### §2891. Requirements relating to contracts for provision of housing units

(a) In General.—The requirements of this section condition contracts entered into using the authorities provided to the Secretary concerned under section 2872 of this title and other authorities provided under subchapter IV of this chapter and this subchapter.

(b) Exclusion of Certain Employees.—A landlord providing a housing unit shall prohibit any employee of the landlord who commits work-order fraud under the contract from doing any work under the contract.

(c) Dispute Resolution Process.—Any decision the commander renders in favor of the tenant in the formal dispute resolution process established pursuant to section 2894 of this title will be taken into consideration in determining whether to pay or withhold all or part of any incentive fees for which a landlord may otherwise be eligible under the contract.

(d) Responsibility for Certain Medical Costs.—

(1) Reimbursement required under certain circumstances.—If the Secretary concerned finds that a landlord fails to maintain safe and sanitary conditions for a housing unit under the contract and that, subject to paragraph (2), these conditions result in a tenant of the housing unit receiving medical evaluations and treatment, the landlord shall be responsible for reimbursing the Department of Defense for any costs incurred by the Department to provide the medical evaluations and treatment to the tenant, whether such evaluations and treatment are provided in a military medical treatment facility or through the TRICARE provider network.

(2) Review process.—Before the Secretary concerned may submit a claim under paragraph (1) to a landlord for reimbursement of Department medical evaluation and treatment costs—

(A) a military medical professional must determine that the tenant's medical conditions were caused by unsafe and unsanitary conditions of the housing unit; and

(B) the documentation of the medical evaluation showing causation must be sent to the Director of the Defense Health Agency for review and approval.

(3) Uniform processes and procedures.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Director of the Defense Health Agency shall develop and publish uniform processes and procedures to be used by medical providers in military medical treatment facilities to make determinations regarding whether environmental hazards within housing units serve as causative factors for medical conditions being evaluated and treated in military medical treatment facilities or through the TRICARE provider network.

(e) Responsibility for Relocation Costs.—

(1) Permanent relocation.—A landlord providing a housing unit shall pay reasonable relocation costs associated with the permanent relocation of a tenant from the housing unit to a different housing unit due to health or environmental hazards—

(A) present in the housing unit being vacated through no fault of the tenant; and

(B) confirmed by the housing management office of the installation for which the housing unit is provided as making the unit uninhabitable or unable to be remediated safely while the tenant occupies the housing unit.

(2) Temporary relocation.—The landlord shall pay reasonable relocation costs and actual costs of living, including per diem, associated with the temporary relocation of a tenant to a different housing unit due to health or environmental hazards—

(A) present in the housing unit being vacated through no fault of the tenant; and

(B) confirmed by the housing management office of the installation as making the unit uninhabitable or unable to be remediated safely while the tenant occupies the housing unit.

(f) Maintenance Work Order System.—A landlord providing a housing unit shall ensure that the maintenance work order system of the landlord (hardware and software) is up to date, including—

(1) by providing a reliable mechanism through which a tenant may submit work order requests through an Internet portal and mobile application, which shall incorporate the ability to upload photos, communicate with maintenance personnel, and rate individual service calls;

(2) by allowing real-time access to such system by officials of the Department at the installation, major subordinate command, and service-wide levels; and

(3) by allowing the work order or maintenance ticket to be closed only once the tenant and the head of the housing management office of the installation sign off.

(g) Applicability of Disability Laws.—For purposes of this subchapter and subchapter IV of this chapter, housing units shall be considered as military family housing for purposes of application of Department of Defense policy implementing section 804 of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3604) and title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12181 et seq.).

(h) Implementation.—The Secretary concerned shall create such legal documents as may be necessary to carry out this section.

(Added Pub. L. 116–92, div. B, title XXX, §3013(a), Dec. 20, 2019, 133 Stat. 1921; amended Pub. L. 116–283, div. B, title XXVIII, §2811(c), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 4323; Pub. L. 117–81, div. B, title XXVIII, §2813(a), Dec. 27, 2021, 135 Stat. 2192.)

#### **Editorial Notes**

#### References in Text

The date of enactment of this section, referred to in subsec. (d)(3), is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 116–92, which was approved Dec. 20, 2019.

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, referred to in subsec. (g), is Pub. L. 101–336, July 26, 1990, 104 Stat. 327. Title III of the Act is classified generally to subchapter III (§12181 et seq.) of chapter 126 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 12101 of Title 42 and Tables.

#### Prior Provisions

A prior section 2891, added Pub. L. 100–456, div. A, title III, §342(a)(1), Sept. 29, 1988, 102 Stat. 1959; amended Pub. L. 102–484, div. A, title III, §372, Oct. 23, 1992, 106 Stat. 2384, required Secretary of Defense to submit to Congress for each of fiscal years 1992, 1993, and 1994, a report regarding security and control of Department of Defense supplies, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title X, §1061(b)(1), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 442.

#### Amendments

2021—Subsec. (e)(1). Pub. L. 116–283, §2811(c)(1)(A), inserted "unit" after "different housing" in introductory provisions.

Subsec. (e)(1)(B). Pub. L. 116–283, §2811(c)(1)(B), inserted "the" before "tenant".

Subsec. (e)(2)(B). Pub. L. 116–283, §2811(c)(2), inserted "the" before "tenant".

Subsecs. (g), (h). Pub. L. 117–81 added subsec. (g) and redesignated former subsec. (g) as (h).

#### **Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries**

#### Effective Date of 2019 Amendment

Pub. L. 116–92, div. B, title XXX, §3013(b), Dec. 20, 2019, 133 Stat. 1923, provided that: "The requirements set forth in section 2891 of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall apply to appropriate legal documents entered into or renewed on or after the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 20, 2019] between the Secretary of a military department and a landlord regarding privatized military housing."

[For definitions of "landlord" and "privatized military housing" as used in section 3013(b) of Pub. L. 116–92, set out above, see section 3001(a) of Pub. L. 116–92, set out as a note under section 2821 of this title.]

#### Retroactive Landlord Agreements

Pub. L. 116–92, div. B, title XXX, §3013(c), Dec. 20, 2019, 133 Stat. 1923, provided that:

"(1) In general.—Not later than February 1, 2020, the Secretary of Defense shall seek agreement from all landlords to accept the application of the requirements set forth in section 2891 of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), to appropriate legal documents entered into or renewed before the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 20, 2019] between the Secretary of a military department and a landlord regarding privatized military housing [sic]

"(2) Submittal of list to congress.—Not later than March 1, 2020, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees [Committees on Armed Services and Appropriations of the Senate and the House of Representatives] a list of any landlords that did not agree under paragraph (1) to accept the requirements set forth in section 2891 of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a).

"(3) Consideration of lack of agreement in future contracts.—The Secretary of Defense and the Secretaries of the military departments shall include any lack of agreement under paragraph (1) as past performance considered under section 2891b of title 10, United States Code, as added by section 3015, with respect to entering into or renewing any future contracts regarding privatized military housing."

[For definitions of "landlord" and "privatized military housing" as used in section 3013(c) of Pub. L. 116–92, set out above, see section 3001(a) of Pub. L. 116–92, set out as a note under section 2821 of this title.]