I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1674 

To authorize assistance for fair housing enforcement activities to respond 

to the COVID-19 pandemic, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 9, 2021 

Mr. GREEN of Texas (for himself and Ms. WATERS) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in 

addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To authorize assistance for fair housing enforcement activities to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, 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 ‘‘Fair Housing Enforce5 ment Emergency Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FAIR HOUSING ACTIVITIES. 

7 (a) DEFINITION OF COVID-19 EMERGENCY PE8 RIOD.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘COVIDVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:26 May 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1674.IH H1674

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1 19 emergency period’’ means the period that begins upon 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act and ends upon the 

3 date of the termination by the Federal Emergency Man4 agement Agency of the emergency declared on March 13, 

5 2020, by the President under the Robert T. Stafford Dis6 aster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

7 4121 et seq.) relating to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 

8 (COVID-19) pandemic. 

9 (b) FHIP; FHAP.— 

10 (1) APPROPRIATIONS.—Out of any money in 

11 the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, there is 

12 appropriated to ensure that fair housing organiza13 tions and State and local civil rights agencies have 

14 sufficient resources to deal with expected increases 

15 in fair housing complaints, to investigate housing 

16 discrimination, including financial scams that target 

17 protected classes, associated with or resulting from 

18 the COVID-19 pandemic, and during such pan19 demic, for contracts, grants, and other assistance— 

20 (A) $39,740,000 for fiscal year 2021 for 

21 the Fair Housing Initiatives Program under 

22 section 561 of the Housing and Community De23 velopment Act of 1987 (42 U.S.C. 3616a), of 

24 which— 


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1 (i) $8,740,000 shall be available for 

2 assistance under subsection (d) of such 

3 section 561 for education and outreach ac4 tivities; 

5 (ii) $18,500,000 shall be available for 

6 private enforcement initiatives under sub7 section (b) of such section 561; 

8 (iii) $2,500,000 shall be available for 

9 an initiative to provide technical assistance 

10 and training to such organizations and en11 tities regarding fair housing issues related 

12 to the COVID-19 pandemic; and 

13 (iv) $10,000,000, which shall remain 

14 available until September 30, 2024, shall 

15 be available for the Office of Fair Housing 

16 and Equal Opportunity of the Department 

17 of Housing and Urban Development to 

18 carry out a national media campaign to 

19 educate the public of increased housing 

20 rights during COVID-19 emergency period, 

21 that provides that information and mate22 rials used in such campaign are avail23 able— 


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1 (I) in the languages used by com2 munities with limited English pro3 ficiency; and 

4 (II) to persons with disabilities. 

5 (B) $35,000,000 for fiscal year 2021 for 

6 the Fair Housing Assistance Program under 

7 the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.). 

8 (2) USE OF TELEPHONE AND INTERNET CAPA9 BILITIES.—Amounts made available by paragraph 

10 (1) may be used by such organizations and agencies 

11 to establish the capacity to and to carry out activi12 ties and services by telephone and online means, in13 cluding for individuals with limited English pro14 ficiency and individuals with a disability in accord15 ance with requirements under the Americans With 

16 Disabilities Act of 1990. 

17 (3) PRIORITY FOR PRIVATE ENFORCEMENT INI18 TIATIVES AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—In entering 

19 into contracts for private enforcement initiatives 

20 under 561(b) of the Housing and Community Devel21 opment Act of 1987 (42 U.S.C. 3616a(b)) using 

22 amounts made available by paragraph (1)(A)(ii) of 

23 this subsection and contracts for technical assistance 

24 and training using amounts made available by para25 graph (1)(A)(iii), the Secretary of Housing and 


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1 Urban Development shall give priority to applica2 tions from qualified fair housing enforcement organi3 zations that have at least 2 years of fair housing 

4 testing experience. 

5 (4) 3-YEAR GRANTS.—A grant for any grantee 

6 from any amounts made available by clause (i), (ii), 

7 or (iii) of paragraph (1)(A) shall be made for a 3- 

8 year period, subject to the request of the grantee, 

9 and the grantee shall receive an allocation of such 

10 grant amounts annually during such 3-year period. 

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