I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1146 

To require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to establish 

a pilot program to make grants to eligible organizations to provide 

legal assistance to low-income families regarding housing disputes, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 

Mr. ELLISON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on Ways 

and Means, 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 require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 

to establish a pilot program to make grants to eligible 

organizations to provide legal assistance to low-income 

families regarding housing disputes, 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 ‘‘Equal Opportunity for 

5 Residential Representation Act’’. 


asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 1146 IH

1 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds that— 

3 (1) eviction prevention programs provide impor4 tant and effective social and economic benefits; 

5 (2) such programs help protect low-income and 

6 at-risk households from the trauma and disruption 

7 of homelessness and save property owners from the 

8 high costs of forced eviction and re-occupancy; and 

9 (3) investing more resources in eviction preven10 tion helps communities save on the high cost of 

11 homelessness by stopping homelessness before it 

12 starts—for example, according to 2015 data, the 

13 Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance esti14 mates that a homeless individual residing in Massa15 chusetts creates an additional cost burden for State16 supported services (such as shelters, emergency 

17 room visits, and incarceration) that is $9,372 great18 er per year than for a housed individual. 

19 SEC. 3. PILOT PROGRAM FOR LEGAL ASSISTANCE FOR 

20 HOUSING ISSUES FOR LOW-INCOME FAMI21 LIES. 

22 (a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of Housing and 

23 Urban Development (in this section referred to as the 

24 ‘‘Secretary’’) shall carry out a program under this section, 

25 through the Office of Community Planning and Develop26 ment, to make grants to the extent amounts for such 


asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 1146 IH

1 grants are made available pursuant to subsection (f) to 

2 eligible organizations under subsection (d) to provide legal 

3 services and other related supportive services under sub4 section (e) on behalf of eligible low-income families under 

5 subsection (c). 

6 (b) SELECTION OF GRANTEES.—The Secretary shall 

7 select eligible organizations under subsection (d) to receive 

8 grants under this section taking into consideration factors, 

9 including— 

10 (1) factors necessary to ensure an equitable dis11 tribution of grants to grantees serving urban areas 

12 (as such term is defined by the Secretary) and to 

13 grantees serving rural areas (as such term is defined 

14 by the Secretary), except that the Secretary shall en15 sure that, of any amounts made available for any 

16 fiscal year for grants under this section, not less 

17 than 20 percent shall be used for grantees serving 

18 rural areas; 

19 (2) the number of rental units in the area 

20 served by the grantee that are affordable to low-in21 come households having incomes at or below 80 per22 cent of the area median income and paying more 

23 than 30 percent of their incomes for rent; 

24 (3) the extent to which the population of the 

25 area served by the grantee uses eviction or other 


asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 1146 IH

1 housing-related legal services or has a need for such 

2 services; 

3 (4) the extent to which tenants in the area 

4 served by the grantee are evicted; 

5 (5) the number of rental units in the area 

6 served by the grantee that are affordable to house7 holds having incomes at or below 80 percent of the 

8 area median income; 

9 (6) the extent of poverty in the area served by 

10 the grantee; 

11 (7) the number of renter households in the area 

12 served by the grantee that— 

13 (A) have incomes at or below 80 percent of 

14 the area median income; 

15 (B) are not provided rental assistance, 

16 such as rental assistance under section 8 of the 

17 United States Housing Act of 1937 or occu18 pancy in a dwelling unit in public housing; or 

19 (C) live in severely inadequate housing, as 

20 measured using the American Housing Survey 

21 definition of housing having severe physical 

22 problems; and 

23 (8) any other factors that the Secretary con24 siders appropriate for purposes of this section, ex25 cept that the Secretary may not consider data from 


asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 1146 IH

1 a point-in-time count of the homeless (as defined in 

2 section 103(a) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless As3 sistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11302(a))). 

4 (c) ELIGIBLE LOW-INCOME FAMILIES.—Amounts 

5 from a grant under this section may be used only to pro6 vide eligible services under subsection (e) with respect to 

7 families (including individuals and including victims of do8 mestic violence) who— 

9 (1) reside in a rental dwelling unit; and 

10 (2) have an income (as such term is defined in 

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

12 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b))) that does not exceed 80 

13 percent of the median income for the area in which 

14 the family resides. 

15 (d) ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS.—Grants under this 

16 section may be made only to— 

17 (1) a nonprofit organization that provides legal 

18 services on behalf of persons or families whose eligi19 bility for such services includes a limitation on in20 come, including any organizations that receive fund21 ing from the Legal Services Corporation (established 

22 under the Legal Services Corporation Act (42 

23 U.S.C. 2996 et seq.)) to provide such services on be24 half of such persons or families; 


asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 1146 IH

1 (2) legal clinics sponsored by law schools or 

2 other organizations; and 

3 (3) such other institutions, organizations, and 

4 entities as the Secretary considers appropriate. 

5 (e) ELIGIBLE SERVICES.—Amounts from a grant 

6 under this section may be used only to provide, on behalf 

7 of eligible low-income families under subsection (c), legal 

8 services and other related supportive services in connec9 tion with— 

10 (1) an eviction of such a family; 

11 (2) the prevention of an eviction of such a fam12 ily; 

13 (3) a dispute between the landlord and a tenant 

14 who is a member of such a family; or 

15 (4) enforcing the legal rights of such a family 

16 under Federal, State, or local laws regarding ten17 ancy or fair housing. 

18 (f) USE OF MORTGAGE INTEREST DEDUCTION SAV19 INGS FOR GRANTS.— 

20 (1) DETERMINATION OF SAVINGS.—For each of 

21 fiscal years 2018 through 2022, the Secretary of the 

22 Treasury shall determine the amount of revenues ac23 cruing to the general fund of the Treasury by reason 

24 of the enactment of the amendment made by section 

25 4 of this Act. 


asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 1146 IH

1 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

2 There is authorized to be appropriated for grants 

3 under this section for each of fiscal years 2018 

4 through 2022 the amount determined under para5 graph (1) for such fiscal year. 

6 SEC. 4. REDUCTION IN LIMITATION ON MORTGAGE INTER7 EST DEDUCTION RELATING TO ACQUISITION 

8 INDEBTEDNESS FOR CERTAIN TAXPAYERS. 

9 (a) ACQUISITION INDEBTEDNESS.—Clause (ii) of sec10 tion 163(h)(3)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

11 is amended to read as follows: 

12 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION.—The aggregate 

13 amount treated as acquisition indebtedness 

14 for any period shall not exceed— 

15 ‘‘(I) $1,000,000 in the case of a 

16 joint return ($500,000 in the case of 

17 a married individual filing a separate 

18 return), and 

19 ‘‘(II) the applicable amount in 

20 any other case. 

21 ‘‘(iii) APPLICABLE AMOUNT.—For 

22 purposes of clause (ii)(II), the applicable 

23 amount is as follows: 


asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 1146 IH

‘‘For taxable years— The applicable 

amount is— 

Beginning in calendar year 2018 ............................................... $900,000

Beginning in calendar year 2019 ............................................... $800,000

Beginning in calendar year 2020 ............................................... $700,000

Beginning in calendar year 2021 ............................................... $600,000

Beginning in or after calendar year 2022 .................................. $500,000.’’. 

1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

2 subsection (a) shall apply to amounts paid or incurred 

3 after December 31, 2017. 

Æ 


asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS