I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8142 

To provide for a moratorium on evictions from and foreclosures on residences 

during a major disaster or emergency, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 1, 2020 

Mrs. DEMINGS (for herself, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. NORTON, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, and Mr. THOMPSON

of Mississippi) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on 

Education and Labor, 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 provide for a moratorium on evictions from and foreclosures on residences during a major disaster or emergency, 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 ‘‘Federal Disaster 

5 Housing Stability Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FORECLOSURE MORATORIUM. 

2 Except with respect to a vacant or abandoned prop3 erty, in the case of any disaster, a servicer of a Federally 

4 backed mortgage loan on a property located within the dis5 aster area with respect to such disaster may not, during 

6 the moratorium period with respect to such area, initiate 

7 any judicial or non-judicial foreclosure process, move for 

8 a foreclosure judgment or order of sale, or execute a fore9 closure-related eviction or foreclosure sale. 

10 SEC. 3. EVICTION MORATORIUM. 

11 (a) MORATORIUM.—In the case of any disaster, the 

12 lessor of a covered dwelling that is located within the dis13 aster area with respect to such disaster may not, during 

14 the moratorium period with respect to such area— 

15 (1) make, or cause to be made, any filing with 

16 the court of jurisdiction to initiate a legal action to 

17 recover possession of the covered dwelling from the 

18 tenant for nonpayment of rent or other fees or 

19 charges; or 

20 (2) charge fees, penalties, or other charges to 

21 the tenant related to such nonpayment of rent. 

22 (b) NOTICE.—In the case of any disaster, the lessor 

23 of a covered dwelling unit that is located within the dis24 aster area with respect to such disaster— 

25 (1) may not require the tenant to vacate the 

26 covered dwelling unit before the date that is 30 days 


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1 after the date on which the lessor provides the ten2 ant with a notice to vacate; and 

3 (2) may not issue a notice to vacate under 

4 paragraph (1) until after the expiration of the mora5 torium period with respect to such area. 

6 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

7 For purposes of this Act, the following definitions 

8 shall apply: 

9 (1) COVERED DWELLING.—The term ‘‘covered 

10 dwelling’’ means a dwelling that is occupied by a 

11 tenant— 

12 (A) pursuant to a residential lease; or 

13 (B) without a lease or with a lease ter14 minable under State law; and 

15 (2) DISASTER.—The term ‘‘disaster’’ means— 

16 (A) any national emergency declared by 

17 the President under the National Emergencies 

18 Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.); or 

19 (B) any major disaster or emergency de20 clared by the President under the Robert T. 

21 Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist22 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 4121 et seq.). 

23 (3) DISASTER AREA.—The term ‘‘disaster area’’ 

24 means, with respect to a disaster, any area that at 


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1 any time is subject to the declaration of such dis2 aster. 

3 (4) DWELLING.—The term ‘‘dwelling’’— 

4 (A) has the meaning given the term in sec5 tion 802 of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 

6 3602); and 

7 (B) includes houses and dwellings de8 scribed in section 803(b) of such Act (42 

9 U.S.C. 3603(b)). 

10 (5) FEDERALLY BACKED MORTGAGE LOAN.— 

11 The term ‘‘Federally backed mortgage loan’’ in12 cludes any loan (other than temporary financing 

13 such as a construction loan) that— 

14 (A) is secured by a first or subordinate lien 

15 on residential real property (including indi16 vidual units of condominiums and cooperatives) 

17 designed principally for the occupancy of from 

18 1 to 4 families, including any such secured 

19 loan, the proceeds of which are used to prepay 

20 or pay off an existing loan secured by the same 

21 property; and 

22 (B) is made in whole or in part, or in23 sured, guaranteed, supplemented, or assisted in 

24 any way, by any officer or agency of the Fed25 eral Government or under or in connection with 


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1 a housing or urban development program ad2 ministered by the Secretary of Housing and 

3 Urban Development or a housing or related 

4 program administered by any other such officer 

5 or agency, or is purchased or securitized by the 

6 Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation or 

7 the Federal National Mortgage Association. 

8 (6) MORATORIUM PERIOD.—The term ‘‘morato9 rium period’’ means, with respect to a disaster area, 

10 the period that— 

11 (A) begins upon the declaration of the dis12 aster for which such declaration was made; and 

13 (B) ends upon the later of— 

14 (i) the date on which the effectiveness 

15 of such declaration terminates for such 

16 area; or 

17 (ii) the date on which a certification 

18 under section 5(b) for the State in which 

19 such area is located is published in the 

20 Federal Register. 

21 SEC. 5. TERMINATION OF MORATORIUM PERIOD BY UNEM22 PLOYMENT RATE. 

23 (a) MONITORING.—In the case of a disaster, the Sec24 retary of Labor shall continually monitor the unemploy25 ment rate for each State in which any disaster area with 


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1 respect to such disaster is located to determine the first 

2 time after the beginning of the moratorium period with 

3 respect to any such disaster area that the unemployment 

4 rate for the State has been less than 8.5 percent for each 

5 of 2 consecutive calendar months, each such month com6 mencing after the beginning of the moratorium period. 

7 (b) CERTIFICATION.—In the case of a disaster, the 

8 Secretary of Labor shall, upon making a determination 

9 that the unemployment rate for a State, as determined 

10 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, has been less than 8.5 

11 percent for each of 2 consecutive calendar months, each 

12 such month commencing after the beginning of the mora13 torium period with respect to a disaster area located with14 in such State, immediately cause to be published in the 

15 Federal Register a certification of such unemployment 

16 rate for such months for such State for purposes of deter17 mining the termination of the moratorium period for such 

18 disaster area. 

19 SEC. 6. APPLICABILITY. 

20 This Act shall apply with respect to any disaster for 

21 which the declaration of the disaster is in effect on the 

22 date of the enactment of this Act and any disaster for 

23 which such declaration is made after such date of enact24 ment. 

Æ 


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