I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7412 

To facilitate the use of rural housing vouchers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 20, 2024 

Ms. CROCKETT (for herself, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, and Ms. SALINAS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To facilitate the use of rural housing vouchers. 

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 ‘‘Rural Housing Vouch5 er Enhancement Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Across the Nation, Americans are facing a 

9 shortage of affordable housing. 


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1 (2) The right to a peaceful, affordable, dignified 

2 place to live is a right to which every American is 

3 entitled. 

4 (3) In rural communities, a lack of housing 

5 supply makes the loss of formerly affordable housing 

6 devastating to the community. 

7 (4) That is why the United States Department 

8 of Agriculture provides essential rural housing 

9 vouchers for those who lose their affordability guar10 antees. 

11 (5) The people served by this program are pre12 dominately seniors and Americans with disabilities. 

13 (6) The Department of Agriculture has been 

14 charged with a monumentally important task that it 

15 has generally excelled in performing, especially con16 sidering it operates with far less funding than it 

17 needs. 

18 (7) Nevertheless, there are Americans who fall 

19 through the cracks and face housing instability as a 

20 result. 

21 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are as fol22 lows: 

23 (1) To provide the Department of Agriculture 

24 with the tools necessary to ensure everyone entitled 

25 to a rural housing voucher remains housed. 


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1 (2) To clearly establish a standard that it is un2 acceptable for any person who is eligible for and 

3 chooses to use a rural housing voucher to not be 

4 able to fully use their voucher. 

5 (3) To make clear, de facto and de jure, that 

6 giving full force to rural housing vouchers is a 

7 whole-of-Government effort to guarantee that hous8 ing is a human right. 

9 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

10 For purposes of this Act the following definitions 

11 shall apply: 

12 (1) RURAL HOUSING VOUCHER.—The term 

13 ‘‘rural housing voucher’’ means a voucher for rental 

14 assistance issued by the Secretary of Agriculture 

15 pursuant to title V of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 

16 U.S.C. 1471 et seq.) to a tenant of a multifamily 

17 property previously financed with a loan made or in18 sured under section 515 of such title (42 U.S.C. 

19 1485) or section 514 of such title (42 U.S.C. 1484), 

20 or a grant under section 516 of such title (42 U.S.C. 

21 1486). 

22 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’, except 

23 where otherwise specified, means the Secretary of 

24 Agriculture. 


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1 SEC. 4. MODALITY OF NOTICE. 

2 (a) MODALITY REQUIREMENTS.— 

3 (1) STANDARD.—The Secretary of Agriculture 

4 shall provide all notices relating to rural housing 

5 vouchers that are mailed to tenants to be provided 

6 in the format that best facilitates the tenant’s un7 derstanding of the notice and advises the tenant of 

8 any applicable appellate rights. 

9 (2) ALTERNATIVE FORMATS.— 

10 (A) REQUIREMENT.—If a tenant has elect11 ed to receive information from another agency 

12 of the Federal Government agency in an alter13 native format to the standard format, including 

14 in a language other than English or in braille, 

15 large type, or audio format, the Secretary shall 

16 send all notices referred to in paragraph (1) in 

17 such alternative format, together with the no18 tice in the standard format. 

19 (B) INDICATION OF PREFERENCE.—The 

20 Secretary of Agriculture shall make available a 

21 mechanism for tenants to indicate their pref22 erence for receipt of notices referred to in para23 graph (1) in alternative formats and shall pro24 vide such notices to tenants in accordance with 

25 their indicated preference. 


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1 (C) ACTION ON TENANT’S BEHALF.—The 

2 Secretary shall provide for another individual, 

3 upon a signed certification that the tenant has 

4 authorized such action, to act on a tenant’s be5 half in indicating a preference with respect to 

6 an alternative format of notices. 

7 (b) COORDINATION ACROSS FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

8 The Secretary of Agriculture shall consult and coordinate 

9 with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Commissioner 

10 of the Social Security Administration to implement the 

11 procedures and systems necessary to comply with sub12 section (a)(2)(A). The Secretary of the Treasury and the 

13 Commissioner of the Social Security Administration shall 

14 provide all information necessary to ensure such compli15 ance. 

16 (c) PLAIN LANGUAGE.—Within one year after the 

17 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall re18 vise the language on the standard notices provided pursu19 ant to paragraph (1) to be in compliance with the Plain 

20 Writing Act of 2010 (5 U.S.C. 301 note). 

21 (d) TIMELINE OF NOTICE.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—For each property financed 

23 under section 515, or 514 and 516, of title V of the 

24 Housing Act of 1949 having tenants who may be eli25 gible for a rural housing voucher, the Secretary shall 


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1 provide notice as required by paragraph (2) within 

2 a reasonable time. In the event of eligibility due to 

3 prepayment or mortgage maturity, the Secretary 

4 shall provide initial notice as required by paragraph 

5 (2) and subsequently on an annual basis to each 

6 household following the initial notice. 

7 (2) INITIAL NOTICE.— 

8 (A) PREPAYMENT.—Within 30 days of the 

9 approval by the Secretary of a borrowers’ re10 quest to prepay its loan under such section 515 

11 or 514 and at least 120 days before the prepay12 ment date, the Secretary shall provide written 

13 notice to each household residing in the prop14 erty that informs them of the prepayment ap15 proval, the possible actions that may happen 

16 with respect to the property upon that prepay17 ment, and how to secure a rural housing vouch18 er. 

19 (B) MORTGAGE MATURITY.—Not later 

20 than the date that is 3 years before the date 

21 that the loan under such section 515 or 514 for 

22 the property will mature, the Secretary shall 

23 provide written notice to each household resid24 ing in the property that informs them of the 

25 date of the loan maturity, the possible actions 


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1 that may happen with respect to the property 

2 upon that maturity, and how to secure a rural 

3 housing voucher. 

4 SEC. 5. LANDLORD OUTREACH. 

5 (a) IDENTIFICATION OF AT-RISK PROPERTIES.—On 

6 an annual basis, the Secretary shall identify the addresses 

7 of the multifamily housing properties with loans financed 

8 under section 515 of the Housing Act of 1949 having 

9 mortgages that are subject to loan acceleration or matu10 rity or rental assistance contracts that the Secretary de11 termines are at risk of being terminated within the ensu12 ing 4 years without an extension of the rental assistance 

13 contract. 

14 (b) EDUCATION AND OUTREACH TO LANDLORDS.— 

15 The Secretary shall engage in education and outreach to 

16 landlords, using multiple modalities and in-person out17 reach, to promote landlord interest in accepting rural 

18 housing vouchers that may be issued to tenants of such 

19 identified at-risk properties. 

20 (c) AREA.—Such education and outreach shall be 

21 performed first with landlords owning properties with 

22 dwelling units for rent that are nearest to such identified 

23 at-risk properties and if, after extensive outreach, the Sec24 retary determines there to be insufficient interest among 

25 such landlords the Secretary shall expand the radius for 


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1 the area of such education and outreach progressively up 

2 to an area within a 20-mile radius of such identified at3 risk properties. 

4 (d) SHARING OF INFORMATION.—The Secretary of 

5 Housing and Urban Development shall provide the Sec6 retary of Agriculture with technical assistance and train7 ing on conducting landlord outreach and education, such 

8 as partnering with at the public housing agency whose ju9 risdiction is nearest to an identified at-risk property. 

10 SEC. 6. STRATEGIC PLAN. 

11 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall, not later 

12 than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

13 establish and submit to the Congress a strategic plan that 

14 identifies— 

15 (1) for each of the ensuing 5 years, the multi16 family housing properties with loans financed under 

17 section 515 of the Housing Act of 1949 having rent18 al assistance contracts that Secretary determines are 

19 at risk of exiting the portfolio, whether because of 

20 the loan being paid off or for some other reason; 

21 (2) for properties at risk of exiting the portfolio 

22 in the next year, tenants whose leases would expire 

23 or come up for renewal within one, two, and three 

24 months of the anticipated exit date of the property; 


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1 (3) a process for regularly updating the infor2 mation described in (2), as precisely as possible, as 

3 the anticipated exit date of the property approaches; 

4 (4) a method for identifying at-risk tenants who 

5 may not receive a rural housing voucher; 

6 (5) an outreach strategy to inform such at-risk 

7 tenants of their status and options for remaining 

8 housed; 

9 (6) metrics and procedures to track the status 

10 and outcomes of such at-risk tenants; and 

11 (7) a comprehensive procedure to ensure at-risk 

12 tenants have their vouchers and have a suitable 

13 dwelling to rent using the voucher by the time their 

14 lease expires or comes up for renewal. 

15 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary shall fully 

16 and expeditiously implement the strategic plan established 

17 pursuant to subsection (a) within two years after the date 

18 of the enactment of this Act. 

19 (c) REPORTS.—During the 30-month period begin20 ning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec21 retary shall provide a report to the Congress not less fre22 quently than every three months on the status of the de23 velopment of the strategic plan and the implementation 

24 of the plan. 


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1 (d) COORDINATION ACROSS FEDERAL GOVERN2 MENT.—To the extent other Federal agencies are identi3 fied under the strategic plan established pursuant to sub4 section (a) as being necessary for the implementation of 

5 the plan, it shall be the duty of each such agency so identi6 fied to assist to the greatest extent practical in fulfilling 

7 relevant requests by the Secretary of Agriculture. 

8 SEC. 7. PROTECTION OF AT-RISK TENANTS. 

9 (a) WAIVER AND MODIFICATION.—The Secretary 

10 may waive any waiting period or deadline involved in the 

11 disbursement or execution of a rural housing voucher for 

12 at-risk tenants as the Secretary deems necessary to ensure 

13 such tenants remain housed. 

14 (b) IDENTIFYING HOUSING STOCK.—The Secretary 

15 shall work with interested landlords identified in section 

16 5 of this Act to pre-clear dwellings near at-risk tenants 

17 as available for rental using a rural housing voucher. 

18 SEC. 8. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

19 (a) INITIAL REPORT.—The Secretary shall, not later 

20 than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

21 submit to the Congress and make publicly available on the 

22 website of the Department of Agriculture, a report detail23 ing— 

24 (1) for tenants in rural multifamily housing 

25 properties with loans financed under section 515 of 


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1 the Housing Act of 1949 having rental assistance 

2 contracts that terminated, the housing outcomes for 

3 such tenants one month, three months, six months, 

4 and one year after the tenant’s lease expires or is re5 newed; and 

6 (2) for each of the ensuing 4 years how many 

7 rural multifamily housing properties are expected to 

8 end participation the programs under title V of the 

9 Housing Act of 1949, the number of potentially im10 pacted residents, and how many properties are at11 risk as described in section 5(a). 

12 (b) ANNUAL REPORT.—On an annual basis, the Sec13 retary shall submit to the Congress and make publicly 

14 available on the website of the Department of Agriculture 

15 information identifying— 

16 (1) the number of rural housing vouchers issued 

17 during the preceding year; 

18 (2) the reason for the issuance such vouchers, 

19 including whether the mortgage on a property was 

20 prepaid, the mortgage for the property was fore21 closed, or any other reason; 

22 (3) whether the property was subject to any 

23 form of use restriction; and 


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1 (4) the number of vouchers that were not re2 newed that were previously utilized by tenants and 

3 the reason for non-renewal of the voucher. 

4 SEC. 9. REGULATIONS. 

5 The Secretary shall issue any regulations that may 

6 be necessary to carry out this Act and shall issue a notice 

7 of proposed rulemaking for such regulations not later than 

8 3 years after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

9 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as 

11 may be necessary for the Secretary of Agriculture to— 

12 (1) hire additional staff to implement and en13 force this Act; and 

14 (2) obtain such additional supplies and informa15 tion technology to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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