rental housing 
                (i) may prescribe reasonable rules for the keeping of 
                pets in such housing by tenants pursuant to paragraph 
                (1), and (ii) shall consult with the tenants of such 
                housing in prescribing such rules. Such rules may 
                consider factors such as density of tenants, pet size, 
                types of pets, potential financial obligations of 
                tenants, and standards of pet care.'';
            (5) in subsection (d) (as so redesignated by paragraph 
        (3))--
                    (A) by inserting ``Authority to Remove Pets.--'' 
                after ``(d)''; and
                    (B) by inserting after ``handicapped'' the 
                following: ``or of other federally assisted rental 
                housing''; and
            (6) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(f) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            ``(1) Elderly and disabled families.--The terms `elderly 
        families' and `disabled families' shall have the meanings given 
        such terms in section 3(b)(3) of the United States Housing Act 
        of 1937.
            ``(2) Federally assisted rental housing for the elderly or 
        disabled.--The term `federally assisted rental housing for the 
        elderly or disabled' means any rental housing project that is 
        assisted under--
                    ``(A) section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959;
                    ``(B) section 811 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National 
                Affordable Housing Act; or
                    ``(C) the United States Housing Act of 1937, the 
                National Housing Act, or title V of the Housing Act of 
                1949, and is designated for occupancy by elderly or 
                disabled families or by elderly or handicapped 
                families.
            ``(3) Other federally assisted rental housing.--The term 
        `other federally assisted rental housing' means any--
                    ``(A) public housing project (as such term is 
                defined in section 3(b) of the United States Housing 
                Act of 1937);
                    ``(B) housing for which project-based assistance is 
                provided under section 8 of the United States Housing 
                Act of 1937;
                    ``(C) housing financed by a loan or mortgage 
                insured under section 221(d)(3) of the National Housing 
                Act that bears interest at a rate determined under the 
                proviso of section 221(d)(5) of such Act;
                    ``(D) housing insured, assisted, or held by the 
                Secretary of Housing and Urban Development or a State 
                or State agency under section 236 of the National 
                Housing Act;
                    ``(E) housing constructed or substantially 
                rehabilitated pursuant to assistance provided under 
                section 8(b)(2) of the United States Housing Act of 
                1937, as in effect before October 1, 1983, that is 
                assisted under a contract for assistance under such 
                section; and
                    ``(F) rental housing project assisted under title V 
                of the Housing Act of 1949.''.

SEC. 3. REGULATIONS AND EFFECTIVE DATE.

    (a) Regulations.--Not later than the expiration of the 12-month 
period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the Secretary of 
Agriculture shall each issue any regulations necessary to carry out 
section 227 of the Housing and Urban-Rural Recovery Act of 1983, as 
amended by section 2 of this Act.
    (b) Effective Date.--Section 227 of the Housing and Urban-Rural 
Recovery Act of 1983, as amended by section 2 of this Act, shall take 
effect upon the earlier of--
            (1) the effective date of the regulations issued under 
        subsection (a); or
            (2) the expiration of the 18-month period beginning on the 
        date of the enactment of this Act.
After the enactment of this Act and before the effective date under the 
preceding sentence, the provisions of such section 227 shall continue 
to apply as if the amendments made section 2 of this Act had not been 
enacted.