110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1851 

AN ACT 

To reform the housing choice voucher program under section 

8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
2 

•HR 1851 EH

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Section 8 Voucher Re3 form Act of 2007’’. 

4 SEC. 2. INSPECTION OF DWELLING UNITS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8(o)(8) of the United 

6 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(8)) is 

7 amended— 

8 (1) by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting 

9 the following new subparagraph: 

10 ‘‘(A) INITIAL INSPECTION.— 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For each dwelling 

12 unit for which a housing assistance pay13 ment contract is established under this 

14 subsection, the public housing agency (or 

15 other entity pursuant to paragraph (11)) 

16 shall inspect the unit before any assistance 

17 payment is made to determine whether the 

18 dwelling unit meets the housing quality 

19 standards under subparagraph (B), except 

20 as provided in clause (ii) or (iii) of this 

21 subparagraph. 

22 ‘‘(ii) CORRECTION OF NON-LIFE

23 THREATENING CONDITIONS.—In the case 

24 of any dwelling unit that is determined, 

25 pursuant to an inspection under clause (i), 

26 not to meet the housing quality standards 
3 

•HR 1851 EH

1 under subparagraph (B), assistance pay2 ments may be made for the unit notwith3 standing subparagraph (C) if failure to 

4 meet such standards is a result only of 

5 non-life threatening conditions. A public 

6 housing agency making assistance pay7 ments pursuant to this clause for a dwell8 ing unit shall, 30 days after the beginning 

9 of the period for which such payments are 

10 made, suspend any assistance payments 

11 for the unit if any deficiency resulting in 

12 noncompliance with the housing quality 

13 standards has not been corrected by such 

14 time, and may not resume such payments 

15 until each such deficiency has been cor16 rected. 

17 ‘‘(iii) PROJECTS RECEIVING CERTAIN

18 FEDERAL HOUSING SUBSIDIES.—In the 

19 case of any property that within the pre20 vious 12 months has been determined to 

21 meet housing quality and safety standards 

22 under any Federal housing program in23 spection standard, including the program 

24 under section 42 of the Internal Revenue 

25 Code of 1986 or under subtitle A of title 
4 

•HR 1851 EH

1 II of the Cranston Gonzalez National Af2 fordable Housing Act of 1990, a public 

3 housing agency may authorize occupancy 

4 before the inspection under clause (i) has 

5 been completed, and may make assistance 

6 payments retroactive to the beginning of 

7 the lease term after the unit has been de8 termined pursuant to an inspection under 

9 clause (i) to meet the housing quality 

10 standards under subparagraph (B).’’; 

11 (2) by striking subparagraph (D) and inserting 

12 the following new subparagraph: 

13 ‘‘(D) BIENNIAL INSPECTIONS.— 

14 ‘‘(i) REQUIREMENT.—Each public 

15 housing agency providing assistance under 

16 this subsection (or other entity, as pro17 vided in paragraph (11)) shall, for each as18 sisted dwelling unit, make inspections not 

19 less often than biennially during the term 

20 of the housing assistance payments con21 tract for the unit to determine whether the 

22 unit is maintained in accordance with the 

23 requirements under subparagraph (A). The 

24 agency (or other entity) shall retain the 

25 records of the inspection for a reasonable 
5 

•HR 1851 EH

1 time and shall make the records available 

2 upon request to the Secretary, the Inspec3 tor General for the Department of Housing 

4 and Urban Development, and any auditor 

5 conducting an audit under section 5(h). 

6 ‘‘(ii) SUFFICIENT INSPECTION.—An 

7 inspection of a property shall be sufficient 

8 to comply with the inspection requirement 

9 under clause (i) if— 

10 ‘‘(I) the inspection was conducted 

11 pursuant to requirements under a 

12 Federal, State, or local housing assist13 ance program (including the HOME 

14 investment partnerships program 

15 under title II of the Cranston-Gon16 zalez National Affordable Housing 

17 Act (42 U.S.C. 12721 et seq.)); and 

18 ‘‘(II) pursuant to such inspec19 tion, the property was determined to 

20 meet the standards or requirements 

21 regarding housing quality or safety 

22 applicable to units assisted under such 

23 program, and, if a non-Federal stand24 ard was used, the public housing 

25 agency has certified to the Secretary 
6 

•HR 1851 EH

1 that such standards or requirements 

2 provide the same protection to occu3 pants of dwelling units meeting such 

4 standards or requirements as, or 

5 greater protection than, the housing 

6 quality standards under subparagraph 

7 (B).’’; and 

8 (3) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as sub9 paragraph (G); 

10 (4) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the fol11 lowing new subparagraphs: 

12 ‘‘(E) INTERIM INSPECTIONS.—Upon notifi13 cation to the public housing agency, by a family 

14 on whose behalf tenant-based rental assistance 

15 is provided under this subsection or by a gov16 ernment official, that the dwelling unit for 

17 which such assistance is provided does not com18 ply with the housing quality standards under 

19 subparagraph (B), the agency shall inspect the 

20 dwelling unit— 

21 ‘‘(i) in the case of any condition that 

22 is life-threatening, within 24 hours after 

23 receipt of such notice; and 
7 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ‘‘(ii) in the case of any condition that 

2 is not life-threatening, within 15 days after 

3 receipt of such notice. 

4 ‘‘(F) ENFORCEMENT OF HOUSING QUALITY

5 STANDARDS.— 

6 ‘‘(i) DETERMINATION OF NONCOMPLI7 ANCE.—A dwelling unit that is covered by 

8 a housing assistance payments contract 

9 under this subsection shall be considered, 

10 for purposes of this subparagraph, to be in 

11 noncompliance with the housing quality 

12 standards under subparagraph (B) if— 

13 ‘‘(I) the public housing agency or 

14 an inspector authorized by the State 

15 or unit of local government deter16 mines upon inspection of the unit that 

17 the unit fails to comply with such 

18 standards; 

19 ‘‘(II) the agency or inspector no20 tifies the owner of the unit in writing 

21 of such failure to comply; and 

22 ‘‘(III) the failure to comply is not 

23 corrected— 

24 ‘‘(aa) in the case of any 

25 such failure that is a result of 
8 

•HR 1851 EH

1 life-threatening conditions, within 

2 24 hours after receipt of such no3 tice; and 

4 ‘‘(bb) in the case of any 

5 such failure that is a result of 

6 non-life threatening conditions, 

7 within 30 days after receipt of 

8 such notice or such other reason9 able period as the public housing 

10 agency may establish. 

11 ‘‘(ii) WITHHOLDING OF ASSISTANCE

12 AMOUNTS.—The public housing agency 

13 shall withhold all of the assistance 

14 amounts under this subsection with respect 

15 to a dwelling unit that is in noncompliance 

16 with housing quality standards under sub17 paragraph (B). Upon completion of repairs 

18 by the public housing agency or the owner 

19 sufficient so that the dwelling unit com20 plies with such housing quality standards, 

21 the agency shall recommence payments 

22 under the housing assistance payments 

23 contract to the owner of the dwelling unit. 

24 ‘‘(iii) USE OF WITHHELD ASSISTANCE

25 TO PAY FOR REPAIRS.—The public housing 
9 

•HR 1851 EH

1 agency may use such amounts withheld to 

2 make repairs to the dwelling unit or to 

3 contract to have repairs made, except that 

4 a contract to make repairs may not be en5 tered into with the inspector for the dwell6 ing unit referred to in clause (i)(I). 

7 ‘‘(iv) PROTECTION OF TENANTS.—An 

8 owner of a dwelling unit may not terminate 

9 the tenancy of any tenant or refuse to 

10 renew a lease for such unit because of the 

11 withholding of assistance pursuant to this 

12 subparagraph. During the period that as13 sistance is withheld pursuant to this sub14 paragraph, the tenant may terminate the 

15 tenancy by notifying the owner. 

16 ‘‘(v) TERMINATION OF LEASE OR AS17 SISTANCE PAYMENTS CONTRACT.—If as18 sistance amounts under this section for a 

19 dwelling unit are withheld pursuant to 

20 clause (ii) and the owner does not correct 

21 the noncompliance within 60 days after the 

22 effective date of the determination of non23 compliance under clause (i), or such other 

24 reasonable period as the public housing 

25 agency may establish, and the agency does 
10 

•HR 1851 EH

1 not use its authority under clause (iii), the 

2 agency shall terminate the housing assist3 ance payments contract for the dwelling 

4 unit. 

5 ‘‘(vi) RELOCATION.—If the public 

6 housing agency terminates the housing as7 sistance payments contract for a dwelling 

8 unit, the lease for any family residing in 

9 that unit shall terminate and the family 

10 may remain in the unit subject to a new 

11 lease as an unassisted family. The agency 

12 shall provide the family residing in such a 

13 dwelling unit a period of 90 days, begin14 ning upon termination of the contract, to 

15 lease a new residence to assist with the 

16 tenant-based rental assistance made avail17 able under this section for the family. If 

18 the family is unable to lease such a new 

19 residence during such period, the public 

20 housing agency shall extend the period 

21 during which the family may lease a new 

22 residence to be assisted with such assist23 ance or provide such family a preference 

24 for occupancy in a dwelling unit of public 

25 housing owned or operated by the agency 
11 

•HR 1851 EH

1 that first becomes available for occupancy 

2 after the expiration of such period. The 

3 agency shall provide reasonable assistance 

4 to the family in finding a new residence, 

5 including use of two months of any assist6 ance amounts withheld pursuant to clause 

7 (ii) for costs associated with relocation of 

8 the family to a new residence. 

9 ‘‘(vii) LIMITATION OF LIABILITY OF

10 PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCIES.—A public 

11 housing agency that uses its authority 

12 under clause (iii) shall not, if the agency 

13 accomplishes the work through a con14 tractor that is licensed, bonded, and in15 sured in amounts and with coverage as re16 quired by the Secretary, be liable for any 

17 injury or damages that may result to per18 sons or to any property owned by the ten19 ant or owner. 

20 ‘‘(viii) TENANT-CAUSED DAMAGES.— 

21 If a public housing agency determines that 

22 any damage to a dwelling unit that results 

23 in a failure of the dwelling unit to comply 

24 with housing quality standards under sub25 paragraph (B), other than any damage re-
12 

•HR 1851 EH

1 sulting from ordinary use, was caused by 

2 the tenant, any member of the tenant’s 

3 household, or any guest or other person 

4 under the tenant’s control, the agency 

5 may, in the discretion of the agency, waive 

6 the applicability of this subparagraph, ex7 cept that this clause shall not exonerate a 

8 tenant from any liability otherwise existing 

9 under applicable law for damages to the 

10 premises caused by such tenant. 

11 ‘‘(ix) APPLICABILITY.—This subpara12 graph shall apply to any dwelling unit for 

13 which a housing assistance payments con14 tract is entered into or renewed after the 

15 date of the effectiveness of the regulations 

16 implementing this subparagraph.’’. 

17 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Housing and 

18 Urban Development shall issue any regulations necessary 

19 to carry out the amendment made by subsection (a)(3) 

20 not later than the expiration of the 12-month period begin21 ning upon the date of the enactment of this Act. Such 

22 regulations shall take effect not later than the expiration 

23 of the 90-day period beginning upon such issuance. This 

24 subsection shall take effect upon enactment of this Act. 
13 

•HR 1851 EH

1 SEC. 3. RENT REFORM AND INCOME REVIEWS. 

2 (a) RENT FOR PUBLIC HOUSING AND SECTION 8 

3 PROGRAMS.—Section 3 of the United States Housing Act 

4 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(a)) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a)— 

6 (A) in paragraph (1) by inserting ‘‘LOW7 INCOME OCCUPANCY REQUIREMENT AND RENT8 AL PAYMENTS.—’’ after ‘‘(1)’’; 

9 (B) in paragraph (1)— 

10 (i) by striking ‘‘paragraph (2)’’ and 

11 inserting ‘‘paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; and 

12 (ii) by striking ‘‘paragraph (3)’’ and 

13 inserting ‘‘paragraph (4)’’; 

14 (C) in paragraph (2)(A)(i), by striking 

15 ‘‘paragraph (3)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph 

16 (4)’’; 

17 (D) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and 

18 (5) as paragraphs (5) and (6), respectively; 

19 (E) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

20 following new paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(3) PHA AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH ALTER22 NATIVE RENTS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) RENT FLEXIBILITY FOR PUBLIC

24 HOUSING AND VOUCHER PROGRAM.—Subject to 

25 the requirements under subparagraph (B), a 

26 public housing agency may establish for public 
14 

•HR 1851 EH

1 housing and for families on whose behalf assist2 ance is provided under the program for tenant3 based voucher assistance under section 8(o)— 

4 ‘‘(i) a tenant rent structure in 

5 which— 

6 ‘‘(I) the public housing agency 

7 establishes, based on the rental value 

8 of the unit, as determined by the pub9 lic housing agency— 

10 ‘‘(aa) a ceiling rent for each 

11 dwelling unit that it owns and 

12 operates; and 

13 ‘‘(bb) a ceiling on the 

14 amount of the tenant contribu15 tion toward rent required of a 

16 family provided tenant-based as17 sistance; and 

18 ‘‘(II) such ceiling rent and tenant 

19 contribution are adjusted periodically 

20 on the basis of an inflation index or a 

21 recalculation of the rental value of the 

22 unit (which may be recalculated by 

23 unit or by building); 

24 ‘‘(ii) an income-tiered tenant rent 

25 structure in which the amount of rent a 
15 

•HR 1851 EH

1 family shall pay is set and distributed on 

2 the basis of broad tiers of income and such 

3 tiers and rents are adjusted on the basis of 

4 an annual cost index except that families 

5 entering public housing shall not be offered 

6 a rent lower than the rent corresponding to 

7 their income tier; or 

8 ‘‘(iii) a tenant rent structure in which 

9 the amount of rent a family shall pay is 

10 based on a percentage of family income, 

11 except that lower percentages may apply 

12 only with respect to earned income; such a 

13 rent structure may provide for an amount 

14 of rent based on a calculation of earned in15 come that provides for disregard of a high16 er percentage or higher dollar amount, or 

17 both, than provided for in paragraph 

18 (8)(B). 

19 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding the 

20 authority provided under subparagraph (A), the 

21 amount paid for rent (including the amount al22 lowed for tenant-paid utilities) by any family 

23 for a dwelling unit in public housing or for 

24 rental of a dwelling unit for which tenant-based 

25 voucher assistance under section 8(o) is pro-
16 

•HR 1851 EH

1 vided may not exceed the amount determined 

2 under subsection (a)(1) of this section or sec3 tion 8(o), respectively. The Secretary shall issue 

4 regulations and establish procedures to ensure 

5 compliance with this subparagraph. 

6 ‘‘(C) ELDERLY FAMILIES AND DISABLED

7 FAMILIES.—Notwithstanding any other provi8 sion of this Act, this paragraph shall not apply 

9 to elderly families and disabled families.’’; and 

10 (F) by adding at the end the following new 

11 paragraphs: 

12 ‘‘(7) REVIEWS OF FAMILY INCOME.— 

13 ‘‘(A) FREQUENCY.—Reviews of family in14 come for purposes of this section shall be 

15 made— 

16 ‘‘(i) in the case of all families, upon 

17 the initial provision of housing assistance 

18 for the family; 

19 ‘‘(ii) annually thereafter, except as 

20 provided in subparagraph (B)(i); 

21 ‘‘(iii) upon the request of the family, 

22 at any time the income or deductions 

23 (under subsection (b)(5)) of the family 

24 change by an amount that is estimated to 

25 result in a decrease of $1,500 (or such 
17 

•HR 1851 EH

1 lower amount as the public housing agency 

2 may, at the option of the agency or owner, 

3 establish) or more in annual adjusted in4 come; and 

5 ‘‘(iv) at any time the income or deduc6 tions (under subsection (b)(5)) of the fam7 ily change by an amount that is estimated 

8 to result in an increase of $1,500 or more 

9 in annual adjusted income, except that any 

10 increase in the earned income of a family 

11 shall not be considered for purposes of this 

12 clause (except that earned income may be 

13 considered if the increase corresponds to 

14 previous decreases under clause (iii)), ex15 cept that a public housing agency or owner 

16 may elect not to conduct such review in the 

17 last three months of a certification period. 

18 ‘‘(B) FIXED-INCOME FAMILIES.— 

19 ‘‘(i) SELF CERTIFICATION AND 3-YEAR

20 REVIEW.—In the case of any family de21 scribed in clause (ii), after the initial re22 view of the family’s income pursuant to 

23 subparagraph (A)(i), the public housing 

24 agency or owner shall not be required to 

25 conduct a review of the family’s income 
18 

•HR 1851 EH

1 pursuant to subparagraph (A)(ii) for any 

2 year for which such family certifies, in ac3 cordance with such requirements as the 

4 Secretary shall establish, that the income 

5 of the family meets the requirements of 

6 clause (ii) of this subparagraph, except 

7 that the public housing agency or owner 

8 shall conduct a review of each such fam9 ily’s income not less than once every 3 

10 years. 

11 ‘‘(ii) ELIGIBLE FAMILIES.—A family 

12 described in this clause is a family who has 

13 an income, as of the most recent review 

14 pursuant to subparagraph (A) or clause (i) 

15 of this subparagraph, of which 90 percent 

16 or more consists of fixed income, as such 

17 term is defined in clause (iii). 

18 ‘‘(iii) FIXED INCOME.—For purposes 

19 of this subparagraph, the term ‘fixed in20 come’ includes income from— 

21 ‘‘(I) the supplemental security in22 come program under title XVI of the 

23 Social Security Act, including supple24 mentary payments pursuant to an 

25 agreement for Federal administration 
19 

•HR 1851 EH

1 under section 1616(a) of the Social 

2 Security Act and payments pursuant 

3 to an agreement entered into under 

4 section 212(b) of Public Law 93–66; 

5 ‘‘(II) Social Security payments; 

6 ‘‘(III) Federal, State, local and 

7 private pension plans; and 

8 ‘‘(IV) other periodic payments re9 ceived from annuities, insurance poli10 cies, retirement funds, disability or 

11 death benefits, and other similar types 

12 of periodic receipts. 

13 ‘‘(C) IN GENERAL.—Reviews of family in14 come for purposes of this section shall be sub15 ject to the provisions of section 904 of the 

16 Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance 

17 Amendments Act of 1988. 

18 ‘‘(8) CALCULATION OF INCOME.— 

19 ‘‘(A) USE OF PRIOR YEAR’S INCOME.—Ex20 cept as otherwise provided in this paragraph, in 

21 determining the income of a family for a year, 

22 a public housing agency or owner may use the 

23 income of the family as determined by the agen24 cy or owner for the preceding year, taking into 

25 consideration any redetermination of income 
20 

•HR 1851 EH

1 during such prior year pursuant to clause (iii) 

2 or (iv) of paragraph (7)(A). 

3 ‘‘(B) EARNED INCOME.—For purposes of 

4 this section, the earned income of a family for 

5 a year shall be the amount of earned income by 

6 the family in the prior year minus an amount 

7 equal to 10 percent of the lesser of such prior 

8 year’s earned income or $10,000, except that 

9 the income of a family for purposes of section 

10 16 (relating to eligibility for assisted housing 

11 and income mix) shall be determined without 

12 regard to any reduction under this subpara13 graph. 

14 ‘‘(C) INFLATIONARY ADJUSTMENT FOR

15 FIXED INCOME FAMILIES.—If, for any year, a 

16 public housing agency or owner determines the 

17 income for any family described in paragraph 

18 (7)(B)(ii), or the amount of fixed income of any 

19 other family, based on the prior year’s income 

20 or fixed income, respectively, pursuant to sub21 paragraph (A), such prior year’s income or 

22 fixed income, respectively, shall be adjusted by 

23 applying an inflationary factor as the Secretary 

24 shall, by regulation, establish. 
21 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ‘‘(D) OTHER INCOME.—If, for any year, a 

2 public housing agency or owner determines the 

3 income for any family based on the prior year’s 

4 income, with respect to prior year calculations 

5 of types of income not subject to subparagraph 

6 (B), a public housing agency or owner may 

7 make other adjustments as it considers appro8 priate to reflect current income. 

9 ‘‘(E) SAFE HARBOR.—A public housing 

10 agency or owner may, to the extent such infor11 mation is available to the public housing agency 

12 or owner, determine the family’s income for 

13 purposes of this section based on timely income 

14 determinations made for purposes of other 

15 means-tested Federal public assistance pro16 grams (including the program for block grants 

17 to States for temporary assistance for needy 

18 families under part A of title IV of the Social 

19 Security Act, a program for medicaid assistance 

20 under a State plan approved under title XIX of 

21 the Social Security Act, and the food stamp 

22 program as defined in section 3(h) of the Food 

23 Stamp Act of 1977). The Secretary shall, in 

24 consultation with other appropriate Federal 

25 agencies, develop procedures to enable public 
22 

•HR 1851 EH

1 housing agencies and owners to have access to 

2 such income determinations made by other Fed3 eral programs. 

4 ‘‘(F) PHA AND OWNER COMPLIANCE.—A 

5 public housing agency or owner may not be con6 sidered to fail to comply with this paragraph or 

7 paragraph (7) due solely to any de minimus er8 rors made by the agency or owner in calculating 

9 family incomes.’’; 

10 (2) by striking subsections (d) and (e); and 

11 (3) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub12 section (d). 

13 (b) INCOME.—Section 3(b) of the United States 

14 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)) is amended— 

15 (1) by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the 

16 following new paragraph: 

17 ‘‘(4) INCOME.—The term ‘income’ means, with 

18 respect to a family, income received from all sources 

19 by each member of the household who is 18 years 

20 of age or older or is the head of household or spouse 

21 of the head of the household, plus unearned income 

22 by or on behalf of each dependent who is less than 

23 18 years of age, as determined in accordance with 

24 criteria prescribed by the Secretary, in consultation 
23 

•HR 1851 EH

1 with the Secretary of Agriculture, subject to the fol2 lowing requirements: 

3 ‘‘(A) INCLUDED AMOUNTS.—Such term in4 cludes recurring gifts and receipts, actual in5 come from assets, and profit or loss from a 

6 business. 

7 ‘‘(B) EXCLUDED AMOUNTS.—Such term 

8 does not include— 

9 ‘‘(i) any imputed return on assets; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(ii) any amounts that would be eligi12 ble for exclusion under section 1613(a)(7) 

13 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

14 1382b(a)(7)). 

15 ‘‘(C) EARNED INCOME OF STUDENTS.— 

16 Such term does not include earned income of 

17 any dependent earned during any period that 

18 such dependent is attending school on a full19 time basis or any grant-in-aid or scholarship 

20 amounts related to such attendance used for 

21 the cost of tuition or books. 

22 ‘‘(D) EDUCATIONAL SAVINGS ACCOUNTS.— 

23 Income shall be determined without regard to 

24 any amounts in or from, or any benefits from, 

25 any Coverdell education savings account under 
24 

•HR 1851 EH

1 section 530 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

2 1986 or any qualified tuition program under 

3 section 529 of such Code. 

4 ‘‘(E) OTHER EXCLUSIONS.—Such term 

5 shall not include other exclusions from income 

6 as are established by the Secretary or any 

7 amount required by Federal law to be excluded 

8 from consideration as income. The Secretary 

9 may not require a public housing agency or 

10 owner to maintain records of any amounts ex11 cluded from income pursuant to this subpara12 graph.’’; and 

13 (2) by striking paragraph (5) and inserting the 

14 following new paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(5) ADJUSTED INCOME.—The term ‘adjusted 

16 income’ means, with respect to a family, the amount 

17 (as determined by the public housing agency or 

18 owner) of the income of the members of the family 

19 residing in a dwelling unit or the persons on a lease, 

20 after any deductions from income as follows: 

21 ‘‘(A) ELDERLY AND DISABLED FAMI22 LIES.—$725 in the case of any family that is 

23 an elderly family or a disabled family. 
25 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ‘‘(B) DEPENDENTS.—In the case of any 

2 family that includes a member or members 

3 who— 

4 ‘‘(i) are less than 18 years of age or 

5 attending school or vocational training on 

6 a full-time basis; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) is a person with disabilities who 

8 is 18 years of age or older and resides in 

9 the household, 

10 $500 for each such member. 

11 ‘‘(C) HEALTH AND MEDICAL EXPENSES.— 

12 The amount, if any, by which 10 percent of an13 nual family income is exceeded by the sum of— 

14 ‘‘(i) in the case of any elderly or dis15 abled family, any unreimbursed health and 

16 medical care expenses; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) any unreimbursed reasonable at18 tendant care and auxiliary apparatus ex19 penses for each handicapped member of 

20 the family, to the extent necessary to en21 able any member of such family to be em22 ployed. 

23 ‘‘(D) PERMISSIVE DEDUCTIONS.—Such ad24 ditional deductions as a public housing agency 

25 may, at its discretion, establish, except that the 
26 

•HR 1851 EH

1 Secretary shall establish procedures to ensure 

2 that such deductions do not increase Federal 

3 expenditures. 

4 The Secretary shall annually adjust the amounts of 

5 the exclusions under subparagraphs (A) and (B), as 

6 such amounts may have been previously adjusted, by 

7 applying an inflationary factor as the Secretary 

8 shall, by regulation, establish. If the dollar amount 

9 of any such exclusion determined for any year by ap10 plying such inflationary factor is not a multiple of 

11 $25, the Secretary shall round such amount to the 

12 next lowest multiple of $25.’’. 

13 (c) HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER PROGRAM.—Para14 graph (5) of section 8(o) of the United States Housing 

15 Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(5)) is amended— 

16 (1) in the paragraph heading, by striking ‘‘AN17 NUAL REVIEW’’ and inserting ‘‘REVIEWS’’; 

18 (2) in subparagraph (A)— 

19 (A) by striking ‘‘the provisions of’’ and in20 serting ‘‘paragraphs (7) and (8) of section 3(a) 

21 and to’’; and 

22 (B) by striking ‘‘and shall be conducted 

23 upon the initial provision of housing assistance 

24 for the family and thereafter not less than an25 nually’’; and 
27 

•HR 1851 EH

1 (3) in subparagraph (B), by striking the second 

2 sentence. 

3 (d) ENHANCED VOUCHER PROGRAM.—Section 

4 8(t)(1)(D) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 

5 U.S.C. 1437f(t)(1)(D)) is amended by striking ‘‘income’’ 

6 each place such term appears and inserting ‘‘annual ad7 justed income’’. 

8 (e) PROJECT-BASED HOUSING.—Paragraph (3) of 

9 section 8(c) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 

10 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(c)(3)) is amended by striking the last 

11 sentence. 

12 (f) IMPACT ON PUBLIC HOUSING REVENUES.— 

13 (1) INTERACTION WITH ASSET MANAGEMENT

14 RULE.—If the Secretary of Housing and Urban De15 velopment determines that the application of the 

16 amendments made by this section results in a reduc17 tion in the rental income of a public housing agency 

18 that is not de minimus during the period that the 

19 operating formula income is frozen at a level that 

20 does not fully reflect the changes made by such 

21 amendments, the Secretary shall make appropriate 

22 adjustments in the formula income of the agency. 

23 (2) HUD REPORTS ON PUBLIC HOUSING REV24 ENUE IMPACT.—For each of fiscal years 2008 and 

25 2009, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop-
28 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ment shall submit a report to Congress identifying 

2 and calculating the impact of changes made by the 

3 amendments made by this section on the revenues 

4 and costs of operating public housing units. 

5 (g) EFFECTIVE DATE AND TRANSITION.—The 

6 amendments made by this section shall apply with respect 

7 to fiscal year 2008 and fiscal years thereafter. 

8 SEC. 4. ELIGIBILITY FOR ASSISTANCE BASED ON ASSETS 

9 AND INCOME. 

10 (a) ASSETS.—Section 16 of the United States Hous11 ing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437n) is amended by insert12 ing after subsection (d) the following new subsection: 

13 ‘‘(e) ELIGIBILITY FOR ASSISTANCE BASED ON AS14 SETS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) LIMITATION ON ASSETS.—Subject to para16 graph (3) and notwithstanding any other provision 

17 of this Act, a dwelling unit assisted under this Act 

18 may not be rented and assistance under this Act 

19 may not be provided, either initially or at each recer20 tification of family income, to any family— 

21 ‘‘(A) whose net family assets exceed 

22 $100,000, as such amount is adjusted annually 

23 by applying an inflationary factor as the Sec24 retary considers appropriate; or 
29 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ‘‘(B) who has a present ownership interest 

2 in, and a legal right to reside in, real property 

3 that is suitable for occupancy as a residence, 

4 except that the prohibition under this subpara5 graph shall not apply to— 

6 ‘‘(i) any property for which the family 

7 is receiving assistance under this Act; 

8 ‘‘(ii) any person that is a victim of do9 mestic violence; or 

10 ‘‘(iii) any family that is making a 

11 good faith effort to sell such property. 

12 ‘‘(2) NET FAMILY ASSETS.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this 

14 subsection, the term ‘net family assets’ means, 

15 for all members of the household, the net cash 

16 value of all assets after deducting reasonable 

17 costs that would be incurred in disposing of real 

18 property, savings, stocks, bonds, and other 

19 forms of capital investment. Such term does not 

20 include interests in Indian trust land, equity ac21 counts in homeownership programs of the De22 partment of Housing and Urban Development, 

23 or Family Self Sufficiency accounts. 

24 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSIONS.—Such term does not 

25 include— 
30 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ‘‘(i) the value of personal property, ex2 cept for items of personal property of sig3 nificant value, as the public housing agen4 cy may determine; 

5 ‘‘(ii) the value of any retirement ac6 count; 

7 ‘‘(iii) any amounts recovered in any 

8 civil action or settlement based on a claim 

9 of malpractice, negligence, or other breach 

10 of duty owed to a member of the family 

11 and arising out of law, that resulted in a 

12 member of the family being disabled 

13 (under the meaning given such term in 

14 section 1614 of the Social Security Act (42 

15 U.S.C. 1382c)); and 

16 ‘‘(iv) the value of any Coverdell edu17 cation savings account under section 530 

18 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or 

19 any qualified tuition program under sec20 tion 529 of such Code. 

21 ‘‘(C) TRUST FUNDS.—In cases where a 

22 trust fund has been established and the trust is 

23 not revocable by, or under the control of, any 

24 member of the family or household, the value of 

25 the trust fund shall not be considered an asset 
31 

•HR 1851 EH

1 of a family if the fund continues to be held in 

2 trust. Any income distributed from the trust 

3 fund shall be considered income for purposes of 

4 section 3(b) and any calculations of annual 

5 family income, except in the case of medical ex6 penses for a minor. 

7 ‘‘(D) SELF-CERTIFICATION.—A public 

8 housing agency or owner may determine the net 

9 assets of a family, for purposes of this section, 

10 based on the amounts reported by the family at 

11 the time the agency or owner reviews the fam12 ily’s income. 

13 ‘‘(3) COMPLIANCE FOR PUBLIC HOUSING

14 DWELLING UNITS.—When recertifying family income 

15 with respect to families residing in public housing 

16 dwelling units, a public housing agency may, in the 

17 discretion of the agency and only pursuant to a pol18 icy that is set forth in the public housing agency 

19 plan under section 5A for the agency, choose not to 

20 enforce the limitation under paragraph (1). 

21 ‘‘(4) AUTHORITY TO DELAY EVICTIONS.—In the 

22 case of a family residing in a dwelling unit assisted 

23 under this Act who does not comply with the limita24 tion under paragraph (1), the public housing agency 

25 or project owner may delay eviction or termination 
32 

•HR 1851 EH

1 of the family based on such noncompliance for a pe2 riod of not more than 6 months.’’. 

3 (b) INCOME.—The United States Housing Act of 

4 1937 is amended— 

5 (1) in section 3(a)(1) (42 U.S.C. 1437a(a)(1)), 

6 by striking the first sentence and inserting the fol7 lowing: ‘‘Dwelling units assisted under this Act may 

8 be rented, and assistance under this Act may be pro9 vided, whether initially or at time of recertification, 

10 only to families who are low-income families at the 

11 time such initial or continued assistance, respec12 tively, is provided, except that families residing in 

13 dwelling units as of the date of the enactment of the 

14 Section 8 Voucher Reform Act of 2007 that, under 

15 agreements in effect on such date of enactment, may 

16 have incomes up to 95 percent of local area median 

17 income shall continue to be eligible for assistance at 

18 recertification as long as they continue to comply 

19 with such income restrictions. When recertifying 

20 family income with respect to families residing in 

21 public housing dwelling units, a public housing agen22 cy may, in the discretion of the agency and only pur23 suant to a policy that is set forth in the public hous24 ing agency plan under section 5A for the agency, 

25 choose not to enforce the prohibition under the pre-
33 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ceding sentence. When recertifying family income 

2 with respect to families residing in dwelling units for 

3 which project-based assistance is provided, a project 

4 owner may, in the owner’s discretion and only pur5 suant to a policy adopted by such owner, choose not 

6 to enforce such prohibition. In the case of a family 

7 residing in a dwelling unit assisted under this Act 

8 who does not comply with the prohibition under the 

9 first sentence of this paragraph, the public housing 

10 agency or project owner may delay eviction or termi11 nation of the family based on such noncompliance 

12 for a period of not more than 6 months.’’; 

13 (2) in section 8(o)(4) (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(4)), 

14 by striking the matter preceding subparagraph (A) 

15 and inserting the following: 

16 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE FAMILIES.—Assistance under 

17 this subsection may be provided, whether initially or 

18 at each recertification, only pursuant to subsection 

19 (t) to a family eligible for assistance under such sub20 section or to a family who at the time of such initial 

21 or continued assistance, respectively, is a low-income 

22 family that is—’’; and 

23 (3) in section 8(c)(4) (42 U.S.C. 1437f(c)(4)), 

24 by striking ‘‘at the time it initially occupied such 
34 

•HR 1851 EH

1 dwelling unit’’ and inserting ‘‘according to the re2 strictions under section 3(a)(1)’’. 

3 SEC. 5. TARGETING ASSISTANCE TO LOW-INCOME WORK4 ING FAMILIES. 

5 (a) VOUCHERS.—Section 16(b)(1) of the United 

6 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437n(b)(1)) is 

7 amended— 

8 (1) by inserting after ‘‘do not exceed’’ the fol9 lowing: ‘‘the higher of (A) the poverty line (as such 

10 term is defined in section 673 of the Omnibus Budg11 et Reconciliation Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 9902), in12 cluding any revision required by such section) appli13 cable to a family of the size involved, or (B)’’; and 

14 (2) by inserting before the period at the end the 

15 following: ‘‘; and except that clause (A) of this sen16 tence shall not apply in the case of families residing 

17 in Puerto Rico or any other territory or possession 

18 of the United States’’. 

19 (b) PUBLIC HOUSING.—Section 16(a)(2)(A) of the 

20 United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 

21 1437n(a)(2)(A)) is amended— 

22 (1) by inserting after ‘‘do not exceed’’ the fol23 lowing: ‘‘the higher of (i) the poverty line (as such 

24 term is defined in section 673 of the Omnibus Budg25 et Reconciliation Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 9902), in-
35 

•HR 1851 EH

1 cluding any revision required by such section) appli2 cable to a family of the size involved, or (ii)’’; and 

3 (2) by inserting before the period at the end the 

4 following: ‘‘; and except that clause (i) of this sen5 tence shall not apply in the case of families residing 

6 in Puerto Rico or any other territory or possession 

7 of the United States’’. 

8 (c) PROJECT-BASED SECTION 8 ASSISTANCE.—Sec9 tion 16(c)(3) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 

10 (42 U.S.C. 1437n(c)(3)) is amended— 

11 (1) by inserting after ‘‘do not exceed’’ the fol12 lowing: ‘‘the higher of (A) the poverty line (as such 

13 term is defined in section 673 of the Omnibus Budg14 et Reconciliation Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 9902), in15 cluding any revision required by such section) appli16 cable to a family of the size involved, or (B)’’; and 

17 (2) by inserting before the period at the end the 

18 following: ‘‘; and except that clause (A) of this sen19 tence shall not apply in the case of families residing 

20 in Puerto Rico or any other territory or possession 

21 of the United States’’. 

22 SEC. 6. VOUCHER RENEWAL FUNDING. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8 of the United States 

24 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f) is amended by 
36 

•HR 1851 EH

1 striking subsection (dd) and inserting the following new 

2 subsection: 

3 ‘‘(dd) TENANT-BASED VOUCHERS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

5 There are authorized to be appropriated, for each of 

6 fiscal years 2008 through 2012, such sums as may 

7 be necessary for tenant-based assistance under sub8 section (o) for the following purposes: 

9 ‘‘(A) To renew all expiring annual con10 tributions contracts for tenant-based rental as11 sistance. 

12 ‘‘(B) To provide tenant-based rental assist13 ance for— 

14 ‘‘(i) relocation and replacement of 

15 housing units that are demolished or dis16 posed of pursuant to the Omnibus Consoli17 dated Rescissions and Appropriations Act 

18 of 1996 (Public Law 104–134); 

19 ‘‘(ii) conversion of section 23 projects 

20 to assistance under this section; 

21 ‘‘(iii) the family unification program 

22 under subsection (x) of this section; 

23 ‘‘(iv) relocation of witnesses in con24 nection with efforts to combat crime in 

25 public and assisted housing pursuant to a 
37 

•HR 1851 EH

1 request from a law enforcement or pros2 ecution agency; 

3 ‘‘(v) enhanced vouchers authorized 

4 under subsection (t) of this section; 

5 ‘‘(vi) vouchers in connection with the 

6 HOPE VI program under section 24; 

7 ‘‘(vii) demolition or disposition of pub8 lic housing units pursuant to section 18 of 

9 the United States Housing Act of 1937 

10 (42 U.S.C. 1437p); 

11 ‘‘(viii) mandatory and voluntary con12 versions of public housing to vouchers, pur13 suant to sections 33 and 22 of the United 

14 States Housing Act of 1937, respectively 

15 (42 U.S.C. 1437z–5, 1437t); 

16 ‘‘(ix) vouchers necessary to comply 

17 with a consent decree or court order; 

18 ‘‘(x) vouchers to replace dwelling units 

19 that cease to receive project-based assist20 ance under subsection (b), (c), (d), (e), or 

21 (v) of this section; 

22 ‘‘(xi) relocation and replacement of 

23 public housing units that are demolished or 

24 disposed of pursuant to eminent domain, 

25 pursuant to a homeownership program, or 
38 

•HR 1851 EH

1 in connection with a mixed finance devel2 opment method under section 35 or other3 wise; 

4 ‘‘(xii) tenant protection assistance, in5 cluding replacement and relocation assist6 ance; and 

7 ‘‘(xiii) emergency voucher assistance 

8 for the protection of victims of domestic vi9 olence, dating violence, sexual assault, or 

10 stalking. 

11 Subject only to the availability of sufficient 

12 amounts provided in appropriation Acts, the 

13 Secretary shall provide tenant-based rental as14 sistance to replace all dwelling units that cease 

15 to be available as assisted housing as a result 

16 of clause (i), (ii), (v), (vi), (vii), (viii), (x), or 

17 (xi). 

18 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION OF RENEWAL FUNDING

19 AMONG PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCIES.— 

20 ‘‘(A) From amounts appropriated for each 

21 year pursuant to paragraph (1)(A), the Sec22 retary shall provide renewal funding for each 

23 public housing agency— 

24 ‘‘(i) based on leasing and cost data 

25 from the preceding calendar year, as ad-
39 

•HR 1851 EH

1 justed by an annual adjustment factor to 

2 be established by the Secretary, which shall 

3 be established using the smallest geo4 graphical areas for which data on changes 

5 in rental costs are annually available; 

6 ‘‘(ii) by making any adjustments nec7 essary to provide for the first-time renewal 

8 of vouchers funded under paragraph 

9 (1)(B) and of any incremental vouchers 

10 funded in previous years; 

11 ‘‘(iii) by making any adjustments nec12 essary for full year funding of vouchers 

13 ported in the prior calendar year under 

14 subsection (r)(2); and 

15 ‘‘(iv) by making such other adjust16 ments as the Secretary considers appro17 priate, including adjustments necessary to 

18 address changes in voucher utilization 

19 rates and voucher costs related to natural 

20 and other major disasters. 

21 ‘‘(B) LEASING AND COST DATA.—For pur22 poses of subparagraph (A)(i), leasing and cost 

23 data shall be calculated annually by using the 

24 average for the preceding calendar year. Such 

25 leasing and cost data shall be adjusted to in-
40 

•HR 1851 EH

1 clude vouchers that were set aside under a com2 mitment to provide project-based assistance 

3 under subsection (o)(13) and to exclude 

4 amounts funded through advances under para5 graph (3). Such leasing and cost data shall not 

6 include funds not appropriated for tenant-based 

7 assistance under section 8(o), unless the agen8 cy’s funding was prorated in the prior year and 

9 the agency used other funds to maintain vouch10 ers in use. 

11 ‘‘(C) OVERLEASING.—For the purpose of 

12 determining allocations under subsection (A)(i), 

13 the leasing rate calculated for the prior cal14 endar year may exceed an agency’s authorized 

15 voucher level, except that such calculation in 

16 2009 shall not include amounts resulting from 

17 a leasing rate in excess of 103 percent of an 

18 agency’s authorized vouchers in 2008 which re19 sults from the use of accumulated amounts, as 

20 referred to in paragraph (4)(A). 

21 ‘‘(D) MOVING TO WORK; HOUSING INNOVA22 TION PROGRAM.—Notwithstanding subpara23 graphs (A) and (B), each public housing agency 

24 participating at any time in the moving to work 

25 demonstration under section 204 of the Depart-
41 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and 

2 Urban Development, and Independent Agencies 

3 Appropriations Act, 1996 (42 U.S.C. 1437f 

4 note) or in the housing innovation program 

5 under section 36 of this Act shall be funded 

6 pursuant to its agreement under such program 

7 and shall be subject to any pro rata adjustment 

8 made under subparagraph (E)(i). 

9 ‘‘(E) PRO RATA ALLOCATION.— 

10 ‘‘(i) INSUFFICIENT FUNDS.—To the 

11 extent that amounts made available for a 

12 fiscal year are not sufficient to provide 

13 each public housing agency with the full al14 location for the agency determined pursu15 ant to subparagraphs (A) and (D), the 

16 Secretary shall reduce such allocation for 

17 each agency on a pro rata basis, except 

18 that renewal funding of enhanced vouchers 

19 under section 8(t) shall not be subject to 

20 such proration. 

21 ‘‘(ii) EXCESS FUNDS.—To the extent 

22 that amounts made available for a fiscal 

23 year exceed the amount necessary to pro24 vide each housing agency with the full allo25 cation for the agency determined pursuant 
42 

•HR 1851 EH

1 to subparagraphs (A) and (D), such excess 

2 amounts shall be used for the purposes 

3 specified in subparagraphs (B) and (C) of 

4 paragraph (4). 

5 ‘‘(F) PROMPT FUNDING ALLOCATION.— 

6 The Secretary shall allocate all funds under this 

7 subsection for each year before the latter of (i) 

8 February 15, or (ii) the expiration of the 45- 

9 day period beginning upon the enactment of the 

10 appropriations Act funding such renewals. 

11 ‘‘(3) ADVANCES.— 

12 ‘‘(A) AUTHORITY.—During the last 3 

13 months of each calendar year, the Secretary 

14 shall provide amounts to any public housing 

15 agency, at the request of the agency, in an 

16 amount up to two percent of the allocation for 

17 the agency for such calendar year, subject to 

18 subparagraph (C). 

19 ‘‘(B) USE.—Amounts advanced under sub20 paragraph (A) may be used to pay for addi21 tional voucher costs, including costs related to 

22 temporary overleasing. 

23 ‘‘(C) USE OF PRIOR YEAR AMOUNTS.— 

24 During the last 3 months of a calendar year, if 

25 amounts previously provided to a public housing 
43 

•HR 1851 EH

1 agency for tenant-based assistance for such 

2 year or for previous years remain unobligated 

3 and available to the agency— 

4 ‘‘(i) the agency shall exhaust such 

5 amounts to cover any additional voucher 

6 costs under subparagraph (B) before 

7 amounts advanced under subparagraph (A) 

8 may be so used; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) the amount that may be ad10 vanced under subparagraph (A) to the 

11 agency shall be reduced by an amount 

12 equal to the total of such previously pro13 vided and unobligated amounts. 

14 ‘‘(D) REPAYMENT.—Amounts advanced 

15 under subparagraph (A) in a calendar year 

16 shall be repaid to the Secretary in the subse17 quent calendar year by reducing the amounts 

18 made available for such agency for such subse19 quent calendar year pursuant to allocation 

20 under paragraph (2) by an amount equal to the 

21 amount so advanced to the agency. 

22 ‘‘(4) RECAPTURE.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

24 recapture, from amounts provided under the 

25 annual contributions contract for a public hous-
44 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ing agency for a calendar year, all accumulated 

2 amounts allocated under paragraph (2) and 

3 from previous years that are unused by the 

4 agency at the end of each calendar year ex5 cept— 

6 ‘‘(i) with respect to the recapture 

7 under this subparagraph at the end of 

8 2007, an amount equal to 12.5 percent of 

9 the amount allocated to the public housing 

10 agency for such year pursuant to para11 graph (2)(A); and 

12 ‘‘(ii) with respect to the recapture 

13 under this subparagraph at the end of 

14 each of 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011, an 

15 amount equal to 5 percent of such amount 

16 allocated to the agency for such year. Not17 withstanding any other provision of law, 

18 each public housing agency may retain all 

19 amounts not authorized to be recaptured 

20 under this subparagraph, and may use 

21 such amounts for all authorized purposes. 

22 ‘‘(B) REALLOCATION.—Not later than May 

23 1 of each calendar year, the Secretary shall— 
45 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ‘‘(i) calculate the aggregate unused 

2 amounts for the preceding year recaptured 

3 pursuant to subparagraph (A); 

4 ‘‘(ii) set aside and make available 

5 such amounts as the Secretary considers 

6 appropriate to reimburse public housing 

7 agencies for increased costs related to port8 ability and family self-sufficiency activities 

9 during such year; and 

10 ‘‘(iii) reallocate all remaining amounts 

11 among public housing agencies, with pri12 ority given based on the extent to which an 

13 agency has utilized the amount allocated 

14 under paragraph (2) for the agency to 

15 serve eligible families. 

16 ‘‘(C) USE.—Amounts reallocated to a pub17 lic housing agency pursuant to subparagraph 

18 (B)(iii) may be used only to increase voucher 

19 leasing rates as provided under paragraph 

20 (2)(C).’’. 

21 (b) ABSORPTION OF VOUCHERS FROM OTHER AGEN22 CIES.—Section 8(r)(2) of the United States Housing Act 

23 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(r)(2)) is amended by adding 

24 after the period at the end the following: ‘‘The agency 

25 shall absorb the family into its program for voucher assist-
46 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ance under this section and shall have priority to receive 

2 additional funding from the Secretary for the housing as3 sistance provided for such family from amounts made 

4 available pursuant to subsection (dd)(4)(B).’’. 

5 (c) VOUCHERS FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES.— 

6 The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall 

7 develop and issue, to public housing agencies that received 

8 voucher assistance under section 8(o) for non-elderly dis9 abled families pursuant to appropriations Acts for fiscal 

10 years 1997 through 2002, guidance to ensure that, to the 

11 maximum extent practicable, such vouchers continue to be 

12 provided upon turnover to qualified non-elderly disabled 

13 families. 

14 SEC. 7. ADMINISTRATIVE FEES. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8(q) of the United States 

16 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(q)) is amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking subparagraphs 

18 (B) and (C) and inserting the following new sub19 paragraphs: 

20 ‘‘(B) CALCULATION.—The fee under this 

21 subsection shall— 

22 ‘‘(i) be payable to each public housing 

23 agency for each month for which a dwell24 ing unit is covered by an assistance con25 tract; 
47 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ‘‘(ii) be based on the per-unit fee pay2 able to the agency in fiscal year 2003, up3 dated for each subsequent year as specified 

4 in subsection (iv); 

5 ‘‘(iii) include an amount for the cost 

6 of issuing voucher to new participants; 

7 ‘‘(iv) be updated each year using an 

8 index of changes in wage data or other ob9 jectively measurable data that reflect the 

10 costs of administering the program for 

11 such assistance, as determined by the Sec12 retary; and 

13 ‘‘(v) include an amount for the cost of 

14 family self-sufficiency coordinators, as pro15 vided in section 23(h)(1). 

16 ‘‘(C) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall 

17 cause to be published in the Federal Register 

18 the fee rate for each geographic area.’’; and 

19 (2) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘1999’’ and 

20 inserting ‘‘2007’’. 

21 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE FEES FOR FAMILY SELF-SUF22 FICIENCY PROGRAM COSTS.—Subsection (h) of section 23 

23 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 

24 1437u(h)) is amended by striking paragraph (1) and in25 serting the following new paragraph: 
48 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ‘‘(1) SECTION 8 FEES.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

3 establish a fee under section 8(q) for the costs 

4 incurred in administering the self-sufficiency 

5 program under this section to assist families re6 ceiving voucher assistance through section 8(o). 

7 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBILITY FOR FEE.—The fee shall 

8 provide funding for family self-sufficiency coor9 dinators as follows: 

10 ‘‘(i) BASE FEE.—A public housing 

11 agency serving 25 or more participants in 

12 the family self-sufficiency program under 

13 this section shall receive a fee equal to the 

14 costs of employing one full-time family 

15 self-sufficiency coordinator. An agency 

16 serving fewer than 25 such participants 

17 shall receive a prorated fee. 

18 ‘‘(ii) ADDITIONAL FEE.—An agency 

19 that meets minimum performance stand20 ards shall receive an additional fee suffi21 cient to cover the costs of employing a sec22 ond family self-sufficiency coordinator if 

23 the agency has 75 or more participating 

24 families, and a third such coordinator if it 

25 has 125 or more participating families. 
49 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ‘‘(iii) PREVIOUSLY FUNDED AGEN2 CIES.—An agency that received funding 

3 from the Department of Housing and 

4 Urban Development for more than three 

5 such coordinators in any of fiscal years 

6 1998 through 2007 shall receive funding 

7 for the highest number of coordinators 

8 funded in a single fiscal year during that 

9 period, provided they meet applicable size 

10 and performance standards. 

11 ‘‘(iv) INITIAL YEAR.—For the first 

12 year in which a public housing agency ex13 ercises its right to develop an family self14 sufficiency program for its residents, it 

15 shall be entitled to funding to cover the 

16 costs of up to one family self-sufficiency 

17 coordinator, based on the size specified in 

18 its action plan for such program. 

19 ‘‘(v) STATE AND REGIONAL AGEN20 CIES.—For purposes of calculating the 

21 family self-sufficiency portion of the ad22 ministrative fee under this subparagraph, 

23 each administratively distinct part of a 

24 State or regional public housing agency 

25 shall be treated as a separate agency. 
50 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ‘‘(vi) DETERMINATION OF NUMBER

2 OF COORDINATORS.—In determining 

3 whether a public housing agency meets a 

4 specific threshold for funding pursuant to 

5 this paragraph, the number of participants 

6 being served by the agency in its family 

7 self-sufficiency program shall be considered 

8 to be the average number of families en9 rolled in such agency’s program during the 

10 course of the most recent fiscal year for 

11 which the Department of Housing and 

12 Urban Development has data. 

13 ‘‘(C) PRORATION.—If insufficient funds 

14 are available in any fiscal year to fund all of the 

15 coordinators authorized under this section, the 

16 first priority shall be given to funding one coor17 dinator at each agency with an existing family 

18 self-sufficiency program. The remaining funds 

19 shall be prorated based on the number of re20 maining coordinators to which each agency is 

21 entitled under this subparagraph. 

22 ‘‘(D) RECAPTURE.—Any fees allocated 

23 under this subparagraph by the Secretary in a 

24 fiscal year that have not been spent by the end 

25 of the subsequent fiscal year shall be recaptured 
51 

•HR 1851 EH

1 by the Secretary and shall be available for pro2 viding additional fees pursuant to subparagraph 

3 (B)(ii). 

4 ‘‘(E) PERFORMANCE STANDARDS.—Within 

5 six months after the date of the enactment of 

6 this paragraph, the Secretary shall publish a 

7 proposed rule specifying the performance stand8 ards applicable to funding under clauses (ii) 

9 and (iii) of subparagraph (B). Such standards 

10 shall include requirements applicable to the 

11 leveraging of in-kind services and other re12 sources to support the goals of the family self13 sufficiency program. 

14 ‘‘(F) DATA COLLECTION.—Public housing 

15 agencies receiving funding under this paragraph 

16 shall collect and report to the Secretary, in such 

17 manner as the Secretary shall require, informa18 tion on the performance of their family self-suf19 ficiency programs. 

20 ‘‘(G) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall 

21 conduct a formal and scientific evaluation of 

22 the effectiveness of well-run family self-suffi23 ciency programs, using random assignment of 

24 participants to the extent practicable. Not later 

25 than the expiration of the 4-year period begin-
52 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ning upon the enactment of this paragraph, the 

2 Secretary shall submit an interim evaluation re3 port to the Congress. Not later than the expira4 tion of the 8-year period beginning upon such 

5 enactment, the Secretary shall submit a final 

6 evaluation report to the Congress. There is au7 thorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 to 

8 carry out the evaluation under this subpara9 graph. 

10 ‘‘(H) INCENTIVES FOR INNOVATION AND

11 HIGH PERFORMANCE.—The Secretary may re12 serve up to 10 percent of the amounts made 

13 available for administrative fees under this 

14 paragraph to provide support to or reward fam15 ily self-sufficiency programs that are particu16 larly innovative or highly successful in achieving 

17 the goals of the program.’’. 

18 (c) REPEAL.—Section 202 of the Departments of 

19 Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, 

20 and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997 (42 

21 U.S.C. 1437f note; Public Law 104–204; 110 Stat. 2893) 

22 is hereby repealed. 

23 SEC. 8. HOMEOWNERSHIP. 

24 (a) SECTION 8 HOMEOWNERSHIP DOWNPAYMENT

25 PROGRAM.—Section 8(y)(7) of the United States Housing 
53 

•HR 1851 EH

1 Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(y)(7)) is amended by strik2 ing subparagraphs (A) and (B) and inserting the following 

3 new subparagraphs: 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the provi5 sions of this paragraph, in the case of a family 

6 on whose behalf rental assistance under section 

7 8(o) has been provided for a period of not less 

8 than 12 months prior to the date of receipt of 

9 downpayment assistance under this paragraph, 

10 a public housing agency may, in lieu of pro11 viding monthly assistance payments under this 

12 subsection on behalf of a family eligible for 

13 such assistance and at the discretion of the 

14 agency, provide a downpayment assistance 

15 grant in accordance with subparagraph (B). 

16 ‘‘(B) GRANT REQUIREMENTS.—A down17 payment assistance grant under this para18 graph— 

19 ‘‘(i) shall be used by the family only 

20 as a contribution toward the downpayment 

21 and reasonable and customary closing 

22 costs required in connection with the pur23 chase of a home; 

24 ‘‘(ii) shall be in the form of a single 

25 one-time grant; and 
54 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ‘‘(iii) may not exceed $10,000. 

2 ‘‘(C) NO EFFECT ON OBTAINING OUTSIDE

3 SOURCES FOR DOWNPAYMENT ASSISTANCE.— 

4 This Act may not be construed to prohibit a 

5 public housing agency from providing downpay6 ment assistance to families from sources other 

7 than a grant provided under this Act, or as de8 termined by the public housing agency.’’. 

9 (b) USE OF VOUCHERS FOR MANUFACTURED HOUS10 ING.—Section 8(o)(12) of the United States Housing Act 

11 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(12) is amended— 

12 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking the period 

13 at the end of the first sentence and all that follows 

14 through ‘‘of’’ in the second sentence and inserting 

15 ‘‘and rents’’; and 

16 (2) in subparagraph (B)— 

17 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘the rent’’ 

18 and all that follows and inserting the following: 

19 ‘‘rent shall mean the sum of the monthly pay20 ments made by a family assisted under this 

21 paragraph to amortize the cost of purchasing 

22 the manufactured home, including any required 

23 insurance and property taxes, the monthly 

24 amount allowed for tenant-paid utilities, and 

25 the monthly rent charged for the real property 
55 

•HR 1851 EH

1 on which the manufactured home is located, in2 cluding monthly management and maintenance 

3 charges.’’; 

4 (B) by striking clause (ii); and 

5 (C) in clause (iii)— 

6 (i) by inserting after the period at the 

7 end the following: ‘‘If the amount of the 

8 monthly assistance payment for a family 

9 exceeds the monthly rent charged for the 

10 real property on which the manufactured 

11 home is located, including monthly man12 agement and maintenance charges, a pub13 lic housing agency may pay the remainder 

14 to the family, lender or utility company, or 

15 may choose to make a single payment to 

16 the family for the entire monthly assist17 ance amount.’’; and 

18 (ii) by redesignating such clause as 

19 clause (ii). 

20 SEC. 9. PHA REPORTING OF RENT PAYMENTS TO CREDIT 

21 REPORTING AGENCIES. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of the United States 

23 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a), as amended by 

24 the preceding provisions of this Act, is further amended 

25 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 
56 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ‘‘(e) PHA REPORTING OF RENT PAYMENTS TO

2 CREDIT REPORTING AGENCIES.— 

3 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—To the extent that a family 

4 receiving tenant-based housing choice vouchers 

5 under section 8 by a public housing agency agrees 

6 in writing to reporting under this subsection, the 

7 public housing agency may submit to consumer re8 porting agencies described in section 603(p) of the 

9 Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a) infor10 mation regarding the past rent payment history of 

11 the family with respect to the dwelling unit for 

12 which such assistance is provided. 

13 ‘‘(2) FORMAT.—The Secretary, after consulta14 tion with consumer reporting agencies referred in 

15 paragraph (1), shall establish a system and format 

16 to be used by public housing agencies for reporting 

17 of information under such paragraph that provides 

18 such information in a format and manner that is 

19 similar to other credit information submitted to such 

20 consumer reporting agencies and is usable by such 

21 agencies.’’. 

22 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

23 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enact24 ment of this Act. 
57 

•HR 1851 EH

1 SEC. 10. PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS. 

2 Section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 

3 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)) is amended by adding at the 

4 end the following new paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(21) PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary 

7 shall, by regulation, establish standards and 

8 procedures for assessing the performance of 

9 public housing agencies in carrying out the pro10 grams for tenant-based rental assistance under 

11 this subsection and for homeownership assist12 ance under subsection (y). 

13 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The standards and pro14 cedures under this paragraph shall provide for 

15 assessment of the performance of public hous16 ing agencies in the following areas: 

17 ‘‘(i) Quality of dwelling units obtained 

18 using such assistance. 

19 ‘‘(ii) Extent of utilization of assist20 ance amounts provided to the agency and 

21 of authorized vouchers. 

22 ‘‘(iii) Timeliness and accuracy of re23 porting by the agency to the Secretary. 

24 ‘‘(iv) Effectiveness in carrying out 

25 policies to achieve deconcentration of pov26 erty. 
58 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ‘‘(v) Reasonableness of rent burdens, 

2 consistent with public housing agency re3 sponsibilities under section 8(o)(1)(E)(iii). 

4 ‘‘(vi) Accurate rent calculations and 

5 subsidy payments. 

6 ‘‘(vii) Effectiveness in carrying out 

7 family self-sufficiency activities. 

8 ‘‘(viii) Timeliness of actions related to 

9 landlord participation. 

10 ‘‘(ix) Such other areas as the Sec11 retary considers appropriate. 

12 ‘‘(C) PERIODIC ASSESSMENT.—Using the 

13 standards and procedures established under this 

14 paragraph, the Secretary shall conduct an as15 sessment of the performance of each public 

16 housing agency carrying out a program referred 

17 to in subparagraph (A) and shall submit a re18 port to the Congress regarding the results of 

19 each such assessment.’’. 

20 SEC. 11. PHA PROJECT-BASED ASSISTANCE. 

21 Section 8(o)(13) of the United States Housing Act 

22 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(13)) is amended— 

23 (1) by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting 

24 the following new subparagraph: 

25 ‘‘(B) PERCENTAGE LIMITATION.— 
59 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 

2 (ii), not more than 25 percent of the fund3 ing available for tenant-based assistance 

4 under this section that is administered by 

5 the agency may be attached to structures 

6 pursuant to this paragraph. 

7 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—An agency may at8 tach up to an additional 5 percent of the 

9 funding available for tenant-based assist10 ance under this section to structures pur11 suant to this paragraph for dwelling units 

12 that house individuals and families that 

13 meet the definition of homeless under sec14 tion 103 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless 

15 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11302).’’; 

16 (2) by striking subparagraph (D) and inserting 

17 the following new subparagraph: 

18 ‘‘(D) INCOME MIXING REQUIREMENT.— 

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro20 vided in clause (ii), not more than the 

21 greater of 25 dwelling units or 25 percent 

22 of the dwelling units in any project may be 

23 assisted under a housing assistance pay24 ment contract for project-based assistance 

25 pursuant to this paragraph. For purposes 
60 

•HR 1851 EH

1 of this subparagraph, the term ‘project’ 

2 means a single building, multiple contig3 uous buildings, or multiple buildings on 

4 contiguous parcels of land. 

5 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTIONS.— 

6 ‘‘(I) CERTAIN HOUSING.—The 

7 limitation under clause (i) shall not 

8 apply in the case of assistance under 

9 a contract for housing consisting of 

10 single family properties, or for dwell11 ing units that are specifically made 

12 available for households comprised of 

13 elderly families, disabled families, and 

14 families receiving supportive services. 

15 For purposes of the preceding sen16 tence, the term ‘single family prop17 erties’ means buildings with no more 

18 than four dwelling units. 

19 ‘‘(II) CERTAIN AREAS.—With re20 spect to areas in which fewer than 75 

21 percent of families issued vouchers be22 come participants in the program, the 

23 public housing agency has established 

24 the payment standard at 110 percent 

25 of the fair market rent for all census 
61 

•HR 1851 EH

1 tracts in the area for the previous six 

2 months, and the public housing agen3 cy grants an automatic extension of 

4 90 days (or longer) to families with 

5 vouchers who are attempting to find 

6 housing, clause (i) shall be applied by 

7 substituting ‘50 percent’ for ‘25 per8 cent’.’’; 

9 (3) in the first sentence of subparagraph (F), 

10 by striking ‘‘10 years’’ and inserting ‘‘15 years’’; 

11 (4) in subparagraph (G)— 

12 (A) by inserting after the period at the end 

13 of the first sentence the following: ‘‘Such con14 tract may, at the election of the public housing 

15 agency and the owner of the structure, specify 

16 that such contract shall be extended for renewal 

17 terms of up to 15 years each, if the agency 

18 makes the determination required by this sub19 paragraph and the owner is in compliance with 

20 the terms of the contract.’’; and 

21 (B) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘A 

22 public housing agency may agree to enter into 

23 such a contract at the time it enters into the 

24 initial agreement for a housing assistance pay25 ment contract or at any time thereafter that is 
62 

•HR 1851 EH

1 before the expiration of the housing assistance 

2 payment contract.’’; 

3 (5) in subparagraph (H), by inserting before 

4 the period at the end of the first sentence the fol5 lowing: ‘‘, except that in the case of a contract unit 

6 that has been allocated low-income housing tax cred7 its and for which the rent limitation pursuant to 

8 such section 42 is less than the amount that would 

9 otherwise be permitted under this subparagraph, the 

10 rent for such unit may, in the sole discretion of a 

11 public housing agency, be established at the higher 

12 section 8 rent, subject only to paragraph (10)(A)’’; 

13 (6) in subparagraph (I)(i), by inserting before 

14 the semicolon the following: ‘‘, except that the con15 tract may provide that the maximum rent permitted 

16 for a dwelling unit shall not be less than the initial 

17 rent for the dwelling unit under the initial housing 

18 assistance payments contract covering the unit’’; 

19 (7) in subparagraph (J)— 

20 (A) by striking the fifth and sixth sen21 tences and inserting the following: ‘‘A public 

22 housing agency may establish and utilize proce23 dures for maintaining site-based waiting lists 

24 under which applicants may apply directly at, 

25 or otherwise designate to the public housing 
63 

•HR 1851 EH

1 agency, the project or projects in which they 

2 seek to reside, except that all applicants on the 

3 waiting list of an agency for assistance under 

4 this subsection shall be permitted to place their 

5 names on such separate list. All such proce6 dures shall comply with title VI of the Civil 

7 Rights Act of 1964, the Fair Housing Act, and 

8 other applicable civil rights laws. The owner or 

9 manager of a structure assisted under this 

10 paragraph shall not admit any family to a 

11 dwelling unit assisted under a contract pursu12 ant to this paragraph other than a family re13 ferred by the public housing agency from its 

14 waiting list, or a family on a site-based waiting 

15 list that complies with the requirements of this 

16 subparagraph. A public housing agency shall 

17 fully disclose to each applicant each option in 

18 the selection of a project in which to reside that 

19 is available to the applicant.’’; and 

20 (B) by inserting after the third sentence 

21 the following new sentence: ‘‘Any family who re22 sides in a dwelling unit proposed to be assisted 

23 under this paragraph, or in a unit to be re24 placed by a proposed unit to be assisted under 

25 this paragraph shall be given an absolute pref-
64 

•HR 1851 EH

1 erence for selection for placement in the pro2 posed unit, if the family is otherwise eligible for 

3 assistance under this subsection.’’; and 

4 (8) by adding at the end the following new sub5 paragraphs: 

6 ‘‘(L) USE IN COOPERATIVE HOUSING AND

7 ELEVATOR BUILDINGS.—A public housing agen8 cy may enter into a housing assistance pay9 ments contract under this paragraph with re10 spect to— 

11 ‘‘(i) dwelling units in cooperative 

12 housing; 

13 ‘‘(ii) notwithstanding subsection (c), 

14 dwelling units in a high-rise elevator 

15 project, including such a project that is oc16 cupied by families with children, without 

17 review and approval of the contract by the 

18 Secretary. 

19 ‘‘(M) REVIEWS.— 

20 ‘‘(i) SUBSIDY LAYERING.—A subsidy 

21 layering review in accordance with section 

22 102(d) of the Department of Housing and 

23 Urban Development Reform Act of 1989 

24 (42 U.S.C. 3545(d)) shall not be required 

25 for assistance under this subparagraph in 
65 

•HR 1851 EH

1 the case of a housing assistance payments 

2 contract for an existing structure, or if a 

3 subsidy layering review has been conducted 

4 by the applicable State or local agency. 

5 ‘‘(ii) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.—A 

6 public housing agency shall not be required 

7 to undertake any environmental review be8 fore entering into a housing assistance 

9 payments contract under this paragraph 

10 for an existing structure, except to the ex11 tent such a review is otherwise required by 

12 law or regulation. 

13 ‘‘(N) ADMINISTRATIVE FEE.—The admin14 istrative fee applicable to the administration of 

15 assistance under this paragraph shall be deter16 mined in the same manner as administrative 

17 fees applicable to other assistance administered 

18 under other provisions of this subsection. 

19 ‘‘(O) LEASES AND TENANCY.—Assistance 

20 provided under this paragraph shall be subject 

21 to the provisions of paragraph (7), except that 

22 subparagraph (A) of such paragraph shall not 

23 apply.’’. 
66 

•HR 1851 EH

1 SEC. 12. RENT BURDENS. 

2 (a) REVIEWS.—Section 8(o)(1) of the United States 

3 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(1)) is amended 

4 by striking subparagraph (E) and inserting the following 

5 new subparagraph: 

6 ‘‘(E) REVIEWS.— 

7 ‘‘(i) RENT BURDENS.—The Secretary 

8 shall monitor rent burdens and submit a 

9 report to the Congress annually on the 

10 percentage of families assisted under this 

11 subsection, occupying dwelling units of any 

12 size, that pay more than 30 percent of 

13 their adjusted incomes for rent and such 

14 percentage that pay more than 40 percent 

15 of their adjusted incomes for rent. Using 

16 information regularly reported by public 

17 housing agencies, the Secretary shall pro18 vide public housing agencies, on an annual 

19 basis, a report with the information de20 scribed in the first sentence of this clause, 

21 and may require a public housing agency 

22 to modify a payment standard that results 

23 in a significant percentage of families as24 sisted under this subsection, occupying 

25 dwelling units of any size, paying more 
67 

•HR 1851 EH

1 than 30 percent of their adjusted incomes 

2 for rent. 

3 ‘‘(ii) CONCENTRATION OF POVERTY.— 

4 The Secretary shall submit a report to the 

5 Congress annually on the degree to which 

6 families assisted under this subsection in 

7 each metropolitan area are clustered in 

8 lower rent, higher poverty areas and how, 

9 and the extent to which, greater geo10 graphic distribution of such assisted fami11 lies could be achieved, including by increas12 ing payment standards for particular com13 munities within such metropolitan areas. 

14 ‘‘(iii) PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCY RE15 SPONSIBILITIES.—Each public housing 

16 agency shall make publicly available the in17 formation on rent burdens provided by the 

18 Secretary pursuant to clause (i), and, for 

19 agencies located in metropolitan areas, the 

20 information on concentration provided by 

21 the Secretary pursuant to clause (ii). If the 

22 percentage of families paying more than 30 

23 percent or 40 percent of income exceeds 

24 the national average for either of such cat25 egories, as reported pursuant to clause (i), 
68 

•HR 1851 EH

1 the public housing agency shall adjust the 

2 payment standard to eliminate excessive 

3 rent burdens within a reasonable time pe4 riod or explain its reasons for not making 

5 such adjustment. The Secretary may not 

6 deny the request of a public housing agen7 cy to set a payment standard up to 120 

8 percent of the fair market rent to remedy 

9 rent burdens in excess of the national aver10 age or undue concentration of families as11 sisted under this subsection in lower rent, 

12 higher poverty sections of a metropolitan 

13 area except on the basis that an agency 

14 has not demonstrated that its request 

15 meets these criteria. If a request of a pub16 lic housing agency has not been denied or 

17 approved with 45 days after the request is 

18 made, the request shall be considered to 

19 have been approved.’’. 

20 (b) PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCY PLAN.—Section 

21 5A(d)(4) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 

22 U.S.C. 1437c–1(d)(4)) is amended by inserting before the 

23 period at the end the following: ‘‘, including the report 

24 with respect to the agency furnished by the Secretary pur25 suant to section 8(o)(1)(E) concerning rent burdens and, 
69 

•HR 1851 EH

1 if applicable, geographic concentration of voucher holders, 

2 any changes in rent or other policies the public housing 

3 agency is making to address excessive rent burdens or con4 centration, and if the public housing agency is not adjust5 ing its payment standard, its reasons for not doing so’’. 

6 (c) RENT BURDENS FOR PERSONS WITH DISABIL7 ITIES.—Subparagraph (D) of section 8(o)(1) is amended 

8 by inserting before the period at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘, except that a public housing agency may establish a 

10 payment standard of not more than 120 percent of the 

11 fair market rent where necessary as a reasonable accom12 modation for a person with a disability, without approval 

13 of the Secretary. A public housing agency may seek ap14 proval of the Secretary to use a payment standard greater 

15 than 120 percent of the fair market rent as a reasonable 

16 accommodation for a person with a disability’’. 

17 SEC. 13. ESTABLISHMENT OF FAIR MARKET RENT. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 8(c) of 

19 the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 

20 1437f(c)(1)) is amended— 

21 (1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after the paragraph des22 ignation; 

23 (2) by striking the seventh, eighth, and ninth 

24 sentences; and 

25 (3) by adding at the end the following: 
70 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ‘‘(B)(i) The Secretary shall endeavor to define mar2 ket areas for purposes of this paragraph in a manner that 

3 results in fair market rentals that are adequate to cover 

4 typical rental costs of units suitable for occupancy by per5 sons assisted under this section in as wide a range of com6 munities as is feasible, including communities with low 

7 poverty rates. 

8 ‘‘(ii) The Secretary at a minimum shall define a sepa9 rate market area for each— 

10 ‘‘(I) metropolitan city, as such term is defined 

11 in section 102(a) of the Housing and Community 

12 Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5302(a)), with 

13 more than 40,000 rental dwelling units; and 

14 ‘‘(II) urban county or portion of an urban coun15 ty, as such term is defined in such section 102(a), 

16 located outside the boundaries of any metropolitan 

17 city specified in subclause (I). 

18 ‘‘(iii) The Secretary shall, at the request of one or 

19 more public housing agencies, establish a separate market 

20 area for part or all of the area under the jurisdiction of 

21 such agencies, if— 

22 ‘‘(I) the requested market area contains at least 

23 20,000 rental dwelling units; 
71 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ‘‘(II) the areas contained in the requested mar2 ket area are geographically contiguous and share 

3 similar housing market characteristics; 

4 ‘‘(III) adequate data are available to establish 

5 a reliable fair market rental for the requested mar6 ket area, and for the remainder of the market area 

7 in which it is currently located; and 

8 ‘‘(IV) establishing the requested market area 

9 would raise or lower the fair market rental by 10 

10 percent or more at the time the requested market 

11 area is established. 

12 For purposes of subclause (III), data for an area shall 

13 be considered adequate if they are sufficient to establish 

14 from time to time a reliable benchmark fair market rental 

15 based primarily on data from that area, whether or not 

16 those data need to be supplemented with data from a larg17 er area for purposes of annual updates. 

18 ‘‘(iv) The Secretary shall not reduce the fair market 

19 rental in a market area as a result of a change in the 

20 percentile of the distribution of market rents used to es21 tablish the fair market rental.’’. 

22 (b) PAYMENT STANDARD.—Subparagraph (B) of sec23 tion 8(o)(1) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 

24 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(1)(B)) is amended by inserting be25 fore the period at the end the following: ‘‘, except that 
72 

•HR 1851 EH

1 no public housing agency shall be required as a result of 

2 a reduction in the fair market rental to reduce the pay3 ment standard applied to a family continuing to reside in 

4 a unit for which the family was receiving assistance under 

5 this section at the time the fair market rental was re6 duced’’. 

7 SEC. 14. SCREENING OF APPLICANTS. 

8 Subparagraph (B) of section 8(o)(6) of the United 

9 States Housing Act of 1937 (1437f(o)(6)(B)) is amended 

10 by inserting after the period at the end of the second sen11 tence the following: ‘‘A public housing agency’s elective 

12 screening shall be limited to criteria that are directly re13 lated to an applicant’s ability to fulfill the obligations of 

14 an assisted lease and shall consider mitigating cir15 cumstances related to such applicant. Any applicant or 

16 participant determined to be ineligible for admission or 

17 continued participation to the program shall be notified 

18 of the basis for such determination and provided, within 

19 a reasonable time after the determination, an opportunity 

20 for an informal hearing on such determination at which 

21 mitigating circumstances, including remedial conduct sub22 sequent to the notice, shall be considered.’’. 

23 SEC. 15. ENHANCED VOUCHERS. 

24 (a) TREATMENT OF UNIT AND FAMILY SIZE.—Sub25 paragraph (B) of section 8(t)(1) of the United States 
73 

•HR 1851 EH

1 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(t)(1)(B)) is 

2 amended by inserting after ‘‘eligibility event for the 

3 project,’’ the following: ‘‘regardless of unit and family size 

4 standards normally used by the administering agency (ex5 cept that tenants may be required to move to units of ap6 propriate size if available on the premises),’’. 

7 (b) ELIGIBILITY OF CERTAIN PROJECTS.—Notwith8 standing any other provision of law— 

9 (1) the property known as The Heritage Apart10 ments (FHA No. 023-44804), in Malden, Massachu11 setts, shall be considered eligible low-income housing 

12 for purposes of the eligibility of residents of the 

13 property for enhanced voucher assistance under sec14 tion 8(t) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 

15 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(t)), pursuant to paragraph (2)(A) 

16 of section 223(f) of the Low-Income Housing Pres17 ervation and Resident Homeownership Act of 1990 

18 (12 U.S.C. 4113(f)(2)(A)); 

19 (2) such residents shall receive enhanced rental 

20 housing vouchers upon the prepayment of the mort21 gage loan for the property under section 236 of the 

22 National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715z–1); and 

23 (3) the Secretary shall approve such prepay24 ment and subsequent transfer of the property with25 out any further condition, except that the property 
74 

•HR 1851 EH

1 shall be restricted for occupancy, until the original 

2 maturity date of the prepaid mortgage loan, only by 

3 families with incomes not exceeding 80 percent of 

4 the adjusted median income for the area in which 

5 the property is located, as published by the Sec6 retary. 

7 Amounts for the enhanced vouchers pursuant to this sub8 section shall be provided under amounts appropriated for 

9 tenant-based rental assistance otherwise authorized under 

10 section 8(t) of the United States Housing Act of 1937. 

11 SEC. 16. HOUSING INNOVATION PROGRAM. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—Title I of the 

13 United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et 

14 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

15 section: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 36. HOUSING INNOVATION PROGRAM. 

17 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the program under 

18 this section is to provide public housing agencies and the 

19 Secretary the flexibility to design and evaluate innovative 

20 approaches to providing housing assistance that— 

21 ‘‘(1) increase housing opportunities for low-in22 come families, including preventing homelessness, re23 habilitate or replace housing at risk of physical dete24 rioration or obsolescence, and develop additional af25 fordable housing; 
75 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ‘‘(2) leverage other Federal, State, and local 

2 funding sources, including the low-income housing 

3 tax credit program, to expand and preserve afford4 able housing opportunities, including public housing; 

5 ‘‘(3) provide financial incentives and other sup6 port mechanisms to families to obtain employment 

7 and increase earned income; 

8 ‘‘(4) test alternative rent-setting policies to de9 termine whether rent determinations can be sim10 plified and administrative cost savings can be real11 ized while protecting extremely low- and very low-in12 come families from increased rent burdens; 

13 ‘‘(5) are subject to rigorous evaluation to test 

14 the effectiveness of such innovative approaches; and 

15 ‘‘(6) are developed with the support of the local 

16 community and with the substantial participation of 

17 affected residents. 

18 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM AUTHORITY.— 

19 ‘‘(1) SCOPE.—The Secretary shall carry out a 

20 housing innovation program under this section under 

21 which the Secretary may designate not more than 60 

22 public housing agencies to participate, at any one 

23 time, in the housing innovation program, in accord24 ance with subsections (c) and (d), except that, in ad25 dition to such 60 agencies, the Secretary may des-
76 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ignate an additional 20 agencies to participate in the 

2 program under the terms of subsection (h). 

3 ‘‘(2) DURATION.—The Secretary may carry out 

4 the housing innovation program under this section 

5 only during the 10-year period beginning on the date 

6 of the enactment of the Section 8 Voucher Reform 

7 Act of 2007. 

8 ‘‘(c) PARTICIPATION OF EXISTING MTW AGEN9 CIES.— 

10 ‘‘(1) EXISTING MTW AGENCIES.—Subject to the 

11 requirements of paragraph (2), all existing MTW 

12 agencies shall be designated to participate in the 

13 program. 

14 ‘‘(2) CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION.—The 

15 Secretary shall approve and transfer into the hous16 ing innovation program under this section each ex17 isting MTW agency that the Secretary determines is 

18 not in default under such agreement and which the 

19 Secretary also determines is meeting the goals and 

20 objectives of its moving to work plan. Each such 

21 agency shall, within two years after the date of the 

22 enactment of the Section 8 Voucher Reform Act of 

23 2007, make changes to its policies that were imple24 mented before such date of enactment in order to 

25 comply with the requirements of this section. 
77 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL AGENCIES.— 

2 ‘‘(1) PROPOSALS; SELECTION PROCESS.—In ad3 dition to agencies participating in the program pur4 suant to subsection (c), the Secretary shall, within 

5 18 months after such date of enactment, select pub6 lic housing agencies to participate in the program 

7 pursuant to a competitive process that meets the fol8 lowing requirements: 

9 ‘‘(A) Any public housing agency may be se10 lected to participate in the program, except that 

11 not more than 5 agencies that are near-troubled 

12 under the public housing assessment system 

13 and/or section 8 management assessment pro14 gram may be selected, and except that any 

15 agency that is a troubled agency under either 

16 such assessment program or for which the Sec17 retary has hired an alternative management en18 tity for such agency or has taken possession of 

19 all or any part of such agency’s public housing 

20 program shall not be eligible for participation. 

21 Any near-troubled public housing agency par22 ticipating in the program shall remain subject 

23 to the requirements of this Act governing ten24 ant rent contributions, eligibility, and continued 

25 participation, and may not adopt policies de-
78 

•HR 1851 EH

1 scribed in subsection (e)(4) (relating to rents 

2 and requirements for continued occupation and 

3 participation). 

4 ‘‘(B) The process provides, to the extent 

5 possible based on eligible agencies submitting 

6 applications and taking into account existing 

7 MTW agencies participating pursuant to sub8 section (c), for representation among agencies 

9 selected of agencies having various characteris10 tics, including both large and small agencies, 

11 agencies serving urban, suburban, and rural 

12 areas, and agencies in various geographical re13 gions throughout the United States, and which 

14 may include the selection of agencies that only 

15 administer the voucher program under section 

16 8(o). 

17 ‘‘(C) Any agency submitting a proposal 

18 under this paragraph shall have provided notice 

19 to residents and the local community, not later 

20 than 30 days before the first of the two public 

21 meetings required under subparagraph (D). 

22 ‘‘(D) The agency submitting a proposal 

23 shall hold two public meetings to receive com24 ments on the agency’s proposed application, on 
79 

•HR 1851 EH

1 the implications of changes under the proposal, 

2 and the possible impact on residents. 

3 ‘‘(E) The process includes criteria for se4 lection, as follows: 

5 ‘‘(i) The extent to which the proposal 

6 generally identifies existing rules and regu7 lations that impede achievement of the 

8 goals and objectives of the proposal and an 

9 explanation of why participation in the 

10 program is necessary to achieve such goals 

11 and objectives. 

12 ‘‘(ii) The extent of commitment and 

13 funding for carrying out the proposal by 

14 local government agencies and nonprofit 

15 organizations, including the provision of 

16 additional funding and other services, and 

17 the extent of support for the proposal by 

18 residents, resident advisory boards, and 

19 members of the local community. 

20 ‘‘(iii) The extent to which the agency 

21 has a successful history of implementing 

22 strategies similar to those set forth in the 

23 agency’s proposal. 

24 ‘‘(iv) Whether the proposal pursues a 

25 priority strategy as specified in paragraph 
80 

•HR 1851 EH

1 (2). In the case of any proposal utilizing a 

2 such a priority strategy, the proposal shall 

3 be evaluated based upon— 

4 ‘‘(I) the extent to which the pro5 posal is likely to achieve the objectives 

6 of developing additional housing dwell7 ing units affordable to extremely low8 , very low-, and low-income families, 

9 and preserving, rehabilitating, or mod10 ernizing existing public housing dwell11 ing units; or 

12 ‘‘(II) the extent to which the pro13 posal is likely to achieve the purposes 

14 of moving families toward economic 

15 self-sufficiency and increasing employ16 ment rates and wages of families 

17 without imposing a significant rent 

18 burden on the lowest income families, 

19 as well as such of the additional pur20 poses as may be identified in the pro21 posal, which may include expanding 

22 housing choices utilizing coordinators 

23 for the family self-sufficiency program 

24 under section 23, making more effec-
81 

•HR 1851 EH

1 tive use of program funds, and im2 proving program management. 

3 ‘‘(v) Such other factors as the Sec4 retary may provide, in consultation with 

5 participating agencies, program stake6 holders, and any entity conducting evalua7 tions pursuant to subsection (f). 

8 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY STRATEGIES.—For purposes of 

9 paragraph (1)(E)(iv), the following are priority 

10 strategies: 

11 ‘‘(A) DEVELOPMENT, REHABILITATION, 

12 AND FINANCING.—A strategy of development of 

13 additional affordable housing dwelling units 

14 and/or a strategy for preservation and physical 

15 rehabilitation and modernization of existing 

16 public housing dwelling units. Such strategies 

17 may include innovative financing proposals, 

18 leveraging of non-public housing funds (includ19 ing the low-income housing tax credit program), 

20 and combining of funds for assistance under 

21 sections 8 and 9. Each such proposal shall in22 clude detailed information about the strategies 

23 expected to be employed, an explanation of why 

24 participation in the program is necessary to em25 ploy such strategies, and numerical goals re-
82 

•HR 1851 EH

1 garding the number of dwelling units to be de2 veloped, preserved, or rehabilitated. 

3 ‘‘(B) RENT REFORMS.—A strategy to im4 plement rent reforms, which shall be designed 

5 to help families increase their earned income 

6 through rent and other work incentives, and 

7 may also test the effectiveness of achieving ad8 ministrative cost savings without increased rent 

9 burdens for extremely low- and very low-income 

10 families. 

11 ‘‘(3) CONTRACT AMENDMENT.—After selecting 

12 agencies under this subsection, the Secretary shall 

13 promptly amend the applicable annual contributions 

14 contracts of such agencies to provide that— 

15 ‘‘(A) subject to subparagraph (B), such 

16 agencies may implement any policies and activi17 ties that are not inconsistent with this section 

18 without specifying such policies and activities in 

19 such amendment and without negotiating or en20 tering into any other agreements with the Sec21 retary specifying such policies and activities; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(B) the activities to be implemented by 

24 an agency under the program in a given year 

25 shall be described in and subject to the require-
83 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ments of the annual plan under subsection 

2 (e)(8). Upon the enactment of this section, any 

3 agency which has participated in the Moving to 

4 Work demonstration may, at its option, be sub5 ject to the provisions of this paragraph in lieu 

6 of any other agreement required by the Sec7 retary for participation in the program. 

8 ‘‘(4) MAINTAINING PARTICIPATION RATE.—If, 

9 at any time after the initial selection period under 

10 paragraph (1), the number of public housing agen11 cies participating in the program under this section 

12 is fewer than 40, the Secretary shall promptly solicit 

13 applications from and select public housing agencies 

14 to participate in the program under the terms and 

15 conditions for application and selection provided in 

16 this section to increase the number of agencies par17 ticipating in the program to 40. 

18 ‘‘(e) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) PROGRAM FUNDS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To carry out a hous21 ing innovation program under this section, the 

22 participating agency may use amounts provided 

23 to the agency from the Operating Fund under 

24 section 9(e), amounts provided to the agency 

25 from the Capital Fund under section 9(d), and 
84 

•HR 1851 EH

1 amounts provided to the agency for voucher as2 sistance under section 8(o). Such program 

3 funds may be used for any activities that are 

4 authorized by section 8(o) or 9, or for other ac5 tivities that are not inconsistent with this sec6 tion, which shall include, without limitation— 

7 ‘‘(i) providing capital and operating 

8 assistance, and financing for housing pre9 viously developed or operated pursuant to 

10 a contract between the Secretary and such 

11 agency; 

12 ‘‘(ii) the acquisition, new construction, 

13 rehabilitation, financing, and provision of 

14 capital or operating assistance for low-in15 come housing (including housing other 

16 than public housing) and related facilities, 

17 which may be for terms exceeding the term 

18 of the program under this section in order 

19 to secure other financing for such housing; 

20 ‘‘(iii) costs of site acquisition and im21 provement, providing utility services, demo22 lition, planning, and administration of ac23 tivities under this paragraph; 

24 ‘‘(iv) housing counseling for low-in25 come families in connection with rental or 
85 

•HR 1851 EH

1 homeownership assistance provided under 

2 the program; 

3 ‘‘(v) safety, security, law enforcement, 

4 and anticrime activities appropriate to pro5 tect and support families assisted under 

6 the program; 

7 ‘‘(vi) tenant-based rental assistance, 

8 which may include the project-basing of 

9 such assistance; and 

10 ‘‘(vii) appropriate and reasonable fi11 nancial assistance that is required to pre12 serve low-income housing otherwise as13 sisted under programs administered by the 

14 Secretary or under State or local low-in15 come housing programs. 

16 ‘‘(B) COMBINING FUNDS.—Notwith17 standing any other provision of law, a partici18 pating agency may combine and use program 

19 funds for any activities authorized under this 

20 section, except that a participating agency may 

21 use funds provided for assistance under section 

22 8(o) for activities other than those authorized 

23 under section 8(o) only if (i) in the calendar 

24 year prior to its participation in the program, 

25 the agency utilized not less than 95 percent of 
86 

•HR 1851 EH

1 such funds allocated for that calendar year for 

2 such authorized activities or 95 percent of its 

3 authorized vouchers, including vouchers ported 

4 in to the agency and vouchers ported out; or (ii) 

5 after approval to participate in the program, 

6 the agency achieves such utilization for a 12- 

7 month period. This subparagraph shall not 

8 apply to participating agencies approved by the 

9 Secretary to combine funds from sections 8 and 

10 9 of the Act prior to enactment of this section. 

11 ‘‘(2) USE OF PROGRAM FUNDS.—In carrying 

12 out the housing innovation program under this sec13 tion, each participating agency shall continue to as14 sist— 

15 ‘‘(A) not less than substantially the same 

16 number of eligible low-income families under 

17 the program as it assisted in the base year for 

18 the agency; and 

19 ‘‘(B) a comparable mix of families by fam20 ily size, subject to adjustment to reflect changes 

21 in the agency’s waiting list, except that the Sec22 retary may approve exceptions to such require23 ments for up to 3 years based on modernization 

24 or redevelopment activities proposed in an an-
87 

•HR 1851 EH

1 nual plan submitted and approved in accord2 ance with paragraph (8). 

3 Determinations with respect to the number of fami4 lies served shall be adjusted based on any allocation 

5 of additional vouchers under section 8(o) and to re6 flect any change in the percentage of program funds 

7 that a participating agency receives compared to the 

8 base year. 

9 ‘‘(3) RETAINED PROVISIONS.—Notwithstanding 

10 any other provision of this section, families receiving 

11 assistance under this section shall retain the same 

12 rights of judicial review of agency action as they 

13 would otherwise have had if the agency were not 

14 participating in the program, and each participating 

15 agency shall comply with the following provisions of 

16 this Act: 

17 ‘‘(A) Subsections (a)(2)(A) and (b)(1) of 

18 section 16 (relating to targeting for new admis19 sions in the public housing and voucher pro20 grams). 

21 ‘‘(B) Section 2(b) (relating to tenant rep22 resentatives on the public housing agency board 

23 of directors). 
88 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ‘‘(C) Section 3(b)(2) (relating to defini2 tions for the terms ‘low-income families’ and 

3 ‘very low-income families’). 

4 ‘‘(D) Section 5(A)(e) (relating to the for5 mation of and consultation with a resident advi6 sory board). 

7 ‘‘(E) Sections 6(f)(1) and 8(o)(8)(B) (re8 lating to compliance of units assisted with hous9 ing quality standards or other codes). 

10 ‘‘(F) Sections 6(c)(3), 6(c)(4)(i), and 

11 8(o)(6)(B) (relating to rights of public housing 

12 applicants and existing procedural rights for 

13 applicants under section 8(o)). 

14 ‘‘(G) Section 6(k) (relating to grievance 

15 procedures for public housing tenants) and 

16 comparable procedural rights for families as17 sisted under section 8(o). 

18 ‘‘(H) Section 6(l) (relating to public hous19 ing lease requirements), except that for units 

20 assisted both with program funds and low-in21 come housing tax credits, the initial lease term 

22 may be less than 12 months if required to con23 form lease terms with such tax credit require24 ments. 
89 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ‘‘(I) Section 7 (relating to designation of 

2 housing for elderly and disabled households), 

3 except that a participating agency may make 

4 such designations(at initial designation or upon 

5 renewal) for a term of up to 5 years if the 

6 agency includes in its annual plan under para7 graph (8) an analysis of the impact of such des8 ignations on affected households and such des9 ignation is subject to the program evaluation. 

10 Any participating agency with a designated 

11 housing plan that was approved under the mov12 ing to work demonstration may continue to op13 erate under the terms of such plan for a term 

14 of 5 years (with an option to renew on the same 

15 terms for an additional 5 years) if it includes 

16 in its annual plan an analysis of the impact of 

17 such designations on affected households and is 

18 subject to evaluation under subsection (f). 

19 ‘‘(J) Subparagraphs (C) through (E) of 

20 section 8(o)(7) and section 8(o)(20) (relating to 

21 lease requirements and eviction protections for 

22 families assisted with tenant-based assistance). 

23 ‘‘(K) Subject to paragraph (1)(B) of this 

24 subsection, section 8(o)(13)(B) (relating to a 

25 percentage limitation on project-based assist-
90 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ance), except that for purposes of this subpara2 graph such section shall be applied by sub3 stituting ‘50 percent’ for ‘20 percent’. 

4 ‘‘(L) Section 8(o)(13)(E) (relating to resi5 dent choice for tenants of units with project6 based vouchers), except with respect to— 

7 ‘‘(i) in the case of agencies partici8 pating in the moving to work demonstra9 tion, any housing assistance payment con10 tract entered into within 2 years after the 

11 enactment of this section; 

12 ‘‘(ii) project-based vouchers that re13 place public housing units; 

14 ‘‘(iii) not more than 10 percent of the 

15 vouchers available to the participating 

16 agency upon entering the housing innova17 tion program under this section; and 

18 ‘‘(iv) any project-based voucher pro19 gram that is subject to evaluation under 

20 subsection (f). 

21 ‘‘(M) Section 8(r) (relating to portability 

22 of voucher assistance), except that a partici23 pating agency may receive funding for port24 ability obligations under section 8(dd) in the 

25 same manner as other public housing agencies. 
91 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ‘‘(N) Sections 8(ee) and 6(u) (relating to 

2 records, certification and confidentiality regard3 ing domestic violence). 

4 ‘‘(O) Subsections (a) and (b) of section 12 

5 (relating to payment of prevailing wages). 

6 ‘‘(P) Section 18 (relating to demolition and 

7 disposition of public housing). 

8 ‘‘(4) RENTS AND REQUIREMENTS FOR CONTIN9 UED OCCUPANCY OR PARTICIPATION.— 

10 ‘‘(A) BEFORE POLICY CHANGE.—Before 

11 adopting any policy pursuant to participation in 

12 the housing innovation program under this sec13 tion that would make a material change to the 

14 requirements of this Act regarding tenant rents 

15 or contributions, or conditions of continued oc16 cupancy or participation, a participating agency 

17 shall complete each of the following actions: 

18 ‘‘(i) The agency shall conduct an im19 pact analysis of the proposed policy on 

20 families the agency is assisting under the 

21 program under this section and on appli22 cants on the waiting list, including analysis 

23 of the incidence and severity of rent bur24 dens greater than 30 percent of adjusted 

25 income on households of various sizes and 
92 

•HR 1851 EH

1 types and in various income tiers, that 

2 would result, if any, without application of 

3 the hardship provisions. The analysis with 

4 respect to applicants on the waiting list 

5 may be limited to demographic data pro6 vided by the applicable consolidated plan, 

7 information provided by the Secretary, and 

8 other generally available information. The 

9 proposed policy, including provisions for 

10 addressing hardship cases and transition 

11 provisions that mitigate the impact of any 

12 rent increases or changes in the conditions 

13 of continued occupancy or participation, 

14 and data from this analysis shall be made 

15 available for public inspection for at least 

16 60 days in advance of the public meeting 

17 described in clause (ii). 

18 ‘‘(ii) The agency shall hold a public 

19 meeting regarding the proposed change, in20 cluding the hardship provisions, which may 

21 be combined with a public meeting on the 

22 draft annual plan under paragraph (8) or 

23 the annual report under paragraph (9). 
93 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ‘‘(iii) The board of directors or other 

2 similar governing body of the agency shall 

3 approve the change in public session. 

4 ‘‘(iv) The agency shall obtain approval 

5 from the Secretary of the annual plan or 

6 plan amendment. The Secretary may ap7 prove a plan or amendment containing a 

8 material change to the requirements of this 

9 Act regarding tenant rents or contribu10 tions, or conditions of continued occupancy 

11 or participation, only if the agency agrees 

12 that such policy may be included as part of 

13 the national evaluation. 

14 ‘‘(B) AFTER POLICY CHANGE.—After 

15 adopting a policy described in subparagraph 

16 (A), a program agency shall complete each of 

17 the following actions: 

18 ‘‘(i) The agency shall provide ade19 quate notice to residents, which shall in20 clude a description of the changes in the 

21 public housing lease or participation agree22 ment that may be required and of the 

23 hardship or transition protections offered. 

24 ‘‘(ii) In the case of any additional re25 quirements for continued occupancy or 
94 

•HR 1851 EH

1 participation, the agency shall execute a 

2 lease addendum or participation agreement 

3 specifying the requirements applicable to 

4 both the resident and the agency. A resi5 dent may bring a civil action to enforce 

6 commitments of the agency made through 

7 the lease addendum or participation agree8 ment. 

9 ‘‘(iii) The agency shall reassess rent, 

10 subsidy level, and policies on program par11 ticipation no less often than every two 

12 years, which shall include preparing a re13 vised impact analysis, and make available 

14 to the public the results of such reassess15 ment and impact analysis. The require16 ment under this clause may be met by suf17 ficiently detailed interim reports, if any, by 

18 the national evaluating entity. 

19 ‘‘(iv) The agency shall include in the 

20 annual report under paragraph (8) infor21 mation sufficient to describe any hardship 

22 requests, including the number and types 

23 of requests made, granted, and denied, the 

24 use of transition rules, and adverse im25 pacts resulting from changes in rent or 
95 

•HR 1851 EH

1 continued occupancy policies, including ac2 tions taken by the agency to mitigate such 

3 impacts and impacts on families no longer 

4 assisted under the program. 

5 ‘‘(C) APPLICABILITY TO EXISTING MTW

6 AGENCIES.—An existing MTW agency that, be7 fore the date of the enactment of this section, 

8 implemented material changes to the require9 ments of this Act regarding tenant rents or 

10 contributions, or conditions of continued occu11 pancy or participation, as part of the moving to 

12 work demonstration shall not be subject to sub13 paragraph (A) with regard to such previously 

14 implemented changes, but shall comply with the 

15 requirements of subparagraph (B)(ii) and pro16 vide the evaluation and impact analysis required 

17 by subparagraph (B)(iii) by the end of the sec18 ond agency fiscal year ending after such date of 

19 enactment. 

20 ‘‘(5) PROHIBITION AGAINST DECREASE IN PRO21 GRAM FUNDS.—The amount of program funds a 

22 participating agency receives shall not be diminished 

23 by its participation in the housing innovation pro24 gram under this section. 
96 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ‘‘(6) SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION.—As part 

2 of the annual report required under subsection 

3 (g)(2), each participating agency shall submit infor4 mation annually to the Secretary regarding families 

5 assisted under the program of the agency and com6 ply with any other data submissions required by the 

7 Secretary for purposes of evaluation of the program 

8 under this section. 

9 ‘‘(7) PUBLIC AND RESIDENT PARTICIPATION.— 

10 Each participating agency shall provide opportuni11 ties for resident and public participation in the an12 nual plan under paragraph (8), as follows: 

13 ‘‘(A) NOTICE TO RESIDENTS.— 

14 ‘‘(i) NOTICE.—Each year, the agency 

15 shall provide notice to the low-income fam16 ilies it serves under the programs author17 ized by this section as to the impact of 

18 proposed policy changes and program ini19 tiatives and of the schedule of resident ad20 visory board and public meetings for the 

21 annual plan. 

22 ‘‘(ii) MEETING.—The agency shall 

23 hold at least one meeting with the resident 

24 advisory board (including representatives 
97 

•HR 1851 EH

1 of recipients of assistance under section 8) 

2 to review the annual plan for each year. 

3 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC MEETING.—With respect to 

4 each annual plan, the agency shall hold at least 

5 one annual public meeting to obtain comments 

6 on the plan, which may be combined with a 

7 meeting to review the annual report. In the case 

8 of any agency that administers, in the aggre9 gate, more than 15,000 public housing units 

10 and vouchers, the agency shall hold additional 

11 meetings in locations that promote attendance 

12 by residents and other stakeholders. 

13 ‘‘(C) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Before adop14 tion of any annual plan, and not less than 30 

15 days before the public meeting required under 

16 subparagraph (A)(ii) with respect to the plan, 

17 the agency shall make the proposed annual plan 

18 available for public inspection. The annual plan 

19 shall be made available for public inspection not 

20 less than 30 days before approval by the board 

21 of directors (or other similar governing body) of 

22 the agency and shall remain publicly available. 

23 ‘‘(D) BOARD APPROVAL.—Before submit24 ting an annual plan or annual report to the 

25 Secretary, the plan or report, as applicable, 
98 

•HR 1851 EH

1 shall be approved in a public meeting by the 

2 board of directors or other governing body of 

3 the agency. 

4 ‘‘(8) ANNUAL PLAN.— 

5 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.—For each year that 

6 a participating agency participates in the hous7 ing innovation program under this section, the 

8 agency shall submit to the Secretary, in lieu of 

9 all other planning requirements, an annual plan 

10 under this paragraph. 

11 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—Each annual plan shall 

12 include the following information: 

13 ‘‘(i) A list and description of all pro14 gram initiatives and generally applicable 

15 policy changes, including references to af16 fected provisions of law or the imple17 menting regulations affected. 

18 ‘‘(ii) A description and comparison of 

19 changes under the housing innovation pro20 gram of the agency from the plan for such 

21 program for the preceding year. 

22 ‘‘(iii) A description of property rede23 velopment or portfolio repositioning strate24 gies and proposed changes in policies or 
99 

•HR 1851 EH

1 uses of funds required to implement such 

2 strategies. 

3 ‘‘(iv) Documentation of public and 

4 resident participation sufficient to comply 

5 with the requirements under paragraphs 

6 (4) and (7), including a copy of any rec7 ommendations submitted in writing by the 

8 resident advisory board of the agency and 

9 members of the public, a summary of com10 ments, and a description of the manner in 

11 which the recommendations were ad12 dressed. 

13 ‘‘(v) Certifications by the agency 

14 that— 

15 ‘‘(I) the annual plan will be car16 ried out in conformity with title VI of 

17 the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Fair 

18 Housing Act, section 504 of the Reha19 bilitation Act of 1973, title II of the 

20 Americans with Disabilities Act of 

21 1990, and the rules, standards, and 

22 policies in the approved plan; 

23 ‘‘(II) the agency will affirmatively 

24 further fair housing; and 
100 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ‘‘(III) the agency has complied 

2 and will continue to comply with its 

3 obligations under the national evalua4 tion. 

5 ‘‘(vi) A description of the agency’s 

6 local asset management strategy for public 

7 housing properties, which shall be in lieu 

8 of any other asset management, project 

9 based management or accounting, or other 

10 system of allocating resources and costs to 

11 participating agency assets or cost centers 

12 that the Secretary may otherwise impose 

13 under this Act. 

14 ‘‘(C) CHANGES.—If the agency proposes to 

15 make material changes in policies or initiatives 

16 in the plan during the year covered by the plan, 

17 the agency shall consult with the resident advi18 sory board for the agency established pursuant 

19 to section 5A(e) and the public regarding such 

20 changes before their adoption. 

21 ‘‘(D) APPROVAL PROCESS.— 

22 ‘‘(i) TIMING.—The Secretary shall re23 view and approve or disapprove each an24 nual plan submitted to the Secretary with25 in 45 days after such submission. 
101 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ‘‘(ii) STANDARDS FOR DIS2 APPROVAL.—The Secretary may dis3 approve a plan only if— 

4 ‘‘(I) the Secretary reasonably de5 termines, based on information con6 tained in the annual plan or annual 

7 report, that the agency is not in com8 pliance with the requirements of this 

9 section; 

10 ‘‘(II) the annual plan or most re11 cent annual report is not consistent 

12 with other reliable information avail13 able to the Secretary; or 

14 ‘‘(III) the annual plan or annual 

15 report or the agency’s activities under 

16 the program are not otherwise in ac17 cordance with applicable law. 

18 ‘‘(iii) FAILURE TO DISAPPROVE.—If a 

19 submitted plan is not disapproved within 

20 45 days after submission, the plan shall be 

21 considered to be approved for purposes of 

22 this section. The preceding sentence shall 

23 not preclude judicial review regarding such 

24 compliance pursuant to chapter 7 of title 

25 5, United States Code, or an action re-
102 

•HR 1851 EH

1 garding such compliance under section 

2 1979 of the Revised Statutes of the United 

3 States (42 U.S.C. 1983). 

4 ‘‘(f) EVALUATION OF PERFORMANCE.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall con6 duct detailed evaluations of all public housing agen7 cies participating in the program under this sec8 tion— 

9 ‘‘(A) to determine the level of success of 

10 each public housing agency in achieving the 

11 purposes of the program under subsection (a); 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(B) to identify program models that can 

14 be replicated by other agencies to achieve such 

15 success. 

16 ‘‘(2) REPORTS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

18 submit three reports to the Congress, as pro19 vided in subparagraph (B), evaluating the pro20 grams of all public housing agencies partici21 pating in the program under this section and all 

22 agencies participating in the moving to work 

23 demonstration. Each such report shall include 

24 findings and recommendations for any appro25 priate legislative action. 
103 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ‘‘(B) TIMING.—The reports under this 

2 paragraph shall include— 

3 ‘‘(i) an initial report, which shall be 

4 submitted before the expiration of the 3- 

5 year period beginning on the date of the 

6 enactment of the Section 8 Voucher Re7 form Act of 2007; 

8 ‘‘(ii) an interim report, which shall be 

9 submitted before the expiration of the 5- 

10 year period beginning on such date of en11 actment; and 

12 ‘‘(iii) a final report, which shall be 

13 submitted before the expiration of the 10- 

14 year period beginning on such date of en15 actment. 

16 ‘‘(3) EVALUATING ENTITY.—The Secretary may 

17 contract out the responsibilities under this para18 graphs (1) and (2) to an independent entity that is 

19 qualified to perform such responsibilities. 

20 ‘‘(4) PERFORMANCE MEASURES.—The Sec21 retary or the evaluating entity, as applicable, shall 

22 establish performance measures, which may in23 clude— 

24 ‘‘(A) a baseline performance level against 

25 which program activities may be evaluated; and 
104 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ‘‘(B) performance measures for— 

2 ‘‘(i) increasing housing opportunities 

3 for extremely low-, very low-, and low-in4 come families, replacing or rehabilitating 

5 housing at risk of physical deterioration or 

6 obsolescence, and developing additional af7 fordable housing; 

8 ‘‘(ii) leveraging other Federal, State, 

9 and local funding sources, including the 

10 low-income housing tax credit program, to 

11 expand and preserve affordable housing 

12 opportunities, including public housing; 

13 ‘‘(iii) moving families to self-suffi14 ciency and increasing employment rates 

15 and wages of families without imposing a 

16 significant rent burden on the families hav17 ing the lowest incomes; 

18 ‘‘(iv) reducing administrative costs; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(v) any other performance measures 

21 that the Secretary or evaluating entity, as 

22 applicable, may establish. 

23 ‘‘(g) RECORDKEEPING, REPORTS, AND AUDITS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) RECORDKEEPING.—Each public housing 

25 agency participating in the program under this sec-
105 

•HR 1851 EH

1 tion shall keep such records as the Secretary may 

2 prescribe as reasonably necessary to disclose the 

3 amounts and the disposition of amounts under the 

4 program, to ensure compliance with the require5 ments of this section, and to measure performance. 

6 ‘‘(2) REPORTS.—In lieu of all other reporting 

7 requirements, each such agency participating in the 

8 program shall submit to the Secretary an annual re9 port in a form and at a time specified by the Sec10 retary. Each annual report shall include the fol11 lowing information: 

12 ‘‘(A) A description, including an annual 

13 consolidated financial report, of the sources and 

14 uses of funds of the agency under the program, 

15 which shall account separately for funds made 

16 available under section 8 and subsections (d) 

17 and (e) of section 9, and shall compare the 

18 agency’s actions under the program with its an19 nual plan for the year. 

20 ‘‘(B) An annual audit that complies with 

21 the requirements of Circular A–133 of the Of22 fice of Management and Budget, including the 

23 OMB Compliance Supplement. 
106 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ‘‘(C) A description of each hardship excep2 tion requested and granted or denied, and of 

3 the use of any transition rules. 

4 ‘‘(D) Documentation of public and resident 

5 participation sufficient to comply with the re6 quirements under paragraph (7). 

7 ‘‘(E) A comparison of income and the sizes 

8 and types of families assisted by the agency 

9 under the program compared to those assisted 

10 by the agency in the base year. 

11 ‘‘(F) Every two years, an evaluation of 

12 rent policies, subsidy level policies, and policies 

13 on program participation. 

14 ‘‘(G) A description of any ongoing local 

15 evaluations and the results of any local evalua16 tions completed during the year. 

17 ‘‘(3) ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS BY SECRETARY.— 

18 The Secretary shall have access for the purpose of 

19 audit and examination to any books, documents, pa20 pers, and records that are pertinent to assistance in 

21 connection with, and the requirements of, this sec22 tion. 

23 ‘‘(4) ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS BY THE COMP24 TROLLER GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of 

25 the United States, or any of the duly authorized rep-
107 

•HR 1851 EH

1 resentatives of the Comptroller General, shall have 

2 access for the purpose of audit and examination to 

3 any books, documents, papers, and records that are 

4 pertinent to assistance in connection with, and the 

5 requirements of, this section. 

6 ‘‘(5) REPORTS REGARDING EVALUATIONS.—The 

7 Secretary shall require each public housing agency 

8 participating in the program under this section to 

9 submit to the Secretary, as part of the agency’s an10 nual report under paragraph (2), such information 

11 as the Secretary considers appropriate to permit the 

12 Secretary to evaluate (pursuant to subsection (f)) 

13 the performance and success of the agency in achiev14 ing the purposes of the demonstration. 

15 ‘‘(h) ADDITIONAL PROGRAM AGENCIES.—In partici16 pating in the program under the terms of this subsection, 

17 the public housing agencies designated for such participa18 tion shall be subject to the requirements of this section, 

19 and the additional following requirements: 

20 ‘‘(1) APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN EXISTING

21 PROVISIONS.—Such agencies shall be subject to the 

22 provisions of— 

23 ‘‘(A) subsections (a) and (b) of section 3; 

24 and 
108 

•HR 1851 EH

1 ‘‘(B) section 8(o), except for paragraph 

2 (11) and except as the requirements of section 

3 8(o) are modified by subsection (e)(3) of this 

4 section. 

5 ‘‘(2) NO TIME LIMITS.—Such agencies may not 

6 impose time limits on the term of housing assistance 

7 received by families under the program. 

8 ‘‘(3) NO EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS.—Such 

9 agencies may not condition the receipt of housing as10 sistance by families under the program on the em11 ployment status of one of more family members. 

12 ‘‘(4) ONE-FOR-ONE REPLACEMENT.— 

13 ‘‘(A) CONDITIONS ON DEMOLITION.—Such 

14 agencies may not demolish or dispose of any 

15 dwelling unit of public housing operated or ad16 ministered by such agency (including any un17 inhabitable unit and any unit previously ap18 proved for demolition) except pursuant to a 

19 plan for replacement of such units in accord20 ance with, and approved by the Secretary of 

21 Housing and Urban Development pursuant to, 

22 subparagraph (B). 

23 ‘‘(B) PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec24 retary may not approve a plan that provides for 

25 demolition or disposition of any dwelling unit of 
109 

•HR 1851 EH

1 public housing referred to in subparagraph (A) 

2 unless— 

3 ‘‘(i) such plan provides for outreach to 

4 public housing agency residents in accord5 ance with paragraph (5); 

6 ‘‘(ii) not later than 60 days before the 

7 date of the approval of such plan, such 

8 agency has convened and conducted a pub9 lic hearing regarding the demolition or dis10 position proposed in the plan; 

11 ‘‘(iii) such plan provides that for each 

12 such dwelling unit demolished or disposed 

13 of, such public housing agency will provide 

14 an additional dwelling unit through— 

15 ‘‘(I) the acquisition or develop16 ment of additional public housing 

17 dwelling units; or 

18 ‘‘(II) the acquisition, develop19 ment, or contracting (including 

20 through project-based assistance) of 

21 additional dwelling units that are sub22 ject to requirements regarding eligi23 bility for occupancy, tenant contribu24 tion toward rent, and long-term af25 fordability restrictions which are com-
110 

•HR 1851 EH

1 parable to public housing units, except 

2 that no household may be prevented 

3 from occupying a replacement dwell4 ing unit provided pursuant to clause 

5 (iii) except to the extent specifically 

6 provided by any other provision of 

7 Federal law (including subtitle F of 

8 title V of the Quality Housing and 

9 Work Responsibility Act of 1998 (42 

10 U.S.C. 13661 et seq.; relating to safe11 ty and security in public and assisted 

12 housing, subtitle D of title VI of the 

13 Housing and Community Development 

14 Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13611 et seq.; 

15 relating to preferences for elderly and 

16 disabled residents), and section 16(f) 

17 of this Act (42 U.S.C. 1437n(f)); re18 lating to ineligibility of persons con19 victed of methamphetamine offenses); 

20 ‘‘(iv) such plan provides for a right, 

21 and implementation of such right, to occu22 pancy of additional dwelling units provided 

23 in accordance with clause (iii), for house24 holds who, as of the time that dwelling 

25 units demolished or disposed of were va-
111 

•HR 1851 EH

1 cated to provide for such demolition or dis2 position, were occupying such dwelling 

3 units; 

4 ‘‘(v) such plan provides that the pro5 posed demolition or disposition and reloca6 tion will be carried out in a manner that 

7 affirmatively furthers fair housing, as de8 scribed in subsection (e) of section 808 of 

9 the Civil Rights Act of 1968; and 

10 ‘‘(vi) to the extent that such plan pro11 vides for the provision of replacement or 

12 additional dwelling units, or redevelop13 ment, in phases over time, such plan pro14 vides that the ratio of dwelling units de15 scribed in subclauses (I) and (II) of clause 

16 (iii) that are provided in any such single 

17 phase to the total number of dwelling units 

18 provided in such phase is not less than the 

19 ratio of the aggregate number of such 

20 dwelling units provided under the plan to 

21 the total number of dwelling units provided 

22 under the plan. 

23 ‘‘(C) INAPPLICABLE PROVISIONS.—Sub24 paragraphs (B) and (D) of section 8(o)(13) of 

25 the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 
112 

•HR 1851 EH

1 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(13)) shall not apply with re2 spect to vouchers used to comply with the re3 quirements of subparagraph (B)(iii) of this 

4 paragraph. 

5 ‘‘(D) MONITORING.—The Secretary of 

6 Housing and Urban Development shall provide 

7 for the appropriate field offices of the Depart8 ment to monitor and supervise enforcement of 

9 this paragraph and plans approved under this 

10 paragraph and to consult, regarding such moni11 toring and enforcement, with resident councils 

12 of, and residents of public housing operated or 

13 administered by, the agency. 

14 ‘‘(5) COMPREHENSIVE OUTREACH PLAN.—No 

15 program funds of such agencies may be use to de16 molish or dispose of any public housing dwelling 

17 units except in accordance with a comprehensive 

18 outreach plan for such activities, developed by the 

19 agency in conjunction with the residents of the pub20 lic housing agency, as follows: 

21 ‘‘(A) The plan shall be developed by the 

22 agency and a resident task force, which may in23 clude members of the Resident Council, but 

24 may not be limited to such members, and which 

25 shall represent all segments of the population of 
113 

•HR 1851 EH

1 residents of the agency, including single parent2 headed households, the elderly, young employed 

3 and unemployed adults, teenage youth, and dis4 abled persons. 

5 ‘‘(B) The votes and agreements regarding 

6 the plan shall involve— 

7 ‘‘(i) in the case of any public housing 

8 agency that administers 250 or fewer pub9 lic housing dwelling units, not less than 10 

10 percent of affected residents; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) in the case of any public housing 

12 agency that administers more than 250 

13 public housing dwelling units, not less than 

14 25 affected residents. 

15 ‘‘(C) The plan shall provide for and de16 scribe outreach efforts to inform residents of 

17 the program under this subsection, including a 

18 door-to-door information program, monthly 

19 newsletters to each resident household, monthly 

20 meetings dedicated solely to every aspect of the 

21 proposed development, including redevelopment 

22 factors, which shall include the one-for-one re23 placement requirement under paragraph (5), 

24 resident rights to return, the requirements of 

25 the program under this subsection, new resident 
114 

•HR 1851 EH

1 support and community services to be provided, 

2 opportunities for participation in architectural 

3 design, and employment opportunities for resi4 dents, which shall make available at least 30 

5 percent of the total hours worked at all such 

6 employment, and shall also make available at 

7 least 25 percent of unskilled jobs in demolition 

8 activities and 25 percent of unskilled jobs in 

9 construction activities related to the redevelop10 ment project, including job training, apprentice11 ships, union membership assistance. 

12 ‘‘(D) The plan shall provide for regularly 

13 scheduled monthly meeting updates and a sys14 tem for filing complaints about any aspect of 

15 the redevelopment process. 

16 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

17 following definitions shall apply: 

18 ‘‘(1) EXISTING MTW AGENCY.—The term ‘exist19 ing MTW agency’ means a public housing agency 

20 that as of the date of the enactment of the Section 

21 8 Voucher Reform Act of 2007 has an existing 

22 agreement with the Secretary pursuant to the mov23 ing to work demonstration. 

24 ‘‘(2) BASE YEAR.—The term ‘base year’ means, 

25 with respect to a participating agency, the agency 
115 

•HR 1851 EH

1 fiscal year most recently completed prior to selection 

2 and approval for participation in the housing innova3 tion program under this section. 

4 ‘‘(3) MOVING TO WORK DEMONSTRATION.—The 

5 term ‘moving to work demonstration’ means the 

6 moving to work demonstration program under sec7 tion 204 of the Departments of Veterans Affairs and 

8 Housing and Urban Development, and Independent 

9 Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996 (42 U.S.C. 1437f 

10 note). 

11 ‘‘(4) PARTICIPATING AGENCIES.—The term 

12 ‘participating agencies’ means public housing agen13 cies designated and approved for participation, and 

14 participating, in the housing innovation program 

15 under this section. 

16 ‘‘(5) PROGRAM FUNDS.—The term ‘program 

17 funds’ means, with respect to a participating agency, 

18 any amounts that the agency is authorized, pursuant 

19 to subsection (e)(1), to use to carry out the housing 

20 innovation program under this section of the agency. 

21 ‘‘(6) RESIDENTS.—The term ‘residents’ means, 

22 with respect to a public housing agency, tenants of 

23 public housing of the agency and participants in the 

24 voucher or other housing assistance programs of the 

25 agency funded under section 8(o), or tenants of 
116 

•HR 1851 EH

1 other units owned by the agency and assisted under 

2 this section. 

3 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR RESI4 DENT TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—There is authorized to 

5 be appropriated for each of fiscal years 2008 through 

6 2012 $10,000,000, for providing capacity building and 

7 technical assistance to enhance the capabilities of low-in8 come families assisted under the program under this sec9 tion to participate in the process for establishment of an10 nual plans under this section for participating agencies. 

11 ‘‘(k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR

12 EVALUATIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated 

13 $15,000,000 to the Department of Housing and Urban 

14 Development for the purpose of conducting the evaluations 

15 required under subsection (f)(1).’’. 

16 (b) GAO REPORT.—Not later than 48 months after 

17 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 

18 General of the United States shall submit a report to the 

19 Congress on the extent to which the public housing agen20 cies participating in the housing innovation program 

21 under section 36 of the United States Housing Act of 

22 1937 are meeting the goals and purposes of such program, 

23 as identified in subsection (a) of such section 36. 
117 

•HR 1851 EH

1 SEC. 17. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM WAIVER AUTHORITY. 

2 (a) AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO AGREEMENTS.— 

3 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary 

4 of Housing and Urban Development may enter into such 

5 agreements as may be necessary with the Social Security 

6 Administration and the Secretary of Health and Human 

7 Services to allow for the participation, in any demonstra8 tion program described in subsection (c), by the Depart9 ment of Housing and Urban Development and the use 

10 under such program of housing choice vouchers under sec11 tion 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 

12 U.S.C. 1437f(o)). 

13 (b) WAIVER OF INCOME REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec14 retary of Housing and Urban Development may, to extent 

15 necessary to allow rental assistance under section 8(o) of 

16 the United States Housing Act of 1937 to be provided 

17 on behalf of persons described in subsection (c) who par18 ticipate in a demonstration program described in such 

19 subsection, and to allow such persons to be placed on a 

20 waiting list for such assistance, partially or wholly dis21 regard increases in earned income for the purpose of rent 

22 calculations under section 3 for such persons. 

23 (c) DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMS.—A demonstration 

24 program described in this subsection is a demonstration 

25 program of a State that provides for persons with signifi26 cant disabilities to be employed and continue to receive 
118 

•HR 1851 EH

1 benefits under programs of the Department of Health and 

2 Human Services and the Social Security Administration, 

3 including the program of supplemental security income 

4 benefits under title XVI of the Social Security Act, dis5 ability insurance benefits under title II of such Act, and 

6 the State program for medical assistance (Medicaid) under 

7 title XIX of such Act. 

8 SEC. 18. ACCESS TO HUD PROGRAMS FOR PERSONS WITH 

9 LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY. 

10 (a) HUD RESPONSIBILITIES.—To allow the Depart11 ment of Housing and Urban Development to better serve 

12 persons with limited proficiency in the English language 

13 by providing technical assistance to recipients of Federal 

14 funds, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 

15 shall take the following actions: 

16 (1) TASK FORCE.—Within 90 days after the en17 actment of this Act, convene a task force comprised 

18 of appropriate industry groups, recipients of funds 

19 from the Department of Housing and Urban Devel20 opment (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Depart21 ment’’), community-based organizations that serve 

22 individuals with limited English proficiency, civil 

23 rights groups, and stakeholders, which shall identify 

24 a list of vital documents, including Department and 

25 certain property and other documents, to be com-
119 

•HR 1851 EH

1 petently translated to improve access to federally 

2 conducted and federally assisted programs and ac3 tivities for individuals with limited English pro4 ficiency. The task force shall meet not less fre5 quently than twice per year. 

6 (2) TRANSLATIONS.—Within 6 months after 

7 identification of documents pursuant to paragraph 

8 (1), produce translations of the documents identified 

9 in all necessary languages and make such trans10 lations available as part of the library of forms avail11 able on the website of the Department and as part 

12 of the clearinghouse developed pursuant to para13 graph (4). 

14 (3) PLAN.—Develop and carry out a plan that 

15 includes providing resources of the Department to 

16 assist recipients of Federal funds to improve access 

17 to programs and activities for individuals with lim18 ited English proficiency, which plan shall include the 

19 elements described in paragraph (4). 

20 (4) HOUSING INFORMATION RESOURCE CEN21 TER.—Develop and maintain a housing information 

22 resource center to facilitate the provision of lan23 guage services by providers of housing services to in24 dividuals with limited English proficiency. Informa25 tion provided by such center shall be made available 
120 

•HR 1851 EH

1 in printed form and through the Internet. The re2 sources provided by the center shall include the fol3 lowing: 

4 (A) TRANSLATION OF WRITTEN MATE5 RIALS.—The center may provide, directly or 

6 through contract, vital documents from com7 petent translation services for providers of 

8 housing services. 

9 (B) TOLL-FREE CUSTOMER SERVICE TELE10 PHONE NUMBER.—The center shall provide a 

11 24-hour toll-free interpretation service tele12 phone line, by which recipients of funds of the 

13 Department and individuals with limited 

14 English proficiency may— 

15 (i) obtain information about federally 

16 conducted or federally assisted housing 

17 programs of the Department; 

18 (ii) obtain assistance with applying for 

19 or accessing such housing programs and 

20 understanding Federal notices written in 

21 English; and 

22 (iii) communicate with housing pro23 viders. and learn how to access additional 

24 language services. 
121 

•HR 1851 EH

1 The toll-free telephone service provided pursu2 ant to this subparagraph shall supplement re3 sources in the community identified by the plan 

4 developed pursuant to paragraph (3). 

5 (C) DOCUMENT CLEARINGHOUSE.—The 

6 center shall collect and evaluate for accuracy or 

7 develop, and make available, templates and doc8 uments that are necessary for consumers, rel9 evant industry representatives, and other stake10 holders of the Department, to access, make 

11 educated decisions, and communicate effectively 

12 about their housing, including— 

13 (i) administrative and property docu14 ments; 

15 (ii) legally binding documents; 

16 (iii) consumer education and outreach 

17 materials; 

18 (iv) documents regarding rights and 

19 responsibilities of any party; and 

20 (v) remedies available to consumers. 

21 (D) STUDY OF LANGUAGE ASSISTANCE

22 PROGRAMS.—The center shall conduct a study 

23 that evaluates best-practices models for all pro24 grams of the Department that promote lan25 guage assistance and strategies to improve lan-
122 

•HR 1851 EH

1 guage services for individuals with limited 

2 English proficiency. Not later than 18 months 

3 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

4 center shall submit a report to the Committee 

5 on Financial Services of the House of Rep6 resentatives and the Committee on Banking, 

7 Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate, 

8 which shall provide recommendations for imple9 mentation, specific to programs of the Depart10 ment, and information and templates that could 

11 be made available to all recipients of grants 

12 from the Department. 

13 (E) CULTURAL AND LINGUISTIC COM14 PETENCE MATERIALS.—The center shall pro15 vide information relating to culturally and lin16 guistically competent housing services for popu17 lations with limited English proficiency. 

18 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

19 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

20 necessary to carry out subsection (a). 

21 (c) REPORT.—Not later than the expiration of the 6- 

22 month period beginning on the date of the enactment of 

23 this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Hous24 ing and Urban Development shall submit a report regard25 ing its compliance with the requirements under subsection 
123 

•HR 1851 EH

1 (a) to the Committee on Financial Services of the House 

2 of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Hous3 ing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate. 

4 SEC. 19. TRANSFER OF CERTAIN RENTAL ASSISTANCE CON5 TRACTS. 

6 (a) TRANSFER.—Subject to subsection (c) and not7 withstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of 

8 Housing and Urban Development shall, at the request of 

9 the owner, transfer or authorize the transfer, of the con10 tracts, restrictions, and debt described in subsection (b)— 

11 (1) on the housing that is owned or managed 

12 by Community Properties of Ohio Management 

13 Services LLC or an affiliate of Ohio Capital Cor14 poration for Housing and located in Franklin Coun15 ty, Ohio, to other properties located in Franklin 

16 County, Ohio; and 

17 (2) on the housing that is owned or managed 

18 by The Model Group, Inc., and located in Hamilton 

19 County, Ohio, to other properties located in Ham20 ilton County, Ohio. 

21 (b) CONTRACTS, RESTRICTIONS, AND DEBT COV22 ERED.—The contracts, restrictions, and debt described in 

23 this subsection are as follows: 

24 (1) All or a portion of a project-based rental as25 sistance housing assistance payments contract under 
124 

•HR 1851 EH

1 section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 

2 (42 U.S.C. 1437f). 

3 (2) Existing Federal use restrictions, including 

4 without limitation use agreements, regulatory agree5 ments, and accommodation agreements. 

6 (3) Any subordinate debt held by the Secretary 

7 or assigned and any mortgages securing such debt, 

8 all related loan and security documentation and obli9 gations, and reserve and escrow balances. 

10 (c) RETENTION OF SAME NUMBER OF UNITS AND

11 AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE.—Any transfer pursuant to sub12 section (a) shall result in— 

13 (1) a total number of dwelling units (including 

14 units retained by the owners and units transferred) 

15 covered by assistance described in subsection (b)(1) 

16 after the transfer remaining the same as such num17 ber assisted before the transfer, with such increases 

18 or decreases in unit sizes as may be contained in a 

19 plan approved by a local planning or development 

20 commission or department; and 

21 (2) no reduction in the total amount of the 

22 housing assistance payments under contracts de23 scribed in subsection (b)(1). 

24 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 

25 on the date of the enactment of this Act. 
125 

•HR 1851 EH

1 SEC. 20. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There is authorized to be appropriated the amount 

3 necessary for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012 to 

4 provide public housing agencies with incremental tenant5 based assistance under section 8(o) of the United States 

6 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)) sufficient to 

7 assist 20,000 incremental dwelling units in each such fis8 cal year. 

9 SEC. 21. ACCEPTABLE IDENTIFICATION REQUIREMENT. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Rental housing assistance under 

11 section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 

12 may not be provided on behalf of any individual or house13 hold unless the individual provides, or, in the case of a 

14 household, all adult members of the household provide, 

15 valid personal identification in one of the following forms: 

16 (1) SOCIAL SECURITY CARD WITH PHOTO IDEN17 TIFICATION CARD OR REAL ID ACT IDENTIFICA18 TION.— 

19 (A) A social security card accompanied by 

20 a photo identification card issued by the Fed21 eral Government or a State Government; or 

22 (B) A driver’s license or identification card 

23 issued by a State in the case of a State that is 

24 in compliance with title II of the REAL ID Act 

25 of 2005 (title II of division B of Public Law 

26 109-13; 49 U.S.C. 30301 note). 
126 

•HR 1851 EH

1 (2) PASSPORT.—A passport issued by the 

2 United States or a foreign government. 

3 (3) USCIS PHOTO IDENTIFICATION CARD.—A 

4 photo identification card issued by the Secretary of 

5 Homeland Security (acting through the Director of 

6 the United States Citizenship and Immigration Serv7 ices). 

8 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Housing and 

9 Urban Development shall, by regulation, require that each 

10 public housing agency or other entity administering rental 

11 housing assistance described in subsection (a) take such 

12 actions as the Secretary considers necessary to ensure 

13 compliance with the requirements of subsection (a). 

14 SEC. 22. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

15 Except as otherwise specifically provided in this Act, 

16 this Act and the amendments made by this Act, shall take 

17 effect on January 1, 2008. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 12, 2007. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1851 

AN ACT 

To reform the housing choice voucher program 

Act of 1937. under section 8 of the United States Housing