I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6550 

To require the Inspector General of the Department of Housing and Urban 

Development to provide a report to the Congress on the non-compliance 

of the New York City Housing Authority, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 1, 2023 

Mr. LAWLER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To require the Inspector General of the Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide a report to the 

Congress on the non-compliance of the New York City 

Housing Authority, 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 ‘‘Accountability for 

5 NYCHA Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) the New York City Housing Authority (in 

2 this Act referred to as the ‘‘Authority’’) is the larg3 est housing authority in the United States, providing 

4 housing for over 520,000 residents in over 177,000 

5 apartments in the City of New York (in this Act re6 ferred to as the ‘‘City’’); 

7 (2) the Authority is a public housing agency 

8 that receives Federal financial assistance from the 

9 Department of Housing and Urban Development (in 

10 this Act referred to as the ‘‘Department’’) to admin11 ister its public housing program; 

12 (3) the Authority is required to, among other 

13 things, provide decent, safe, and sanitary housing 

14 for the public housing residents of the City and com15 ply with Federal law protecting children from the 

16 hazards of lead poisoning; 

17 (4) on June 11, 2018, the United States filed 

18 a complaint in the United States District Court for 

19 the Southern District of New York (in this Act re20 ferred to as the ‘‘Complaint’’); which set forth the 

21 findings of the United States investigation, alleging, 

22 among other things, that the Authority had— 

23 (A) routinely failed to comply with lead24 based paint safety regulations; 


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1 (B) failed to provide decent, safe, and san2 itary housing, including with respect to the pro3 vision of heat and elevators and the control and 

4 treatment of mold and pests; and 

5 (C) repeatedly misled the Department 

6 through false statements and deceptive prac7 tices; 

8 (5) in a Consent Decree executed June 11, 

9 2018, the Authority made admissions regarding, 

10 among other things, deficiencies in physical condi11 tions with respect to lead, mold, heating, elevators 

12 and pests and made untrue statements to the De13 partment regarding the conditions of the Authority’s 

14 properties and practices with regard to Public Hous15 ing Assessment System inspections; 

16 (6) based on the Authority’s misconduct as de17 tailed in the Complaint, on January 31, 2019, the 

18 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (in 

19 this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) declared 

20 that the Authority is in substantial default within 

21 the meaning of section 6(j)(3)(A) of the United 

22 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 

23 1437d(j)(3)(A)); 

24 (7) the Department did not take possession of 

25 the Authority or appoint a receiver, but instead enVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:07 Dec 14, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6550.IH H6550

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1 tered into a voluntary agreement between the Au2 thority, the Department, and the City on January 

3 31, 2019, under which the Authority agreed to rem4 edy noted deficiencies subject to the oversight of a 

5 Monitor appointed by the City; 

6 (8) as of the date of the enactment of this Act, 

7 the Authority has still fully not complied with the 

8 agreement, including the remedying of deficiencies 

9 or compliance with its obligations under Federal law; 

10 (9) the Department and the United States At11 torney’s Office for the Southern District of New 

12 York have sought to extend the term of a Monitor 

13 over the Authority for an additional five years begin14 ning in 2024; 

15 (10) the residents of housing provided by the 

16 Authority should not be required to wait five addi17 tional years for the Authority to provide decent, 

18 safe, and sanitary housing conditions, as is the 

19 Authority’s most basic and necessary function under 

20 the law; and 

21 (11) the Congress believes that it must provide 

22 additional oversight over the Authority, the Depart23 ment, the City, and the Monitor in order to compel 

24 the Authority to fix the appalling conditions and 

25 other issues that lead to a declaration of substantial 


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1 default under section 6(j)(3)(A) of the United States 

2 Housing Act of 1937. 

3 SEC. 3. INVESTIGATION AND REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

4 (a) INVESTIGATION.—The Inspector General of the 

5 Department of Housing and Urban Development shall 

6 conduct an investigation of the Authority, which shall in7 clude at a minimum— 

8 (1) determining the status of the New York 

9 City Housing Authority’s compliance with the agree10 ment entered into between the Authority, the De11 partment, and the City on January 31, 2019, includ12 ing specific areas of deficiency and progress towards 

13 compliance; 

14 (2) conducting a review of actions taken by the 

15 Monitor over the Authority pursuant to such Agree16 ment, including any gaps in oversight by the Mon17 itor; 

18 (3) conducting a survey of the physical condi19 tions of housing provided by the Authority for the 

20 City’s residents; 

21 (4) conducting an examination of any waste, 

22 fraud, abuse and violations of Federal law com23 mitted by employees or contractors of the Authority; 

24 and 


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1 (5) identifying other priority issues and areas, 

2 as deemed necessary and appropriate by the Inspec3 tor General. 

4 (b) REPORT.—Not later than the expiration of the 

5 180-day period beginning on the date of the enactment 

6 of this Act, the Inspector General shall provide to the 

7 Committee on Financial Services of the House of Rep8 resentatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

9 Urban Affairs of the Senate a report setting forth the 

10 findings of its investigation, a summary of actions the De11 partment may take to compel the Authority to remedy de12 ficiencies, and any other recommendations of the Inspec13 tor General. 

Æ 


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