I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7743 

To require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to establish 

a national evictions database, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 23, 2020 

Ms. DELAURO (for herself, Mr. KENNEDY, Ms. NORTON, Ms. HAALAND, Ms. 

OMAR, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. SAN NICOLAS, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. 

GARCIA of Texas, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. 

EVANS, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. COOPER, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, and Ms. SPANBERGER) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 

to establish a national evictions database, 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 ‘‘We Need Eviction 

5 Data Now Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) ADMINISTRATIVE EVICTION.—The term 

2 ‘‘administrative eviction’’ means a ruling in favor of 

3 the landlord in an administrative forum within a 

4 public housing agency, such as grievance procedures, 

5 to recover possession of residential property from a 

6 tenant, including a tenant residing in a public hous7 ing dwelling unit or receiving tenant-based assist8 ance or project-based assistance under section 8 of 

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

10 1437f). 

11 (2) COURT-ORDERED EVICTION.—The term 

12 ‘‘court-ordered eviction’’ means a court ruling in 

13 favor of the landlord in a legal action to recover pos14 session of residential property from a tenant, includ15 ing a tenant residing in a public housing dwelling 

16 unit or receiving tenant-based assistance or project17 based assistance under section 8 of the United 

18 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f). 

19 (3) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

20 means the Department of Housing and Urban De21 velopment. 

22 (4) EXECUTED EVICTION.—The term ‘‘executed 

23 eviction’’ means a court order carried out by a sher24 iff’s office or other law enforcement agency that re25 sulted in the landlord recovering possession of resiVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Aug 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7743.IH H7743

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1 dential property from a tenant, including a tenant 

2 residing in a public housing dwelling unit or receiv3 ing tenant-based assistance or project-based assist4 ance under section 8 of the United States Housing 

5 Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f). 

6 (5) ILLEGAL EVICTION.—The term ‘‘illegal evic7 tion’’ means self-help measures taken outside of the 

8 legal process for eviction to recover possession of 

9 residential property from a tenant, including a ten10 ant residing in a public housing dwelling unit or re11 ceiving tenant-based assistance or project-based as12 sistance under section 8 of the United States Hous13 ing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f), such as— 

14 (A) willfully interrupting or permitting the 

15 interruption of essential items of services re16 quired by the rental agreement; 

17 (B) blocking or attempting to block the 

18 entry of a tenant upon the premises; 

19 (C) changing the locks or removing the 

20 front door of the premises; 

21 (D) removing the belongings of a tenant; 

22 and 

23 (E) any other action defined as a self-help 

24 eviction under State landlord-tenant law. 


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1 (6) LOCAL ORDINANCE IMPACTING EVICTION.— 

2 The term ‘‘local ordinance impacting eviction’’ 

3 means a local ordinance that is designed to address 

4 the number of emergency services calls resulting 

5 from assault, sexual harassment, stalking, disorderly 

6 conduct, or another type of behavior, situation, or 

7 condition that results in the need for emergency 

8 services, that results in loss of housing or limit the 

9 housing opportunities for victims of crime, including 

10 victims of domestic violence, or individuals with dis11 abilities who may require emergency services, abne12 gating local landlord-tenant law by— 

13 (A) requiring, encouraging, or permitting 

14 the eviction of a tenant or resident because of 

15 a certain number of calls for emergency serv16 ices; 

17 (B) requiring, encouraging, or permitting 

18 the eviction of a tenant or resident because of 

19 an arrest even though the arrest has not re20 sulted in the conviction of that tenant or resi21 dent; or 

22 (C) requiring, encouraging, or permitting 

23 the eviction of a tenant or resident because of 

24 criminal activity occurring at or near the place 


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1 of residence of the tenant or resident for which 

2 that tenant or resident has not been convicted. 

3 (7) PUBLIC HOUSING; PUBLIC HOUSING AGEN4 CY.—The terms ‘‘public housing’’ and ‘‘public hous5 ing agency’’ have the meanings given those terms in 

6 section 3(b) of the United States Housing Act of 

7 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)). 

8 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

9 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 

10 SEC. 3. NATIONAL DATABASE OF EVICTIONS. 

11 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF DATABASE.—Not later than 

12 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec13 retary shall establish and maintain a database that— 

14 (1) is accessible to the Office of Policy Develop15 ment and Research and the Office of Fair Housing 

16 and Equal Opportunity of the Department and other 

17 employees of the Department as determined nec18 essary by the Secretary; 

19 (2) includes the data described in subsection (b) 

20 with respect to court-ordered evictions, administra21 tive evictions, and illegal evictions in the United 

22 States; and 

23 (3) ensures appropriate security to prevent im24 proper disclosure of that data. 


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1 (b) CONTENTS.—The database established under 

2 subsection (a) shall contain the following data: 

3 (1) DATA ON EACH COURT-ORDERED OR AD4 MINISTRATIVE EVICTION.—With respect to each 

5 court-ordered or administrative eviction case filed on 

6 or after the date on which the database is estab7 lished: 

8 (A) Information on the tenant who is the 

9 defendant, including— 

10 (i) the name of the tenant; 

11 (ii) the address of the residential 

12 property and the type of housing; 

13 (iii) the number of household mem14 bers residing in the property, including the 

15 number of children; and 

16 (iv) whether the tenant is a recipient 

17 of tenant-based or project-based assistance 

18 under section 8 of the United States Hous19 ing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f). 

20 (B) Information on the landlord who filed 

21 the court-ordered or administrative eviction 

22 case, including— 

23 (i) the name of the landlord; 

24 (ii) the name of the attorney or legally 

25 permitted representative of the landlord, or 


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1 an indication that the landlord was self2 represented; 

3 (iii) any amount that the landlord al4 leges that the tenant owes, including any 

5 penalties and attorney’s fees; and 

6 (iv) any costs incurred by the landlord 

7 for engaging in the eviction process, in8 cluding— 

9 (I) court costs, such as filing 

10 fees; 

11 (II) the cost of legal representa12 tion; and 

13 (III) the cost to set out a tenant. 

14 (C) Procedural data on the court-ordered 

15 or administrative eviction case, including— 

16 (i) the date, if applicable, on which 

17 the tenant was served with a notice to quit; 

18 (ii) the date of the initial court filing 

19 by the landlord; 

20 (iii) the reason why the landlord filed 

21 for eviction, such as nonpayment or breach 

22 of lease; 

23 (iv) whether the eviction was as a re24 sult of the enforcement of a local ordinance 

25 impacting eviction; 


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1 (v) the final outcome of the court-or2 dered or administrative eviction case, in3 cluding— 

4 (I) the disposition of the case, in5 cluding whether the initial hearing re6 sulted in a default judgment, dis7 missal, consent agreement, settlement, 

8 or trial; 

9 (II) the date of final disposition; 

10 (III) any amount owed to the 

11 landlord or tenant, if any, and over 

12 what time period; 

13 (IV) whether a judgment was 

14 made in favor of the tenant for code 

15 violations or warranty of habitability 

16 claims; 

17 (V) the overall outcome of the 

18 case, including whether the tenant 

19 paid any amounts to the landlord and 

20 whether the tenant stayed in the 

21 housing or was evicted from the hous22 ing; and 

23 (VI) whether the tenant had legal 

24 representation and the nature of that 

25 representation, including a lawyer, a 


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1 law student participating in a clinic, 

2 or another non-lawyer trained to rep3 resent clients in landlord-tenant court, 

4 or whether the tenant was a lawyer 

5 representing himself or herself; 

6 (vi) the total court fees incurred by 

7 the tenant, separated into categories of 

8 fees; 

9 (vii) the total court fees incurred by 

10 the landlord; 

11 (viii) whether the landlord had ap12 peared in landlord-tenant court for a 

13 court-ordered or administrative eviction 

14 matter involving the landlord in the 6- 

15 month, 1-year, or 2-year period preceding 

16 the court-ordered or administrative eviction 

17 case; and 

18 (ix) whether the tenant had appeared 

19 in landlord-tenant court for a court-or20 dered or administrative eviction matter in21 volving the landlord in the 6-month, 1- 

22 year, or 2-year period preceding the court23 ordered or administrative eviction case. 

24 (2) AGGREGATE DATA ON COURT-ORDERED OR

25 ADMINISTRATIVE EVICTION CASES.—Aggregate data 


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1 on court-ordered or administrative eviction cases 

2 filed on or after the date on which the database is 

3 established, including— 

4 (A) the total number of cases filed, includ5 ing a breakdown by— 

6 (i) the number of cases filed for non7 payment, other breach of lease, both non8 payment and breach of lease, and any 

9 other reason; 

10 (ii) the number of cases filed because 

11 of the enforcement of a local ordinance im12 pacting eviction; and 

13 (iii) the outcome of the dispositive 

14 hearing, including default judgment, dis15 missal, a consent agreement, a trial, and a 

16 settlement with or without mediation; 

17 (B) the number of tenants and landlords 

18 who showed up for the dispositive hearing of a 

19 court-ordered or an administrative eviction case, 

20 and how many were represented by counsel; 

21 (C) the average duration of a court-or22 dered or an administrative eviction case, includ23 ing the average time from filing to first hear24 ing; 


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1 (D) the average amount allegedly owed by 

2 a tenant, per landlord; 

3 (E) the average months of rent allegedly 

4 owed by a tenant; 

5 (F) the average amount paid by a tenant 

6 to resolve the case and stay in the housing; 

7 (G) the number of court-ordered or admin8 istrative eviction cases resulting in a judgment 

9 in favor of the tenant due to code violations or 

10 warranty of habitability claims; 

11 (H) the number and percentage of court12 ordered or administrative eviction cases broken 

13 down by age bracket; 

14 (I) the number and percentage of court-or15 dered or administrative eviction cases with a 

16 tenant or household with children; 

17 (J) the number of tenants evicted from 

18 public housing, broken down by each public 

19 housing agency; 

20 (K) the number of tenants evicted from 

21 dwelling units who were receiving tenant-based 

22 assistance or project-based assistance under 

23 section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 

24 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f); and 


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1 (L) the number of court-ordered or admin2 istrative eviction or cases where late fees were 

3 collected from tenants by landlords, and the av4 erage amount of late fees in those cases. 

5 (3) DATA ON EXECUTED EVICTIONS.—Local 

6 law enforcement or any other official who executes 

7 an eviction shall report to the adjudicating court or 

8 administrative forum sufficient data on each exe9 cuted eviction, such that the court may determine 

10 which court-ordered or administrative evictions re11 sulted in a law enforcement officer or other local of12 ficial removing the tenant. 

13 (4) DATA ON TENANT STATUS FOLLOWING A

14 COURT-ORDERED OR ADMINISTRATIVE EVICTION.— 

15 Each court or administrative forum responsible for 

16 adjudicating evictions should contact landlords to de17 termine whether tenants who were the subject of a 

18 court-ordered or administrative eviction were re19 moved or remained in the property 90 days after the 

20 court-ordered or administrative eviction. 

21 (5) DATA ON EACH ILLEGAL EVICTION.—With 

22 respect to each illegal eviction occurring on or after 

23 the date on which the database is established, as re24 ported by local governments and nonprofit organiza25 tions receiving grants under section 6: 


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1 (A) The data described in paragraph 

2 (1)(A). 

3 (B) Information on the landlord, includ4 ing— 

5 (i) the name of the landlord; and 

6 (ii) any amount that the landlord al7 leges that the tenant owes, including any 

8 penalties. 

9 (C) The reason the tenant was evicted. 

10 (D) If the tenant was evicted for non11 payment, the amount owed. 

12 (E) If the tenant was evicted for non13 payment, the total number of months owed. 

14 (F) Whether the tenant was evicted be15 cause of the enforcement of a local ordinance 

16 impacting eviction. 

17 (6) AGGREGATE DATA ON ILLEGAL EVIC18 TIONS.—Aggregate data on illegal eviction cases oc19 curring on or after the date on which the database 

20 is established, as reported by local governments and 

21 nonprofit organizations receiving grants under sec22 tion 6, including— 

23 (A) the average amount owed by a tenant, 

24 per landlord; 


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1 (B) the average months of rent owed by a 

2 tenant; 

3 (C) the number and percentage of illegal 

4 eviction cases broken down by age bracket; 

5 (D) the number and percentage of illegal 

6 eviction cases with a tenant or household with 

7 children; 

8 (E) the number and percentage of illegal 

9 eviction cases broken down by race and eth10 nicity; 

11 (F) the number and percentage of illegal 

12 eviction cases broken down by gender; 

13 (G) the number and percentage of illegal 

14 eviction cases broken down by disability status; 

15 and 

16 (H) the number and percentage of illegal 

17 eviction cases based on the enforcement of a 

18 local ordinance impacting eviction. 

19 (c) SUBMISSION OF DATA.— 

20 (1) SUBMISSION BY COURTS.—Not later than 

21 March 1 of each year, the Attorney General of each 

22 State shall submit to the Secretary data on court23 ordered eviction cases that occurred in that State 

24 during the preceding calendar year for inclusion in 

25 the database established under this section. 


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1 (2) SUBMISSION TO SECRETARY.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

3 of the State shall— 

4 (i) ensure the accuracy and consist5 ency of the data submitted under para6 graph (1); and 

7 (ii) upon receipt of the data, aggre8 gate the data and report the individual and 

9 aggregate data to the Secretary in a timely 

10 manner. 

11 (B) SUBMISSION BY COURTS.—If the At12 torney general of the State fails to submit the 

13 data described in paragraph (1) to the Sec14 retary in a timely manner under subparagraph 

15 (A), the clerk of each State or local court that 

16 handles landlord-tenant cases may submit the 

17 data directly to the Secretary. 

18 (d) GUIDELINES.—The Secretary shall promulgate 

19 rules and establish guidelines for the submission of data 

20 under subsection (c) and publication of data in the data21 base established under this section, which shall include— 

22 (1) a technological solution that provides a sin23 gle point of entry for data submissions to reduce the 

24 burden on clerks of the courts; 


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1 (2) in consultation with local governments and 

2 judges, appropriate safeguards for protecting the 

3 privacy of personally identifiable information of vul4 nerable populations, which shall incorporate con5 fidentiality measures to ensure that any personally 

6 identifiable information regarding a tenant who is a 

7 victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual 

8 assault, or stalking is not disclosed during the proc9 ess of data submission and publication; 

10 (3) standards for— 

11 (A) external researchers to be granted per12 mission to access data in the database, includ13 ing both aggregate data and, if necessary for 

14 the conduct of their research, personally identi15 fiable information, with appropriate safeguards 

16 to ensure identities are protected in any pub17 licly released analysis; 

18 (B) the establishment of a research data 

19 center to support analysis of that data; and 

20 (C) using generally accepted statistical 

21 principles to validate the data, in consultation 

22 with outside participants; 

23 (4) methods for collecting data required under 

24 subsection (b) that are not currently collected; 


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1 (5) establishing definitions for terms related to 

2 the eviction process based on how they are legally 

3 defined by courts of jurisdiction handling eviction 

4 cases; and 

5 (6) standards for local officials to identify and 

6 designate social services agencies that may access 

7 the database to provide targeted social services to 

8 those tenants. 

9 (e) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after 

10 the date of enactment of this Act, and each year there11 after, the Secretary shall make publicly available a report 

12 on the contents of the database established under this sec13 tion. 

14 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

15 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such 

16 sums as may be necessary to carry out this section. 

17 SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM TO COLLECT DATA ON ILLEGAL 

18 EVICTIONS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award grants 

20 to local governments and nonprofit organizations to set 

21 up programs to collect data from landlords on illegal evic22 tions in the United States. 

23 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

24 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such 


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1 sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2021 

2 through 2025 to provide grants under this section. 

3 SEC. 5. ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish an 

5 advisory committee to be known as the Committee on 

6 Eviction Research (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Com7 mittee’’) to advise the Secretary on matters relating to— 

8 (1) the creation, operation, maintenance, meth9 odology, and privacy matters of the statistical efforts 

10 relating to the database established under section 5; 

11 (2) developing a research agenda to determine 

12 the causes and consequences of evictions; and 

13 (3) illuminating policies or practices that reduce 

14 the number of evictions or mitigate the consequences 

15 of evictions. 

16 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall be 

18 composed of 14 members who shall be appointed by 

19 the Secretary, in consultation with the chair and 

20 ranking member of the Committee on Banking, 

21 Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the 

22 chair and ranking member of the Committee on Fi23 nancial Services of the House of Representatives, of 

24 whom— 


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1 (A) 2 members shall be employees of the 

2 Department with expertise in housing data and 

3 an interest in issues relating to evictions and 

4 housing instability; 

5 (B) 2 members shall be representatives of 

6 landlords; 

7 (C) 5 members shall be from the academic 

8 or research community; 

9 (D) 3 members shall be from civil society, 

10 of whom not less than 2 shall be from entities 

11 that advocate for civil rights related to housing 

12 or eviction; and 

13 (E) 2 members shall be from private in14 dustry, civil society, or the academic community 

15 with backgrounds in data science and privacy. 

16 (2) CHAIR.—The Secretary shall appoint a 

17 chair of the Committee from among the members of 

18 the Committee. 

19 (3) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT; VACANCIES.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—A member of the Com21 mittee shall be appointed for a period of 2 

22 years. 

23 (B) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Com24 mittee— 


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1 (i) shall not affect the powers of the 

2 Committee; and 

3 (ii) shall be filled in the same manner 

4 as the original appointment. 

5 (c) MEETINGS.—The Committee shall meet— 

6 (1) in person not less frequently than twice 

7 each year; and 

8 (2) via teleconference not less frequently than 

9 once every 2 months. 

10 (d) POWERS.—In carrying out the duties of the Com11 mittee, the Committee may— 

12 (1) hold such hearings, sit, and act at such 

13 times and places, take such testimony, and receive 

14 such evidence as the Committee determines to be ap15 propriate; 

16 (2) issue reports, guidelines, and memoranda; 

17 (3) hold or host conferences and symposia; 

18 (4) enter into cooperative agreements with 

19 third-party experts to obtain relevant advice or ex20 pertise, and oversee staff; 

21 (5) establish subcommittees; and 

22 (6) establish rules of procedure. 

23 (e) GIFTS.—The Committee may accept, use, and 

24 dispose of gifts or donations of services or property. 


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1 (f) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The members of the Com2 mittee shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem 

3 in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for employees 

4 of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, 

5 United States Code, while away from their homes or reg6 ular places of business in the performance of service for 

7 the Committee. 

8 (g) STAFF.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The chair of the Committee 

10 may, without regard to the civil service laws (includ11 ing regulations), appoint and terminate an executive 

12 director and such other additional personnel as may 

13 be necessary to enable the Commission to perform 

14 its duties, except that the employment of an execu15 tive director shall be subject to confirmation by the 

16 Commission. 

17 (2) COMPENSATION.—The chair of the Com18 mittee may fix the compensation of the executive di19 rector and other personnel without regard to chapter 

20 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, 

21 United States Code, relating to classification of posi22 tions and General Schedule pay rates, except that 

23 the rate of pay for the executive director and other 

24 personnel may not exceed the rate payable for level 


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1 V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of 

2 that title. 

3 (h) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 

4 on which the Committee terminates, the Committee shall 

5 submit to the Secretary a report containing— 

6 (1) recommendations for statistical efforts re7 lating to the database established under section 5, 

8 including how additional data may potentially be col9 lected, consistent with civil rights protections, to un10 derstand eviction trends by race, gender, disability 

11 status, ethnicity, age, and immigration status; and 

12 (2) a research agenda to determine the causes 

13 and consequences of evictions and to illuminate poli14 cies or practices that reduce the number of evictions 

15 or mitigate the consequences of evictions, including 

16 an assessment of the housing challenges resulting 

17 from the prohibition on public housing participation 

18 due to the prior eviction of an individual. 

19 (i) NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS.—The amounts nec20 essary to carry out this section shall be derived from 

21 amounts appropriated or otherwise made available to the 

22 Secretary. 

Æ 


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