I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1209 

To reform the housing choice voucher program under section 8 of the United 

States Housing Act of 1937. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 17, 2011 

Ms. WATERS (for herself, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. 

COHEN, and Mr. PIERLUISI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To reform the housing choice voucher program under section 

8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937. 

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 AND TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Section 8 Voucher Reform Act of 2011’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Inspection of dwelling units. 

Sec. 3. Rent reform and income reviews. 

Sec. 4. Eligibility for assistance based on assets and income. 

Sec. 5. Targeting assistance to low-income working families. 

Sec. 6. Voucher renewal funding. 


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Sec. 7. Administrative fees. 

Sec. 8. Homeownership. 

Sec. 9. PHA reporting of rent payments to credit reporting agencies. 

Sec. 10. Performance assessments. 

Sec. 11. PHA project-based assistance. 

Sec. 12. Rent burdens. 

Sec. 13. Establishment of fair market rent. 

Sec. 14. Screening of applicants. 

Sec. 15. Enhanced vouchers. 

Sec. 16. Demonstration program waiver authority. 

Sec. 17. Authorization of appropriations. 

Sec. 18. Agency authority for utility payments in certain circumstances. 

Sec. 19. Utility data. 

Sec. 20. Project-based preservation vouchers. 

Sec. 21. Effect of foreclosure on section 8 tenancies. 

Sec. 22. Study to identify obstacles to using vouchers in federally subsidized 

housing projects. 

Sec. 23. Interagency Council on Homelessness. 

Sec. 24. Study of effects of section 8 program on HUD budget and programs. 

Sec. 25. Housing innovation program. 

Sec. 26. Study of use of income databases to reduce subsidy errors. 

Sec. 27. Effective date. 

1 SEC. 2. INSPECTION OF DWELLING UNITS. 

2 Section 8(o)(8) of the United States Housing Act of 

3 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(8)) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting 

5 the following new subparagraph: 

6 ‘‘(A) INITIAL INSPECTION.— 

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For each dwelling 

8 unit for which a housing assistance pay9 ment contract is established under this 

10 subsection, the public housing agency (or 

11 other entity pursuant to paragraph (11)) 

12 shall inspect the unit before any assistance 

13 payment is made to determine whether the 

14 dwelling unit meets the housing quality 

15 standards under subparagraph (B), except 


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1 as provided in clause (ii) or (iii) of this 

2 subparagraph. 

3 ‘‘(ii) CORRECTION OF NON-LIFE

4 THREATENING CONDITIONS.—In the case 

5 of any dwelling unit that is determined, 

6 pursuant to an inspection under clause (i), 

7 not to meet the housing quality standards 

8 under subparagraph (B), assistance pay9 ments may be made for the unit notwith10 standing subparagraph (C) if failure to 

11 meet such standards is a result only of 

12 non-life threatening conditions, as such 

13 conditions are established by the Secretary. 

14 A public housing agency making assistance 

15 payments pursuant to this clause for a 

16 dwelling unit shall, 30 days after the be17 ginning of the period for which such pay18 ments are made, suspend any assistance 

19 payments for the unit if any deficiency re20 sulting in noncompliance with the housing 

21 quality standards has not been corrected 

22 by such time, and may not resume such 

23 payments until each such deficiency has 

24 been corrected. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) USE OF ALTERNATIVE INSPEC2 TION METHOD FOR INTERIM PERIOD.—In 

3 the case of any property that within the 

4 previous 12 months has met the require5 ments of an inspection that qualifies as an 

6 alternative inspection method pursuant to 

7 subparagraph (E), a public housing agency 

8 may authorize occupancy before the inspec9 tion under clause (i) has been completed, 

10 and may make assistance payments retro11 active to the beginning of the lease term 

12 after the unit has been determined pursu13 ant to an inspection under clause (i) to 

14 meet the housing quality standards under 

15 subparagraph (B).’’; 

16 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as sub17 paragraph (H); and 

18 (3) by striking subparagraph (D) and inserting 

19 the following new subparagraphs: 

20 ‘‘(D) BIENNIAL INSPECTIONS.— 

21 ‘‘(i) REQUIREMENT.—Each public 

22 housing agency providing assistance under 

23 this subsection (or other entity, as pro24 vided in paragraph (11)) shall, for each as25 sisted dwelling unit, make inspections not 


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1 less often than biennially during the term 

2 of the housing assistance payments con3 tract for the unit to determine whether the 

4 unit is maintained in accordance with the 

5 requirements under subparagraph (A). 

6 ‘‘(ii) USE OF ALTERNATIVE INSPEC7 TION METHOD.—The requirement under 

8 clause (i) may be complied with by use of 

9 inspections that qualify as an alternative 

10 inspection method pursuant to subpara11 graph (E). 

12 ‘‘(iii) RECORDS.—The agency (or 

13 other entity) shall retain the records of the 

14 inspection for a reasonable time and shall 

15 make the records available upon request to 

16 the Secretary, the Inspector General for 

17 the Department of Housing and Urban 

18 Development, and any auditor conducting 

19 an audit under section 5(h). 

20 ‘‘(E) ALTERNATIVE INSPECTION METH21 OD.—An inspection of a property shall qualify 

22 as an alternative inspection method for pur23 poses of this subparagraph if— 

24 ‘‘(i) the inspection was conducted pur25 suant to requirements under a Federal, 


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1 State, or local housing assistance program 

2 (including the HOME investment partner3 ships program under title II of the Cran4 ston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing 

5 Act (42 U.S.C. 12721 et seq.) and the low6 income housing tax credit program under 

7 section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

8 1986); and 

9 ‘‘(ii) pursuant to such inspection, the 

10 property was determined to meet the 

11 standards or requirements regarding hous12 ing quality or safety applicable to units as13 sisted under such program, and, if a non14 Federal standard was used, the public 

15 housing agency has certified to the Sec16 retary that such standards or requirements 

17 provide the same protection to occupants 

18 of dwelling units meeting such standards 

19 or requirements as, or greater protection 

20 than, the housing quality standards under 

21 subparagraph (B). 

22 ‘‘(F) INTERIM INSPECTIONS.—Upon notifi23 cation to the public housing agency, by a family 

24 on whose behalf tenant-based rental assistance 

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1 ernment official, that the dwelling unit for 

2 which such assistance is provided does not com3 ply with the housing quality standards under 

4 subparagraph (B), the agency shall inspect the 

5 dwelling unit— 

6 ‘‘(i) in the case of any condition that 

7 is life-threatening, within 24 hours after 

8 receipt of such notice; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) in the case of any condition that 

10 is not life-threatening, within 15 days after 

11 receipt of such notice. 

12 ‘‘(G) ENFORCEMENT OF HOUSING QUALITY

13 STANDARDS.— 

14 ‘‘(i) DETERMINATION OF NONCOMPLI15 ANCE.—A dwelling unit that is covered by 

16 a housing assistance payments contract 

17 under this subsection shall be considered, 

18 for purposes of subparagraphs (D) and 

19 (F), to be in noncompliance with the hous20 ing quality standards under subparagraph 

21 (B) if— 

22 ‘‘(I) the public housing agency or 

23 an inspector authorized by the State 

24 or unit of local government deter25 mines upon inspection of the unit that 


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1 the unit fails to comply with such 

2 standards; 

3 ‘‘(II) the agency or inspector no4 tifies the owner of the unit in writing 

5 of such failure to comply; and 

6 ‘‘(III) the failure to comply is not 

7 corrected— 

8 ‘‘(aa) in the case of any 

9 such failure that is a result of 

10 life-threatening conditions, within 

11 24 hours after such notice has 

12 been provided; and 

13 ‘‘(bb) in the case of any 

14 such failure that is a result of 

15 non-life threatening conditions, 

16 within 30 days after such notice 

17 has been provided or such other 

18 reasonable longer period as the 

19 public housing agency may estab20 lish. 

21 ‘‘(ii) WITHHOLDING OF ASSISTANCE

22 AMOUNTS DURING CORRECTION.—The 

23 public housing agency may withhold assist24 ance amounts under this subsection with 

25 respect to a dwelling unit that does not 


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1 comply with housing quality standards 

2 under subparagraph (B) as determined 

3 pursuant to an inspection conducted under 

4 subparagraph (D) or (F). If the unit is 

5 brought into compliance with such housing 

6 quality standards during the periods re7 ferred to in clause (i)(III), the public hous8 ing agency shall recommence assistance 

9 payments and may use any amounts with10 held during the correction period to make 

11 assistance payments relating to the period 

12 during which payments were withheld. 

13 ‘‘(iii) ABATEMENT OF ASSISTANCE

14 AMOUNTS.—The public housing agency 

15 shall abate all of the assistance amounts 

16 under this subsection with respect to a 

17 dwelling unit that is determined, pursuant 

18 to clause (i) of this subparagraph, to be in 

19 noncompliance with housing quality stand20 ards under subparagraph (B). Upon com21 pletion of repairs by the public housing 

22 agency or the owner sufficient so that the 

23 dwelling unit complies with such housing 

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1 ance payments contract to the owner of the 

2 dwelling unit. 

3 ‘‘(iv) USE OF ABATED ASSISTANCE TO

4 PAY FOR REPAIRS.— 

5 ‘‘(I) AUTHORITY.—The public 

6 housing agency may use such amounts 

7 abated to make repairs to the dwelling 

8 unit or to contract to have repairs 

9 made, except that a contract to make 

10 repairs may not be entered into with 

11 the inspector for the dwelling unit re12 ferred to in clause (i)(I). 

13 ‘‘(II) ABATED FUNDS.—For pur14 poses of this clause, abated amounts 

15 may include amounts withheld during 

16 the correction period described in 

17 clause (ii) of this subparagraph with 

18 respect to a dwelling unit that is sub19 sequently determined under clause (i) 

20 to be in noncompliance with housing 

21 quality standards. 

22 ‘‘(III) LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

23 OF PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCIES.—A 

24 public housing agency that uses its 

25 authority under this clause shall not, 


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1 if the agency accomplishes the work 

2 through a contractor that is licensed, 

3 bonded, and insured in amounts and 

4 with coverage as required by the Sec5 retary, be liable for any injury or 

6 damages that may result to persons or 

7 to any property owned by the tenant 

8 or owner. 

9 ‘‘(v) NOTIFICATION.—If a public 

10 housing agency providing assistance under 

11 this subsection abates rental assistance 

12 payments pursuant to clause (iii) with re13 spect to a dwelling unit, the agency shall, 

14 upon commencement of such abatement— 

15 ‘‘(I) notify the tenant and the 

16 owner of the dwelling unit that— 

17 ‘‘(aa) such abatement has 

18 commenced; and 

19 ‘‘(bb) if the dwelling unit is 

20 not brought into compliance with 

21 housing quality standards within 

22 60 days after the effective date of 

23 the determination of noncompli24 ance under clause (i) or such rea25 sonable longer period as the 


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1 agency may establish, the tenant 

2 will have to move; and 

3 ‘‘(II) issue the tenant the nec4 essary forms to allow the tenant to 

5 move to another dwelling unit and 

6 transfer the rental assistance to that 

7 unit. 

8 ‘‘(vi) PROTECTION OF TENANTS.—An 

9 owner of a dwelling unit may not terminate 

10 the tenancy of any tenant because of the 

11 withholding or abatement of assistance 

12 pursuant to this subparagraph. During the 

13 period that assistance is abated pursuant 

14 to this subparagraph, the tenant may ter15 minate the tenancy by notifying the owner. 

16 ‘‘(vii) TERMINATION OF LEASE OR AS17 SISTANCE PAYMENTS CONTRACT.—If as18 sistance amounts under this section for a 

19 dwelling unit are abated pursuant to clause 

20 (iii) and the owner does not correct the 

21 noncompliance within 60 days after the ef22 fective date of the determination of non23 compliance under clause (i), or such other 

24 reasonable longer period as the public 

25 housing agency may establish, and the 


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1 agency does not use its authority under 

2 clause (iv), the agency shall terminate the 

3 housing assistance payments contract for 

4 the dwelling unit. 

5 ‘‘(viii) RELOCATION.— 

6 ‘‘(I) LEASE OF NEW UNIT.—The 

7 agency shall provide the family resid8 ing in such a dwelling unit a period of 

9 90 days or such longer period as is 

10 necessary to lease a new unit, begin11 ning upon termination of the contract, 

12 to lease a new residence with tenant13 based rental assistance under this sec14 tion. 

15 ‘‘(II) AVAILABILITY OF PUBLIC

16 HOUSING UNITS.—If the family is un17 able to lease such a new residence 

18 during such period, the public housing 

19 agency shall, at the option of the fam20 ily, provide such family a preference 

21 for occupancy in a dwelling unit of 

22 public housing that is owned or oper23 ated by the agency that first becomes 

24 available for occupancy after the expi25 ration of such period. 


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1 ‘‘(III) ASSISTANCE IN FINDING

2 UNIT.—The public housing agency 

3 shall provide reasonable assistance to 

4 the family in finding a new residence, 

5 including use of up to two months of 

6 any assistance amounts abated pursu7 ant to clause (iii) for costs directly as8 sociated with relocation of the family 

9 to a new residence, which may include 

10 moving expenses and security depos11 its. The agency may require that a 

12 family receiving assistance for a secu13 rity deposit shall remit, to the extent 

14 of such assistance, the amount of any 

15 security deposit refunds made by the 

16 owner of the dwelling unit for which 

17 the lease was terminated. 

18 ‘‘(ix) TENANT-CAUSED DAMAGES.—If 

19 a public housing agency determines that 

20 any damage to a dwelling unit that results 

21 in a failure of the dwelling unit to comply 

22 with housing quality standards under sub23 paragraph (B), other than any damage re24 sulting from ordinary use, was caused by 

25 the tenant, any member of the tenant’s 


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1 household, or any guest or other person 

2 under the tenant’s control, the agency may 

3 waive the applicability of this subpara4 graph, except that this clause shall not ex5 onerate a tenant from any liability other6 wise existing under applicable law for dam7 ages to the premises caused by such ten8 ant. 

9 ‘‘(x) APPLICABILITY.—This subpara10 graph shall apply to any dwelling unit for 

11 which a housing assistance payments con12 tract is entered into or renewed after the 

13 date of the effectiveness of the regulations 

14 implementing this subparagraph.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. RENT REFORM AND INCOME REVIEWS. 

16 (a) RENT FOR PUBLIC HOUSING AND SECTION 8 

17 PROGRAMS.—Section 3 of the United States Housing Act 

18 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a) is amended— 

19 (1) in subsection (a)— 

20 (A) in paragraph (1) by inserting ‘‘LOW21 INCOME OCCUPANCY REQUIREMENT AND RENT22 AL PAYMENTS.—’’ after ‘‘(1)’’; 

23 (B) in paragraph (1)— 

24 (i) by striking ‘‘paragraph (2)’’ and 

25 inserting ‘‘paragraphs (2) and (3)’’; and 


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1 (ii) by striking ‘‘paragraph (3)’’ and 

2 inserting ‘‘paragraph (4)’’; 

3 (C) in paragraph (2)(A)(i), by striking 

4 ‘‘paragraph (3)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph 

5 (4)’’; 

6 (D) by redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), 

7 and (5) as paragraphs (4), (5), and (6), respec8 tively; 

9 (E) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

10 following new paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(3) PHA AUTHORITY TO ESTABLISH ALTER12 NATIVE RENTS.— 

13 ‘‘(A) RENT FLEXIBILITY FOR PUBLIC

14 HOUSING.—Subject to the requirements under 

15 subparagraph (B), a public housing agency may 

16 establish for public housing— 

17 ‘‘(i) a tenant rent structure in 

18 which— 

19 ‘‘(I) the public housing agency 

20 establishes, based on the rental value 

21 of the unit, as determined by the pub22 lic housing agency, a ceiling rent for 

23 each dwelling unit that it owns and 

24 operates; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) such ceiling rent is adjusted 

2 periodically on the basis of an infla3 tion index or a recalculation of the 

4 rental value of the unit (which may be 

5 recalculated by unit or by building); 

6 ‘‘(ii) an income-tiered tenant rent 

7 structure in which the amount of rent a 

8 family shall pay is set and distributed on 

9 the basis of broad tiers of income and such 

10 tiers and rents are adjusted on the basis of 

11 an annual cost index except that families 

12 shall not be offered a rent lower than the 

13 rent corresponding to their income tier; or 

14 ‘‘(iii) a tenant rent structure in which 

15 the amount of rent a family shall pay is 

16 based on a percentage of family income, 

17 except that lower percentages may apply 

18 only with respect to earned income; such a 

19 rent structure may provide for an amount 

20 of rent based on a calculation of earned in21 come that provides for disregard of a high22 er percentage or higher dollar amount, or 

23 both, than provided for in paragraph 

24 (8)(B). 


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1 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding the 

2 authority provided under subparagraph (A), the 

3 amount paid for rent (including the amount al4 lowed for tenant-paid utilities) by any family 

5 for a dwelling unit in public housing may not 

6 exceed the amount determined under subsection 

7 (a)(1) of this section. The Secretary shall issue 

8 regulations and establish procedures for public 

9 housing agency calculations and documentation 

10 as are necessary to ensure compliance with this 

11 subparagraph. 

12 ‘‘(C) ELDERLY FAMILIES AND DISABLED

13 FAMILIES.—Notwithstanding any other provi14 sion of this Act, this paragraph shall not apply 

15 to elderly families and disabled families.’’; and 

16 (F) by adding at the end the following new 

17 paragraphs: 

18 ‘‘(7) REVIEWS OF FAMILY INCOME.— 

19 ‘‘(A) FREQUENCY.—Reviews of family in20 come for purposes of this section shall be 

21 made— 

22 ‘‘(i) in the case of all families, upon 

23 the initial provision of housing assistance 

24 for the family; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) annually thereafter, except as 

2 provided in subparagraph (B)(i); 

3 ‘‘(iii) upon the request of the family, 

4 at any time the income or deductions 

5 (under subsection (b)(5)) of the family 

6 change by an amount that is estimated to 

7 result in a decrease of $1,200 (or such 

8 lower amount as the public housing agency 

9 or owner may, at the option of the agency 

10 or owner, establish) or more in annual ad11 justed income; and 

12 ‘‘(iv) at any time the income or deduc13 tions (under subsection (b)(5)) of the fam14 ily change by an amount that is estimated 

15 to result in an increase of $1,200 or more 

16 in annual adjusted income, except that any 

17 increase in the earned income of a family 

18 shall not be considered for purposes of this 

19 clause (except that earned income may be 

20 considered if the increase corresponds to 

21 previous decreases under clause (iii)), ex22 cept that a public housing agency or owner 

23 may elect not to conduct such review in the 

24 last three months of a certification period. 

25 ‘‘(B) FIXED-INCOME FAMILIES.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) SELF CERTIFICATION AND 3-YEAR

2 REVIEW.—In the case of any family de3 scribed in clause (ii), after the initial re4 view of the family’s income pursuant to 

5 subparagraph (A)(i), the public housing 

6 agency or owner shall not be required to 

7 conduct a review of the family’s income 

8 pursuant to subparagraph (A)(ii) for any 

9 year for which such family certifies, in ac10 cordance with such requirements as the 

11 Secretary shall establish, that the income 

12 of the family meets the requirements of 

13 clause (ii) of this subparagraph and that 

14 the sources of such income have not 

15 changed since the previous year, except 

16 that the public housing agency or owner 

17 shall conduct a review of each such fam18 ily’s income not less than once every 3 

19 years. 

20 ‘‘(ii) ELIGIBLE FAMILIES.—A family 

21 described in this clause is a family who has 

22 an income, as of the most recent review 

23 pursuant to subparagraph (A) or clause (i) 

24 of this subparagraph, of which 90 percent 


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1 or more consists of fixed income, as such 

2 term is defined in clause (iii). 

3 ‘‘(iii) FIXED INCOME.—For purposes 

4 of this subparagraph, the term ‘fixed in5 come’ includes income from— 

6 ‘‘(I) the supplemental security in7 come program under title XVI of the 

8 Social Security Act, including supple9 mentary payments pursuant to an 

10 agreement for Federal administration 

11 under section 1616(a) of the Social 

12 Security Act and payments pursuant 

13 to an agreement entered into under 

14 section 212(b) of Public Law 93–66; 

15 ‘‘(II) Social Security payments; 

16 ‘‘(III) Federal, State, local and 

17 private pension plans; and 

18 ‘‘(IV) other periodic payments re19 ceived from annuities, insurance poli20 cies, retirement funds, disability or 

21 death benefits, and other similar types 

22 of periodic receipts that are of sub23 stantially the same amounts from year 

24 to year. 


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1 ‘‘(C) IN GENERAL.—Reviews of family in2 come for purposes of this section shall be sub3 ject to the provisions of section 904 of the 

4 Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance 

5 Amendments Act of 1988. 

6 ‘‘(8) CALCULATION OF INCOME.— 

7 ‘‘(A) USE OF CURRENT YEAR INCOME.—In 

8 determining family income for initial occupancy 

9 or provision of housing assistance pursuant to 

10 clause (i) of paragraph (7)(A) or pursuant to 

11 reviews pursuant to clause (iii) or (iv) of such 

12 paragraph, a public housing agency or owner 

13 shall use the income of the family as estimated 

14 by the agency or owner for the upcoming year. 

15 ‘‘(B) USE OF PRIOR YEAR INCOME.—In 

16 determining family income for annual reviews 

17 pursuant to paragraph (7)(A)(ii), a public hous18 ing agency or owner shall, except as otherwise 

19 provided in this paragraph, use the income of 

20 the family as determined by the agency or 

21 owner for the preceding year, taking into con22 sideration any redetermination of income during 

23 such prior year pursuant to clause (iii) or (iv) 

24 of paragraph (7)(A). 


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1 ‘‘(C) INFLATIONARY ADJUSTMENT FOR

2 FIXED INCOME FAMILIES.— 

3 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In any year in 

4 which a public housing agency or owner 

5 does not conduct a review of income for 

6 any family described in clause (ii) of para7 graph (7)(B) pursuant to the authority 

8 under clause (i) of such paragraph to 

9 waive such a review, such family’s prior 

10 year’s income determination shall, subject 

11 to clauses (ii) and (iii), be adjusted by ap12 plying an inflationary factor as the Sec13 retary shall, by regulation, establish. 

14 ‘‘(ii) EXEMPTION FROM ADJUST15 MENT.—A public housing agency or owner 

16 may exempt from an adjustment pursuant 

17 to clause (i) any income source for which 

18 income does not increase from year to 

19 year. 

20 ‘‘(iii) APPLICABILITY OF INFLA21 TIONARY FACTOR.—The inflationary factor 

22 adjustment referred to in clause (i) shall 

23 not be made with respect to the first year 

24 after the year in which housing is occupied 


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1 or housing assistance is initially provided 

2 for a family. 

3 ‘‘(D) OTHER INCOME.—In determining the 

4 income for any family based on the prior year’s 

5 income, with respect to prior year calculations 

6 of income not subject to subparagraph (B), a 

7 public housing agency or owner may make other 

8 adjustments as it considers appropriate to re9 flect current income. 

10 ‘‘(E) SAFE HARBOR.—A public housing 

11 agency or owner may, to the extent such infor12 mation is available to the public housing agency 

13 or owner, determine the family’s income prior 

14 to the application of any deductions based on 

15 timely income determinations made for pur16 poses of other means-tested Federal public as17 sistance programs (including the program for 

18 block grants to States for temporary assistance 

19 for needy families under part A of title IV of 

20 the Social Security Act, a program for Medicaid 

21 assistance under a State plan approved under 

22 title XIX of the Social Security Act, and the 

23 food stamp program as defined in section 3(h) 

24 of the Food Stamp Act of 1977). The Secretary 

25 shall, in consultation with other appropriate 


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1 Federal agencies, develop procedures to enable 

2 public housing agencies and owners to have ac3 cess to such income determinations made by 

4 other means-tested Federal programs that the 

5 Secretary determines to have comparable reli6 ability. Exchanges of such information shall be 

7 subject to the same limitations and tenant pro8 tections provided under section 904 of the 

9 Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act 

10 Amendments of 1988 (42 U.S.C. 3544) with re11 spect to information obtained under the require12 ments of section 303(i) of the Social Security 

13 Act (42 U.S.C. 503(i)). 

14 ‘‘(F) PHA AND OWNER COMPLIANCE.—A 

15 public housing agency or owner may not be con16 sidered to fail to comply with this paragraph or 

17 paragraph (7) due solely to any de minimis er18 rors made by the agency or owner in calculating 

19 family incomes.’’; 

20 (2) by striking subsections (d) and (e); and 

21 (3) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub22 section (d). 

23 (b) INCOME.—Section 3(b) of the United States 

24 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the 

2 following new paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(4) INCOME.—The term ‘income’ means, with 

4 respect to a family, income received from all sources 

5 by each member of the household who is 18 years 

6 of age or older or is the head of household or spouse 

7 of the head of the household, plus unearned income 

8 by or on behalf of each dependent who is less than 

9 18 years of age, as determined in accordance with 

10 criteria prescribed by the Secretary, in consultation 

11 with the Secretary of Agriculture, subject to the fol12 lowing requirements: 

13 ‘‘(A) INCLUDED AMOUNTS.—Such term in14 cludes recurring gifts and receipts, actual in15 come from assets, and profit or loss from a 

16 business. 

17 ‘‘(B) EXCLUDED AMOUNTS.—Such term 

18 does not include— 

19 ‘‘(i) any imputed return on assets; 

20 ‘‘(ii) any amounts that would be eligi21 ble for exclusion under section 1613(a)(7) 

22 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

23 1382b(a)(7)); and 

24 ‘‘(iii) deferred disability benefits from 

25 the Department of Veterans Affairs that 


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1 are received in a lump sum amount or in 

2 prospective monthly amounts. 

3 ‘‘(C) EARNED INCOME OF STUDENTS.— 

4 Such term does not include earned income of 

5 any dependent earned during any period that 

6 such dependent is attending school or vocational 

7 training on a full-time basis or any grant-in-aid 

8 or scholarship amounts related to such attend9 ance used for the cost of tuition or books. 

10 ‘‘(D) EDUCATIONAL SAVINGS ACCOUNTS.— 

11 Income shall be determined without regard to 

12 any amounts in or from, or any benefits from, 

13 any Coverdell education savings account under 

14 section 530 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

15 1986 or any qualified tuition program under 

16 section 529 of such Code. 

17 ‘‘(E) OTHER EXCLUSIONS.—Such term 

18 shall not include other exclusions from income 

19 as are established by the Secretary or any 

20 amount required by Federal law to be excluded 

21 from consideration as income. The Secretary 

22 may not require a public housing agency or 

23 owner to maintain records of any amounts ex24 cluded from income pursuant to this subpara25 graph.’’; and 


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1 (2) by striking paragraph (5) and inserting the 

2 following new paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(5) ADJUSTED INCOME.—The term ‘adjusted 

4 income’ means, with respect to a family, the amount 

5 (as determined by the public housing agency or 

6 owner) of the income of the members of the family 

7 residing in a dwelling unit or the persons on a lease, 

8 after any deductions from income as follows: 

9 ‘‘(A) EARNED INCOME DISREGARD.—An 

10 amount equal to 10 percent of the lesser of— 

11 ‘‘(i) the family’s earned income; or 

12 ‘‘(ii) $9,000, except that such amount 

13 shall be adjusted annually by applying to 

14 such amount (as it may have been pre15 viously adjusted) an inflationary factor as 

16 the Secretary shall, by regulation, establish 

17 and except that for purposes of adjusted 

18 income determinations each year such 

19 amount shall be established by rounding 

20 the amount calculated down to the next 

21 lowest multiple of $1,000. 

22 The deduction under this subparagraph shall 

23 not be considered in determining adjusted in24 come for the purposes of section 16 (relating to 

25 eligibility for assisted housing and income mix). 


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1 ‘‘(B) ELDERLY AND DISABLED FAMI2 LIES.—$725 in the case of any family that is 

3 an elderly family or a disabled family. 

4 ‘‘(C) DEPENDENTS.—In the case of any 

5 family that includes a member or members 

6 who— 

7 ‘‘(i) are less than 18 years of age or 

8 attending school or vocational training on 

9 a full-time basis; or 

10 ‘‘(ii) is a person with disabilities who 

11 is 18 years of age or older and resides in 

12 the household, 

13 $500 for each such member. 

14 ‘‘(D) CHILD CARE.—The amount, if any, 

15 that exceeds 10 percent of annual family in16 come that is used to pay for unreimbursed child 

17 care expenses, which shall include child care for 

18 preschool-age children, for before- and after19 care for children in school, and for other child 

20 care necessary to enable a member of the family 

21 to be employed or further his or her education. 

22 ‘‘(E) HEALTH AND MEDICAL EXPENSES.— 

23 The amount, if any, by which 10 percent of an24 nual family income is exceeded by the sum of— 


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1 ‘‘(i) in the case of any elderly or dis2 abled family, any unreimbursed health and 

3 medical care expenses; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) any unreimbursed reasonable at5 tendant care and auxiliary apparatus ex6 penses for each handicapped member of 

7 the family, to the extent necessary to en8 able any member of such family to be em9 ployed. 

10 ‘‘(F) PERMISSIVE DEDUCTIONS.—Such ad11 ditional deductions as a public housing agency 

12 may, at its discretion, establish, except that the 

13 Secretary shall establish procedures to ensure 

14 that such deductions do not materially increase 

15 Federal expenditures. 

16 The Secretary shall annually calculate the amounts 

17 of the deductions under subparagraphs (B) and (C), 

18 as such amounts may have been previously cal19 culated, by applying an inflationary factor as the 

20 Secretary shall, by regulation, establish, except that 

21 the actual deduction determined for each year shall 

22 be established by rounding such amount to the next 

23 lowest multiple of $25.’’. 


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1 (c) HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER PROGRAM.—Para2 graph (5) of section 8(o) of the United States Housing 

3 Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(5)) is amended— 

4 (1) in the paragraph heading, by striking ‘‘AN5 NUAL REVIEW’’ and inserting ‘‘REVIEWS’’; 

6 (2) in subparagraph (A)— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘the provisions of’’ and in8 serting ‘‘paragraphs (7) and (8) of section 3(a) 

9 and to’’; and 

10 (B) by striking ‘‘and shall be conducted 

11 upon the initial provision of housing assistance 

12 for the family and thereafter not less than an13 nually’’; and 

14 (3) in subparagraph (B), by striking the second 

15 sentence. 

16 (d) ENHANCED VOUCHER PROGRAM.—Section 

17 8(t)(1)(D) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 

18 U.S.C. 1437f(t)(1)(D)) is amended by striking ‘‘income’’ 

19 each place such term appears and inserting ‘‘annual ad20 justed income’’. 

21 (e) PROJECT-BASED HOUSING.—Paragraph (3) of 

22 section 8(c) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 

23 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(c)(3)) is amended by striking the last 

24 sentence. 

25 (f) IMPACT ON PUBLIC HOUSING REVENUES.— 


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1 (1) ADJUSTMENTS TO OPERATING FORMULA.— 

2 If the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 

3 determines that the application of the amendments 

4 made by this section results in a material and dis5 proportionate reduction in the rental income of cer6 tain public housing agencies during the first year in 

7 which the amendments made by this section are im8 plemented, the Secretary may make appropriate ad9 justments in the formula income for such year of 

10 those agencies experiencing such a reduction. 

11 (2) HUD REPORTS ON REVENUE AND COST IM12 PACT.—In each of the first two years after the first 

13 year in which the amendments made by this section 

14 are implemented, the Secretary of Housing and 

15 Urban Development shall submit a report to Con16 gress identifying and calculating the impact of 

17 changes made by the amendments made by this sec18 tion and sections 4 and 5 of this Act on the revenues 

19 and costs of operating public housing units, the 

20 voucher program for rental assistance under section 

21 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937, and 

22 the program under such section 8 for project-based 

23 rental assistance. If such report identifies a material 

24 reduction in the net income of public housing agen25 cies nationwide or a material increase in the costs of 


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1 funding the voucher program or the project-based 

2 assistance program, the Secretary shall include in 

3 such report recommendations for legislative changes 

4 to reduce or eliminate such a reduction. 

5 (g) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

6 this section shall take effect during the first calendar year 

7 after regulations or notice has been adopted to implement 

8 such amendments, except that the Secretary may delay 

9 such effective date by one year upon a determination that 

10 such delay is necessary for public housing agencies and 

11 owners to make the necessary changes to comply with such 

12 amendments. 

13 SEC. 4. ELIGIBILITY FOR ASSISTANCE BASED ON ASSETS 

14 AND INCOME. 

15 (a) ASSETS.—Section 16 of the United States Hous16 ing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437n) is amended by insert17 ing after subsection (d) the following new subsection: 

18 ‘‘(e) ELIGIBILITY FOR ASSISTANCE BASED ON AS19 SETS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) LIMITATION ON ASSETS.—Subject to para21 graph (3) and notwithstanding any other provision 

22 of this Act, a dwelling unit assisted under this Act 

23 may not be rented and assistance under this Act 

24 may not be provided, either initially or at each recer25 tification of family income, to any family— 


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1 ‘‘(A) whose net family assets exceed 

2 $100,000, as such amount is adjusted annually 

3 by applying an inflationary factor as the Sec4 retary considers appropriate; or 

5 ‘‘(B) who has a present ownership interest 

6 in, a legal right to reside in, and the effective 

7 legal authority to sell, real property that is suit8 able for occupancy as a residence, except that 

9 the prohibition under this subparagraph shall 

10 not apply to— 

11 ‘‘(i) any property for which the family 

12 is receiving assistance under this Act; 

13 ‘‘(ii) any person that is a victim of do14 mestic violence; or 

15 ‘‘(iii) any family that is offering such 

16 property for sale. 

17 ‘‘(2) NET FAMILY ASSETS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this 

19 subsection, the term ‘net family assets’ means, 

20 for all members of the household, the net cash 

21 value of all assets after deducting reasonable 

22 costs that would be incurred in disposing of real 

23 property, savings, stocks, bonds, and other 

24 forms of capital investment. Such term does not 

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1 counts in homeownership programs of the De2 partment of Housing and Urban Development, 

3 or Family Self Sufficiency accounts. 

4 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSIONS.—Such term does not 

5 include— 

6 ‘‘(i) the value of personal property, ex7 cept for items of personal property of sig8 nificant value, as the Secretary may estab9 lish or the public housing agency may de10 termine; 

11 ‘‘(ii) the value of any retirement ac12 count; 

13 ‘‘(iii) real property for which the fam14 ily does not have the effective legal author15 ity necessary to sell such property; 

16 ‘‘(iv) any amounts recovered in any 

17 civil action or settlement based on a claim 

18 of malpractice, negligence, or other breach 

19 of duty owed to a member of the family 

20 and arising out of law, that resulted in a 

21 member of the family being disabled; 

22 ‘‘(v) the value of any Coverdell edu23 cation savings account under section 530 

24 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or 


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1 any qualified tuition program under sec2 tion 529 of such Code; and 

3 ‘‘(vi) such other exclusions as the Sec4 retary may establish. 

5 ‘‘(C) TRUST FUNDS.—In cases in which a 

6 trust fund has been established and the trust is 

7 not revocable by, or under the control of, any 

8 member of the family or household, the value of 

9 the trust fund shall not be considered an asset 

10 of a family if the fund continues to be held in 

11 trust. Any income distributed from the trust 

12 fund shall be considered income for purposes of 

13 section 3(b) and any calculations of annual 

14 family income, except in the case of medical ex15 penses for a minor. 

16 ‘‘(3) SELF-CERTIFICATION.— 

17 ‘‘(A) NET FAMILY ASSETS.—A public 

18 housing agency or owner may determine the net 

19 assets of a family, for purposes of this section, 

20 based on a certification by the family that the 

21 net assets of such family do not exceed 

22 $50,000. 

23 ‘‘(B) NO CURRENT REAL PROPERTY OWN24 ERSHIP.—A public housing agency or owner 

25 may determine compliance with paragraph 


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1 (1)(B) based on a certification by the family 

2 that such family does not have any current 

3 ownership interest in any real property at the 

4 time the agency or owner reviews the family’s 

5 income. 

6 ‘‘(C) STANDARDIZED FORMS.—The Sec7 retary may develop standardized forms for the 

8 certifications referred to in subparagraphs (A) 

9 and (B). 

10 ‘‘(4) COMPLIANCE FOR PUBLIC HOUSING

11 DWELLING UNITS.—When recertifying family income 

12 with respect to families residing in public housing 

13 dwelling units, a public housing agency may, in the 

14 discretion of the agency and only pursuant to a pol15 icy that is set forth in the public housing agency 

16 plan under section 5A for the agency, choose not to 

17 enforce the limitation under paragraph (1). 

18 ‘‘(5) ELDERLY AND DISABLED FAMILIES.— 

19 When recertifying the income of an elderly or dis20 abled family residing in a dwelling unit assisted 

21 under this Act, a public housing agency or owner 

22 may choose not to enforce the limitation under para23 graph (1) or may establish exceptions to such limita24 tion based on eligibility criteria, but only pursuant 

25 to a policy that is set forth in the public housing 


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1 agency plan under section 5A for the agency or 

2 under a policy adopted by the owner. Eligibility cri3 teria for establishing exceptions may provide for sep4 arate treatment for elderly and disabled families and 

5 may be based on different factors, such as age, in6 come, the ability of the family to find suitable alter7 native housing, and whether supportive services are 

8 being provided. 

9 ‘‘(6) AUTHORITY TO DELAY EVICTIONS.—In the 

10 case of a family residing in a dwelling unit assisted 

11 under this Act who does not comply with the limita12 tion under paragraph (1), the public housing agency 

13 or project owner may delay eviction or termination 

14 of the family based on such noncompliance for a pe15 riod of not more than 6 months.’’. 

16 (b) INCOME.—The United States Housing Act of 

17 1937 is amended— 

18 (1) in section 3(a)(1) (42 U.S.C. 1437a(a)(1)), 

19 by striking the first sentence and inserting the fol20 lowing: ‘‘Dwelling units assisted under this Act may 

21 be rented, and assistance under this Act may be pro22 vided, whether initially or at time of recertification, 

23 only to families who are low-income families at the 

24 time such initial or continued assistance, respec25 tively, is provided, except that families residing in 


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1 dwelling units as of the date of the enactment of the 

2 Section 8 Voucher Reform Act of 2011 that, under 

3 agreements in effect on such date of enactment, may 

4 have incomes up to 95 percent of local area median 

5 income shall continue to be eligible for assistance at 

6 recertification as long as they continue to comply 

7 with such income restrictions. When recertifying 

8 family income with respect to families residing in 

9 public housing dwelling units, a public housing agen10 cy may, in the discretion of the agency and only pur11 suant to a policy that is set forth in the public hous12 ing agency plan under section 5A for the agency, 

13 choose not to enforce the prohibition under the pre14 ceding sentence. When recertifying family income 

15 with respect to families residing in dwelling units for 

16 which project-based assistance is provided, a project 

17 owner may, in the owner’s discretion and only pur18 suant to a policy adopted by such owner, choose not 

19 to enforce such prohibition. In the case of a family 

20 residing in a dwelling unit assisted under this Act 

21 who does not meet the requirements under the first 

22 sentence of this paragraph or the requirements 

23 under section 8(o)(4), the public housing agency or 

24 project owner may delay eviction or termination of 


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1 the family based on such noncompliance for a period 

2 of not more than 6 months.’’; 

3 (2) in section 8(o)(4) (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(4)), 

4 by striking the matter preceding subparagraph (A) 

5 and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE FAMILIES.—Assistance under 

7 this subsection may be provided, whether initially or 

8 at each recertification, only pursuant to subsection 

9 (t) to a family eligible for assistance under such sub10 section or to a family who at the time of such initial 

11 or continued assistance, respectively, is a low-income 

12 family that is—’’; and 

13 (3) in section 8(c)(4) (42 U.S.C. 1437f(c)(4)), 

14 by striking ‘‘at the time it initially occupied such 

15 dwelling unit’’ and inserting ‘‘according to the re16 strictions under section 3(a)(1)’’. 

17 SEC. 5. TARGETING ASSISTANCE TO LOW-INCOME WORK18 ING FAMILIES. 

19 (a) VOUCHERS.—Section 16(b)(1) of the United 

20 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437n(b)(1)) is 

21 amended— 

22 (1) by inserting after ‘‘do not exceed’’ the fol23 lowing: ‘‘the higher of (A) the poverty line (as such 

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1 cluding any revision required by such section) appli2 cable to a family of the size involved, or (B)’’; and 

3 (2) by inserting before the period at the end the 

4 following: ‘‘; and except that clause (A) of this sen5 tence shall not apply in the case of public housing 

6 agencies located in Puerto Rico or any other terri7 tory or possession of the United States’’. 

8 (b) PUBLIC HOUSING.—Section 16(a)(2)(A) of the 

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

10 1437n(a)(2)(A)) is amended— 

11 (1) by inserting after ‘‘do not exceed’’ the fol12 lowing: ‘‘the higher of (i) the poverty line (as such 

13 term is defined in section 673 of the Omnibus Budg14 et Reconciliation Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 9902), in15 cluding any revision required by such section) appli16 cable to a family of the size involved, or (ii)’’; and 

17 (2) by inserting before the period at the end the 

18 following: ‘‘; and except that clause (i) of this sen19 tence shall not apply in the case of projects located 

20 in Puerto Rico or any other territory or possession 

21 of the United States’’. 

22 (c) PROJECT-BASED SECTION 8 ASSISTANCE.—Sec23 tion 16(c)(3) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 

24 (42 U.S.C. 1437n(c)(3)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by inserting after ‘‘do not exceed’’ the fol2 lowing: ‘‘the higher of (A) the poverty line (as such 

3 term is defined in section 673 of the Omnibus Budg4 et Reconciliation Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 9902), in5 cluding any revision required by such section) appli6 cable to a family of the size involved, or (B)’’; and 

7 (2) by inserting before the period at the end the 

8 following: ‘‘; and except that clause (A) of this sen9 tence shall not apply in the case of projects located 

10 in Puerto Rico or any other territory or possession 

11 of the United States’’. 

12 SEC. 6. VOUCHER RENEWAL FUNDING. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8 of the United States 

14 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f) is amended by 

15 striking subsection (dd) and inserting the following new 

16 subsection: 

17 ‘‘(dd) TENANT-BASED VOUCHERS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

19 There are authorized to be appropriated, for each of 

20 fiscal years 2012 through 2016, such sums as may 

21 be necessary for tenant-based assistance under sub22 section (o) for the following purposes: 

23 ‘‘(A) To renew all expiring annual con24 tributions contracts for tenant-based rental as25 sistance. 


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1 ‘‘(B) To provide tenant-based rental assist2 ance for— 

3 ‘‘(i) conversion of section 23 projects 

4 to assistance under this section; 

5 ‘‘(ii) the family unification program 

6 under subsection (x) of this section; 

7 ‘‘(iii) relocation of witnesses in con8 nection with efforts to combat crime in 

9 public and assisted housing pursuant to a 

10 request from a law enforcement or pros11 ecution agency; 

12 ‘‘(iv) enhanced vouchers authorized 

13 under subsection (t) of this section; 

14 ‘‘(v) relocation or replacement in con15 nection with the HOPE VI program under 

16 section 24; 

17 ‘‘(vi) demolition or disposition of pub18 lic housing units pursuant to section 18 of 

19 the United States Housing Act of 1937 

20 (42 U.S.C. 1437p); 

21 ‘‘(vii) mandatory conversions of public 

22 housing to vouchers, pursuant to section 

23 33 of the United States Housing Act of 

24 1937, respectively (42 U.S.C. 1437z–5); 


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1 ‘‘(viii) voluntary conversions of public 

2 housing to vouchers, pursuant to section 

3 22 of the United States Housing Act of 

4 1937, respectively (42 U.S.C. 1437t); 

5 ‘‘(ix) vouchers necessary to comply 

6 with a consent decree or court order; 

7 ‘‘(x) tenant protection vouchers in 

8 connection with dwelling units that cease 

9 to receive project-based assistance under 

10 subsection (b), (c), (d), (e), or (v) of this 

11 section; 

12 ‘‘(xi) relocation and replacement 

13 vouchers in connection with public housing 

14 units that are demolished or disposed of 

15 pursuant to eminent domain, pursuant to a 

16 homeownership program, or in connection 

17 with a mixed finance development method 

18 under section 35 or otherwise; 

19 ‘‘(xii) vouchers used for the preserva20 tion of public housing units not included in 

21 the operating formula under section 

22 9(e)(2) of the United States Housing Act 

23 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437g(e)(2)); 

24 ‘‘(xiii) emergency voucher assistance 

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1 olence, dating violence, sexual assault, or 

2 stalking; 

3 ‘‘(xiv) tenant protection vouchers in 

4 connection with the foreclosure or disposi5 tion of multifamily housing subject to a 

6 mortgage insured and subsidized under the 

7 National Housing Act; and 

8 ‘‘(xv) tenant protection assistance, in9 cluding replacement and relocation assist10 ance. 

11 Subject only to the availability of sufficient 

12 amounts provided in appropriation Acts, the 

13 Secretary shall provide tenant-based rental as14 sistance in connection with all dwelling units 

15 that cease to be available as assisted housing as 

16 a result of clauses (i), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii), (x), 

17 (xi), and (xiv). 

18 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION OF RENEWAL FUNDING

19 AMONG PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCIES.— 

20 ‘‘(A) From amounts appropriated for each 

21 year pursuant to paragraph (1)(A), the Sec22 retary shall provide renewal funding for each 

23 public housing agency— 

24 ‘‘(i) based on leasing and cost data 

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1 justed by an annual adjustment factor to 

2 be established by the Secretary, which shall 

3 be established using the smallest geo4 graphical areas for which data on changes 

5 in rental costs are annually available; 

6 ‘‘(ii) by making any adjustments nec7 essary to provide for the first-time renewal 

8 of vouchers funded under paragraph 

9 (1)(B) and of any incremental vouchers 

10 funded in previous years; 

11 ‘‘(iii) by making any adjustments nec12 essary for full year funding of vouchers 

13 moved into and out of the jurisdiction of 

14 the public housing agency in the prior cal15 endar year pursuant to portability proce16 dures under subsection (r)(2); and 

17 ‘‘(iv) by making such other adjust18 ments as the Secretary considers appro19 priate, including adjustments necessary to 

20 address changes in voucher utilization 

21 rates and voucher costs related to natural 

22 and other major disasters. 

23 ‘‘(B) LEASING AND COST DATA.—For pur24 poses of subparagraph (A)(i), leasing and cost 

25 data shall be calculated annually by using the 


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1 average for the preceding calendar year. Such 

2 leasing and cost data shall be adjusted to in3 clude vouchers that were set aside under a com4 mitment to provide project-based assistance 

5 under subsection (o)(13) and to exclude 

6 amounts funded through advances under para7 graph (3). Such leasing and cost data shall not 

8 include funds not appropriated for tenant-based 

9 assistance under section 8(o), unless the agen10 cy’s funding was prorated in the prior year and 

11 the agency used other funds to maintain vouch12 ers in use. 

13 ‘‘(C) OVERLEASING.—For the purpose of 

14 determining allocations under subsection (A)(i), 

15 the leasing rate calculated for the prior cal16 endar year may exceed an agency’s authorized 

17 voucher level, except that such calculation shall 

18 not utilize a leasing rate in excess of 103 per19 cent of the leasing rate in the year preceding 

20 such prior year (after making appropriate ad21 justments for incremental and new enhanced 

22 vouchers) which results from the use of accu23 mulated amounts, as referred to in the last sen24 tence of paragraph (4)(A). 


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1 ‘‘(D) MOVING TO WORK; HOUSING INNOVA2 TION PROGRAM.—Notwithstanding subpara3 graphs (A) and (B), each public housing agency 

4 participating in any year in the moving to work 

5 program or the housing innovation program 

6 under section 37 of this Act shall be funded 

7 pursuant to its agreement under such program 

8 and shall be subject to any pro rata adjustment 

9 made under subparagraph (F)(i). 

10 ‘‘(E) UNREIMBURSED PORTABILITY

11 COSTS.—The Secretary may reimburse public 

12 housing agencies for increased costs related to 

13 portability incurred during the prior year that 

14 were not reimbursed pursuant to paragraph 

15 (4)(B)(i). 

16 ‘‘(F) PRO RATA ALLOCATION.— 

17 ‘‘(i) INSUFFICIENT FUNDS.—To the 

18 extent that amounts made available for a 

19 fiscal year are not sufficient to provide 

20 each public housing agency with the full al21 location for the agency determined pursu22 ant to subparagraphs (A) and (D), the 

23 Secretary shall reduce such allocation for 

24 each agency on a pro rata basis, except 

25 that renewal funding of enhanced vouchers 


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1 under section 8(t) shall not be subject to 

2 such proration. 

3 ‘‘(ii) EXCESS FUNDS.—To the extent 

4 that amounts made available for a fiscal 

5 year exceed the amount necessary to pro6 vide each housing agency with the full allo7 cation for the agency determined pursuant 

8 to subparagraphs (A) and (D), such excess 

9 amounts shall be used for the purposes 

10 specified in paragraph (4)(B). 

11 ‘‘(G) PROMPT FUNDING ALLOCATION.— 

12 The Secretary shall allocate all funds under this 

13 subsection for each year before the latter of (i) 

14 February 15, or (ii) the expiration of the 45- 

15 day period beginning upon the enactment of the 

16 appropriations Act funding such renewals. 

17 ‘‘(3) ADVANCES.— 

18 ‘‘(A) AUTHORITY.—During the last 3 

19 months of each calendar year, the Secretary 

20 shall provide amounts out of any appropriations 

21 made pursuant to paragraph (1) for the fiscal 

22 year beginning on October 1 of that calendar 

23 year to any public housing agency, at the re24 quest of the agency, in an amount up to two 


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1 percent of the allocation for the agency for such 

2 calendar year, subject to subparagraph (C). 

3 ‘‘(B) USE.—Amounts advanced under sub4 paragraph (A) may be used to pay for addi5 tional voucher costs, including costs related to 

6 temporary overleasing. 

7 ‘‘(C) USE OF PRIOR YEAR AMOUNTS.— 

8 During the last 3 months of a calendar year, if 

9 amounts previously provided to a public housing 

10 agency for tenant-based assistance for such 

11 year or for previous years remain unobligated 

12 and available to the agency— 

13 ‘‘(i) the agency shall exhaust such 

14 amounts to cover any additional voucher 

15 costs under subparagraph (B) before 

16 amounts advanced under subparagraph (A) 

17 may be so used; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) the amount that may be ad19 vanced under subparagraph (A) to the 

20 agency shall be reduced by an amount 

21 equal to the total of such previously pro22 vided and unobligated amounts. 

23 ‘‘(D) REPAYMENT.—Amounts advanced 

24 under subparagraph (A) in a calendar year 

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1 quent calendar year by offsetting the amounts 

2 made available for such agency for such subse3 quent calendar year pursuant to allocation 

4 under paragraph (2) by an amount equal to the 

5 amount so advanced to the agency. 

6 ‘‘(4) OFFSET.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

8 offset, from amounts provided under the annual 

9 contributions contract for a public housing 

10 agency for a calendar year, all accumulated 

11 amounts allocated under paragraph (2) and 

12 from previous years that are unused by the 

13 agency at the end of each calendar year, except 

14 for an amount not less than 6 percent of such 

15 amount allocated to the agency pursuant to 

16 paragraph (2) for the preceding calendar year. 

17 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

18 each public housing agency may retain all 

19 amounts not offset under this subparagraph, 

20 and may use such amounts for all authorized 

21 purposes. 

22 ‘‘(B) REALLOCATION.—Not later than the 

23 latter of April 1 of each calendar year or 75 

24 days after the enactment of an appropriations 

25 Act providing funding for voucher renewal 


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1 costs, the Secretary shall, from amounts avail2 able pursuant to paragraph (2)(E) and from 

3 any other available amounts appropriated for 

4 such purpose— 

5 ‘‘(i) set aside and subsequently make 

6 available such amounts as the Secretary 

7 considers likely to be needed, when com8 bined with funds from a central fund or 

9 any other source of funds appropriated or 

10 made available for such purpose, to reim11 burse public housing agencies for increased 

12 costs related to portability and family self13 sufficiency activities pursuant to section 

14 23(h) during such year; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) reallocate all remaining amounts 

16 among public housing agencies, with pri17 ority given based on the extent to which an 

18 agency has utilized the amount allocated 

19 under paragraph (2) for the agency to 

20 serve eligible families and the relative need 

21 for additional voucher assistance for use 

22 only to increase voucher leasing rates.’’. 

23 (b) PORTABILITY.—The Secretary of Housing and 

24 Urban Development shall, not later than the expiration 

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1 ment of this Act, issue a proposed rule for comment to 

2 modify the regulations governing the responsibilities of 

3 public housing agencies in cases in which families assisted 

4 with tenant-based assistance under section 8 of the United 

5 States Housing Act of 1937 exercise their right to move 

6 to a different jurisdiction under the Secretary’s regula7 tions regarding portability procedures (24 C.F.R. 

8 982.355), to eliminate, or minimize to the greatest extent 

9 feasible consistent with available funding, billing between 

10 agencies and administrative barriers to families’ choices 

11 of where to reside, without undermining the ability of pub12 lic housing agencies to serve their waiting lists. The Sec13 retary shall finalize regulations modifying such portability 

14 procedures in accordance with this subsection not later 

15 than the expiration of the 12-month period beginning 

16 upon the date of the enactment of this Act. 

17 (c) VOUCHERS FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

18 AND HOMELESS VETERANS.—The Secretary of Housing 

19 and Urban Development shall develop and issue, to public 

20 housing agencies that have received voucher assistance 

21 under section 8(o) for non-elderly disabled families, or 

22 under section 8(o)(19) for homeless veterans, pursuant to 

23 appropriations Acts for fiscal year 1997 and fiscal years 

24 thereafter, guidance to ensure that, to the maximum ex25 tent practicable, such vouchers continue to be provided 


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1 upon turnover to qualified non-elderly disabled families or 

2 homeless veterans, respectively. 

3 SEC. 7. ADMINISTRATIVE FEES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8(q) of the United States 

5 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(q)) is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

7 (A) by striking subparagraphs (B) and (C) 

8 and inserting the following new subparagraphs: 

9 ‘‘(B) CALCULATION.—The fee under this 

10 subsection shall— 

11 ‘‘(i) be payable to each public housing 

12 agency for each month for which a dwell13 ing unit is covered by an assistance con14 tract; 

15 ‘‘(ii) be based on a per-unit fee, which 

16 shall be based on the per-unit fee payable 

17 to the agency in fiscal year 2003 and up18 dated for each subsequent year as specified 

19 in subsection (iv), or on such formula 

20 which the Secretary may, by regulation, es21 tablish using a per-unit fee structure which 

22 shall provide for the payment of the full 

23 cost of administering vouchers, and which 

24 may include performance incentives con25 sistent with subsection (o)(21); 


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1 ‘‘(iii) include an amount for the cost 

2 of issuing a voucher to new participants; 

3 ‘‘(iv) be updated each year using an 

4 index of changes in wage and benefit data 

5 or other objectively measurable data that 

6 reflect the costs of administering the pro7 gram for such assistance, as determined by 

8 the Secretary; and 

9 ‘‘(v) include an amount for the cost of 

10 family self-sufficiency coordinators, as pro11 vided in section 23(h)(1). 

12 ‘‘(C) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall 

13 cause to be published in the Federal Register 

14 the fee rate for each geographic area.’’; and 

15 (B) by striking subparagraph (E) and in16 serting the following new subparagraph; 

17 ‘‘(E) FEE FOR AGENCY-OWNED UNITS.— 

18 The Secretary shall establish a fee for dwelling 

19 units owned by a public housing agency that re20 flects reasonable costs of administration, which 

21 shall take into consideration the third-party in22 spection and rent determination expenses in23 curred in compliance with the requirements of 

24 subsection (o)(11).’’; and 


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1 (2) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘1999’’ and 

2 inserting ‘‘2011’’. 

3 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE FEES FOR FAMILY SELF-SUF4 FICIENCY PROGRAM COSTS.—Subsection (h) of section 23 

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

6 1437u(h)) is amended by striking paragraph (1) and in7 serting the following new paragraph: 

8 ‘‘(1) SECTION 8 FEES.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

10 establish a fee under section 8(q) for the costs 

11 incurred in administering the self-sufficiency 

12 program under this section to assist families re13 ceiving voucher assistance through section 8(o). 

14 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBILITY FOR FEE.—The fee shall 

15 provide funding for family self-sufficiency coor16 dinators as follows: 

17 ‘‘(i) BASE FEE.—A public housing 

18 agency serving 25 or more participants in 

19 the family self-sufficiency program under 

20 this section shall receive a fee equal to the 

21 costs of employing one full-time family 

22 self-sufficiency coordinator. An agency 

23 serving fewer than 25 such participants 

24 shall receive a prorated fee. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) ADDITIONAL FEE.—An agency 

2 that meets minimum performance stand3 ards shall receive an additional fee suffi4 cient to cover the costs of employing a sec5 ond family self-sufficiency coordinator if 

6 the agency has 75 or more participating 

7 families, and a third such coordinator if it 

8 has 125 or more participating families. 

9 ‘‘(iii) PREVIOUSLY FUNDED AGEN10 CIES.—An agency that received funding 

11 from the Department of Housing and 

12 Urban Development for more than three 

13 such coordinators in any of fiscal years 

14 1998 through 2010 shall receive funding 

15 for the highest number of coordinators 

16 funded in a single fiscal year during that 

17 period, provided they meet applicable size 

18 and performance standards. 

19 ‘‘(iv) INITIAL YEAR.—For the first 

20 year in which a public housing agency ex21 ercises its right to develop an family self22 sufficiency program for its residents, it 

23 shall be entitled to funding to cover the 

24 costs of up to one family self-sufficiency 


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1 coordinator, based on the size specified in 

2 its action plan for such program. 

3 ‘‘(v) STATE AND REGIONAL AGEN4 CIES.—For purposes of calculating the 

5 family self-sufficiency portion of the ad6 ministrative fee under this subparagraph, 

7 each administratively distinct part of a 

8 State or regional public housing agency 

9 shall be treated as a separate agency. 

10 ‘‘(vi) DETERMINATION OF NUMBER

11 OF COORDINATORS.—In determining 

12 whether a public housing agency meets a 

13 specific threshold for funding pursuant to 

14 this paragraph, the number of participants 

15 being served by the agency in its family 

16 self-sufficiency program shall be considered 

17 to be the average number of families en18 rolled in such agency’s program during the 

19 course of the most recent fiscal year for 

20 which the Department of Housing and 

21 Urban Development has data. 

22 ‘‘(C) PRORATION.—If insufficient funds 

23 are available in any fiscal year to fund all of the 

24 coordinators authorized under this section, the 

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1 dinator at each agency with an existing family 

2 self-sufficiency program. The remaining funds 

3 shall be prorated based on the number of re4 maining coordinators to which each agency is 

5 entitled under this subparagraph. 

6 ‘‘(D) RECAPTURE.—Any fees allocated 

7 under this subparagraph by the Secretary in a 

8 fiscal year that have not been spent by the end 

9 of the subsequent fiscal year shall be recaptured 

10 by the Secretary and shall be available for pro11 viding additional fees pursuant to subparagraph 

12 (B)(ii). 

13 ‘‘(E) PERFORMANCE STANDARDS.—Within 

14 six months after the date of the enactment of 

15 this paragraph, the Secretary shall publish a 

16 proposed rule specifying the performance stand17 ards applicable to funding under clauses (ii) 

18 and (iii) of subparagraph (B). Such standards 

19 shall include requirements applicable to the 

20 leveraging of in-kind services and other re21 sources to support the goals of the family self22 sufficiency program. 

23 ‘‘(F) DATA COLLECTION.—Public housing 

24 agencies receiving funding under this paragraph 

25 shall collect and report to the Secretary, in such 


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1 manner as the Secretary shall require, informa2 tion on the performance of their family self-suf3 ficiency programs. 

4 ‘‘(G) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall 

5 conduct a formal and scientific evaluation of 

6 the effectiveness of well-run family self-suffi7 ciency programs, comparing outcomes of fami8 lies participating in such programs with fami9 lies who are not, using random assignment of 

10 participants to the extent practicable. Not later 

11 than the expiration of the 4-year period begin12 ning upon the enactment of this paragraph, the 

13 Secretary shall submit an interim evaluation re14 port to the Congress. Not later than the expira15 tion of the 8-year period beginning upon such 

16 enactment, the Secretary shall submit a final 

17 evaluation report to the Congress. There is au18 thorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 to 

19 carry out the evaluation under this subpara20 graph. 

21 ‘‘(H) INCENTIVES FOR INNOVATION AND

22 HIGH PERFORMANCE.—The Secretary may re23 serve up to 10 percent of the amounts made 

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1 ily self-sufficiency programs that are particu2 larly innovative or highly successful in achieving 

3 the goals of the program.’’. 

4 (c) REPEAL.—Section 202 of the Departments of 

5 Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, 

6 and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997 (42 

7 U.S.C. 1437f note; Public Law 104–204; 110 Stat. 2893) 

8 is hereby repealed. 

9 SEC. 8. HOMEOWNERSHIP. 

10 (a) SECTION 8 HOMEOWNERSHIP DOWNPAYMENT

11 PROGRAM.—Section 8(y)(7) of the United States Housing 

12 Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(y)(7)) is amended by strik13 ing subparagraphs (A) and (B) and inserting the following 

14 new subparagraphs: 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the provi16 sions of this paragraph, in the case of a family 

17 on whose behalf rental assistance under section 

18 8(o) has been provided for a period of not less 

19 than 12 months prior to the date of receipt of 

20 downpayment assistance under this paragraph, 

21 a public housing agency may, in lieu of pro22 viding monthly assistance payments under this 

23 subsection on behalf of a family eligible for 

24 such assistance and at the discretion of the 


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1 agency, provide a downpayment assistance 

2 grant in accordance with subparagraph (B). 

3 ‘‘(B) GRANT REQUIREMENTS.—A down4 payment assistance grant under this para5 graph— 

6 ‘‘(i) shall be used by the family only 

7 as a contribution toward the downpayment 

8 and reasonable and customary closing 

9 costs required in connection with the pur10 chase of a home; 

11 ‘‘(ii) shall be in the form of a single 

12 one-time grant; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) may not exceed $10,000. 

14 ‘‘(C) NO EFFECT ON OBTAINING OUTSIDE

15 SOURCES FOR DOWNPAYMENT ASSISTANCE.— 

16 This Act may not be construed to prohibit a 

17 public housing agency from providing downpay18 ment assistance to families from sources other 

19 than a grant provided under this Act, or as de20 termined by the public housing agency. 

21 ‘‘(D) COUNSELING AND SELF-SUFFICIENCY

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1 tion of a family receiving downpayment assist2 ance under this paragraph.’’. 

3 (b) USE OF VOUCHERS FOR MANUFACTURED HOUS4 ING.—Section 8(o)(12) of the United States Housing Act 

5 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(12)) is amended— 

6 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking the period 

7 at the end of the first sentence and all that follows 

8 through ‘‘of’’ in the second sentence and inserting 

9 ‘‘and rents’’; and 

10 (2) in subparagraph (B)— 

11 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘the rent’’ 

12 and all that follows and inserting the following: 

13 ‘‘rent shall mean the sum of the monthly pay14 ments made by a family assisted under this 

15 paragraph to amortize the cost of purchasing 

16 the manufactured home, including any required 

17 insurance and property taxes, the monthly 

18 amount allowed for tenant-paid utilities, and 

19 the monthly rent charged for the real property 

20 on which the manufactured home is located, in21 cluding monthly management and maintenance 

22 charges.’’; 

23 (B) by striking clause (ii); and 

24 (C) in clause (iii)— 


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1 (i) by inserting after the period at the 

2 end the following: ‘‘If the amount of the 

3 monthly assistance payment for a family 

4 exceeds the monthly rent charged for the 

5 real property on which the manufactured 

6 home is located, including monthly man7 agement and maintenance charges, a pub8 lic housing agency may pay the remainder 

9 to the family, lender or utility company, or 

10 may choose to make a single payment to 

11 the family for the entire monthly assist12 ance amount.’’; and 

13 (ii) by redesignating such clause as 

14 clause (ii). 

15 SEC. 9. PHA REPORTING OF RENT PAYMENTS TO CREDIT 

16 REPORTING AGENCIES. 

17 Section 3 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 

18 (42 U.S.C. 1437a), as amended by the preceding provi19 sions of this Act, is further amended by adding at the end 

20 the following new subsection: 

21 ‘‘(e) PHA REPORTING OF RENT PAYMENTS TO

22 CREDIT REPORTING AGENCIES.— 

23 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—To the extent that an indi24 vidual receiving tenant-based housing choice vouch25 ers under section 8 by a public housing agency 


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1 agrees in writing to reporting under this subsection, 

2 the public housing agency may submit to consumer 

3 reporting agencies described in section 603(p) of the 

4 Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a) infor5 mation regarding the past rent payment history of 

6 the individual with respect to the dwelling unit for 

7 which such assistance is provided. 

8 ‘‘(2) FORMAT.—The Secretary, after consulta9 tion with consumer reporting agencies referred in 

10 paragraph (1), shall establish a system and format 

11 to be used by public housing agencies for reporting 

12 of information under such paragraph that provides 

13 such information in a format and manner that is 

14 similar to other credit information submitted to such 

15 consumer reporting agencies and is usable by such 

16 agencies.’’. 

17 SEC. 10. PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS. 

18 Section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 

19 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)) is amended by adding at the 

20 end the following new paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(21) PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary 

23 shall, by regulation, establish standards and 

24 procedures for assessing the performance of 

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1 grams for tenant-based rental assistance under 

2 this subsection and for homeownership assist3 ance under subsection (y). 

4 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The standards and pro5 cedures under this paragraph shall provide for 

6 assessment of the performance of public hous7 ing agencies in the following areas: 

8 ‘‘(i) Extent to which dwelling units 

9 comply with housing quality standards, in10 cluding compliance with inspection require11 ments. 

12 ‘‘(ii) Extent of utilization of assist13 ance amounts provided to the agency and 

14 of authorized vouchers, using appropriate 

15 adjustments for vouchers set aside to meet 

16 commitments under paragraph (13). 

17 ‘‘(iii) Timeliness and accuracy of re18 porting by the agency to the Secretary. 

19 ‘‘(iv) Effectiveness in carrying out 

20 policies that result in deconcentration of 

21 poverty and reduction of racial segregation. 

22 ‘‘(v) Reasonableness of rent burdens, 

23 consistent with public housing agency re24 sponsibilities under section 8(o)(1)(E)(iii). 


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1 ‘‘(vi) Accurate calculations of rent, 

2 utility allowances, and subsidy payments. 

3 ‘‘(vii) Effectiveness in carrying out 

4 family self-sufficiency activities. 

5 ‘‘(viii) Timeliness of actions related to 

6 landlord participation. 

7 ‘‘(ix) Compliance with targeting re8 quirements under section 16(b). 

9 ‘‘(x) Such other areas as the Sec10 retary considers appropriate, which may 

11 only be established by regulation. 

12 ‘‘(C) BIENNIAL ASSESSMENT.—Not later 

13 than 2 years after the date of enactment of this 

14 paragraph, and at least every 2 years there15 after, the Secretary, using the standards and 

16 procedures established under this paragraph, 

17 shall— 

18 ‘‘(i) conduct an assessment of the per19 formance of each public housing agency 

20 carrying out a program referred to in sub21 paragraph (A); 

22 ‘‘(ii) make such assessment available 

23 to the public housing agency and to the 

24 public via the website of the Department of 

25 Housing and Urban Development; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) submit a report to Congress re2 garding the results of each such assess3 ment. 

4 ‘‘(D) APPLICABILITY.—When imple5 mented, the performance assessment standards 

6 and procedures under this paragraph shall 

7 supercede the Section 8 Management Assess8 ment Program of the Secretary then in effect.’’. 

9 SEC. 11. PHA PROJECT-BASED ASSISTANCE. 

10 Section 8(o)(13) of the United States Housing Act 

11 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(13)) is amended— 

12 (1) by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting 

13 the following new subparagraph: 

14 ‘‘(B) PERCENTAGE LIMITATION.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 

16 (ii), not more than 25 percent of the fund17 ing available for tenant-based assistance 

18 under this section that is administered by 

19 the agency may be attached to structures 

20 pursuant to this paragraph. 

21 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—An agency may at22 tach up to an additional 5 percent of the 

23 funding available for tenant-based assist24 ance under this section to structures pur25 suant to this paragraph for dwelling units 


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1 that house individuals and families that 

2 meet the definition of homeless under sec3 tion 103 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless 

4 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11302), that 

5 provide supportive housing to persons with 

6 disabilities, or that are located in areas 

7 where vouchers under this subsection are 

8 difficult to use, as specified in subpara9 graph (D)(ii)(II). The Secretary may, by 

10 regulation, establish additional categories 

11 for the exception under this clause.’’; 

12 (2) by striking subparagraph (D) and inserting 

13 the following new subparagraph: 

14 ‘‘(D) INCOME MIXING REQUIREMENT.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro16 vided in clause (ii), not more than the 

17 greater of 25 dwelling units or 25 percent 

18 of the dwelling units in any project may be 

19 assisted under a housing assistance pay20 ment contract for project-based assistance 

21 pursuant to this paragraph. For purposes 

22 of this subparagraph, the term ‘project’ 

23 means a single building, multiple contig24 uous buildings, or multiple buildings on 

25 contiguous parcels of land. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTIONS.— 

2 ‘‘(I) CERTAIN HOUSING.—The 

3 limitation under clause (i) shall not 

4 apply in the case of assistance under 

5 a contract for housing consisting of 

6 single family properties, or for dwell7 ing units that are exclusively made 

8 available for households comprised of 

9 elderly families, disabled families, and 

10 families receiving supportive services 

11 for special needs populations, such as 

12 individuals who were formerly home13 less. For purposes of the preceding 

14 sentence, the term ‘single family prop15 erties’ means buildings with no more 

16 than four dwelling units. 

17 ‘‘(II) CERTAIN AREAS.— 

18 ‘‘(aa) With respect to areas 

19 in which fewer than 75 percent 

20 of families issued vouchers be21 come participants in the pro22 gram, the public housing agency 

23 has established the payment 

24 standard at 110 percent of the 

25 fair market rent for all census 


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1 tracts in the area for the pre2 vious six months, the public 

3 housing agency has requested a 

4 higher payment standard, and 

5 the public housing agency grants 

6 an automatic extension of 90 

7 days (or longer) to families with 

8 vouchers who are attempting to 

9 find housing, clause (i) shall be 

10 applied by substituting ‘40 per11 cent’ for ‘25 percent’; and 

12 ‘‘(bb) With respect to census 

13 tracts with a poverty rate of 20 

14 percent or less, clause (i) shall be 

15 applied by substituting ‘50 per16 cent’ for ‘25 percent’ and the 

17 Secretary may, by regulation, es18 tablish additional conditions.’’; 

19 (3) in subparagraph (J)— 

20 (A) by striking the fifth and sixth sen21 tences and inserting the following: ‘‘A public 

22 housing agency may establish and utilize proce23 dures for maintaining site-based waiting lists 

24 under which applicants may apply directly at, 

25 or otherwise designate to the public housing 


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1 agency, the project or projects in which they 

2 seek to reside, except that all eligible applicants 

3 on the waiting list of an agency for assistance 

4 under this subsection shall be permitted to 

5 place their names on such separate list. All 

6 such procedures shall comply with title VI of 

7 the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Fair Housing 

8 Act, and other applicable civil rights laws. The 

9 owner or manager of a structure assisted under 

10 this paragraph shall not admit any family to a 

11 dwelling unit assisted under a contract pursu12 ant to this paragraph other than a family re13 ferred by the public housing agency from its 

14 waiting list, or a family on a site-based waiting 

15 list that complies with the requirements of this 

16 subparagraph. A public housing agency shall 

17 disclose to each applicant all other options in 

18 the selection of a project in which to reside that 

19 are provided by the public housing agency and 

20 are available to the applicant.’’; and 

21 (B) by inserting after the third sentence 

22 the following new sentence: ‘‘Any family who re23 sides in a dwelling unit proposed to be assisted 

24 under this paragraph, or in a unit to be re25 placed by a proposed unit to be assisted under 


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1 this paragraph shall be given an absolute pref2 erence for selection for placement in the pro3 posed unit, if the family is otherwise eligible for 

4 assistance under this subsection.’’; and 

5 (4) by adding at the end the following new sub6 paragraphs: 

7 ‘‘(N) STRUCTURE OWNED BY AGENCY.— 

8 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, as 

9 part of an initiative to improve, develop, or re10 place a public housing site, a public housing 

11 agency may attach assistance to an existing, 

12 newly constructed, or rehabilitated structure in 

13 which the agency has an ownership interest or 

14 which the agency has control of without fol15 lowing a competitive process, but only if the 

16 agency includes such initiative in its public 

17 housing agency plan approved under section 5A 

18 and the units that receive such assistance will 

19 not receive assistance under section 9. The pre20 ceding sentence may not be construed to limit 

21 the ability of a public housing agency to attach 

22 assistance to structures under other applicable 

23 law. 

24 ‘‘(O) LEASES AND TENANCY.—Assistance 

25 provided under this paragraph shall be subject 


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1 to the provisions of paragraph (7), except that 

2 subparagraph (A) of such paragraph shall not 

3 apply. Notwithstanding any other provision of 

4 law, for the term of the contract under this 

5 paragraph, the owner may terminate tenancy 

6 only for serious or repeated violations of the 

7 terms and conditions of the lease or for viola8 tion of applicable law. 

9 ‘‘(P) ALLOWABLE TRANSFERS.—A public 

10 housing agency may, subject to the agreement 

11 of the receiving agency, transfer a portion of its 

12 vouchers and related budget authority to a pub13 lic housing agency that administers a program 

14 under this subsection in another jurisdiction lo15 cated in the same or a contiguous metropolitan 

16 area or county. 

17 ‘‘(Q) RENT FLEXIBILITY.—If a dwelling 

18 unit assisted under this paragraph also receives 

19 funding from either of the funds established 

20 under section 1338 or 1339 of the Federal 

21 Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and 

22 Soundness Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 4568, 

23 4569), the rent for the unit, if agreed upon by 

24 both the public housing agency and the owner, 

25 may be established at an amount that is less 


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1 than would otherwise be permitted under para2 graphs (1)(B) or (10)(A) of this section.’’. 

3 SEC. 12. RENT BURDENS. 

4 (a) REVIEWS.—Section 8(o)(1) of the United States 

5 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(1)) is amended 

6 by striking subparagraph (E) and inserting the following 

7 new subparagraph: 

8 ‘‘(E) REVIEWS.— 

9 ‘‘(i) RENT BURDENS.—The Secretary 

10 shall monitor rent burdens and submit a 

11 report to the Congress annually on the 

12 percentage of families assisted under this 

13 subsection, occupying dwelling units of any 

14 size, that pay more than 30 percent of 

15 their adjusted incomes for rent and such 

16 percentage that pay more than 40 percent 

17 of their adjusted incomes for rent. Using 

18 information regularly reported by public 

19 housing agencies, the Secretary shall pro20 vide public housing agencies, on an annual 

21 basis, a report with the information de22 scribed in the first sentence of this clause, 

23 and may require a public housing agency 

24 to modify a payment standard that results 

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1 sisted under this subsection, occupying 

2 dwelling units of any size, paying more 

3 than 30 percent of their adjusted incomes 

4 for rent. In implementing the requirements 

5 of this clause, the Secretary shall separate 

6 out calculations and consideration of fami7 lies whose rent contributions are calculated 

8 under section 3(a)(3) and clauses (ii) and 

9 (iii) of paragraph (2)(A) of this subsection. 

10 ‘‘(ii) CONCENTRATION OF POVERTY.— 

11 The Secretary shall submit a report to the 

12 Congress annually on the degree to which 

13 families assisted under this subsection in 

14 each metropolitan area are clustered in 

15 lower rent, higher poverty areas, which 

16 shall include reporting of data by race and 

17 ethnicity, and how, and the extent to 

18 which, greater geographic distribution of 

19 such assisted families could be achieved, 

20 including by increasing payment standards 

21 for particular communities within such 

22 metropolitan areas. 

23 ‘‘(iii) PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCY RE24 SPONSIBILITIES.—Each public housing 

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1 formation on rent burdens provided by the 

2 Secretary pursuant to clause (i), and, for 

3 agencies located in metropolitan areas, the 

4 information on concentration provided by 

5 the Secretary pursuant to clause (ii). If a 

6 public housing agency has a high degree of 

7 concentration of poverty, as determined 

8 under a standard to be developed by the 

9 Secretary in accordance with clause (ii), or 

10 if the percentage of families paying more 

11 than 40 percent of their adjusted net in12 come exceeds a percentage level, to be es13 tablished by the Secretary, the public hous14 ing agency shall adjust the payment stand15 ard to eliminate excessive rent burdens 

16 within a reasonable time period or explain 

17 its reasons for not making such adjust18 ment. The Secretary may not deny the re19 quest of a public housing agency to set a 

20 payment standard up to 120 percent of the 

21 fair market rent to eliminate excessive rent 

22 burdens in accordance with the preceding 

23 sentence, except on the basis that an agen24 cy has not demonstrated that its request 

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1 lic housing agency has not been denied or 

2 approved with 45 days after the request is 

3 made, the request shall be considered to 

4 have been approved.’’. 

5 (b) PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCY PLAN.—Section 

6 5A(d)(4) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 

7 U.S.C. 1437c–1(d)(4)) is amended by inserting before the 

8 period at the end the following: ‘‘, including the report 

9 with respect to the agency furnished by the Secretary pur10 suant to section 8(o)(1)(E) concerning rent burdens and, 

11 if applicable, geographic concentration of voucher holders, 

12 any changes in rent or other policies the public housing 

13 agency is making to address excessive rent burdens or con14 centration, and if the public housing agency is not adjust15 ing its payment standard, its reasons for not doing so’’. 

16 (c) RENT BURDENS FOR PERSONS WITH DISABIL17 ITIES.—Subparagraph (D) of section 8(o)(1) is amended 

18 by inserting before the period at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘, except that a public housing agency may establish a 

20 payment standard of not more than 120 percent of the 

21 fair market rent where necessary as a reasonable accom22 modation for a person with a disability, without approval 

23 of the Secretary. A public housing agency may seek ap24 proval of the Secretary to use a payment standard greater 

25 than 120 percent of the fair market rent as a reasonable 


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1 accommodation for a person with a disability. In connec2 tion with the use of any increased payment standard es3 tablished or approved pursuant to either of the preceding 

4 two sentences as a reasonable accommodation for a person 

5 with a disability, the Secretary may not establish addi6 tional requirements regarding the amount of adjusted in7 come paid by such person for rent’’. 

8 SEC. 13. ESTABLISHMENT OF FAIR MARKET RENT. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 8(c) of 

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

11 1437f(c)(1)) is amended— 

12 (1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after the paragraph des13 ignation; 

14 (2) by striking the seventh, eighth, and ninth 

15 sentences; and 

16 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(B)(i) The Secretary shall define market areas for 

18 purposes of this paragraph in areas sufficiently distinct 

19 as is necessary— 

20 ‘‘(I) to establish fair market rentals that accu21 rately reflect typical rental costs of units suitable for 

22 occupancy by persons assisted under this section in 

23 communities in metropolitan and non-metropolitan 

24 areas (including low poverty areas); and 

25 ‘‘(II) to avoid concentration of voucher holders; 


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1 while taking into consideration the factors specified in 

2 clause (ii). 

3 ‘‘(ii) The factors specified in this clause are— 

4 ‘‘(I) the efficient administration of the program 

5 by public housing agencies and the administrative 

6 costs of the Secretary of establishing additional 

7 areas; 

8 ‘‘(II) the availability of data for a sufficient 

9 number of dwelling units to establish accurate fair 

10 market rentals; and 

11 ‘‘(III) the ability of public housing agencies to 

12 adjust the payment standard to more accurately re13 flect typical rental costs. 

14 ‘‘(iii) The Secretary shall establish procedures to per15 mit a public housing agency to request the establishment 

16 of a separate market areas for either all or contiguous 

17 parts of the areas under the jurisdiction of such agency. 

18 The Secretary shall consider and approve any such request 

19 using the criteria established in clause (i) and the consid20 erations under clause (ii). 

21 ‘‘(iv) The Secretary shall not reduce the fair market 

22 rental in a market area as a result of a change in the 

23 percentile of the distribution of market rents used to es24 tablish the fair market rental. 


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1 ‘‘(v) The Secretary shall phase in large increases or 

2 decreases in the fair market rentals that result from 

3 changes in market area boundaries or other methodo4 logical changes that do not reflect actual year-to-year 

5 trends in rents by limiting such increases or decreases to 

6 not more than 5 percent each year.’’. 

7 (b) PAYMENT STANDARD.—Subparagraph (B) of sec8 tion 8(o)(1) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 

9 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(1)(B)) is amended by inserting be10 fore the period at the end the following: ‘‘, except that 

11 no public housing agency shall be required as a result of 

12 a reduction in the fair market rental to reduce the pay13 ment standard applied to a family continuing to reside in 

14 a unit for which the family was receiving assistance under 

15 this section at the time the fair market rental was re16 duced’’. 

17 SEC. 14. SCREENING OF APPLICANTS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (B) of section 

19 8(o)(6) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 

20 (1437f(o)(6)(B)) is amended— 

21 (1) by striking ‘‘(B) SELECTION OF TEN22 ANTS.—Each’’ and inserting the following: 

23 ‘‘(B) SELECTION OF TENANTS.— 

24 ‘‘(i) FUNCTION OF OWNER.—Each’’; 


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1 (2) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘unit)’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘unit’’; 

3 (3) by striking ‘‘In addition’’ and inserting the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(ii) SCREENING.—In addition’’; 

6 (4) by inserting after ‘‘establish.’’ the following: 

7 ‘‘A public housing agency’s elective screening shall 

8 be limited to criteria that are directly related to an 

9 applicant’s ability to fulfill the obligations of an as10 sisted lease and shall consider mitigating cir11 cumstances related to such applicant. The require12 ments of the preceding sentence shall not limit the 

13 ability of a public housing agency to deny assistance 

14 based on an applicant’s criminal background or any 

15 other permissible grounds for denial under subtitle F 

16 of title V of the Quality Housing and Work Respon17 sibility Act of 1998 (42 U.S.C. 13661 et seq.; relat18 ing to safety and security in public and assisted 

19 housing), subject to the procedural requirements of 

20 this section. Any applicant or participant determined 

21 to be ineligible for admission or continued participa22 tion to the program shall be notified of the basis for 

23 such determination and provided, within a reason24 able time after the determination, an opportunity for 

25 an informal hearing on such determination at which 


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1 mitigating circumstances, including remedial conduct 

2 subsequent to the conduct that is the basis of such 

3 determination, shall be considered.’’; and 

4 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(iii) EXISTING ASSISTED FAMI6 LIES.—Families being provided enhanced 

7 vouchers pursuant to subsection (t), fami8 lies receiving assistance under this Act 

9 that are subsequently provided tenant10 based assistance pursuant to subsection 

11 (dd)(1)(B), and families residing in multi12 family housing subject to a mortgage in13 sured under the National Housing Act that 

14 are provided tenant-based assistance pur15 suant to subsection (dd)(1)(B)(xiv) of this 

16 section shall not be considered new appli17 cants under this paragraph and shall not 

18 be subject to elective re-screening by a 

19 public housing agency.’’. 

20 (b) LEASES AND TENANCY.—Subparagraph (E) of 

21 section 8(o)(7) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 

22 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(7)(E)) is amended by inserting ‘‘ter23 mination or’’ after ‘‘any’’ the last place such term appears. 


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1 (c) DENIALS OF ADMISSION.—Section 576 of the 

2 Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 (42 

3 U.S.C. 13661) is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (b)— 

5 (A) by striking paragraph (2); 

6 (B) in paragraph (1)— 

7 (i) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 

8 ‘‘, based on documented evidence that is 

9 credible and objective,’’ after ‘‘deter10 mines’’; 

11 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

12 ‘‘that it has reasonable’’ and all that fol13 lows through ‘‘by other residents’’ and in14 serting ‘‘, based on documented evidence 

15 that is credible and objective, is a chronic 

16 abuser of alcohol, and who is not currently 

17 participating in a supervised alcohol reha18 bilitation program’’; and 

19 (iii) by redesignating subparagraphs 

20 (A) and (B) (as so amended) as para21 graphs (1) and (2) and realigning such 

22 paragraphs, as so redesignated, so as to be 

23 indented 2 ems from the left margin; and 


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1 (C) by striking the subsection designation 

2 and all that follows through ‘‘Notwithstanding’’ 

3 in paragraph (1) and inserting the following: 

4 ‘‘(b) INELIGIBILITY OF ILLEGAL DRUG USERS AND

5 ALCOHOL ABUSERS.—Notwithstanding’’; and 

6 (2) in subsection (c)— 

7 (A) in the section heading, by inserting 

8 ‘‘CERTAIN’’ before ‘‘CRIMINAL’’; 

9 (B) in the matter that precedes paragraph 

10 (1)— 

11 (i) by inserting ‘‘, based on docu12 mented evidence that is credible and objec13 tive,’’ after ‘‘determines’’; 

14 (ii) by striking ‘‘a reasonable time’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘the 5-year period’’; and 

16 (iii) by striking ‘‘or other criminal ac17 tivity’’; 

18 (C) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘reason19 able’’ each place such term appears and insert20 ing ‘‘5-year’’; and 

21 (D) by adding after and below paragraph 

22 (2) the following: 

23 ‘‘No denial of admission may be made pursuant to this 

24 subsection based on a misdemeanor charge and conviction 

25 unless such denial is based on a pattern of activity, the 


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1 commission of any offense against a child (including child 

2 pornography offenses), the commission of any offense in3 volving a child victim, the commission of a sexual assault, 

4 the commission of an assault, or the commission of violent, 

5 disruptive (as such term is defined by the Secretary), or 

6 illegal behavior that interferes with the right to peaceful 

7 enjoyment of the premises by other residents.’’. 

8 SEC. 15. ENHANCED VOUCHERS. 

9 (a) QUALIFICATION; ELECTION TO REMAIN IN

10 UNIT.—Section 8(t)(1) of the United States Housing Act 

11 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(t)(1)(B)) is amended— 

12 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 

13 by inserting ‘‘and shall not require that the family 

14 requalify under the selection standards for a public 

15 housing agency in order to be eligible for such as16 sistance’’ before the comma; and 

17 (2) by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting 

18 the following new subparagraph: 

19 ‘‘(B)(i) the assisted family may elect to re20 main in the same project in which the family 

21 was residing on the date of the eligibility event 

22 for the project regardless of unit and family 

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1 priate size if available on the premises), and the 

2 owner of the unit shall accept the enhanced 

3 voucher and terminate the tenancy only for se4 rious or repeated violation of the terms and 

5 conditions of the lease or for violation of appli6 cable law; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) if, during any period the family 

8 makes such an election and continues to so re9 side, the rent for the dwelling unit of the family 

10 in such project exceeds the applicable payment 

11 standard established pursuant to subsection (o) 

12 for the unit, the amount of rental assistance 

13 provided on behalf of the family shall be deter14 mined using a payment standard that is equal 

15 to the rent for the dwelling unit (as such rent 

16 may be increased from time-to-time), subject to 

17 paragraph (10)(A) of subsection (o) and any 

18 other reasonable limit prescribed by the Sec19 retary, except that a limit shall not be consid20 ered reasonable for purposes of this subpara21 graph if it adversely affects such assisted fami22 lies;’’. 

23 (b) PROVISION TO RESIDENTS OF ASSISTED MULTI24 FAMILY PROJECTS UPON TERMINATION DATE.— 


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1 (1) REQUIREMENT.—Upon the termination 

2 date for each assisted multifamily housing project, 

3 to the extent that amounts for assistance under this 

4 paragraph are provided in advance in appropriation 

5 Acts, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop6 ment shall make enhanced voucher assistance under 

7 section 8(t) of the United States Housing Act of 

8 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(t)) available on behalf of 

9 each family described in paragraph (2). 

10 (2) ELIGIBILITY.—A family described in this 

11 paragraph is a family who— 

12 (A)(i) is a low-income family; or 

13 (ii) is a moderate-income family that is— 

14 (I) an elderly family (as such term is 

15 used in section 3(b) of the United States 

16 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 

17 1437a(b))); 

18 (II) a disabled family (as such term is 

19 used in section 3(b) of the United States 

20 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 

21 1437a(b))); or 

22 (III) residing in a low-vacancy area 

23 (as determined by the Secretary); and 

24 (B) on such termination date, is residing 

25 in a dwelling unit of the project that— 


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1 (i) immediately before such termi2 nation date was assisted under the multi3 family housing subsidy program for the 

4 project; and 

5 (ii) is not assisted after such termi6 nation date under section 8 of such Act. 

7 (3) ELIGIBILITY EVENT.—Section 8(t)(2) of the 

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

9 1437f(t)(2)) is amended by adding after the period 

10 at the end the following new sentence: ‘‘Such term 

11 includes, with respect to an assisted multifamily 

12 housing project (as such term is defined in section 

13 15(b) of the Section 8 Voucher Reform Act of 

14 2011), the occurrence of the termination date for 

15 the project.’’. 

16 (4) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub17 section, the following definitions shall apply: 

18 (A) ASSISTED MULTIFAMILY HOUSING

19 PROPERTY.—The term ‘‘assisted multifamily 

20 housing property’’ means a multifamily housing 

21 project for which assistance is provided under a 

22 multifamily housing subsidy program. 

23 (B) LOW-INCOME FAMILY.—The term 

24 ‘‘low-income family’’ has the meaning given 


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1 such term in section 3(b) of the United States 

2 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)). 

3 (C) MODERATE-INCOME FAMILY.—The 

4 term ‘‘moderate-income family’’ has the mean5 ing given such term in section 229 of the Low6 Income Housing Preservation and Resident 

7 Homeownership Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 4119). 

8 (D) MULTIFAMILY HOUSING SUBSIDY PRO9 GRAM.—The term ‘‘multifamily housing subsidy 

10 program’’ means— 

11 (i) the below-market interest rate 

12 mortgage insurance program under section 

13 221(d)(3) of the National Housing Act (12 

14 U.S.C. 1715l(d)(3)); and 

15 (ii) the program for interest reduction 

16 payments under section 236 of the Na17 tional Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715z–1). 

18 (E) TERMINATION DATE.—The term ‘‘ter19 mination date’’ means, with respect to an as20 sisted multifamily housing property, the date 

21 that— 

22 (i) the mortgage for the property that 

23 is insured under the below-market interest 

24 rate program under section 221(d)(3) of 

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1 terest reduction payments are made under 

2 section 236 of such Act, matures; and 

3 (ii) the affordability restrictions appli4 cable to the property because of assistance 

5 for the property pursuant to a multifamily 

6 housing subsidy program terminate with 

7 respect to the property. 

8 (5) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary may issue 

9 any regulations necessary to carry out this sub10 section. 

11 (c) PROVISION TO CERTAIN ASSISTED HOUSING

12 RESIDENTS.— 

13 (1) ENHANCED VOUCHER ASSISTANCE.—Not14 withstanding any other provision of law, contract, or 

15 covenant, and subject only to the availability of 

16 amounts provided in advance in appropriation 

17 Acts— 

18 (A) upon the expiration, pursuant to sub19 paragraph (B), of the use restrictions applicable 

20 to the covered properties pursuant to the Emer21 gency Low Income Housing Preservation Act of 

22 1987 (12 U.S.C. 1715l note), each family who 

23 is an eligible low-income or moderate income 

24 family, as such terms are used for purposes of 

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1 ing Preservation and Resident Homeownership 

2 Act of 1990 (12 U.S.C. 4113(f)(2)(A)), and, as 

3 of such expiration, is residing in a dwelling unit 

4 in the covered properties not covered by project5 based rental assistance, shall be offered en6 hanced voucher assistance under section 8(t) of 

7 the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 

8 U.S.C. 1437f(t)), and each such family who 

9 chooses to remain in the covered properties 

10 shall have three years from the date of the 

11 issuance of such enhanced voucher to commence 

12 use of the voucher; 

13 (B) such use restrictions applicable to the 

14 covered properties shall be deemed to expire on 

15 March 1, 2012, but only if the owner of the 

16 covered properties enters into agreements with 

17 the Secretary to maintain the project-based 

18 rental assistance for the properties for a period 

19 beginning upon such expiration of not fewer 

20 than 20 years; and 

21 (C) the contract rents for dwelling units in 

22 the covered properties covered by project-based 

23 rental assistance shall be determined during the 

24 period ending upon the expiration of such use 

25 restrictions pursuant to subparagraph (B) 


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1 based upon the rents for comparable unassisted 

2 and unrestricted units in the area in which the 

3 covered properties are located; except that be4 fore May 1, 2015, the rental assistance pay5 ments for such project-based units in the cov6 ered property known as Georgetowne Houses II 

7 shall be restricted to the rent levels provided 

8 under the Emergency Low Income Housing 

9 Preservation Act of 1987. 

10 (2) COVERED PROPERTIES.—For purposes of 

11 this subsection, the term ‘‘covered properties’’ means 

12 the housing developments known as Georgetowne 

13 Houses I and II (formerly identified by FHA project 

14 nos. 023–55058 and 023–55179), located in Boston, 

15 Massachusetts. 

16 (3) FUNDING.—Amounts for the enhanced 

17 vouchers pursuant to this subsection shall be pro18 vided under amounts appropriated for tenant-based 

19 rental assistance otherwise authorized under section 

20 8(t) of the United States Housing Act of 1937. 

21 (4) APPLICABILITY.—This subsection shall take 

22 effect upon enactment and nothing in this subsection 

23 may be construed to require any administrative 

24 guidance. 


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1 SEC. 16. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM WAIVER AUTHORITY. 

2 (a) AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO AGREEMENTS.— 

3 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary 

4 of Housing and Urban Development may enter into such 

5 agreements as may be necessary with the Social Security 

6 Administration and the Secretary of Health and Human 

7 Services to allow for the participation, in any demonstra8 tion program described in subsection (c), by the Depart9 ment of Housing and Urban Development and the use 

10 under such program of housing choice vouchers under sec11 tion 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 

12 U.S.C. 1437f(o)). 

13 (b) WAIVER OF INCOME REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec14 retary of Housing and Urban Development may, to extent 

15 necessary to allow rental assistance under section 8(o) of 

16 the United States Housing Act of 1937 to be provided 

17 on behalf of persons described in subsection (c) who par18 ticipate in a demonstration program described in such 

19 subsection, and to allow such persons to be placed on a 

20 waiting list for such assistance, partially or wholly dis21 regard increases in earned income for the purpose of rent 

22 calculations under section 3 for such persons. 

23 (c) DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMS.—A demonstration 

24 program described in this subsection is a demonstration 

25 program of a State that provides for persons with signifi26 cant disabilities to be employed and continue to receive 


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1 benefits under programs of the Department of Health and 

2 Human Services and the Social Security Administration, 

3 including the program of supplemental security income 

4 benefits under title XVI of the Social Security Act, dis5 ability insurance benefits under title II of such Act, and 

6 the State program for medical assistance (Medicaid) under 

7 title XIX of such Act. 

8 SEC. 17. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

9 There is authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 

10 2012 the amount necessary to provide public housing 

11 agencies with incremental assistance under section 8(o) of 

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

13 1437f(o)) sufficient to assist 150,000 incremental dwelling 

14 units in such fiscal year, for— 

15 (1) tenant-based assistance; and 

16 (2) project-based voucher assistance for ex17 tremely low-income families, in conjunction with— 

18 (A) funding from either of the funds estab19 lished under section 1338 or 1339 of the Fed20 eral Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and 

21 Soundness Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 4568, 

22 4569); 

23 (B) low-income housing tax credits pro24 vided under section 42 of the Internal Revenue 

25 Code of 1986; 


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1 (C) amounts provided under the commu2 nity development block grant program under 

3 title I of the Housing and Community Develop4 ment Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.) and 

5 the HOME investment partnerships program 

6 under title II of the Cranston-Gonzalez Na7 tional Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 

8 12721 et seq.); and 

9 (D) State and local affordable housing 

10 funds and programs. 

11 SEC. 18. AGENCY AUTHORITY FOR UTILITY PAYMENTS IN 

12 CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES. 

13 Section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 

14 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)), as amended by the preceding 

15 provisions of this Act, is further amended by adding at 

16 the end the following new paragraph: 

17 ‘‘(22) AUTHORITY OF PUBLIC HOUSING AGEN18 CIES TO MAKE DIRECT PAYMENTS FOR UTILITIES

19 WHEN OWNER FAILS TO PAY.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the owner has 

21 failed to pay for utilities that are the responsi22 bility of the owner under the lease or applicable 

23 law, the public housing agency is authorized to 

24 utilize subsidy payments otherwise due the 


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1 owner to pay for continued utility service to 

2 avoid hardship to program participants. 

3 ‘‘(B) NOTICE.—Before making utility pay4 ments as described in subparagraph (A), the 

5 public housing agency shall take reasonable 

6 steps to notify the owner that it intends to 

7 make payments to a utility provider in lieu of 

8 payments to the owner, except prior notification 

9 shall not be required in any case in which the 

10 unit will be or has been rendered uninhabitable 

11 due to the termination or threat of termination 

12 of service, in which case the public housing 

13 agency shall notify the owner within a reason14 able time after making such payment.’’. 

15 SEC. 19. UTILITY DATA. 

16 Section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 

17 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o), as amended by the preceding 

18 provisions of this Act, is further amended by adding at 

19 the end the following new paragraph: 

20 ‘‘(23) UTILITY DATA.— 

21 ‘‘(A) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall 

22 regularly publish such data regarding utility 

23 consumption and costs in local areas as the 

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1 tablishment of allowances for tenant-paid utili2 ties for families assisted under this subsection. 

3 ‘‘(B) GUIDELINES FOR USE.—The Sec4 retary shall establish guidelines providing for 

5 the use of such data in a manner that— 

6 ‘‘(i) avoids unnecessary administrative 

7 burdens for public housing agencies; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) protects families in various unit 

9 sizes and building types, and using various 

10 utilities, from high rent and utility cost 

11 burdens relative to income.’’. 

12 SEC. 20. PROJECT-BASED PRESERVATION VOUCHERS. 

13 (a) ENHANCED VOUCHERS.—Section 8(t) of the 

14 United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(t)) 

15 is amended— 

16 (1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para17 graph (5); and 

18 (2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol19 lowing new paragraph: 

20 ‘‘(4) PRESERVATION PROJECT-BASED VOUCHER

21 ASSISTANCE.—Notwithstanding any other provision 

22 of law, in the case of a multifamily housing project 

23 with respect to which an eligibility event occurs or 

24 has occurred, project-based voucher assistance may 

25 be provided in accordance with subsection (o)(13)(R) 


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1 in lieu of enhanced voucher assistance under this 

2 subsection. Such project-based voucher assistance 

3 shall not be subject to the provisions of this sub4 section, except as otherwise specifically provided in 

5 subsection (o)(13)(R).’’. 

6 (b) PHA PROJECT-BASED VOUCHER ASSISTANCE.— 

7 Paragraph (13) of section 8(o) of the United States Hous8 ing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(13)), as amended 

9 by the preceding provisions of this Act, is further amended 

10 by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: 

11 ‘‘(R) PRESERVATION ASSISTANCE.— 

12 ‘‘(i) AUTHORITY.—Project-based 

13 voucher assistance under this paragraph 

14 shall be made available in accordance with 

15 this subparagraph for multifamily housing 

16 projects for which an eligibility event (as 

17 such term is defined in subsection (t)) oc18 curs or has occurred and for which en19 hanced voucher assistance would otherwise 

20 be, or has been, provided under subsection 

21 (t). Any such assistance shall be in lieu of 

22 enhanced voucher assistance under sub23 section (t) for tenants residing in the 

24 project and shall be provided by the Sec25 retary to a public housing agency. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) REQUEST AND PROVISION.—If 

2 the owner of a multifamily housing project 

3 makes a request for project-based voucher 

4 assistance pursuant to this subparagraph 

5 for the project to a public housing agency 

6 that administers a program for assistance 

7 under subsection (o) for a jurisdiction 

8 within which the project is located, a con9 tract for assistance under this subpara10 graph shall be provided with respect to the 

11 project, subject to clause (v). 

12 ‘‘(iii) TIMING, COVERAGE, AND UNIT

13 RENTS.— 

14 ‘‘(I) REQUEST MADE BEFORE

15 ELIGIBILITY EVENT.—In the case of a 

16 contract for assistance under this sub17 paragraph with respect to a project 

18 that is requested prior to the occur19 rence of the eligibility event, the con20 tract for assistance shall be provided, 

21 subject to clause (v), upon the occur22 rence of the eligibility event. Such 

23 contract shall cover all dwelling units 

24 in the project for which enhanced 


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1 voucher assistance under subsection 

2 (t) would otherwise be provided. 

3 ‘‘(II) REQUEST MADE AFTER

4 ISSUANCE OF ENHANCED VOUCH5 ERS.—In the case of a contract for 

6 assistance under this subparagraph 

7 with respect to a project that is re8 quested after the issuance of enhanced 

9 vouchers under subsection (t) for the 

10 project, the contract shall be provided, 

11 subject to clause (v), as soon as pos12 sible. Such contract shall cover all 

13 dwelling units in the project that are 

14 occupied by tenants receiving such en15 hanced voucher assistance at the time 

16 the contract is effective. 

17 ‘‘(III) COVERAGE OF ADDI18 TIONAL DWELLING UNITS.—At the re19 quest of the owner of a multifamily 

20 housing project for which a contract 

21 for assistance is to be provided under 

22 this subparagraph, the public housing 

23 agency may contract with the owner 

24 for project-based voucher assistance 

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1 ditional dwelling units, if the public 

2 housing agency determines that such 

3 additional assistance is necessary or 

4 desirable to further the purposes re5 flected in clause (v). 

6 ‘‘(IV) APPROVAL OF HIGHER

7 RENTS.—At the request of the owner 

8 of a multifamily housing project for a 

9 contract for assistance under this sub10 paragraph to establish rents at levels 

11 above those permitted by subpara12 graph (H), a public housing agency 

13 that has made the determinations re14 quired by clause (v) may request, and 

15 the Secretary may approve, higher 

16 unit rents if necessary to preserve 

17 housing opportunities that further the 

18 purposes of clause (v). 

19 ‘‘(iv) PROJECTS IN MULTIPLE PHA JU20 RISDICTIONS.—If the Secretary has not en21 tered into a contract with a public housing 

22 agency to provide enhanced voucher assist23 ance under subsection (t) for the project at 

24 the time the owner of a multifamily hous25 ing project requests assistance under this 


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1 subparagraph, and the project is located 

2 within the jurisdiction for the program 

3 under subsection (o) of more than one pub4 lic housing agency, in determining which 

5 agency will administer such assistance, the 

6 Secretary shall— 

7 ‘‘(I) consider the ratio of the 

8 number of vouchers to be awarded 

9 under this subparagraph and of other 

10 project-based vouchers administered 

11 under this paragraph to the total 

12 number of vouchers administered by 

13 an agency; and 

14 ‘‘(II) among other factors, pro15 vide preference to an agency for which 

16 the total number of project-based 

17 vouchers administered under this 

18 paragraph, including vouchers to be 

19 awarded pursuant to this subpara20 graph, would not exceed 50 percent of 

21 the total number of all vouchers to be 

22 administered by the agency after such 

23 award. 

24 The Secretary shall establish guidelines for 

25 determining which agency will administer 


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1 assistance if a unit is not located within 

2 the jurisdiction of any public housing agen3 cy that administers vouchers. 

4 ‘‘(v) REQUIRED DETERMINATIONS.— 

5 As a condition of entering into a contract 

6 pursuant to this subparagraph, the public 

7 housing agency shall have determined, be8 fore entering into such contract that— 

9 ‘‘(I) the housing to be assisted 

10 under the contract is economically via11 ble; and 

12 ‘‘(II)(aa) there is a significant 

13 demand for the housing; 

14 ‘‘(bb) the housing will contribute 

15 to a community revitalization plan or 

16 to deconcentrating poverty and ex17 panding housing and economic oppor18 tunities; or 

19 ‘‘(cc) the continued affordability 

20 of the housing otherwise is an impor21 tant asset to the community. 

22 ‘‘(vi) INAPPLICABILITY OF GOALS.— 

23 Subparagraph (C) shall not apply to a 

24 housing assistance payment contract pur25 suant to this subparagraph. 


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1 ‘‘(vii) DISREGARD OF ASSISTANCE

2 UNDER PERCENTAGE LIMITATION.— 

3 Amounts provided pursuant to this sub4 paragraph shall not be considered for pur5 poses of calculating the limitation under 

6 subparagraph (B). 

7 ‘‘(viii) INAPPLICABILITY OF INCOME8 MIXING REQUIREMENT.—Subparagraph 

9 (D) shall not apply with respect to a hous10 ing assistance payments contract pursuant 

11 to this subparagraph. 

12 ‘‘(ix) ELIGIBILITY.—Subject only to 

13 clause (iii) and notwithstanding any other 

14 provision of law, any family residing in a 

15 multifamily housing project on the date of 

16 the eligibility event for the project who 

17 would otherwise be eligible for enhanced 

18 voucher assistance under subsection (t) 

19 shall be eligible for project-based voucher 

20 assistance pursuant to this subpara21 graph.’’. 

22 SEC. 21. EFFECT OF FORECLOSURE ON SECTION 8 TENAN23 CIES. 

24 (a) USE OF RENTAL ASSISTANCE AMOUNTS.—Sec25 tion 8(o)(7) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 


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1 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(7)), as amended by section 703 of 

2 division A of Public Law 111–22 (123 Stat. 1661), is 

3 amended— 

4 (1) in subparagraph (F), by inserting after ‘‘oc5 cupied unit,’’ the following: ‘‘and if a public housing 

6 agency is unable to make payments under the con7 tract to the immediate successor in interest after 

8 foreclosure, due to action or inaction by the suc9 cessor in interest, including the rejection of pay10 ments or the failure of the successor to maintain the 

11 unit in compliance with paragraph (8), or an inabil12 ity to identify the successor, the agency may use 

13 funds that would have been used to pay the rental 

14 amount on behalf of the family— 

15 ‘‘(i) to pay for utilities that are the 

16 responsibility of the owner under the lease 

17 or applicable law, after taking reasonable 

18 steps to notify the owner that it intends to 

19 make payments to a utility provider in lieu 

20 of payments to the owner, except prior no21 tification shall not be required in any case 

22 in which the unit will be or has been ren23 dered uninhabitable due to the termination 

24 or threat of termination of service, in 

25 which case the public housing agency shall 


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1 notify the owner within a reasonable time 

2 after making such payment; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) for the family’s reasonable mov4 ing costs, including security deposit 

5 costs.’’; 

6 (2) by striking ‘‘except that this provision and 

7 the provisions related to foreclosure in subparagraph 

8 (C) shall not’’ in subparagraph (F) and inserting the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘The provisions related to foreclosure in subpara11 graphs (C) and (F)’’; and 

12 (3) in the matter after and below subparagraph 

13 (F), as amended by paragraph (2) of this sub14 section, by adding after the period at the end the 

15 following: ‘‘For purposes of subparagraphs (C) and 

16 (F), the term ‘immediate successor in interest’ in17 cludes a purchaser who purchases a property from 

18 an immediate successor in interest.’’. 

19 (b) SUNSET.—Section 704 of division A of the Help20 ing Families Save Their Homes Act (42 U.S.C. 1437f 

21 note; Public Law 111–22; 123 Stat. 1662) is amended— 

22 (1) by striking ‘‘This title, and any amend23 ments made by this title are’’ and inserting ‘‘Section 

24 702 is’’; and 


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1 (2) by striking ‘‘this title’’ and inserting ‘‘such 

2 section’’. 

3 SEC. 22. STUDY TO IDENTIFY OBSTACLES TO USING 

4 VOUCHERS IN FEDERALLY SUBSIDIZED 

5 HOUSING PROJECTS. 

6 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 

7 States shall conduct a study of (1) the housing voucher 

8 program authorized under section 8(o) of the United 

9 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)), and 

10 (2) other federally subsidized housing programs, to deter11 mine whether any statutory, regulatory, or administrative 

12 provisions of the housing voucher program or of other fed13 erally subsidized housing programs, or policies and prac14 tices of housing owners or public housing agencies or other 

15 agencies, may have the effect of making occupancy by 

16 voucher holders in federally subsidized housing projects 

17 more difficult to obtain than occupancy by non-voucher 

18 holders. In conducting the study required under this sub19 section the Comptroller General shall determine if any 

20 gaps exist in the statute, regulations, or administration 

21 of the housing voucher program or of other federally sub22 sidized housing programs and policies and practices of 

23 housing owners or public housing agencies or other agen24 cies that, if addressed, could eliminate or reduce obstacles 

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1 sidized housing projects. Such study shall include data on 

2 the use of housing vouchers in federally subsidized housing 

3 projects. 

4 (b) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term 

5 ‘‘federally subsidized housing projects’’ includes projects 

6 assisted pursuant to the HOME investment partnerships 

7 program under title II of the Cranston-Gonzalez National 

8 Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12721 et seq.) and 

9 those projects receiving the benefit of low-income housing 

10 credits under section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

11 1986 (26 U.S.C. 42). 

12 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 6 months after the date 

13 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 

14 report to Congress the findings from the study required 

15 under subsection (a) and any recommendations for statu16 tory, regulatory, or administrative changes. 

17 SEC. 23. INTERAGENCY COUNCIL ON HOMELESSNESS. 

18 (a) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Section 202(e) of the 

19 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

20 11312), as amended by section 1004 of division B of Pub21 lic Law 111–22, is amended by striking ‘‘Chairman’’ and 

22 inserting ‘‘Chairperson’’. 

23 (b) DUTIES.—Section 203 of the McKinney-Vento 

24 Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11313), as amended 

25 by section 1004 of Public Law 111–22, is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a)— 

2 (A) in paragraph (13), by striking ‘‘para3 graph (7)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (10)’’; 

4 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (6), (7), 

5 (8), (9) (as added by section 1004(a)(3)(D) of 

6 Public Law 111–22; 123 Stat. 1667), (9) (as so 

7 redesignated by section 1004(a)(3)(A) of Public 

8 Law 111–22; 123 Stat. 1667), (10), (11), (12), 

9 and (13) as paragraphs (9), (10), (11), (12), 

10 (13), (14), (15), (16), and (17) respectively; 

11 (C) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘which 

12 shall set forth actions to accomplish the goal of 

13 ending homelessness,’’ after ‘‘National Strategic 

14 Plan to End Homelessness,’’; 

15 (D) in paragraph (3), by inserting before 

16 the semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘and en17 sure that related programs and activities to as18 sist homeless individuals of Federal agencies 

19 are coordinated with each other’’; and 

20 (E) by inserting after paragraph (5) the 

21 following new paragraphs: 

22 ‘‘(6) make recommendations, in the reports 

23 submitted pursuant to subsection (c) on— 

24 ‘‘(A) long-term goals for the Congress to 

25 reduce homelessness; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) legislative strategies for the Congress 

2 to achieve such goals; 

3 ‘‘(7) evaluate the Federal role in interacting 

4 and coordinating with State and local entities that 

5 address homelessness; 

6 ‘‘(8) conduct research and develop methods— 

7 ‘‘(A) through consultation with State and 

8 local agencies, to improve coordination between 

9 the Council and Federal agencies in existence 

10 upon the date of enactment of the Interagency 

11 Council on Homelessness Reform Act of 2011 

12 that specifically deal with homelessness; and 

13 ‘‘(B) to minimize the period during which 

14 individuals remain homeless;’’; and 

15 (2) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the 

16 following new paragraphs: 

17 ‘‘(3) BIENNIAL REPORT.—The Council shall 

18 prepare and transmit to the President and the Con19 gress a biennial report detailing the efforts of the 

20 Council to address homelessness. 

21 ‘‘(4) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Council shall 

22 make each report submitted to the Congress pursu23 ant to paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of this subsection, 

24 and the national plan and updates of such plan sub25 mitted pursuant to paragraph (1) of subsection (a), 


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1 publicly available, including through posting on a 

2 World Wide Web site maintained by the Council.’’. 

3 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

4 208 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 

5 U.S.C. 11318), as amended by section 1004 of division 

6 B of Public Law 111–22, is amended by striking ‘‘fiscal 

7 years 2011’’ and inserting ‘‘each of fiscal years 2012 

8 through 2016’’. 

9 SEC. 24. STUDY OF EFFECTS OF SECTION 8 PROGRAM ON 

10 HUD BUDGET AND PROGRAMS. 

11 The Comptroller General of the United States shall 

12 conduct a study to identify and analyze the effects that 

13 the rental assistance program under section 8 of the 

14 United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f) has 

15 on the other programs administered by the Secretary of 

16 Housing and Urban Development and on the overall budg17 et for the Department of Housing and Urban Develop18 ment. Not later than the expiration of the 6-month period 

19 beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

20 Comptroller General shall submit a report to the Congress 

21 setting forth the results and conclusions of the study 

22 under this section. 

23 SEC. 25. HOUSING INNOVATION PROGRAM. 

24 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—Title I of the 

25 United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et 


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1 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

2 section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 37. HOUSING INNOVATION PROGRAM. 

4 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to es5 tablish a program under which public housing agencies are 

6 given the flexibility to design, and the Secretary is given 

7 the responsibility to evaluate, innovative approaches to 

8 providing housing assistance that— 

9 ‘‘(1) increase housing opportunities for low-, 

10 very low-, and extremely low-income families, includ11 ing preserving, modernizing, rehabilitating, reconfig12 uring, or replacing public housing at risk of physical 

13 deterioration or obsolescence, developing additional 

14 affordable housing, providing supportive housing, 

15 and increasing the number of families receiving ten16 ant-based rental assistance; 

17 ‘‘(2) provide financial incentives and other sup18 port mechanisms to families to obtain employment 

19 and increase earned income, and achieve economic 

20 self-sufficiency, while protecting very low- and ex21 tremely low-income families from increased rent bur22 dens; 

23 ‘‘(3) utilize funds in a more effective or cost-ef24 ficient manner, including achieving energy, adminis25 trative, and other cost savings; 


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1 ‘‘(4) leverage other Federal, State, and local 

2 funding sources, including the low-income housing 

3 tax credit program, to expand and preserve afford4 able housing opportunities, including public housing; 

5 ‘‘(5) test alternative rent-setting policies to de6 termine whether rent determinations can be sim7 plified and administrative cost savings can be real8 ized while protecting extremely low- and very low-in9 come families from increased rent burdens; 

10 ‘‘(6) are subject to rigorous evaluation to test 

11 the effectiveness of such innovative approaches; and 

12 ‘‘(7) are developed with the support of the local 

13 community and with the substantial participation of 

14 affected residents. 

15 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM AUTHORITY.— 

16 ‘‘(1) SCOPE.— 

17 ‘‘(A) PRIORITY STRATEGY AGENCIES.— 

18 The Secretary shall carry out a housing innova19 tion program under this section under which 

20 the Secretary shall designate such number of 

21 public housing agencies, which shall not exceed 

22 60, to participate in the housing innovation pro23 gram as may be necessary, in conjunction with 

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1 onstrate the effectiveness of the priority strate2 gies identified in subsection (d)(2). 

3 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL PROGRAM AGENCIES.— 

4 The Secretary shall also designate such number 

5 of additional agencies, which shall not exceed 

6 20, to participate in the program under the 

7 terms of subsection (i) as may be necessary to 

8 demonstrate other innovative strategies as the 

9 Secretary or applicants may propose. 

10 ‘‘(C) TRANSFER OF EXISTING MTW AGEN11 CIES.—The Secretary shall also approve and 

12 transfer into the program existing MTW agen13 cies pursuant to subsection (c). 

14 ‘‘(2) DURATION.—The Secretary may carry out 

15 the housing innovation program under this section 

16 only during the 10-year period beginning on the date 

17 of the enactment of the Section 8 Voucher Reform 

18 Act of 2011. 

19 ‘‘(c) PARTICIPATION OF EXISTING MTW AGEN20 CIES.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the require22 ments of paragraph (2), all existing MTW agencies 

23 shall be designated to participate in the program. 

24 ‘‘(2) CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION.—The 

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1 ing innovation program under this section each ex2 isting MTW agency that the Secretary determines— 

3 ‘‘(A) is not in default under such agree4 ment; 

5 ‘‘(B) is meeting the goals and objectives of 

6 its moving to work plan; and 

7 ‘‘(C) with respect to any agency that has 

8 been audited by the Inspector General of the 

9 Department of Housing and Urban Develop10 ment and that the Inspector General has deter11 mined was not complying with program rules, is 

12 currently complying with such rules; the Sec13 retary shall provide an agency that the Sec14 retary determines is not in compliance a reason15 able period of time to achieve such compliance. 

16 ‘‘(3) TERMS OF PARTICIPATION.—Any agency 

17 approved for transfer into the housing innovation 

18 program may, at its option, be subject to the provi19 sions of subsection (d)(3), in lieu of an agreement 

20 currently in place with the Secretary for participa21 tion in the Moving to Work program. Each agency 

22 shall, within two years after the date of the enact23 ment of the Section 8 Voucher Reform Act of 2011, 

24 make changes to its policies that were implemented 

25 before such date of enactment in order to comply 


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1 with the requirements of this section. Existing MTW 

2 agencies shall not be required to comply with any re3 quirements under subsection (d). 

4 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL AGENCIES.— 

5 ‘‘(1) PROPOSALS; SELECTION PROCESS.—In ad6 dition to agencies participating in the program pur7 suant to subsection (c), the Secretary shall, within 

8 12 months after such date of enactment, select pub9 lic housing agencies to participate in the program 

10 pursuant to a competitive process that meets the fol11 lowing requirements: 

12 ‘‘(A) Any public housing agency may be se13 lected to participate in the program, except that 

14 not more than 5 agencies that are near-troubled 

15 under the public housing assessment system 

16 and/or section 8 management assessment pro17 gram may be selected, and except that any 

18 agency that is a troubled agency under either 

19 such assessment program or for which the Sec20 retary has hired an alternative management en21 tity for such agency or has taken possession of 

22 all or any part of such agency’s public housing 

23 program shall not be eligible for participation. 

24 Any near-troubled public housing agency par25 ticipating in the program shall remain subject 


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1 to the requirements of this Act governing ten2 ant rent contributions, eligibility, and continued 

3 participation, and may not adopt policies de4 scribed in subsection (e)(4) (relating to rents 

5 and requirements for continued occupation and 

6 participation). 

7 ‘‘(B) The process provides, to the extent 

8 possible based on eligible agencies submitting 

9 applications and taking into account existing 

10 MTW agencies participating pursuant to sub11 section (c), for representation among agencies 

12 selected of agencies having various characteris13 tics, including both large and small agencies, 

14 agencies serving urban, suburban, and rural 

15 areas, and agencies in various geographical re16 gions throughout the United States, and which 

17 may include the selection of agencies that only 

18 administer the voucher program under section 

19 8(o). 

20 ‘‘(C) Any agency submitting a proposal 

21 under this paragraph shall have provided notice 

22 to residents and the local community, not later 

23 than 30 days before the first of the two public 

24 meetings required under subparagraph (D). 


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1 ‘‘(D) The agency submitting a proposal 

2 shall hold two public meetings to receive com3 ments on the agency’s proposed application, on 

4 the implications of changes under the proposal, 

5 and the possible impact on residents. 

6 ‘‘(E) The process includes criteria for se7 lection, as follows: 

8 ‘‘(i) The extent to which— 

9 ‘‘(I) if proposal is for the purpose 

10 of carrying out the priority strategy 

11 under paragraph (2)(A) of this sub12 section, the proposal is likely to 

13 achieve the purposes of increasing 

14 housing opportunities for low-, very 

15 low-, and extremely low-income fami16 lies, including preserving, modern17 izing, rehabilitating, reconfiguring, or 

18 replacing public housing at risk of 

19 physical deterioration or obsolescence, 

20 developing additional affordable hous21 ing, providing supportive housing, or 

22 increasing the number of families re23 ceiving tenant-based rental assistance, 

24 or a combination of these purposes; 


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1 ‘‘(II) if the proposal is for the 

2 purpose of carrying out the priority 

3 strategy under paragraph (2)(B) of 

4 this subsection, the proposal is likely 

5 to achieve the purposes of families ob6 taining employment, increasing earned 

7 income, or achieving economic self8 sufficiency, while protecting extremely 

9 low- and very low-income families 

10 from increased rent burdens; 

11 ‘‘(III) if the proposal is for the 

12 purpose of carrying out an innovative 

13 strategy under paragraph (2)(C) of 

14 this subsection, the proposal is likely 

15 to utilize funds in a more effective or 

16 cost-efficient manner, including 

17 achieving energy, administrative, or 

18 other cost-savings; or 

19 ‘‘(IV) if the proposal is for the 

20 purpose of carrying out an innovative 

21 strategy pursuant to subsection 

22 (b)(1)(B), the proposal is likely to 

23 achieve the goals and objectives of 

24 such strategy. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) The extent to which the proposal 

2 generally identifies statutory provisions 

3 and existing rules and regulations that im4 pede achievement of the goals and objec5 tives of the proposal and an explanation of 

6 why a waiver of such statutory provisions, 

7 rules, and regulations is necessary to 

8 achieve such goals and objectives. 

9 ‘‘(iii) The extent to which the agency 

10 has a successful history of implementing or 

11 has expertise in strategies similar to those 

12 set forth in the agency’s proposal. 

13 ‘‘(iv) The extent of commitment and 

14 funding for carrying out the proposal by 

15 local and State government agencies and 

16 nonprofit organizations, including the pro17 vision of additional funding and other serv18 ices, and the extent of support for the pro19 posal by residents, resident advisory 

20 boards, and members of the local commu21 nity. 

22 ‘‘(v) Such other factors as the Sec23 retary may establish, in consultation with 

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1 gram stakeholders, and any entity con2 ducting evaluations pursuant to subsection 

3 (f). 

4 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY STRATEGIES.—For purposes of 

5 the first sentence of paragraph (b)(1), the following 

6 are priority strategies: 

7 ‘‘(A) INCREASING HOUSING OPPORTUNI8 TIES.—A strategy of development of increasing 

9 housing opportunities for low-, very low-, and 

10 extremely low-income families, including pre11 serving, modernizing, rehabilitating, reconfig12 uring, or replacing public housing at risk of 

13 physical deterioration or obsolescence, devel14 oping additional affordable housing, providing 

15 supportive housing, or increasing the number of 

16 families receiving tenant-based rental assist17 ance, or a combination of these purposes, and 

18 which may include leveraging other Federal, 

19 State, and local funding sources. 

20 ‘‘(B) RENT REFORMS AND FAMILY SELF21 SUFFICIENCY.—A strategy to implement rent 

22 reforms and other self-sufficiency incentives or 

23 resources, which shall be designed to help fami24 lies obtain employment, increase their earned 

25 income, or achieve economic self-sufficiency, 


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1 while protecting extremely low- and very low-in2 come families from increased rent burdens. 

3 ‘‘(C) COST-EFFECTIVENESS.—A strategy 

4 to utilize funds in a more effective or cost-effi5 cient manner, including achieving energy, ad6 ministrative, or other cost-savings. 

7 ‘‘(3) CONTRACT AMENDMENT.—After selecting 

8 agencies under this subsection, the Secretary shall 

9 promptly amend the applicable annual contributions 

10 contracts of such agencies to provide that— 

11 ‘‘(A) subject to compliance with all pro12 gram rules under this section, such agencies 

13 may implement any policies and activities that 

14 are not inconsistent with this section, without 

15 specifying such policies and activities in such 

16 amendment and without negotiating or entering 

17 into any other agreements with the Secretary 

18 specifying such policies and activities; and 

19 ‘‘(B) the policies and activities to be imple20 mented by an agency under the program in a 

21 given year shall be described in and subject to 

22 the requirements of the annual plan under sub23 section (e)(11). 

24 ‘‘(4) MAINTAINING PARTICIPATION RATE.—If, 

25 at any time after the initial selection period under 


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1 paragraph (1), the number of public housing agen2 cies participating in the program falls below the 

3 number selected pursuant to paragraph (1), the Sec4 retary shall promptly solicit applications from and 

5 select public housing agencies to participate in the 

6 program under the terms and conditions for applica7 tion and selection provided in this section to increase 

8 the number of participating agencies to the number 

9 initially selected pursuant to paragraph (1). 

10 ‘‘(e) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) PROGRAM FUNDS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To carry out a hous13 ing innovation program under this section, the 

14 participating agency may use amounts provided 

15 to the agency from the Operating Fund under 

16 section 9(e), amounts provided to the agency 

17 from the Capital Fund under section 9(d), and 

18 amounts provided to the agency for voucher as19 sistance under section 8(o). Such program 

20 funds may be used for any activities that are 

21 authorized by section 8(o) or 9, or for other ac22 tivities that are not inconsistent with this sec23 tion, which may include, without limitation— 

24 ‘‘(i) providing capital and operating 

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1 viously developed or operated pursuant to 

2 a contract between the Secretary and such 

3 agency; 

4 ‘‘(ii) the acquisition, new construction, 

5 rehabilitation, financing, and provision of 

6 capital or operating assistance for low-in7 come housing (including housing other 

8 than public housing) and related facilities, 

9 which may be for terms exceeding the term 

10 of the program under this section in order 

11 to secure other financing for such housing; 

12 ‘‘(iii) costs of site acquisition and im13 provement, providing utility services, demo14 lition, planning, and administration of ac15 tivities under this paragraph; 

16 ‘‘(iv) housing counseling for low-in17 come families in connection with rental or 

18 homeownership assistance provided under 

19 the program; 

20 ‘‘(v) safety, security, law enforcement, 

21 and anti-crime activities appropriate to 

22 protect and support families assisted under 

23 the program; 


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1 ‘‘(vi) tenant-based rental assistance, 

2 which may include the project-basing of 

3 such assistance; 

4 ‘‘(vii) appropriate and reasonable fi5 nancial assistance that is required to pre6 serve low-income housing otherwise as7 sisted under programs administered by the 

8 Secretary or under State or local low-in9 come housing or public housing programs; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(viii) family self-sufficiency activities 

12 for low-income families in connection with 

13 rental or homeownership assistance pro14 vided under the program. 

15 ‘‘(B) COMBINING FUNDS.—Notwith16 standing any other provision of law, a partici17 pating agency may combine and use program 

18 funds for any activities authorized under this 

19 section, except that a participating agency may 

20 use funds provided for assistance under section 

21 8(o) for activities other than those authorized 

22 under section 8(o) only if (i) in the calendar 

23 year prior to its participation in the program, 

24 the agency utilized not less than 95 percent of 

25 such funds allocated for that calendar year for 


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1 such authorized activities or 95 percent of its 

2 authorized vouchers; or (ii) after approval to 

3 participate in the program, the agency achieves 

4 such utilization for a 12-month period. Such 

5 limitation shall not apply to participating agen6 cies approved by the Secretary to combine 

7 funds from sections 8 and 9 of the Act prior to 

8 enactment of this section. A public housing 

9 agency that uses funds provided from assist10 ance under section 8(o) for activities not au11 thorized under such subsection may not termi12 nate assistance to families assisted under such 

13 subsection on the grounds of inadequate fund14 ing to the extent such inadequacy is caused by 

15 such use of funds for purposes not authorized 

16 under section 8(o). 

17 ‘‘(2) USE OF PROGRAM FUNDS.—In carrying 

18 out the housing innovation program under this sec19 tion, each participating agency shall continue to as20 sist— 

21 ‘‘(A) not less than substantially the same 

22 number of eligible low-income families under 

23 the program as it assisted in the base year for 

24 the agency; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) a comparable mix of families by fam2 ily size, subject to adjustment to reflect changes 

3 in the agency’s waiting list, except that the Sec4 retary may approve exceptions to such require5 ments for up to 3 years based on modernization 

6 or redevelopment activities proposed in an an7 nual plan submitted and approved in accord8 ance with paragraph (11). 

9 Determinations with respect to the number of fami10 lies required to be served shall be adjusted to reflect 

11 any allocation of additional vouchers under section 

12 8(o), any change in annual voucher proration factor, 

13 or such other appropriate adjustments as the Sec14 retary may establish. For purposes of subparagraphs 

15 (A) and (B), the term ‘base year’ means, with re16 spect to existing MTW agencies, the first full cal17 endar year prior to approval for entry into the mov18 ing to work demonstration. The Secretary shall mon19 itor and enforce compliance with the requirements of 

20 subparagraph (A) on an annual basis. 

21 ‘‘(3) RETAINED PROVISIONS.—Each agency 

22 that is approved for program participation pursuant 

23 to subparagraph (A) or (B) of subsection (b)(1) 

24 shall comply with all provisions of this Act except 

25 those statutory provisions and existing rules and 


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1 regulations generally identified in the application for 

2 participation in the program, except that the Sec3 retary may approve requests by an agency to waive 

4 compliance with other statutes, regulations, and 

5 rules pursuant to this Act, consistent with other pro6 gram rules, if the Secretary determines that such a 

7 request would further the goals and objectives iden8 tified in the application for participation in the pro9 gram (taking into consideration public and resident 

10 input pursuant to the procedure under paragraph 

11 (4)) or would further the purposes identified in sub12 paragraphs (B) and (C) of subsection (f)(1). Not13 withstanding any other provision of this section, 

14 families receiving assistance under this section shall 

15 retain the same rights of judicial review of agency 

16 action as they would otherwise have had if the agen17 cy were not participating in the program, and each 

18 participating agency, including existing MTW agen19 cies that are approved for transfer into the program 

20 pursuant to subsection (c), shall comply with the fol21 lowing provisions of this Act: 

22 ‘‘(A) Subsections (a)(2)(A) and (b)(1) of 

23 section 16 (relating to targeting for new admis24 sions in the public housing and voucher pro25 grams). 


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1 ‘‘(B) Section 2(b) (relating to tenant rep2 resentatives on the public housing agency board 

3 of directors). 

4 ‘‘(C) Section 3(b)(2) (relating to defini5 tions for the terms ‘low-income families’ and 

6 ‘very low-income families’). 

7 ‘‘(D) Section 5(A)(e) (relating to the for8 mation of and consultation with a resident advi9 sory board). 

10 ‘‘(E) Sections 6(f)(1) and 8(o)(8)(B) (re11 lating to compliance of units assisted with hous12 ing quality standards or other codes). 

13 ‘‘(F) Sections 6(c)(3), 6(c)(4)(i), and 

14 8(o)(6)(B) (relating to rights of public housing 

15 applicants and existing procedural rights for 

16 applicants under section 8(o)). 

17 ‘‘(G) Section 6(k) (relating to grievance 

18 procedures for public housing tenants) and 

19 comparable procedural rights for families as20 sisted under section 8(o). 

21 ‘‘(H) Section 6(l) (relating to public hous22 ing lease requirements), except that for units 

23 assisted both with program funds and low-in24 come housing tax credits, the initial lease term 

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1 form lease terms with such tax credit require2 ments. 

3 ‘‘(I) Section 7 (relating to designation of 

4 housing for elderly and disabled households), 

5 except that a participating agency may make 

6 such designations (at initial designation or upon 

7 renewal) for a term of up to 5 years if the 

8 agency includes in its annual plan under para9 graph (11) an analysis of the impact of such 

10 designations on affected households and such 

11 designation is subject to the program evalua12 tion. Any participating agency with a des13 ignated housing plan that was approved under 

14 the moving to work demonstration may con15 tinue to operate under the terms of such plan 

16 for a term of 5 years (with an option to renew 

17 on the same terms for an additional 5 years) if 

18 it includes in its annual plan an analysis of the 

19 impact of such designations on affected house20 holds and is subject to evaluation under sub21 section (f). 

22 ‘‘(J) Subparagraphs (C) through (E) of 

23 section 8(o)(7) and section 8(o)(20) (relating to 

24 lease requirements and eviction protections for 

25 families assisted with tenant-based assistance). 


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1 ‘‘(K) Section 8(o)(13)(B) (relating to a 

2 percentage limitation on project-based assist3 ance), except that for purposes of this subpara4 graph such section shall be applied by sub5 stituting ‘50 percent’ for ‘20 percent’, and all 

6 voucher funding that is used for non-tenant 

7 based assistance purposes shall count towards 

8 this calculation. 

9 ‘‘(L) Section 8(o)(13)(E) (relating to resi10 dent choice for tenants of units with project11 based vouchers), except with respect to— 

12 ‘‘(i) in the case of agencies partici13 pating in the moving to work demonstra14 tion, any housing assistance payment con15 tract entered into before or within 2 years 

16 after the enactment of this section; 

17 ‘‘(ii) project-based vouchers that re18 place public housing units; 

19 ‘‘(iii) not more than 10 percent of the 

20 vouchers available to the participating 

21 agency upon entering the housing innova22 tion program under this section; and 

23 ‘‘(iv) any project-based voucher pro24 gram that is subject to evaluation under 

25 subsection (f). 


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1 Notwithstanding the exceptions under this sub2 paragraph, an agency may not eliminate resi3 dent choice under section 8(o)(13)(E) for more 

4 than 25 percent of its authorized vouchers. 

5 ‘‘(M) Section 8(r) (relating to portability 

6 of voucher assistance), except that a partici7 pating agency may receive funding for port8 ability obligations under section 8(dd) in the 

9 same manner as other public housing agencies. 

10 ‘‘(N) Sections 8(ee) and 6(u) (relating to 

11 records, certification and confidentiality regard12 ing domestic violence). 

13 ‘‘(O) Subsections (a) and (b) of section 12 

14 (relating to payment of prevailing wages). 

15 ‘‘(P) Section 18 (relating to demolition and 

16 disposition of public housing). 

17 ‘‘(Q) Requirements regarding— 

18 ‘‘(i) establishment of resident councils 

19 and jurisdiction-wide resident organiza20 tions; 

21 ‘‘(ii) public housing agency support 

22 for such councils and organizations; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) involvement of such councils and 

24 organizations in public housing agency op25 erations; 


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1 as authorized under sections 3(c)(2), 

2 6(c)(5)(C), and 9(e) and implemented by appli3 cable regulations. 

4 ‘‘(4) RENTS AND REQUIREMENTS FOR CONTIN5 UED OCCUPANCY OR PARTICIPATION.— 

6 ‘‘(A) BEFORE POLICY CHANGE.—Before 

7 adopting any policy pursuant to participation in 

8 the housing innovation program under this sec9 tion that would make a material adverse change 

10 to the requirements of this Act regarding ten11 ant rents or contributions, or conditions of con12 tinued occupancy or participation, a partici13 pating agency shall complete each of the fol14 lowing actions: 

15 ‘‘(i) The agency shall conduct an im16 pact analysis of the proposed policy on 

17 families the agency is assisting under the 

18 program under this section and on appli19 cants on the waiting list, including analysis 

20 of the incidence and severity of rent bur21 dens greater than 30 percent of adjusted 

22 income on households of various sizes and 

23 types and in various income tiers, that 

24 would result, if any, without application of 

25 the hardship provisions. The analysis with 


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1 respect to applicants on the waiting list 

2 may be limited to demographic data pro3 vided by the applicable consolidated plan, 

4 information provided by the Secretary, and 

5 other generally available information. The 

6 proposed policy, including provisions for 

7 addressing hardship cases and transition 

8 provisions that mitigate the impact of any 

9 rent increases or changes in the conditions 

10 of continued occupancy or participation, 

11 and data from this analysis shall be made 

12 available for public inspection and copying, 

13 on request, and for access through the 

14 Internet, for at least 60 days in advance of 

15 the public meeting described in clause (ii). 

16 ‘‘(ii) The agency shall hold a public 

17 meeting regarding the proposed change, in18 cluding the hardship provisions, which may 

19 be combined with a public meeting on the 

20 draft annual plan under paragraph (11) or 

21 the annual report under subsection (h)(2). 

22 ‘‘(iii) The board of directors or other 

23 similar governing body of the agency shall 

24 approve the change in public session. 


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1 ‘‘(iv) The agency shall obtain approval 

2 from the Secretary of the annual plan or 

3 plan amendment. The Secretary may ap4 prove a plan or amendment containing a 

5 material change to the requirements of this 

6 Act regarding tenant rents or contribu7 tions, or conditions of continued occupancy 

8 or participation, only if the agency agrees 

9 that such policy may be included as part of 

10 the national evaluation. 

11 ‘‘(B) AFTER POLICY CHANGE.—After 

12 adopting a policy described in subparagraph 

13 (A), a program agency shall complete each of 

14 the following actions: 

15 ‘‘(i) The agency shall provide ade16 quate notice to residents, which shall in17 clude a description of the changes in the 

18 public housing lease or participation agree19 ment that may be required and of the 

20 hardship or transition protections offered. 

21 ‘‘(ii) In the case of any additional re22 quirements for continued occupancy or 

23 participation, the agency shall execute a 

24 lease addendum or participation agreement 

25 specifying the requirements applicable to 


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1 both the resident and the agency. A resi2 dent may bring a civil action to enforce 

3 commitments of the agency made through 

4 the lease addendum or participation agree5 ment. 

6 ‘‘(iii) The agency shall reassess rent, 

7 subsidy level, and policies on program par8 ticipation no less often than every two 

9 years, which shall include preparing a re10 vised impact analysis, and make available 

11 for public inspection and copying, on re12 quest, and for access through the Internet, 

13 the results of such reassessment and im14 pact analysis. The requirement under this 

15 clause may be met by sufficiently detailed 

16 interim reports, if any, by the national 

17 evaluating entity. 

18 ‘‘(iv) The agency shall include in the 

19 annual report under subsection (h)(2) in20 formation sufficient to describe any hard21 ship requests, including the number and 

22 types of requests made, granted, and de23 nied, the use of transition rules, and ad24 verse impacts resulting from changes in 

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1 cluding actions taken by the agency to 

2 mitigate such impacts and impacts on fam3 ilies no longer assisted under the program. 

4 ‘‘(C) APPLICABILITY TO EXISTING MTW

5 AGENCIES.—An existing MTW agency that, be6 fore the date of the enactment of this section, 

7 implemented material changes to the require8 ments of this Act regarding tenant rents or 

9 contributions, or conditions of continued occu10 pancy or participation, as part of the moving to 

11 work demonstration shall not be subject to sub12 paragraph (A) with regard to such previously 

13 implemented changes, but shall comply with the 

14 requirements of subparagraph (B)(ii) and pro15 vide the evaluation and impact analysis required 

16 by subparagraph (B)(iii) by the end of the sec17 ond agency fiscal year ending after such date of 

18 enactment. 

19 ‘‘(5) PROHIBITION AGAINST DECREASE IN PRO20 GRAM FUNDS.—The amount of program funds a 

21 participating agency receives shall not be diminished 

22 by its participation in the housing innovation pro23 gram under this section. 

24 ‘‘(6) RENT BURDEN.—A participating agency 

25 may not adopt rent policies that result in families 


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1 making substantially higher rent payments than 

2 would customarily be made by families of com3 parable income under the program under which as4 sistance is provided. 

5 ‘‘(7) TIME LIMITS.—A participating agency 

6 may implement time limits on the term of housing 

7 assistance received by families under the program 

8 only if— 

9 ‘‘(A) such limits are for a period of time 

10 not shorter than 5 years; and 

11 ‘‘(B) enforcement of such limits is sus12 pended for any period of time during which the 

13 unemployment rate in the area exceeds 10 per14 cent. 

15 ‘‘(8) EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS.—A partici16 pating agency may condition the receipt of housing 

17 assistance by families under the program on require18 ments relating to the employment status or related 

19 activities of one or more family members only if— 

20 ‘‘(A) such requirements are consistent with 

21 the program for block grants to States for tem22 porary assistance for needy families under part 

23 A of title IV of the Social Security Act; 

24 ‘‘(B) the agency establishes reasonable 

25 hardship exemptions; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) enforcement of such requirements is 

2 suspended for any period of time during which 

3 the unemployment rate in the area exceeds 10 

4 percent. 

5 ‘‘(9) SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION.—As part 

6 of the annual report required under subsection 

7 (h)(2), each participating agency shall submit infor8 mation annually to the Secretary regarding families 

9 assisted under the program of the agency and com10 ply with any other data submissions required by the 

11 Secretary for purposes of evaluation of the program 

12 under this section. 

13 ‘‘(10) PUBLIC AND RESIDENT PARTICIPA14 TION.—Each participating agency shall provide op15 portunities for resident and public participation in 

16 the annual plan under paragraph (11), as follows: 

17 ‘‘(A) NOTICE TO RESIDENTS.— 

18 ‘‘(i) NOTICE.—Each year, the agency 

19 shall provide notice to the low-income fam20 ilies it serves under the programs author21 ized by this section as to the impact of 

22 proposed policy changes and program ini23 tiatives and of the schedule of resident ad24 visory board and public meetings for the 

25 annual plan. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) MEETING.—The agency shall 

2 hold at least one meeting with the resident 

3 advisory board (including representatives 

4 of recipients of assistance under section 8) 

5 to review the annual plan for each year. 

6 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC MEETING.—With respect to 

7 each annual plan, the agency shall hold at least 

8 one annual public meeting to obtain comments 

9 on the plan, which may be combined with a 

10 meeting to review the annual report. In the case 

11 of any agency that administers, in the aggre12 gate, more than 15,000 public housing units 

13 and vouchers, or that operates in more than one 

14 county, the agency shall hold additional meet15 ings in locations that promote attendance by 

16 residents and other stakeholders. 

17 ‘‘(C) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Before adop18 tion of any annual plan, and not less than 30 

19 days before the public meeting required under 

20 subparagraph (A)(ii) with respect to the plan, 

21 the agency shall make the proposed annual plan 

22 available for public inspection and copying, on 

23 request, and for access through the Internet. 

24 The annual plan shall be made available for 

25 public inspection not less than 30 days before 


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1 approval by the board of directors (or other 

2 similar governing body) of the agency and shall 

3 remain publicly available. 

4 ‘‘(D) BOARD APPROVAL.—Before submit5 ting an annual plan or annual report to the 

6 Secretary, the plan or report, as applicable, 

7 shall be approved in a public meeting by the 

8 board of directors or other governing body of 

9 the agency. 

10 ‘‘(11) ANNUAL PLAN.— 

11 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.—For each year that 

12 a participating agency participates in the hous13 ing innovation program under this section, the 

14 agency shall submit to the Secretary, in lieu of 

15 all other planning requirements, an annual plan 

16 under this paragraph. 

17 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—Each annual plan shall 

18 include the following information: 

19 ‘‘(i) A list and description of all pro20 gram initiatives and generally applicable 

21 policy changes, including references to af22 fected provisions of law or the imple23 menting regulations affected. 

24 ‘‘(ii) A description and comparison of 

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1 gram of the agency from the plan for such 

2 program for the preceding year. 

3 ‘‘(iii) A description of property rede4 velopment or portfolio repositioning strate5 gies and proposed changes in policies or 

6 uses of funds required to implement such 

7 strategies. 

8 ‘‘(iv) Documentation of public and 

9 resident participation sufficient to comply 

10 with the requirements under paragraphs 

11 (4) and (10), including a copy of any rec12 ommendations submitted in writing by the 

13 resident advisory board of the agency and 

14 members of the public, a summary of com15 ments, and a description of the manner in 

16 which the recommendations were ad17 dressed. 

18 ‘‘(v) Certifications by the agency 

19 that— 

20 ‘‘(I) the annual plan will be car21 ried out in conformity with title VI of 

22 the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Fair 

23 Housing Act, section 504 of the Reha24 bilitation Act of 1973, title II of the 

25 Americans with Disabilities Act of 


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1 1990, and the rules, standards, and 

2 policies in the approved plan; 

3 ‘‘(II) the agency will affirmatively 

4 further fair housing; and 

5 ‘‘(III) the agency has complied 

6 and will continue to comply with its 

7 obligations under the national evalua8 tion. 

9 ‘‘(vi) A description of the agency’s 

10 local asset management strategy for public 

11 housing properties, which shall be in lieu 

12 of any other asset management, project 

13 based management or accounting, or other 

14 system of allocating resources and costs to 

15 participating agency assets or cost centers 

16 that the Secretary may otherwise impose 

17 under this Act. 

18 ‘‘(C) CHANGES.—If the agency proposes to 

19 make material changes in policies or initiatives 

20 in the plan during the year covered by the plan, 

21 the agency shall consult with the resident advi22 sory board for the agency established pursuant 

23 to section 5A(e) and the public regarding such 

24 changes before their adoption. 

25 ‘‘(D) APPROVAL PROCESS.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) TIMING.—The Secretary shall re2 view and approve or disapprove each an3 nual plan submitted to the Secretary with4 in 45 days after such submission. The Sec5 retary, directly or through the public hous6 ing agency, shall make information relating 

7 to such approval or disapproval available to 

8 all members of the Resident Advisory 

9 Board of the public housing agency. 

10 ‘‘(ii) STANDARDS FOR DIS11 APPROVAL.—The Secretary may dis12 approve a plan only if— 

13 ‘‘(I) the Secretary reasonably de14 termines, based on information con15 tained in the annual plan or annual 

16 report, that the agency is not in com17 pliance with the requirements of this 

18 section; 

19 ‘‘(II) the annual plan or most re20 cent annual report is not consistent 

21 with other reliable information avail22 able to the Secretary; or 

23 ‘‘(III) the annual plan or annual 

24 report or the agency’s activities under 


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1 the program are not otherwise in ac2 cordance with applicable law. 

3 ‘‘(iii) FAILURE TO DISAPPROVE.—If a 

4 submitted plan is not disapproved within 

5 45 days after submission, the plan shall be 

6 considered to be approved for purposes of 

7 this section. The preceding sentence shall 

8 not preclude judicial review regarding such 

9 compliance pursuant to chapter 7 of title 

10 5, United States Code, or an action re11 garding such compliance under section 

12 1979 of the Revised Statutes of the United 

13 States (42 U.S.C. 1983). 

14 ‘‘(f) EVALUATION OF PERFORMANCE.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall con16 duct detailed evaluations of all public housing agen17 cies participating in the program under this sec18 tion— 

19 ‘‘(A) to determine the level of success of 

20 each public housing agency in achieving the 

21 goals and objectives of the application to par22 ticipate in the program; 

23 ‘‘(B) to determine the level of success of 

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1 novative strategies identified pursuant to sub2 section (b)(1); and 

3 ‘‘(C) to identify program models that can 

4 be replicated by other agencies to achieve such 

5 success. 

6 ‘‘(2) EVALUATION METHODOLOGY.—Evalua7 tions under this subsection shall be conducted uti8 lizing rigorous research methodology which shall in9 corporate, where appropriate and to the extent fund10 ing is available, the following: 

11 ‘‘(A) Comparison of the impact on families 

12 to similar types of families not subject to such 

13 policies. 

14 ‘‘(B) Comparisons of alternative strategies 

15 for advancing common goals. 

16 ‘‘(C) An examination of the costs, outputs, 

17 and outcomes of tested strategies. 

18 ‘‘(D) A process evaluation that examines 

19 the challenges faced in implementing tested 

20 strategies and how those challenges were over21 come. 

22 ‘‘(E) A qualitative examination of the im23 pacts of tested strategies on affected families, 

24 including families on agency waiting lists. 


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1 ‘‘(F) An examination of the impact of test2 ed strategies on the housing needs and condi3 tions of the jurisdiction in which the agency 

4 works. 

5 ‘‘(G) Appropriate sensitivity to the costs 

6 that evaluation places on participating agencies, 

7 including a recognition that smaller agencies 

8 may have more difficulty than larger agencies 

9 in responding to data requests. 

10 ‘‘(3) ADVISORY COUNCIL.—The Secretary shall 

11 establish an Advisory Council to provide input on 

12 the policies and strategies to be tested in evaluations 

13 under this subsection, data collection protocols, and 

14 other matters related to the success of the evalua15 tion, and to assist the evaluating entity and the Sec16 retary in interpreting the findings and formulating 

17 recommendations to the Congress to be included in 

18 the final report. The Secretary may also establish a 

19 separate Technical Advisory Group to provide input 

20 on technical issues associated with the evaluation. 

21 ‘‘(4) REPORTS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

23 submit three reports to the Congress, as pro24 vided in subparagraph (B), evaluating the pro25 grams of all public housing agencies particiVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:36 Mar 19, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00148 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1209.IH H1209

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1 pating in the program under this section and all 

2 agencies participating in the moving to work 

3 demonstration. Each such report shall include 

4 findings and recommendations for any appro5 priate legislative action. 

6 ‘‘(B) TIMING.—The reports under this 

7 paragraph shall include— 

8 ‘‘(i) an initial report, which shall be 

9 submitted before the expiration of the 2- 

10 year period beginning on the date on which 

11 additional agencies are approved for par12 ticipation pursuant to subsection (d); 

13 ‘‘(ii) an interim report, which shall be 

14 submitted before the expiration of the 4- 

15 year period beginning on such date of ap16 proval; and 

17 ‘‘(iii) a final report, which shall be 

18 submitted before the expiration of the 10- 

19 year period beginning on the date of the 

20 enactment of the Section 8 Voucher Re21 form Act of 2011. 

22 ‘‘(5) EVALUATING ENTITY.—The Secretary may 

23 contract out the responsibilities under this para24 graphs (1) and (2) to an independent entity that is 

25 qualified to perform such responsibilities. 


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1 ‘‘(6) PERFORMANCE MEASURES.—The Sec2 retary or the evaluating entity, as applicable, shall 

3 establish performance measures, which may in4 clude— 

5 ‘‘(A) a baseline performance level against 

6 which program activities may be evaluated; and 

7 ‘‘(B) performance measures for each of the 

8 five purposes identified in paragraphs (1) 

9 through (5) of subsection (a). 

10 ‘‘(g) IMPACT OF POLICY ON FAMILIES BEING AS11 SISTED.— 

12 ‘‘(1) MODIFICATION OF POLICY.—If an evalua13 tion of an agency pursuant to subsection (f)(1)(A) 

14 includes evidence that a policy adopted by an agency 

15 is or has been harmful to families assisted by the 

16 agency, the Secretary may, after the publication of 

17 either the initial or the interim report pursuant to 

18 subsection (f)(4)(B), require such agency to take ap19 propriate actions to modify such policy to ameliorate 

20 such harm. 

21 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION.—The Secretary may not 

22 take such action unless the Secretary has made a 

23 determination that such policy is causing or has 

24 caused measurable harm to families currently or pre25 viously assisted, based on a reduction in the overall 


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1 number of families receiving housing assistance, 

2 noncompliance with the provision of subsection 

3 (e)(6) (relating to rent burdens), specific types of 

4 families losing their housing assistance, a reduction 

5 in the number of affordable rental housing units op6 erated by the agency, noncompliance with the re7 quirements of subsection (e)(3)(A) (relating to tar8 geting), or a combination of such factors. 

9 ‘‘(3) ADVICE AND OPPORTUNITY TO CON10 TEST.—Before taking such action, the Secretary 

11 shall advise the agency and give the agency a fair 

12 opportunity to contest such determination or action. 

13 If an agency contests such a determination or ac14 tion, the Secretary shall provide an opportunity for 

15 interested parties to submit additional relevant evi16 dence. 

17 ‘‘(h) RECORDKEEPING, REPORTS, AND AUDITS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) RECORDKEEPING.—Each public housing 

19 agency participating in the program under this sec20 tion shall keep such records as the Secretary may 

21 prescribe as reasonably necessary to disclose the 

22 amounts and the disposition of amounts under the 

23 program, to ensure compliance with the require24 ments of this section, and to measure performance. 


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1 ‘‘(2) REPORTS.—In lieu of all other reporting 

2 requirements, each such agency participating in the 

3 program shall submit to the Secretary an annual re4 port in a form and at a time specified by the Sec5 retary. Each annual report shall include the fol6 lowing information: 

7 ‘‘(A) A description, including an annual 

8 consolidated financial report, of the sources and 

9 uses of funds of the agency under the program, 

10 which shall account separately for funds made 

11 available under section 8 and subsections (d) 

12 and (e) of section 9, and shall compare the 

13 agency’s actions under the program with its an14 nual plan for the year. 

15 ‘‘(B) An annual audit that complies with 

16 the requirements of Circular A–133 of the Of17 fice of Management and Budget, including the 

18 OMB Compliance Supplement. 

19 ‘‘(C) A description of each hardship excep20 tion requested and granted or denied, and of 

21 the use of any transition rules. 

22 ‘‘(D) Documentation of public and resident 

23 participation sufficient to comply with the re24 quirements under paragraph (7). 


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1 ‘‘(E) A comparison of income and the sizes 

2 and types of families assisted by the agency 

3 under the program compared to those assisted 

4 by the agency in the base year. 

5 ‘‘(F) Every two years, an evaluation of 

6 rent policies, subsidy level policies, and policies 

7 on program participation. 

8 ‘‘(G) A description of any ongoing local 

9 evaluations and the results of any local evalua10 tions completed during the year. 

11 ‘‘(3) ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS BY SECRETARY.— 

12 The Secretary shall have access for the purpose of 

13 audit and examination to any books, documents, pa14 pers, and records that are pertinent to assistance in 

15 connection with, and the requirements of, this sec16 tion. 

17 ‘‘(4) ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS BY THE COMP18 TROLLER GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of 

19 the United States, or any of the duly authorized rep20 resentatives of the Comptroller General, shall have 

21 access for the purpose of audit and examination to 

22 any books, documents, papers, and records that are 

23 pertinent to assistance in connection with, and the 

24 requirements of, this section. 


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1 ‘‘(5) REPORTS REGARDING EVALUATIONS.—The 

2 Secretary shall require each public housing agency 

3 participating in the program under this section to 

4 submit to the Secretary such information as the Sec5 retary considers appropriate to permit the Secretary 

6 to evaluate (pursuant to subsection (f)) the perform7 ance and success of the agency in achieving the pur8 poses of the program. 

9 ‘‘(i) ADDITIONAL PROGRAM AGENCIES.—In partici10 pating in the program under the terms of this subsection, 

11 the public housing agencies designated for such participa12 tion shall be subject to the requirements of this section, 

13 and the additional following requirements: 

14 ‘‘(1) APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN EXISTING

15 PROVISIONS.—Such agencies shall be subject to the 

16 provisions of— 

17 ‘‘(A) subsections (a) and (b) of section 3; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(B) section 8(o), except for paragraph 

20 (11) and except as the requirements of section 

21 8(o) are modified by subsection (e)(3) of this 

22 section. 

23 ‘‘(2) NO TIME LIMITS.—Such agencies may not 

24 impose time limits on the term of housing assistance 

25 received by families under the program. 


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1 ‘‘(3) NO EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS.—Such 

2 agencies may not condition the receipt of housing as3 sistance by families under the program on the em4 ployment status of one or more family members. 

5 ‘‘(4) ONE-FOR-ONE REPLACEMENT.— 

6 ‘‘(A) CONDITIONS ON DEMOLITION.—Such 

7 agencies may not demolish or dispose of any 

8 dwelling unit of public housing operated or ad9 ministered by such agency (including any un10 inhabitable unit and any unit previously ap11 proved for demolition) except pursuant to a 

12 plan for replacement of such units in accord13 ance with, and approved by the Secretary of 

14 Housing and Urban Development pursuant to, 

15 subparagraph (B). 

16 ‘‘(B) PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec17 retary may not approve a plan that provides for 

18 demolition or disposition of any dwelling unit of 

19 public housing referred to in subparagraph (A) 

20 unless— 

21 ‘‘(i) such plan provides for outreach to 

22 public housing agency residents in accord23 ance with paragraph (5); 

24 ‘‘(ii) not later than 60 days before the 

25 date of the approval of such plan, such 


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1 agency has convened and conducted a pub2 lic hearing regarding the demolition or dis3 position proposed in the plan; 

4 ‘‘(iii) such plan provides that for each 

5 such dwelling unit demolished or disposed 

6 of, such public housing agency will provide 

7 an additional dwelling unit through— 

8 ‘‘(I) the acquisition or develop9 ment of additional public housing 

10 dwelling units; or 

11 ‘‘(II) the acquisition, develop12 ment, or contracting (including 

13 through project-based assistance) of 

14 additional dwelling units that are sub15 ject to requirements regarding eligi16 bility for initial or continued occu17 pancy, tenant contribution toward 

18 rent, and long-term affordability re19 strictions which are comparable to 

20 public housing units, except that no 

21 household may be prevented from oc22 cupying a replacement dwelling unit 

23 provided pursuant to clause (iii) ex24 cept to the extent specifically provided 

25 by any other provision of Federal law 


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1 (including subtitle F of title V of the 

2 Quality Housing and Work Responsi3 bility Act of 1998 (42 U.S.C. 13661 

4 et seq.; relating to safety and security 

5 in public and assisted housing), sub6 title D of title VI of the Housing and 

7 Community Development Act of 1992 

8 (42 U.S.C. 13611 et seq.; relating to 

9 preferences for elderly and disabled 

10 residents), and section 16(f) of this 

11 Act (42 U.S.C. 1437n(f); relating to 

12 ineligibility of persons convicted of 

13 methamphetamine offenses)); 

14 ‘‘(iv) such plan provides for a right, 

15 and implementation of such right, to occu16 pancy of additional dwelling units provided 

17 in accordance with clause (iii), for house18 holds who, as of the time that dwelling 

19 units demolished or disposed of were va20 cated to provide for such demolition or dis21 position, were occupying such dwelling 

22 units; 

23 ‘‘(v) such plan provides that the pro24 posed demolition or disposition and reloca25 tion will be carried out in a manner that 


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1 affirmatively furthers fair housing, as de2 scribed in subsection (e) of section 808 of 

3 the Civil Rights Act of 1968; 

4 ‘‘(vi) such plan provides for a mixed5 income development on the site of the 

6 original public housing, with at least one7 third of all dwelling units being provided 

8 through the development of additional pub9 lic housing dwelling units, except that upon 

10 a showing by the agency, if the Secretary 

11 determines that such location is infeasible, 

12 an agency may locate such a development 

13 in areas within the jurisdiction of the 

14 agency having low concentrations of pov15 erty; and 

16 ‘‘(vii) to the extent that such plan 

17 provides for the provision of replacement 

18 or additional dwelling units, or redevelop19 ment, in phases over time, such plan pro20 vides that the ratio of dwelling units de21 scribed in subclauses (I) and (II) of clause 

22 (iii) that are provided in any such single 

23 phase to the total number of dwelling units 

24 provided in such phase is not less than the 

25 ratio of the aggregate number of such 


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1 dwelling units provided under the plan to 

2 the total number of dwelling units provided 

3 under the plan. 

4 ‘‘(C) INAPPLICABLE PROVISIONS.—Sub5 paragraphs (B) and (D) of section 8(o)(13) of 

6 the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 

7 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(13)) shall not apply with re8 spect to vouchers used to comply with the re9 quirements of subparagraph (B)(iii) of this 

10 paragraph. 

11 ‘‘(D) MONITORING.—The Secretary shall 

12 provide for the appropriate field offices of the 

13 Department to monitor and supervise the en14 forcement of this paragraph and plans approved 

15 under this paragraph and to consult, regarding 

16 such monitoring and enforcement, with resident 

17 councils of, and resident of public housing oper18 ated or administered by, the agency. 

19 ‘‘(5) COMPREHENSIVE OUTREACH PLAN.—No 

20 program funds of such agencies may be use to de21 molish or dispose of any public housing dwelling 

22 units except in accordance with a comprehensive 

23 outreach plan for such activities, developed by the 

24 agency in conjunction with the residents of the pub25 lic housing agency, as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(A) The plan shall be developed by the 

2 agency and a resident task force, which may in3 clude members of the Resident Council, but 

4 may not be limited to such members, and which 

5 shall represent all segments of the population of 

6 residents of the agency, including single parent7 headed households, the elderly, young employed 

8 and unemployed adults, teenage youth, and dis9 abled persons. 

10 ‘‘(B) The votes and agreements regarding 

11 the plan shall involve— 

12 ‘‘(i) in the case of any public housing 

13 agency that administers 250 or fewer pub14 lic housing dwelling units, not less than 10 

15 percent of affected residents; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) in the case of any public housing 

17 agency that administers more than 250 

18 public housing dwelling units, not less than 

19 25 affected residents. 

20 ‘‘(C) The plan shall provide for and de21 scribe outreach efforts to inform residents of 

22 the program under this subsection, including a 

23 door-to-door information program, monthly 

24 newsletters to each resident household, monthly 

25 meetings dedicated solely to every aspect of the 


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1 proposed development, including redevelopment 

2 factors, which shall include the one-for-one re3 placement requirement under paragraph (4), 

4 resident rights to return, the requirements of 

5 the program under this subsection, new resident 

6 support and community services to be provided, 

7 opportunities for participation in architectural 

8 design, and employment opportunities for resi9 dents, which shall make available at least 30 

10 percent of the total hours worked at all such 

11 employment, and shall also make available at 

12 least 25 percent of unskilled jobs in demolition 

13 activities and 25 percent of unskilled jobs in 

14 construction activities related to the redevelop15 ment project, including job training, apprentice16 ships, union membership assistance. 

17 ‘‘(D) The plan shall provide for regularly 

18 scheduled monthly meeting updates and a sys19 tem for filing complaints about any aspect of 

20 the redevelopment process. 

21 ‘‘(j) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

22 following definitions shall apply: 

23 ‘‘(1) EXISTING MTW AGENCY.—The term ‘exist24 ing MTW agency’ means a public housing agency 

25 that as of the date of the enactment of the Section 


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1 8 Voucher Reform Act of 2011 has an existing 

2 agreement with the Secretary pursuant to the mov3 ing to work demonstration, or is authorized to enter 

4 into such an agreement under section 230 of the 

5 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, 

6 and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2008 

7 (Public Law 110–161; 121 Stat. 2438), section 236 

8 of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Develop9 ment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 

10 2009 (Division I of Public Law 111–8; 123 Stat. 

11 981), section 232 of the Transportation, Housing 

12 and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Ap13 propriations Act, 2010 (Division A of Public Law 

14 111–117; 123 Stat. 3105), or the Continuing Appro15 priations Act, 2011 (Public Law 111–242; 124 Stat. 

16 2607), as amended. 

17 ‘‘(2) BASE YEAR.—The term ‘base year’ means, 

18 with respect to a participating agency, the agency 

19 fiscal year or calendar year, as appropriate, most re20 cently completed prior to selection and approval for 

21 participation in the housing innovation program 

22 under this section. 

23 ‘‘(3) MOVING TO WORK DEMONSTRATION.—The 

24 term ‘moving to work demonstration’ means the 

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1 tion 204 of the Departments of Veterans Affairs and 

2 Housing and Urban Development, and Independent 

3 Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996 (42 U.S.C. 1437f 

4 note). 

5 ‘‘(4) PARTICIPATING AGENCIES.—The term 

6 ‘participating agencies’ means public housing agen7 cies designated and approved for participation, and 

8 participating, in the housing innovation program 

9 under this section. 

10 ‘‘(5) PROGRAM FUNDS.—The term ‘program 

11 funds’ means, with respect to a participating agency, 

12 any amounts that the agency is authorized, pursuant 

13 to subsection (e)(1), to use to carry out the housing 

14 innovation program under this section of the agency. 

15 ‘‘(6) RESIDENTS.—The term ‘residents’ means, 

16 with respect to a public housing agency, tenants of 

17 public housing of the agency and participants in the 

18 voucher or other housing assistance programs of the 

19 agency funded under section 8(o), or tenants of 

20 other units owned by the agency and assisted under 

21 this section. 

22 ‘‘(k) RESIDENT TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

23 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

24 There is authorized to be appropriated for each of 

25 fiscal years 2012 through 2016 $10,000,000, for 


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1 providing capacity building and technical assistance 

2 to enhance the capabilities of low-income families as3 sisted or eligible for assistance under the program 

4 under this section to participate in the process for 

5 establishment and revision of annual plans under 

6 this section for participating agencies, including re7 view and comment on impact analyses and demoli8 tion or disposition proposals. 

9 ‘‘(2) CRITERIA FOR AWARD OF FUNDS.—The 

10 Secretary shall publish the criteria to be used to 

11 award funds on a competitive basis, in an amount 

12 appropriate to the number of households affected by 

13 the program of the participating agency or agencies 

14 that such participating agency assists, to local, re15 gional, State, or national organizations that— 

16 ‘‘(A)(i) have members who are predomi17 nantly low-income; 

18 ‘‘(ii) have low-income individuals on their 

19 boards of directors; or 

20 ‘‘(iii) directly work with or represent low21 income individuals; 

22 ‘‘(B) have the legal, policy, and develop23 ment expertise to provide such assistance or will 

24 subcontract for such services; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) have a demonstrated capacity to man2 age similar grants. 

3 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCIES.— 

4 ‘‘(A) INELIGIBILITY; NONLIABILITY.—Pub5 lic housing agencies shall not be eligible to re6 ceive funds under this subsection, and shall not 

7 be liable for the action of any grantee. 

8 ‘‘(B) COOPERATION WITH GRANTEES.— 

9 Public housing agencies participating in the 

10 program under this section shall cooperate with 

11 grantees receiving technical assistance funds 

12 under this subsection, to assist such grantees to 

13 reach families assisted under the program. 

14 ‘‘(l) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR

15 EVALUATIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated 

16 $15,000,000 to the Department of Housing and Urban 

17 Development for the purpose of conducting the evaluations 

18 required under subsection (f)(1).’’. 

19 (b) GAO REPORT.—Not later than 48 months after 

20 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 

21 General of the United States shall submit a report to the 

22 Congress on the extent to which the public housing agen23 cies participating in the housing innovation program 

24 under section 37 of the United States Housing Act of 


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1 1937 are meeting the goals and purposes of such program, 

2 as identified in subsection (a) of such section 37. 

3 SEC. 26. STUDY OF USE OF INCOME DATABASES TO RE4 DUCE SUBSIDY ERRORS. 

5 The Comptroller General of the United States shall 

6 conduct a study to identify databases regarding incomes 

7 of families and individuals that may be used in connection 

8 with the voucher program for rental assistance under sec9 tion 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 

10 U.S.C. 1437f(o)), the public housing program under such 

11 Act, and project-based rental assistance programs under 

12 section 8 of such Act to reduce errors in subsidy amounts 

13 provided on behalf of recipients of assistance under such 

14 programs and to determine how best to utilize such data15 bases for such purpose. In conducting such study, the 

16 Comptroller General shall analyze and consider the use of 

17 income information maintained in the National Directory 

18 of New Hires database of the Department of Health and 

19 Human Services. Not later than the expiration of the 9- 

20 month period beginning on the date of the enactment of 

21 this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit a report 

22 to the Congress setting for the results and conclusions of 

23 the study under this section. 


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1 SEC. 27. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 Except as otherwise specifically provided in this 

3 Act— 

4 (1) sections 3, 4, 6, and 7 of this Act and the 

5 amendments made by such sections shall take effect 

6 on January 1, 2012, except that the Secretary may 

7 delay such effective date for any one or more of sec8 tions 3, 4, and 7 to January 1, 2013, upon a deter9 mination by the Secretary that such extension is 

10 necessary to provide program participants sufficient 

11 time to make adjustments to the changes made by 

12 such sections; and 

13 (2) all other provisions of this Act and the 

14 amendments made by this Act shall take effect upon 

15 the issuance by the Secretary of implementing regu16 lations, as appropriate, or by notice, which shall be 

17 issued not later than the expiration of the 12-month 

18 period beginning upon the date of the enactment of 

19 this Act. 

Æ 


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