I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5337 

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 

Act to provide assistance for common interest communities, condominiums, and housing cooperatives damaged by a major disaster, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 6, 2019 

Mr. NADLER (for himself, Mr. ROUZER, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. ZELDIN, Mr. 

ENGEL, and Mr. KING of New York) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to provide assistance for common 

interest communities, condominiums, and housing cooperatives damaged by a major disaster, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Disaster Assistance 

5 Equity Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 Section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

3 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122) is 

4 amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(13) RESIDENTIAL COMMON INTEREST COM6 MUNITY.—The term ‘residential common interest 

7 community’ means any nonprofit mandatory mem8 bership organization comprising owners of real es9 tate described in a declaration or created pursuant 

10 to a covenant or other applicable law with respect to 

11 which a person, by virtue of the person’s ownership 

12 of a unit, is obligated to pay for a share of real es13 tate taxes, insurance premiums, maintenance, or im14 provement of, or services or other expenses related 

15 to, common elements, other units, or any other real 

16 estate other than that unit described in the declara17 tion. 

18 ‘‘(14) CONDOMINIUM.—The term ‘condomini19 um’ means a multi-unit housing project in which 

20 each dwelling unit is separately owned, and the re21 maining portions of the real estate are designated 

22 for common ownership solely by the owners of those 

23 units, each owner having an undivided interest in 

24 the common elements, and which is represented by 

25 a condominium association consisting exclusively of 

26 all the unit owners in the project, which is, or will 


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1 be responsible for the operation, administration, and 

2 management of the project. 

3 ‘‘(15) HOUSING COOPERATIVE.—The term 

4 ‘housing cooperative’ means a multi-unit housing en5 tity in which each dwelling unit is subject to sepa6 rate use and possession by one or more cooperative 

7 members whose interest in such unit, and in any un8 divided assets of the cooperative association that are 

9 appurtenant to such unit, is evidenced by a member10 ship or share interest in a cooperative association 

11 and a lease or other document of title or possession 

12 granted by such cooperative as the owner of all coop13 erative property.’’. 

14 SEC. 3. REMOVAL OF DEBRIS RESULTING FROM A MAJOR 

15 DISASTER IN RESIDENTIAL COMMON INTER16 EST COMMUNITIES. 

17 Section 407 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

18 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5173) is 

19 amended— 

20 (1) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as 

21 subsections (e) and (f); and 

22 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol23 lowing: 

24 ‘‘(d) RULES RELATING TO RESIDENTIAL COMMON

25 INTEREST COMMUNITIES.—The President shall issue 


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1 rules which provide that removal of debris or wreckage 

2 from real estate owned by a residential common interest 

3 community resulting from a major disaster is in the public 

4 interest when a State or local government determines in 

5 writing such debris or wreckage constitutes a threat to 

6 life, to public health or safety, or to the economic recovery 

7 of the residential common interest community.’’. 

8 SEC. 4. CONDOMINIUMS AND HOUSING COOPERATIVES 

9 DAMAGED BY A MAJOR DISASTER. 

10 Section 408(c)(2)(A) of the Robert T. Stafford Dis11 aster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

12 5174(c)(2)(A)) is amended— 

13 (1) in clause (i) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

14 (2) by redesignating clause (ii) as clause (iii); 

15 and 

16 (3) by adding after clause (i) the following: 

17 ‘‘(ii) the repair of essential common 

18 elements of a condominium or housing co19 operative (such as a roof, exterior wall, 

20 heating and cooling equipment, elevator, 

21 stairwell, utility access, plumbing, and elec22 tricity) provided an individual’s or house23 hold’s pro rata share of essential common 

24 element repair costs are satisfactorily doc25 umented; and’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. APPLICABILITY. 

2 The amendments made by this Act shall apply to a 

3 major disaster or emergency declared by the President 

4 under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer5 gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) on or after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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