I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3390

To reform occupancy standards for public and other federally assisted housing

to provide safer living environments and increased local control, and

for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 2, 1996

Mr. MORAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Banking and Financial Services

A BILL

To reform occupancy standards for public and other federally

assisted housing to provide safer living environments and

increased local control, and for other purposes.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘One Strike You’re Out,

5 Part II Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. SCREENING OF PROSPECTIVE ASSISTED FAMILIES.

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

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

9 inserting after subsection (k) the following new subsection:
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1 ‘‘(l) DENIAL OF ASSISTANCE TO CRIMINAL OFFEND2 ERS.—In making assistance under this section available

3 on behalf of eligible families, a public housing agency may

4 deny the provision of such assistance in the same manner,

5 for the same period, and subject to the same conditions

6 that an owner of federally assisted housing may deny occu7 pancy in such housing under section 642(b) of the Hous8 ing and Community Development Act of 1992.’’.

9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Clause (A) of sec10 tion 8(d)(1) of the United States Housing Act of 1937

11 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(d)(1)(A)) is amended to read as follows:

12 ‘‘(A) the selection of tenants for such units

13 shall be function of the owner, subject to the provi14 sions of the annual contributions contract between

15 the Secretary and the public housing agency, except

16 that in making such assistance available the public

17 housing agency may limit the provision of assistance

18 pursuant to subsection (l);’’.

19 SEC. 3. OCCUPANCY SCREENING.

20 Section 642 of the Housing and Community Develop21 ment Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13602)—

22 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) GENERAL CRITERIA.—’’

23 before ‘‘In’’; and

24 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub25 sections:
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1 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY TO DENY OCCUPANCY FOR CRIMI2 NAL OFFENDERS.—In selecting tenants for occupancy of

3 dwelling units in federally assisted housing, if the owner

4 of such housing determines that an applicant for occu5 pancy in the housing or any member of the applicant’s

6 household is or was, during the preceding 3 years, engaged

7 in any activity described in paragraph (2)(C) of section

8 645, the owner may—

9 ‘‘(1) deny such applicant occupancy and con10 sider the applicant (for purposes of any waiting list)

11 as not having applied for such occupancy ; and

12 ‘‘(2) after the expiration of the 3-year period

13 beginning upon such activity, require the applicant,

14 as a condition of occupancy in the housing or appli15 cation for occupancy in the housing, to submit to the

16 owner evidence sufficient (as the Secretary shall by

17 regulation provide) to ensure that the individual or

18 individuals in the applicant’s household who engaged

19 in criminal activity for which denial was made under

20 paragraph (1) have not engaged in any criminal ac21 tivity during such 3-year period.

22 ‘‘(c) AUTHORITY TO REQUIRE ACCESS TO CRIMINAL

23 RECORDS.—An owner of federally assisted housing may

24 require, as a condition of providing occupancy in a dwell25 ing unit in such housing to an applicant for occupancy
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1 and the members of the applicant’s household, that each

2 adult member of the household provide the owner with a

3 signed, written authorization for the owner to obtain

4 records described in section 646(a) regarding such mem5 ber of the household from the National Crime Information

6 Center, police departments, and other law enforcement

7 agencies.’’.

8 SEC. 4. TERMINATION OF TENANCY.

9 (a) PUBLIC HOUSING.—

10 (1) EXPEDITED GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE.—Sec11 tion 6(k) of the United States Housing Act of 1937

12 (42 U.S.C. 1437d(k)) is amended in the first sen13 tence of the matter following paragraph (6) by strik14 ing ‘‘For’’ and all that follows through ‘‘off such

15 premises’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘For any

16 grievance concerning an eviction or termination of

17 tenancy that involves any activity that is described

18 in subsection (l)(5)’’.

19 (2) LEASES.—Section 6(l) of the United States

20 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437d(l)) is

21 amended by striking paragraphs (4) and (5) and in22 serting the following new paragraphs:

23 ‘‘(4) require that the public housing agency

24 may not terminate the tenancy except for violation

25 of the terms and conditions of the lease, violation of
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1 applicable Federal, State, or local law, or other good

2 cause;

3 ‘‘(5) provide that any activity, engaged in by

4 the tenant, any member of the tenant’s household,

5 or any guest or other person under the tenant’s con6 trol (regardless of whether the tenant had actual

7 knowledge of such activity), that—

8 ‘‘(A) threatens the health or safety of, or

9 right to peaceful enjoyment of the premises by,

10 other tenants or employees of the public hous11 ing agency or other manager of the housing,

12 ‘‘(B) threatens the health or safety of, or

13 right to peaceful enjoyment of their residences

14 by, persons residing in the immediate vicinity of

15 the premises, or

16 ‘‘(C) is criminal activity (including drug-re17 lated criminal activity) on or off the premises,

18 shall be cause for termination of tenancy; and’’.

19 (b) SECTION 8 ASSISTANCE.—Section 8(d)(1)(B) of

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

21 1437f(d)(1)(B)) is amended by striking clauses (ii) and

22 (iii) and inserting the following new clauses:

23 ‘‘(ii) the owner may not terminate the tenancy

24 except for violation of the terms and conditions of
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1 the lease, violation of applicable Federal, State, or

2 local law, or other good cause;

3 ‘‘(iii) any activity, engaged in by the tenant,

4 any member of the tenant’s household, or any guest

5 or other person under the tenant’s control (regard6 less of whether the tenant had actual knowledge of

7 such activity), that—

8 ‘‘(I) threatens the health or safety of, or

9 right to peaceful enjoyment of the premises by,

10 other tenants or employees of the owner or

11 other manager of the housing,

12 ‘‘(II) threatens the health or safety of, or

13 right to peaceful enjoyment of their residences

14 by, persons residing in the immediate vicinity of

15 the premises, or

16 ‘‘(III) is criminal activity (including drug17 related criminal activity) on or off the premises,

18 shall be cause for termination of tenancy; and’’.

19 (c) FEDERALLY ASSISTED HOUSING.—Subtitle C of

20 title VI of the Housing and Community Development Act

21 of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13601 et seq.) is amended—

22 (1) by adding at the end the following new sec23 tion:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 645. TERMINATION OF TENANCY.

2 ‘‘Each lease for a dwelling unit in federally assisted

3 housing shall provide that—

4 ‘‘(1) the owner may not terminate the tenancy

5 except for violation of the terms and conditions of

6 the lease, violation of applicable Federal, State, or

7 local law, or other good cause; and

8 ‘‘(2) any activity, engaged in by the tenant, any

9 member of the tenant’s household, or any guest or

10 other person under the tenant’s control (regardless

11 of whether the tenant had actual knowledge of such

12 activity), that—

13 ‘‘(A) threatens the health or safety of, or

14 right to peaceful enjoyment of the premises by,

15 other tenants or employees of the owner or

16 other manager of the housing,

17 ‘‘(B) threatens the health or safety of, or

18 right to peaceful enjoyment of their residences

19 by, persons residing in the immediate vicinity of

20 the premises, or

21 ‘‘(C) is criminal activity (including drug-re22 lated criminal activity) on or off the premises,

23 shall be cause for termination of tenancy.’’; and

24 (2) in section 683 (42 U.S.C. 13641), by add25 ing at the end the following new paragraph:
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1 ‘‘(6) DRUG-RELATED CRIMINAL ACTIVITY.—The

2 term ‘drug-related criminal activity’ means the ille3 gal manufacture, sale, distribution, use, or posses4 sion with intent to manufacture, sell, distribute, or

5 use, of a controlled substance (as defined in section

6 102 of the Controlled Substances Act).’’.

7 SEC. 6. AVAILABILITY OF CRIMINAL RECORDS FOR TENANT

8 SCREENING AND EVICTION.

9 Subtitle C of title VI of the Housing and Community

10 Development Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13601 et seq.) is

11 amended adding after section 645 (as added by section

12 5(c) of this Act) the following new section:

13 ‘‘SEC. 646. AVAILABILITY OF RECORDS.

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—

15 ‘‘(1) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—Notwith16 standing any other provision of law other than para17 graph (2), upon the request of an owner of federally

18 assisted housing, the National Crime Information

19 Center, a police department, and any other law en20 forcement agency shall provide to the owner of fed21 erally assisted housing information regarding the

22 criminal conviction records of an adult applicant for,

23 or tenants of, the federally assisted housing for pur24 poses of applicant screening, lease enforcement, and

25 eviction, but only if such Center, department, or
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1 agency is presented with a written authorization,

2 signed by such applicant, for the release of such in3 formation to such owner.

4 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—A law enforcement agency

5 described in paragraph (1) shall provide information

6 under this paragraph relating to any criminal con7 viction of a juvenile only to the extent that the re8 lease of such information is authorized under the

9 law of the applicable State, tribe, or locality.

10 ‘‘(b) OPPORTUNITY TO DISPUTE.—Before an adverse

11 action is taken with regard to assistance for federally as12 sisted housing on the basis of a criminal record, the public

13 housing agency or owner, as applicable, shall provide the

14 tenant or applicant with a copy of the criminal record and

15 an opportunity to dispute the accuracy and relevance of

16 that record.

17 ‘‘(c) FEE.—A public housing agency or owner of fed18 erally assisted housing may be charged a reasonable fee

19 for information provided under subsection (a).

20 ‘‘(d) RECORDS MANAGEMENT.—Each public housing

21 agency and owner of federally assisted housing that re22 ceives criminal record information under this section shall

23 establish and implement a system of records management

24 that ensures that any criminal record received by the

25 agency or owner is—
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1 ‘‘(1) maintained confidentially;

2 ‘‘(2) not misused or improperly disseminated;

3 and

4 ‘‘(3) destroyed, once the purpose for which the

5 record was requested has been accomplished.

6 ‘‘(e) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the

7 term ‘adult’ means a person who is 18 years of age or

8 older, or who has been convicted of a crime as an adult

9 under any Federal, State, or tribal law.’’.

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