II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1892 

To protect the housing rights of victims of domestic violence, dating violence, 

sexual assault, and stalking, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 17, 2011 

Mr. FRANKEN (for himself, Ms. COLLINS, and Ms. MIKULSKI) introduced the 

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

Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To protect the housing rights of victims of domestic violence, 

dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, 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 ‘‘Housing Rights for 

5 Victims of Domestic and Sexual Violence Act of 2011’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DENIAL OR TERMINATION OF ASSISTANCE AND 

2 EVICTION PROTECTIONS. 

3 (a) AMENDMENT.—Subtitle N of the Violence 

4 Against Women Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 14043e et seq.) 

5 is amended— 

6 (1) by inserting after the subtitle heading the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘CHAPTER 1—GRANT PROGRAMS’’; 

9 (2) in section 41402 (42 U.S.C. 14043e–1), in 

10 the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking 

11 ‘‘subtitle’’ and inserting ‘‘chapter’’; 

12 (3) in section 41403 (42 U.S.C. 14043e–2), in 

13 the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking 

14 ‘‘subtitle’’ and inserting ‘‘chapter’’; and 

15 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘CHAPTER 2—HOUSING RIGHTS 

17 ‘‘SEC. 41411. HOUSING RIGHTS FOR VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC 

18 VIOLENCE, DATING VIOLENCE, SEXUAL AS19 SAULT, AND STALKING. 

20 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this chapter: 

21 ‘‘(1) APPROPRIATE AGENCY.—The term ‘appro22 priate agency’ means, with respect to a covered 

23 housing program, the Executive department (as de24 fined in section 101 of title 5, United States Code) 

25 that carries out the covered housing program. 


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1 ‘‘(2) COVERED HOUSING PROGRAM.—The term 

2 ‘covered housing program’ means— 

3 ‘‘(A) the program under section 202 of the 

4 Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q); 

5 ‘‘(B) the program under section 811 of the 

6 Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Hous7 ing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013); 

8 ‘‘(C) the program under subtitle D of title 

9 VIII of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Afford10 able Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12901 et seq.); 

11 ‘‘(D) the program under subtitle A of title 

12 IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance 

13 Act (42 U.S.C. 11360 et seq.); 

14 ‘‘(E) the program under subtitle A of title 

15 II of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Afford16 able Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12741 et seq.); 

17 ‘‘(F) the program under paragraph (3) of 

18 section 221(d) of the National Housing Act (12 

19 U.S.C. 1715l(d)) that bears interest at a rate 

20 determined under the proviso under paragraph 

21 (5) of such section 221(d); 

22 ‘‘(G) the program under section 236 of the 

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


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1 ‘‘(H) the programs under sections 8 and 9 

2 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 

3 U.S.C. 1437f and 1437g); 

4 ‘‘(I) rural housing assistance provided 

5 under sections 514, 515, 516, 533, and 538 of 

6 the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1484, 

7 1485, 1486, 1490m, and 1490p–2); and 

8 ‘‘(J) the low income housing tax credit 

9 program under section 42 of the Internal Rev10 enue Code of 1986. 

11 ‘‘(3) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER.—The term 

12 ‘immediate family member’ means, with respect to 

13 an individual— 

14 ‘‘(A) a spouse, parent, brother, sister, or 

15 child of that individual, or an individual to 

16 whom such individual stands in loco parentis; 

17 ‘‘(B) any individual living in the household 

18 of such individual who is related to such indi19 vidual by blood or marriage; or 

20 ‘‘(C) any individual living in the household 

21 of such individual who is related to such indi22 vidual by affinity whose close association or in23 timate relationship with such individual is the 

24 equivalent of a family relationship. 


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1 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITED BASIS FOR DENIAL OR TERMI2 NATION OF ASSISTANCE OR EVICTION.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An applicant for or tenant 

4 of housing assisted under a covered housing program 

5 may not be denied admission to, denied assistance 

6 under, terminated from participation in, or evicted 

7 from the housing on the basis that the applicant or 

8 tenant is or has been a victim of domestic violence, 

9 dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, if the ap10 plicant or tenant otherwise qualifies for admission, 

11 assistance, participation, or occupancy. 

12 ‘‘(2) CONSTRUCTION OF LEASE TERMS.—An in13 cident of actual or threatened domestic violence, dat14 ing violence, sexual assault, or stalking shall not be 

15 construed as— 

16 ‘‘(A) a serious or repeated violation of a 

17 lease for housing assisted under a covered hous18 ing program by the victim or threatened victim 

19 of such incident; or 

20 ‘‘(B) good cause for terminating the assist21 ance, tenancy, or occupancy rights to housing 

22 assisted under a covered housing program of 

23 the victim or threatened victim of such incident. 

24 ‘‘(3) TERMINATION ON THE BASIS OF CRIMINAL

25 ACTIVITY.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) DENIAL OF ASSISTANCE, TENANCY, 

2 AND OCCUPANCY RIGHTS PROHIBITED.—No 

3 person may deny assistance, tenancy, or occu4 pancy rights to housing assisted under a cov5 ered housing program to a tenant solely on the 

6 basis of criminal activity directly relating to do7 mestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, 

8 or stalking that is engaged in by a member of 

9 the household of the tenant or any guest or 

10 other person under the control of the tenant, if 

11 the tenant or an immediate family member of 

12 the tenant is the victim or threatened victim of 

13 such domestic violence, dating violence, sexual 

14 assault, or stalking. 

15 ‘‘(B) BIFURCATION.— 

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 

17 subparagraph (A), an owner or manager of 

18 housing assisted under a covered housing 

19 program may bifurcate a lease for the 

20 housing in order to evict, remove, or termi21 nate assistance to any individual who is a 

22 tenant or lawful occupant of the housing 

23 and who engages in criminal activity di24 rectly relating to domestic violence, dating 

25 violence, sexual assault, or stalking against 


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1 an immediate family member or other indi2 vidual, without evicting, removing, termi3 nating assistance to, or otherwise penal4 izing a victim of such criminal activity who 

5 is also a tenant or lawful occupant of the 

6 housing. 

7 ‘‘(ii) EFFECT OF EVICTION ON OTHER

8 TENANTS.—If an owner or manager of 

9 housing assisted under a covered housing 

10 program evicts, removes, or terminates as11 sistance to an individual under clause (i), 

12 and the individual is the sole tenant eligi13 ble to receive assistance under a covered 

14 housing program, the owner or manager of 

15 housing assisted under the covered housing 

16 program shall provide any remaining ten17 ant an opportunity to establish eligibility 

18 for the covered housing program. If a ten19 ant described in the preceding sentence 

20 cannot establish eligibility, the owner or 

21 manager of the housing shall provide the 

22 tenant a reasonable time, as determined by 

23 the appropriate agency, to find new hous24 ing or to establish eligibility for housing 

25 under another covered housing program. 


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1 ‘‘(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 

2 in subparagraph (A) shall be construed— 

3 ‘‘(i) to limit the authority of an owner 

4 or manager of housing assisted under a 

5 covered housing program, when notified of 

6 a court order, to comply with a court order 

7 with respect to— 

8 ‘‘(I) the rights of access to or 

9 control of property, including civil 

10 protection orders issued to protect a 

11 victim of domestic violence, dating vio12 lence, sexual assault, or stalking; or 

13 ‘‘(II) the distribution or posses14 sion of property among members of a 

15 household in a case; 

16 ‘‘(ii) to limit any otherwise available 

17 authority of an owner or manager of hous18 ing assisted under a covered housing pro19 gram to evict or terminate assistance to a 

20 tenant for any violation of a lease not pre21 mised on the act of violence in question 

22 against the tenant or an immediate family 

23 member of the tenant, if the owner or 

24 manager does not subject an individual 

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1 olence, dating violence, or stalking to a 

2 more demanding standard than other ten3 ants in determining whether to evict or ter4 minate; 

5 ‘‘(iii) to limit the authority to termi6 nate assistance to a tenant or evict a ten7 ant from housing assisted under a covered 

8 housing program if the owner or manager 

9 of the housing can demonstrate that an ac10 tual and imminent threat to other tenants 

11 or individuals employed at or providing 

12 service to the property would be present if 

13 the assistance is not terminated or the ten14 ant is not evicted; or 

15 ‘‘(iv) to supersede any provision of 

16 any Federal, State, or local law that pro17 vides greater protection than this section 

18 for victims of domestic violence, dating vio19 lence, sexual assault, or stalking. 

20 ‘‘(c) DOCUMENTATION.— 

21 ‘‘(1) REQUEST FOR DOCUMENTATION.—If an 

22 applicant for or tenant of housing assisted under a 

23 covered housing program represents to the owner or 

24 manager of the housing that the individual is enti25 tled to protection under subsection (b), the owner or 


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1 manager may request, in writing, that the tenant 

2 submit to the owner or manager a form of docu3 mentation described in paragraph (3). 

4 ‘‘(2) FAILURE TO PROVIDE CERTIFICATION.—If 

5 a tenant does not provide the documentation re6 quested under paragraph (1) within 14 business 

7 days after the tenant receives a request in writing 

8 for such certification from the owner or manager of 

9 the housing, nothing in this chapter may be con10 strued to limit the authority of the owner or man11 ager to evict any tenant or lawful occupant that 

12 commits violations of a lease. The owner or manager 

13 of the housing may extend the 14-day deadline at its 

14 discretion. 

15 ‘‘(3) FORM OF DOCUMENTATION.—A form of 

16 documentation described in this paragraph is— 

17 ‘‘(A) a certification form approved by the 

18 appropriate agency that— 

19 ‘‘(i) states that an applicant or tenant 

20 is a victim of domestic violence, dating vio21 lence, sexual assault, or stalking; 

22 ‘‘(ii) states that the incident of domes23 tic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, 

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1 tion under subsection (b) meets the re2 quirements under subsection (b); and 

3 ‘‘(iii) at the option of the applicant or 

4 tenant, includes the name of the individual 

5 who committed the domestic violence, dat6 ing violence, sexual assault, or stalking; 

7 ‘‘(B) a document that— 

8 ‘‘(i) is signed by— 

9 ‘‘(I) an employee, agent, or vol10 unteer of a victim service provider, an 

11 attorney, a medical professional, or a 

12 mental health professional from whom 

13 an applicant or tenant has sought as14 sistance relating to domestic violence, 

15 dating violence, sexual assault, or 

16 stalking, or the effects of the abuse; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(II) the applicant or tenant; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) states under penalty of perjury 

20 that the individual described in clause 

21 (i)(I) believes that the incident of domestic 

22 violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or 

23 stalking that is the ground for protection 

24 under subsection (b) meets the require25 ments under subsection (b); 


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1 ‘‘(C) a record of a Federal, State, tribal, 

2 territorial, or local law enforcement agency, 

3 court, or administrative agency; or 

4 ‘‘(D) at the discretion of an owner or man5 ager of housing assisted under a covered hous6 ing program, a statement or other evidence pro7 vided by an applicant or tenant. 

8 ‘‘(4) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Any information sub9 mitted to an owner or manager under this sub10 section, including the fact that an individual is a vic11 tim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual as12 sault, or stalking shall be maintained in confidence 

13 by the owner or manager and may not be entered 

14 into any shared database or disclosed to any other 

15 entity or individual, except to the extent that the 

16 disclosure is— 

17 ‘‘(A) requested or consented to by the indi18 vidual in writing; 

19 ‘‘(B) required for use in an eviction pro20 ceeding under subsection (b); or 

21 ‘‘(C) otherwise required by applicable law. 

22 ‘‘(5) DOCUMENTATION NOT REQUIRED.—Noth23 ing in this subsection shall be construed to require 

24 an owner or manager of housing assisted under a 

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1 vidual submit documentation of the status of the in2 dividual as a victim of domestic violence, dating vio3 lence, sexual assault, or stalking. 

4 ‘‘(6) COMPLIANCE NOT SUFFICIENT TO CON5 STITUTE EVIDENCE OF UNREASONABLE ACT.—Com6 pliance with subsection (b) by an owner or manager 

7 of housing assisted under a covered housing program 

8 based on documentation received under this sub9 section shall not be sufficient to constitute evidence 

10 of an unreasonable act or omission by the owner or 

11 manager or an employee or agent of the owner or 

12 manager. Nothing in this paragraph shall be con13 strued to limit the liability of an owner or manager 

14 of housing assisted under a covered housing program 

15 for failure to comply with subsection (b). 

16 ‘‘(7) PREEMPTION.—Nothing in this subsection 

17 shall be construed to supersede any provision of any 

18 Federal, State, or local law that provides greater 

19 protection than this subsection for victims of domes20 tic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalk21 ing. 

22 ‘‘(d) NOTIFICATION.—Each owner or manager of 

23 housing assisted under a covered housing program shall 

24 provide to each applicant for or tenant of such housing 

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1 cluding the right to confidentiality and the limits thereof, 

2 together with the form described in subsection (c)(3)(A)— 

3 ‘‘(1) at the time the individual applies to live in 

4 a dwelling unit assisted under the covered housing 

5 program; 

6 ‘‘(2) at the time the individual is admitted to a 

7 dwelling unit assisted under the covered housing 

8 program; 

9 ‘‘(3) with any notification of eviction or notifi10 cation of termination of assistance; 

11 ‘‘(4) in multiple languages, consistent with 

12 guidance issued by the Secretary of Housing and 

13 Urban Development in accordance with Executive 

14 Order 13166 (42 U.S.C. 2000d–1 note; relating to 

15 access to services for persons with limited English 

16 proficiency); and 

17 ‘‘(5) by posting the notification in a public area 

18 of such housing. 

19 ‘‘(e) EMERGENCY TRANSFERS.—Notwithstanding 

20 any other provision of law, each owner or manager of 

21 housing assisted under a covered program shall adopt an 

22 emergency transfer policy for tenants who are victims of 

23 domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalk24 ing that— 


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1 ‘‘(1) allows tenants who are victims of domestic 

2 violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking 

3 to transfer to another available and safe dwelling 

4 unit assisted under a covered housing program if— 

5 ‘‘(A) the tenant expressly requests the 

6 transfer; and 

7 ‘‘(B)(i) the tenant reasonably believes that 

8 the tenant is threatened with imminent harm 

9 from further violence if the tenant remains 

10 within the same dwelling unit assisted under a 

11 covered housing program; or 

12 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a tenant who is a victim 

13 of sexual assault, the sexual assault occurred on 

14 the premises during the 90 day period pre15 ceding the request for transfer; and 

16 ‘‘(2) incorporates reasonable confidentiality 

17 measures to ensure that the owner or manager does 

18 not disclose the location of the dwelling unit of a 

19 tenant to a person that commits an act of domestic 

20 violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking 

21 against the tenant. 

22 ‘‘(f) POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR EMERGENCY

23 TRANSFER.—The Secretary of Housing and Urban Devel24 opment shall establish policies and procedures under 

25 which a victim requesting an emergency transfer under 


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1 subsection (e) may receive, subject to the availability of 

2 tenant protection vouchers, assistance under section 8(o) 

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

4 1437f(o)). 

5 ‘‘(g) IMPLEMENTATION.—The appropriate agency 

6 with respect to each covered housing program shall imple7 ment this section, as this section applies to the covered 

8 housing program.’’. 

9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

10 (1) SECTION 6.—Section 6 of the United States 

11 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437d) is amend12 ed— 

13 (A) in subsection (c)— 

14 (i) by striking paragraph (3); and 

15 (ii) by redesignating paragraphs (4) 

16 and (5) as paragraphs (3) and (4), respec17 tively; 

18 (B) in subsection (l)— 

19 (i) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘, 

20 and that an incident or incidents of actual 

21 or threatened domestic violence, dating vio22 lence, or stalking will not be construed as 

23 a serious or repeated violation of the lease 

24 by the victim or threatened victim of that 

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1 minating the tenancy or occupancy rights 

2 of the victim of such violence’’; and 

3 (ii) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘; 

4 except that’’ and all that follows through 

5 ‘‘stalking.’’; and 

6 (C) by striking subsection (u). 

7 (2) SECTION 8.—Section 8 of the United States 

8 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f) is amend9 ed— 

10 (A) in subsection (c), by striking para11 graph (9); 

12 (B) in subsection (d)(1)— 

13 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

14 ‘‘and that an applicant or participant is or 

15 has been a victim of domestic violence, dat16 ing violence, or stalking is not an appro17 priate basis for denial of program assist18 ance or for denial of admission if the appli19 cant otherwise qualifies for assistance or 

20 admission’’; and 

21 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 

22 (I) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘, 

23 and that an incident or incidents of 

24 actual or threatened domestic vio25 lence, dating violence, or stalking will 


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1 not be construed as a serious or re2 peated violation of the lease by the 

3 victim or threatened victim of that vi4 olence and will not be good cause for 

5 terminating the tenancy or occupancy 

6 rights of the victim of such violence’’; 

7 and 

8 (II) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘, 

9 except that:’’ and all that follows 

10 through ‘‘stalking.’’; 

11 (C) in subsection (f)— 

12 (i) in paragraph (6), by adding ‘‘and’’ 

13 at the end; 

14 (ii) in paragraph (7), by striking the 

15 semicolon at the end and inserting a pe16 riod; and 

17 (iii) by striking paragraphs (8), (9), 

18 (10), and (11); 

19 (D) in subsection (o)— 

20 (i) in paragraph (6)(B), by striking 

21 the last sentence; 

22 (ii) in paragraph (7)— 

23 (I) in subparagraph (C), by strik24 ing ‘‘and that an incident or incidents 

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1 lence, dating violence, or stalking shall 

2 not be construed as a serious or re3 peated violation of the lease by the 

4 victim or threatened victim of that vi5 olence and shall not be good cause for 

6 terminating the tenancy or occupancy 

7 rights of the victim of such violence’’; 

8 and 

9 (II) in subparagraph (D), by 

10 striking ‘‘; except that’’ and all that 

11 follows through ‘‘stalking.’’; and 

12 (iii) by striking paragraph (20); and 

13 (E) by striking subsection (ee). 

14 (3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

15 Act, or the amendments made by this Act, shall be 

16 construed— 

17 (A) to limit the rights or remedies avail18 able to any person under section 6 or 8 of the 

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

20 1437d and 1437f), as in effect on the day be21 fore the date of enactment of this Act; or 

22 (B) to limit any right, remedy, or proce23 dure otherwise available under any provision of 

24 part 5, 91, 880, 882, 883, 884, 886, 891, 903, 


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1 960, 966, 982, or 983 of title 24, Code of Fed2 eral Regulations, that— 

3 (i) was issued under the Violence 

4 Against Women and Department of Jus5 tice Reauthorization Act of 2005 (Public 

6 Law 109–162; 119 Stat. 2960) or an 

7 amendment made by that Act; and 

8 (ii) provides greater protection for vic9 tims of domestic violence, dating violence, 

10 sexual assault, and stalking than this Act. 

Æ 


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