II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5087 

To amend the United States Housing Act of 1937 to promote the establishment of tenant organizations and provide additional amounts for tenant 

organizations, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2024 

Mr. FETTERMAN (for himself, Ms. WARREN, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL, Mr. SANDERS, and Ms. SMITH) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the United States Housing Act of 1937 to promote 

the establishment of tenant organizations and provide 

additional amounts for tenant organizations, 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 ‘‘Tenants’ Right to Or5 ganize Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER TENANT ORGANIZA2 TIONS. 

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

4 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)) is amended by adding at the 

5 end the following: 

6 ‘‘(23) RIGHT TO ORGANIZE.— 

7 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

8 ‘‘(i) ADVERSE ACTION.—The term 

9 ‘adverse action’ means an action, including 

10 the termination or non-renewal of a lease, 

11 termination of a subsidy, decreases or 

12 delays in services, unplanned increases of 

13 the rent or fees, bringing or threats to 

14 bring a lawsuit against a lessee for posses15 sion, a violation of tenant privacy, or har16 assment of a tenant and tenant organizers, 

17 that is motivated by the good-faith exercise 

18 of protected activities described in sub19 paragraph (D). 

20 ‘‘(ii) LEGITIMATE TENANT ORGANIZA21 TION.—The term ‘legitimate tenant organi22 zation’— 

23 ‘‘(I) means an organization of 3 

24 or more families receiving tenant25 based rental assistance that— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) meets regularly and 

2 operates democratically; 

3 ‘‘(bb) is representative of all 

4 residents in the organization; 

5 ‘‘(cc) is completely inde6 pendent of owners, landlords, 

7 management, and their rep8 resentatives; and 

9 ‘‘(dd) has been established 

10 for the purpose described in sub11 paragraph (B); and 

12 ‘‘(II) includes newly formed resi13 dent organizing committees, which do 

14 not require specific structures, written 

15 by-laws, elections, or resident peti16 tions. 

17 ‘‘(iii) OWNER.—The term ‘owner’ 

18 means any private person or entity, includ19 ing a landlord, a cooperative, an investor 

20 with an ownership share, an agency of the 

21 Federal Government, a State housing cred22 it agency, or a public housing agency, who 

23 owns and has the legal right to lease or 

24 sublease the dwelling unit occupied by a 

25 tenant that receives rental assistance. 


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1 ‘‘(iv) TENANT ORGANIZER.—The term 

2 ‘tenant organizer’ means a tenant or non3 tenant who— 

4 ‘‘(I) assists tenants in estab5 lishing and operating a legitimate ten6 ant organization; and 

7 ‘‘(II) is not an employee or rep8 resentative of current or prospective 

9 owners, managers, or their agents. 

10 ‘‘(B) RIGHT TO ORGANIZE.—Families re11 ceiving voucher rental assistance— 

12 ‘‘(i) have the right to establish, oper13 ate, and participate in a legitimate tenant 

14 organization for the purpose of addressing 

15 issues related to their living environment, 

16 including the terms and conditions of their 

17 tenancy and activities related to housing 

18 and community development; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) may not be retaliated against for 

20 asserting the rights described in clause (i). 

21 ‘‘(C) REQUIREMENTS FOR PUBLIC HOUS22 ING AGENCIES AND OWNERS.— 

23 ‘‘(i) PROHIBITION ON INTERFERENCE

24 AND RETALIATION.—Each public housing 

25 agency and each owner may not interfere 


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1 with the right of tenants to establish and 

2 operate a legitimate tenant organization or 

3 retaliate against any tenant or tenant or4 ganizer because of their association with or 

5 participation in activities related to a le6 gitimate tenant organization. 

7 ‘‘(ii) PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCIES.— 

8 Each public housing agency shall— 

9 ‘‘(I) recognize legitimate tenant 

10 organizations; 

11 ‘‘(II) solicit comments from all 

12 legitimate tenant organizations— 

13 ‘‘(aa) if a public housing 

14 agency is required to complete an 

15 annual public housing agency 

16 plan, in alignment with the sub17 mission of that plan; or 

18 ‘‘(bb) if a public housing 

19 agency is a qualified public hous20 ing agency, as described in sec21 tion 5A(b)(3)(A)(i), not less than 

22 once a year; 

23 ‘‘(III) after receiving a comment 

24 from a legitimate tenant organiza25 tion— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) except as provided in 

2 item (bb), not later than 60 days 

3 after receiving the comment, 

4 meaningfully respond in writing 

5 to the comment; and 

6 ‘‘(bb) regarding exigent poor 

7 housing conditions, not later than 

8 30 days after receiving the com9 ment, respond in writing to the 

10 comment; and 

11 ‘‘(IV) seek resident advisory 

12 board appointments from legitimate 

13 tenant organizations. 

14 ‘‘(iii) OWNERS OF UNITS.—Each 

15 owner shall— 

16 ‘‘(I) recognize legitimate tenant 

17 organizations; and 

18 ‘‘(II) allow tenant organizers to 

19 assist tenants in establishing and op20 erating legitimate tenant organiza21 tions. 

22 ‘‘(D) PROTECTIONS.— 

23 ‘‘(i) PROTECTED ACTIVITIES.—Each 

24 public housing agency and each owner 

25 shall allow tenants and tenant organizers 


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1 to conduct the following activities related 

2 to the establishment or operation of a le3 gitimate tenant organization: 

4 ‘‘(I) Distributing leaflets in lobby 

5 areas. 

6 ‘‘(II) Placing leaflets at or under 

7 tenants’ doors. 

8 ‘‘(III) Distributing leaflets in 

9 common areas. 

10 ‘‘(IV) Initiating contact with ten11 ants. 

12 ‘‘(V) Conducting door-to-door 

13 surveys of tenants to ascertain inter14 est in establishing a legitimate tenant 

15 organization and to offer information 

16 about legitimate tenant organizations. 

17 ‘‘(VI) Posting information on 

18 bulletin boards. 

19 ‘‘(VII) Assisting tenants to par20 ticipate in legitimate tenant organiza21 tion activities. 

22 ‘‘(VIII) Convening regularly 

23 scheduled meetings in a space on site 

24 and accessible to tenants, in a manner 

25 that is fully independent of manageVerDate Sep 11 2014 15:46 Sep 21, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5087.IS S5087

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1 ment representatives. In order to pre2 serve the independence of legitimate 

3 tenant organizations, public housing 

4 agency staff, owners, landlords, man5 agement and their representatives 

6 may not attend such meetings unless 

7 invited by the legitimate tenant orga8 nization to specific meetings to dis9 cuss a specific issue or issues. 

10 ‘‘(IX) Assisting tenants in cre11 ating or appointing tenants to serve 

12 on a resident advisory board or resi13 dent council. 

14 ‘‘(X) Speaking to the public, in15 cluding the media, elected officials, 

16 and government agencies. 

17 ‘‘(XI) Other reasonable activities 

18 related to the establishment or oper19 ation of a legitimate tenant organiza20 tion. 

21 ‘‘(ii) PERMISSION.—A public housing 

22 agency or owner may not require tenants 

23 or tenant organizers to obtain prior per24 mission before engaging in the activities 

25 permitted under this paragraph. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) PRESUMPTION.—If a public 

2 housing agency or owner takes an adverse 

3 action against a tenant or tenant organizer 

4 that is a member of a legitimate tenant or5 ganization during the 180-day period be6 ginning on the date on which the tenant 

7 engages in a protected activity under this 

8 subparagraph, there shall be a rebuttable 

9 presumption that the adverse action is an 

10 act of retaliation relating to the participa11 tion of the tenant in the legitimate tenant 

12 organization. 

13 ‘‘(E) NOTICE OF RIGHT TO ORGANIZE.— 

14 ‘‘(i) OWNERS.—Each owner shall no15 tify shall notify each tenant living at a 

16 qualified low-income housing project of the 

17 right to organize as described in this para18 graph annually. 

19 ‘‘(ii) TENANCY ADDENDUM.—The 

20 Secretary shall require each public housing 

21 agency to amend the lease addendum to in22 clude the right to organize provider for in 

23 this paragraph. 

24 ‘‘(F) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA25 TIONS.—There are authorized to be approVerDate Sep 11 2014 15:46 Sep 21, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5087.IS S5087

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1 priated to the Secretary such sums as are nec2 essary to carry out this paragraph.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. LIHTC TENANT ORGANIZATIONS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 42(g) of the Internal Rev5 enue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the 

6 following new paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(10) LIHTC TENANT ORGANIZATIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) RIGHTS OF TENANTS.—In the case of 

9 any qualified low-income housing project which 

10 is an applicable project, families occupying rent11 restricted units in such project shall have the 

12 same right as families described in section 

13 8(o)(23)(B)(i) of the United States Housing 

14 Act of 1937. 

15 ‘‘(B) RESPONSIBILITIES OF OWNERS AND

16 STATE HOUSING CREDIT AGENCIES.—In the 

17 case of any applicable project, such project shall 

18 not be treated as a qualified low-income hous19 ing project for purposes of this section unless— 

20 ‘‘(i) each owner of such project meets 

21 requirements which are the same as the re22 quirements of clauses (i) and (iii) of sub23 paragraph (C) and subparagraph (D) of 

24 section 8(o)(23) of the United States 

25 Housing Act of 1937, and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) each State housing credit agency 

2 meets requirements which are the same as 

3 the requirements of clauses (i) and (ii) of 

4 subparagraph (C) and subparagraph (D) 

5 of such section. 

6 ‘‘(C) APPLICABLE PROJECT.—For pur7 poses of this paragraph, the term ‘applicable 

8 project’ means— 

9 ‘‘(i) any project which is placed in 

10 service after the date of enactment of the 

11 Tenants’ Right to Organize Act, and 

12 ‘‘(ii) any project— 

13 ‘‘(I) which was placed in service 

14 on or before the date of enactment of 

15 such Act, and 

16 ‘‘(II) for which the date of enact17 ment of such Act occurred before the 

18 end of the compliance period for such 

19 project. 

20 ‘‘(D) NOTICE OF RIGHT TO ORGANIZE.— 

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Each State hous22 ing credit agency shall notify each tenant 

23 living at a qualified low-income housing 

24 project of the right to organize as de25 scribed in paragraph 10 annually. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) TENANCY ADDENDUM.—The 

2 Secretary shall require each State housing 

3 credit agency— 

4 ‘‘(I) that has implemented a 

5 standard lease, lease addendum, or 

6 other guidance to owners of a quali7 fied low-income housing project, to 

8 amend that document to include lan9 guage affirming lessees’ right to orga10 nize provided for in this paragraph; or 

11 ‘‘(II) that performs lease-based 

12 evaluations of low income-housing tax 

13 credit compliance to include in that 

14 evaluation a requirement to include a 

15 written affirmation of the tenant’s 

16 right to organize as provided for in 

17 this paragraph. 

18 ‘‘(E) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA19 TIONS.—There are authorized to be appro20 priated to the Secretary such sums as are nec21 essary to carry out this paragraph.’’. 

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

23 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

24 the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

3 date of enactment of this Act, the Office of Public and 

4 Indian Housing of the Department of Housing and Urban 

5 Development shall, in coordination with the Department 

6 of the Treasury, establish a protocol for the enforcement 

7 of paragraph (23) of section 8(o) of the United States 

8 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)), as added by 

9 section 2 of this Act, and paragraph (10) of section 42(g) 

10 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as added by section 

11 3 of this Act, that— 

12 (1) reflects or integrates into existing enforce13 ment protocol for tenants protected under section 

14 202 of the Housing and Community Development 

15 Amendments Act of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 1715z–1b), 

16 where possible; 

17 (2) prohibits withholding the tenant-based as18 sistance under such section 8(o) or the denial of the 

19 right to occupy an assisted unit or a rent-restricted 

20 unit, or any other right or privilege required to be 

21 provided as a condition of the tenant-based assist22 ance or the project being treated as a qualified low23 income housing project until such complaint is 

24 closed; 

25 (3) creates a mechanism for administrative 

26 complaints to be filed, cataloged, and investigated 


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1 regarding public housing agencies, State housing 

2 credit agencies, owners, landlords, management, and 

3 their representatives’ alleged violation of their obli4 gation not to interfere with the right of tenants to 

5 establish and operate a legitimate tenant organiza6 tion, which shall— 

7 (A) provide families remedy when the 

8 agency determines a violation of the obligation 

9 not to interfere with the right of tenants to es10 tablish and operate a legitimate tenant organi11 zation; 

12 (B) include an independent investigation of 

13 tenant and advocate allegations of abuse and 

14 retaliation; 

15 (C) keep tenants informed about the pro16 gression of any complaint; and 

17 (D) provide confidentiality if necessary, in18 cluding in cases where alleged abuse is extreme 

19 and targeted; and 

20 (4) if relevant, appropriately refers complaints 

21 related to potential violation of fair housing laws to 

22 the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity 

23 at the Department of Housing and Urban Develop24 ment. 


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1 (b) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit to the 

2 Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of 

3 the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services of 

4 the House of Representatives a quarterly report on the 

5 enforcement of this section that— 

6 (1) provides all data at both the property-level 

7 and jurisdiction-level; and 

8 (2) includes— 

9 (A) the volume of outstanding complaints; 

10 (B) the average response time to an initial 

11 complaint; 

12 (C) the average time it takes to close a 

13 complaint; and 

14 (D) information about the type of issues 

15 reported by tenants that necessitate enforce16 ment action. 

17 SEC. 5. FUNDING FOR TENANT AND OTHER PARTICIPATION 

18 AND CAPACITY BUILDING. 

19 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the amendment in 

20 subsection (b) is to expand and demonstrate a firm com21 mitment to tenant organizing in Federal housing pro22 grams. 

23 (b) AMENDMENT.—Section 514(f)(3)(A) of the Mul24 tifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act 

25 of 1997 (42 U.S.C. 1437f note) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘not more than’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘not less than’’; 

3 (2) by striking ‘‘of low-income’’ and all that fol4 lows through ‘‘services’’ and inserting ‘‘and improve5 ment of low-income housing for which project-based 

6 rental assistance, public housing subsidies, low-in7 come housing tax credits, Federal or State sub8 sidized loans, enhanced voucher assistance under 

9 section 8(t) of the United States Housing Act of 

10 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(t)), tenant-based voucher as11 sistance, or project-based assistance is provided 

12 under section 8 of that Act are provided or pro13 posed’’; and 

14 (3) by inserting after the period at the end the 

15 following: ‘‘For outreach and training of tenants and 

16 technical assistance, the Secretary shall implement a 

17 grant program utilizing performance-based outcome 

18 measures for eligible costs incurred. Recipients pro19 viding capacity building or technical assistance serv20 ices to tenant groups shall be qualified nonprofit 

21 State-wide, countywide, area-wide, or city-wide orga22 nizations with demonstrated experience including at 

23 least a 2-year recent track record of organizing and 

24 providing assistance to tenants, and independence 

25 from the owner, a prospective purchaser, or their 


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1 managing agents. The Secretary may provide assist2 ance and training to grantees in administrative and 

3 fiscal management to ensure compliance with appli4 cable Federal requirements. The Secretary shall ex5 pedite the provision of funding for the fiscal year in 

6 which the Tenants’ Right to Organize Act is enacted 

7 and by entering into an interagency agreement for 

8 not less than $1,000,000 with the Corporation for 

9 National and Community Service to conduct a ten10 ant outreach and training program to eligible hous11 ing under this subsection. The Secretary shall also 

12 make available flexible grants to qualified nonprofit 

13 organizations that do not own eligible multifamily 

14 properties, for tenant outreach in underserved areas, 

15 and to experienced national or regional nonprofit or16 ganizations to provide specialized training or support 

17 to grantees assisted under this section. Notwith18 standing any other provision of law, funds author19 ized under this paragraph for any fiscal year shall 

20 be available for obligation in subsequent fiscal years. 

21 The Secretary shall require each recipient of 

22 amounts made available pursuant to this subpara23 graph to submit to the Secretary quarterly reports 

24 detailing the use of such funds and including such 

25 information as the Secretary shall require.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. INCREASED TENANT PARTICIPATION FUNDS FOR 

2 RESIDENT COUNCILS. 

3 In order to expand and demonstrate a firm commit4 ment to tenant organizing in Federal housing programs, 

5 not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 

6 Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 

7 shall provide each resident council, as defined in section 

8 964.100 of title 24, Code of Federal Regulations, $40 per 

9 unit per year, to be increased annually to keep pace with 

10 inflation. 

Æ 


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