I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6336 

To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to ensure that certain education and workforce development benefits administered by the Secretary 

of Veterans Affairs are treated as income by landlords evaluating the 

ability of a servicemember, veteran, or a spouse or child of a servicemember or veteran, to pay rent, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 9, 2023 

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

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to ensure 

that certain education and workforce development benefits administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

are treated as income by landlords evaluating the ability 

of a servicemember, veteran, or a spouse or child of 

a servicemember or veteran, to pay rent, 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 ‘‘Protect Veteran Stu5 dents, Job Seekers, and Entrepreneurs Housing Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN DEPARTMENT OF VET2 ERANS AFFAIRS BENEFITS IN DETERMINING 

3 INCOME FOR PURPOSES OF ENTERING INTO 

4 RESIDENTIAL LEASES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Servicemembers 

6 Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. 3951 et seq.) is amended by 

7 adding at the end the following new section (and con8 forming the table of contents at the beginning of such Act 

9 accordingly): 

10 ‘‘SEC. 309. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN DEPARTMENT OF VET11 ERANS AFFAIRS BENEFITS IN DETERMINING 

12 INCOME FOR PURPOSES OF ENTERING INTO 

13 RESIDENTIAL LEASES. 

14 ‘‘(a) PROTECTION.—In determining whether a cov15 ered individual has an income sufficient to enter into a 

16 lease of premises for a residential purpose, the landlord 

17 (or other person with paramount title) of the premises 

18 shall treat any educational assistance received by the cov19 ered individual under any of chapter 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 

20 35, or 36 of title 38, United States Code, or chapter 1606 

21 or 1607 of title 10, United States Code, as income. 

22 ‘‘(b) LEASE PERIOD.—When entering into a lease of 

23 premises for a residential purpose with a covered indi24 vidual pursuant to subsection (a), the landlord (or other 

25 person with paramount title) shall guarantee that the pe26 riod of the lease does not exceed the number of months 


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1 of entitlement the individual has for the educational assist2 ance described in such subsection. 

3 ‘‘(c) PENALTIES.—(1) A landlord (or other person 

4 with paramount title) who knowingly takes an action con5 trary to this section, or attempts to do so, may not partici6 pate in a covered Federally assisted rental housing pro7 gram. 

8 ‘‘(2) A person who knowingly takes an action con9 trary to this section, or attempts to do so, shall be fined 

10 as provided in title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned 

11 for not more than one year, or both. 

12 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 ‘‘(1) The term ‘covered individual’ means a 

14 servicemember, veteran, or a spouse or child of a 

15 servicemember or veteran, who is entitled to edu16 cational assistance under chapter 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 

17 35, or 36 of title 38, United States Code, or chapter 

18 1606 or 1607 of title 10, United States Code. 

19 ‘‘(2) The term ‘covered Federally assisted rent20 al housing’ means a residential dwelling unit that is 

21 made available for rental and for which assistance is 

22 provided, or that is part of a housing project for 

23 which assistance is provided, under any program ad24 ministered by the Secretary of Housing and Urban 

25 Development, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 


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1 (other than stipends made in connection with edu2 cational assistance), the Secretary of Agriculture, or 

3 the Secretary of the Treasury, including— 

4 ‘‘(A) the public housing program under the 

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

6 1437 et seq.); 

7 ‘‘(B) the program for rental assistance 

8 under section 8 of the United States Housing 

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

10 ‘‘(C) the HOME Investment Partnerships 

11 program under title II of the Cranton-Gonzalez 

12 National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 

13 12721 et seq.); 

14 ‘‘(D) title IV of the McKinney-Vento 

15 Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11360 et 

16 seq.); 

17 ‘‘(E) housing assistance for homeless vet18 erans under section 2041 of title 38, United 

19 States Code; 

20 ‘‘(F) the Housing Trust Fund program 

21 under section 1338 of the Housing and Com22 munity Development Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 

23 4568); 


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1 ‘‘(G) the program for supportive housing 

2 for the elderly under section 202 of the Hous3 ing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q); 

4 ‘‘(H) the program for supportive housing 

5 for persons with disabilities under section 811 

6 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable 

7 Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013); 

8 ‘‘(I) the AIDS Housing Opportunities pro9 gram under subtitle D of title VIII of the Cran10 ston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act 

11 (42 U.S.C. 12901 et seq.); 

12 ‘‘(J) the program for Native American 

13 housing under the Native American Housing 

14 Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 

15 (25 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.); 

16 ‘‘(K) the program for housing assistance 

17 for Native Hawaiians under title VIII of the 

18 Native American Housing Assistance and Self19 Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4221 et 

20 seq.); 

21 ‘‘(L) the programs for assistance for rural 

22 rental housing under title V of the Housing Act 

23 of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1471 et seq.); and 


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1 ‘‘(M) the low-income housing tax credit 

2 program under section 42 of the Internal Rev3 enue Code.’’. 

4 (b) EXTENDED GRACE PERIOD TO MAINTAIN BENE5 FITS.—Chapter 36 of title 38, United States Code, is 

6 amended by adding at the end the following new section 

7 (and conforming the table of sections at the beginning of 

8 such chapter accordingly): 

9 ‘‘§ 3699C. Grace period for individuals to maintain 

10 benefits 

11 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.—If the Secretary determines 

12 that a covered individual is not eligible for educational as13 sistance described in subsection (b)(1) by reason of the 

14 covered individual failing to fulfill a single program re15 quirement, the Secretary may not terminate the individual 

16 from using such assistance until— 

17 ‘‘(1) the Secretary notifies the individual of 

18 such failure; and 

19 ‘‘(2) a period of 60 days has elapsed following 

20 such notification. 

21 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 ‘‘(1) The term ‘covered individual’ means an in23 dividual who is entitled to educational assistance 

24 under chapter 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, or 36 of this 

25 title or chapter 1606 or 1607 of title 10. 


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1 ‘‘(2) The term ‘program requirement’ means a 

2 requirement to participate in educational assistance 

3 described in paragraph (1) relating to any of the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(A) Missing a recertification appointment. 

6 ‘‘(B) Withdrawing from a class. 

7 ‘‘(C) With respect to a dependent, the 

8 death of the veteran. 

9 ‘‘(D) Loss of employment. 

10 ‘‘(E) Any other requirement the Secretary 

11 determines appropriate.’’. 

Æ 


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