I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3863 

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 

OCTOBER 29, 2015 

Mr. ISRAEL (for himself, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. 

KING of New York, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. NADLER, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. 

SIRES, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. PASCRELL, Ms. 

MENG, Mr. CAPUANO, and Mr. ENGEL) 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 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 (a) DEFINITION OF PRIVATE NONPROFIT FACIL3 ITY.—Section 102(11)(B) of the Robert T. Stafford Dis4 aster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

5 5122(11)(B)) is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: ‘‘The term also includes any facilities (including 

7 roads, walkways, bridges, culverts, canals, sewer and 

8 wastewater systems, hazard mitigation systems, power, 

9 and other critical community infrastructure) owned or op10 erated by a common interest community that provide es11 sential services of a governmental nature.’’. 

12 (b) ADDITIONAL DEFINITIONS.—Section 102 of the 

13 Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist14 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122) is amended by adding at the 

15 end the following: 

16 ‘‘(13) COMMON INTEREST COMMUNITY.—The 

17 term ‘common interest community’ means— 

18 ‘‘(A) any nonprofit mandatory membership 

19 organization comprised of owners of real estate 

20 (other than a condominium or housing coopera21 tive) described in a declaration or created pur22 suant to a covenant or other applicable law with 

23 respect to which a person, by virtue of the per24 son’s ownership of a unit, is obligated to pay 

25 for a share of real estate taxes, insurance pre26 miums, maintenance, or improvement of, or 


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1 services or other expenses related to, common 

2 elements, other units, or any other real estate 

3 other than that unit described in the declara4 tion; and 

5 ‘‘(B) a condominium project— 

6 ‘‘(i) comprised entirely of detached 

7 single family units; or 

8 ‘‘(ii) comprised of 4 or more multi9 unit housing structures, that owns or oper10 ates facilities (including roads, walkways, 

11 bridges, culverts, canals, sewer and waste12 water systems, hazard mitigation systems, 

13 power, or other critical community infra14 structure) that provide essential services of 

15 a governmental nature. 

16 ‘‘(14) CONDOMINIUM.—The term ‘condo17 minium’ means a multi-unit housing project in which 

18 each dwelling unit is separately owned, and the re19 maining portions of the real estate are designated 

20 for common ownership solely by the owners of those 

21 units, each owner having an undivided interest in 

22 the common elements, and which is represented by 

23 a condominium association consisting exclusively of 

24 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 

5 project in which each dwelling unit is subject to sep6 arate 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. CONDOMINIUMS AND HOUSING COOPERATIVES 

15 DAMAGED BY A MAJOR DISASTER. 

16 (a) INDIVIDUALS AND HOUSEHOLDS PROGRAM.— 

17 Section 408(b)(1) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Re18 lief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5174(b)(1)) 

19 is amended— 

20 (1) by striking ‘‘The President’’ and inserting 

21 the following: 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The President’’; and 

23 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(B) CONDOMINIUMS AND HOUSING CO25 OPERATIVES.—For purposes of providing finanVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:00 Oct 29, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3863.IH H3863

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1 cial assistance under subsections (c)(2) and 

2 (c)(3) with respect to residential elements that 

3 are the legal responsibility of an association for 

4 a condominium or housing cooperative, the 

5 terms ‘individual’ and ‘household’ include the 

6 association for the condominium or housing co7 operative.’’. 

8 (b) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE.—Section 

9 408(h) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 5174(h)) is amended by 

10 adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE FOR CONDOMINIUMS AND

12 HOUSING COOPERATIVES.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In lieu of the limit es14 tablished under paragraph (1), the maximum 

15 amount of assistance that an association for a 

16 condominium or housing cooperative may re17 ceive under this section with respect to a single 

18 disaster shall be an amount to be determined by 

19 the President by regulation. 

20 ‘‘(B) ADJUSTMENT OF LIMIT.—The 

21 amount determined by the President under sub22 paragraph (A) shall be adjusted annually in ac23 cordance with paragraph (2).’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. 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.) after the 

6 date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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