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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5516 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 5516

   To establish a new Housing and Urban Development grant program to 
    provide community land trusts and other community-based housing 
   organizations an incentive to convert vacant housing into readily 
              available housing for unhoused individuals.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 12, 2024

  Mr. Booker introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
    referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
   To establish a new Housing and Urban Development grant program to 
    provide community land trusts and other community-based housing 
   organizations an incentive to convert vacant housing into readily 
              available housing for unhoused individuals.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Vacant Property for the Unhoused 
Act''.

SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Community land trust.--The term ``community land 
        trust'' means a nonprofit organization--
                    (A) the primary purpose of which is the development 
                and maintenance of housing that is permanently 
                affordable to low- and moderate-income persons;
                    (B) that is not sponsored or controlled by a for-
                profit organization;
                    (C) that uses a lease, covenant, agreement, or 
                other enforceable mechanisms to require housing and 
                related improvements on land held by the nonprofit 
                organization to be affordable to low- and moderate-
                income persons for not less than 30 years; and
                    (D) that retains a right of first refusal or 
                preemptive right to purchase the housing and related 
                improvements on land held by the nonprofit organization 
                to maintain long-term affordability.
            (2) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means a 
        community land trust or other community-based housing 
        organization, including a housing cooperative, mutual housing 
        association, resident-owned community, or other model 
        emphasizing community control, ownership, and representation.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Housing and Urban Development.
            (4) Supportive services.--The term ``supportive services'' 
        has the meaning given the term in section 401 of the McKinney-
        Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11360).
            (5) Unhoused individual.--The term ``unhoused individual'' 
        has the meaning given the term ``homeless individual'' in 
        section 103(a) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act 
        (42 U.S.C. 11302).
            (6) Vacant housing.--The term ``vacant housing'' means a 
        vacant residential property.
    (b) Finding; Purpose.--
            (1) Finding.--Congress finds that the persistence of 
        homelessness, despite the abundance of vacant houses in the 
        United States, presents an opportunity for community land 
        trusts and other community-based housing organizations to 
        utilize their vacant housing resources to create long-term, 
        stable housing for unhoused individuals.
            (2) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to reduce 
        homelessness by providing grants to community land trusts and 
        other community-based housing organizations to convert vacant 
        housing into readily available housing for individuals 
        experiencing homelessness.
    (c) Vacant Property For The Unhoused Grant Program.--
            (1) Grants for filling vacant housing.--During the 5-
        fiscal-year period beginning with the first full fiscal year 
        after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 
        carry out a program under which the Secretary awards grants to 
        eligible entities to assist the eligible entities in creating 
        pilot programs that use creative solutions to convert vacant 
        housing, where safe and practicable, into long-term, stable 
        housing for use by unhoused individuals who seek to utilize the 
        existing housing stock.
            (2) Priority.--In awarding grants under paragraph (1), the 
        Secretary shall prioritize--
                    (A) applicants located in jurisdictions with a high 
                rate of homelessness, as determined by the Secretary 
                using data from the most recent Annual Homeless 
                Assessment Report;
                    (B) applicants that provide or connect residents 
                with supportive services, including job training, 
                health care, and education;
                    (C) applicants that demonstrate meaningful 
                community representation, including representation 
                within the eligible entity, of--
                            (i) unhoused individuals or formerly 
                        unhoused individuals;
                            (ii) residents of the community in which 
                        the eligible entity operates; and
                            (iii) people who work at or own businesses 
                        in the community in which the eligible entity 
                        operates;
                    (D) applicants that operate programs with extended 
                affordability covenants and mechanisms that support 
                long-term affordability; and
                    (E) applicants--
                            (i) that implement equitable tenant 
                        screening practices that limit the use of 
                        eviction history and other exclusionary 
                        criteria in ways that prioritize housing access 
                        for unhoused individuals; and
                            (ii) whose protocols remove barriers and 
                        emphasize an individual's ability to sustain 
                        housing rather than punitive criteria.
            (3) Application.--
                    (A) In general.--An eligible entity desiring a 
                grant under paragraph (1) shall submit to the Secretary 
                an application at such time, in such manner, and 
                containing or accompanied by such information, as the 
                Secretary may reasonably require.
                    (B) Contents.--An application submitted under 
                subparagraph (A) shall include an assurance that the 
                eligible entity will use the grant to convert housing 
                for the purpose of providing long-term, stable housing 
                to unhoused individuals.
            (4) Eligible uses of funds.--An eligible entity that 
        receives a grant under paragraph (1) may use the grant funds to 
        establish long-term, stable housing for use by unhoused 
        individuals by--
                    (A) converting vacant residential property in the 
                possession of the eligible entity;
                    (B) covering costs associated with upgrades to 
                increase the habitability of vacant housing; or
                    (C) covering costs associated with long-term 
                maintenance and upkeep of housing that has been 
                converted under subparagraph (A).
            (5) Annual report.--The Secretary shall submit an annual 
        report to Congress regarding the use of funds under this 
        section and the success of the grant program carried out under 
        this section.
            (6) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized 
        to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out 
        this section.
                                 <all>
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