I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4908 

To provide rental assistance to low-income tenants of certain multifamily 

rural housing projects, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 12, 2016 

Ms. KUSTER (for herself and Mr. NOLAN) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To provide rental assistance to low-income tenants of certain 

multifamily rural housing projects, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Housing Preser5 vation Act of 2016’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AVAILABILITY OF RURAL HOUSING VOUCHERS FOR 

2 TENANTS IN PROJECTS WITH MATURING 

3 LOANS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 542 of the Housing Act 

5 of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1490r) is amended by adding at the 

6 end the following new subsection: 

7 ‘‘(c) RURAL VOUCHERS FOR TENANTS OF PROJECTS

8 WITH PREPAID OR MATURING LOANS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—Subject to the availability of 

10 amounts provided in appropriation Acts and to para11 graph (3), the Secretary shall provide rural housing 

12 vouchers under this section, in the amount provided 

13 under this section, to any low-income household (in14 cluding those not receiving rental assistance) resid15 ing in a property financed with a loan made or in16 sured under section 515 (42 U.S.C. 1485) which has 

17 been prepaid, or which has matured, after Sep18 tember 30, 2005. 

19 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATION AND SUBSIDIES.—The 

20 Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, 

21 administer and operate such vouchers with current 

22 regulations and administrative guidance applicable 

23 to enhanced vouchers under section 8(t) of the 

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

25 1437f(t)) and administered by the Secretary of 

26 Housing and Urban Development. The amount of 


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1 rental assistance provided on behalf of holders of 

2 such vouchers shall be the same as that provided on 

3 behalf of holders of enhanced vouchers under such 

4 section 8(t). 

5 ‘‘(3) TERMINATION OF ASSISTANCE.—The Sec6 retary shall terminate the provision of voucher as7 sistance pursuant to this subsection, with respect to 

8 a property, if— 

9 ‘‘(A) at any time, a new loan is made or 

10 insured under section 515 for the property; and 

11 ‘‘(B) as a result of such loan, rental assist12 ance is provided on behalf of the voucher holder 

13 in an amount comparable to the rental assist14 ance provided on behalf of the voucher holder 

15 under the voucher program.’’. 

16 (b) REQUIREMENT FOR SECTION 515 PROJECTS TO

17 ACCEPT VOUCHERS.—Section 515 of the Housing Act of 

18 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1485) is amended by adding at the end 

19 the following new subsection: 

20 ‘‘(bb) REQUIREMENT TO ACCEPT RURAL HOUSING

21 VOUCHERS.—No owner of a property financed with a loan 

22 made or insured under this section, whether such loan is 

23 outstanding or fully paid, may refuse to lease an available 

24 dwelling unit in the property to a household on behalf of 

25 whom voucher assistance is provided under section 542 


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1 (42 U.S.C. 1490r), and to enter into a voucher contract 

2 respecting such unit, a proximate cause of which is the 

3 status of such current or prospective tenant as a holder 

4 of such voucher.’’. 

5 SEC. 3. DECOUPLING RENTAL ASSISTANCE FROM MATUR6 ING RURAL HOUSING LOANS. 

7 Paragraph (2) of section 521(a) of the Housing Act 

8 of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1490a(a)(2)) is amended by adding 

9 at the end the following new subparagraph: 

10 ‘‘(F) RENTAL ASSISTANCE FOR PROJECTS

11 WITH MATURED LOANS.— 

12 ‘‘(i) AUTHORITY.—To continue to 

13 make decent, safe and sanitary housing 

14 available to low-income occupants of 

15 projects originally financed with a loan 

16 made or insured under section 515 that 

17 has matured on or after the date of the en18 actment of this subparagraph, and at rent19 al rates commensurate to income as speci20 fied in subparagraph (A) of this para21 graph, the Secretary may, subject to the 

22 availability of amounts provided in appro23 priation Acts, contract to make, make, and 

24 renew annual assistance payments pursuVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Apr 14, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4908.IH H4908

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1 ant to this subparagraph to the owners of 

2 such projects. 

3 ‘‘(ii) OFFER.—The Secretary shall en4 sure that an offer to provide a contract for 

5 assistance payments pursuant to this sub6 paragraph shall be extended to all owners 

7 of projects described in clause (i) not later 

8 than 24 months before the maturation of 

9 the loan (except in the case of loans ma10 turing after the date that is 24 months be11 fore the date of the enactment of this sub12 paragraph). 

13 ‘‘(iii) TERMS.—Each contract for as14 sistance payments pursuant to this sub15 paragraph shall— 

16 ‘‘(I) have a term of 20 years and 

17 be subject to availability of amounts 

18 provided in annual appropriations 

19 Acts; 

20 ‘‘(II) cover all new and existing 

21 households residing in the project, re22 gardless of whether or not they were 

23 previously assisted under the rental 

24 assistance program authorized under 

25 subparagraph (A); 


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1 ‘‘(III) be recorded at such local 

2 real property recording office as is 

3 prescribed by the State in which the 

4 project is located; 

5 ‘‘(IV) bind the owner of the 

6 project and the owner’s successors to 

7 continue to operate the project in ac8 cordance with such agreements; 

9 ‘‘(V) require the owner (and such 

10 successors) to agree to continue to op11 erate the projects as if it were subject 

12 to an existing loan under section 515; 

13 ‘‘(VI) extend to residents of the 

14 project all the rights that at the time 

15 such contract is entered into are ex16 tended to residents of projects subject 

17 to an existing loan under section 515; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(VII) require the owner (and 

20 such successors) to maintain the as21 sisted housing as decent, safe, and 

22 sanitary housing. 

23 ‘‘(iv) ACTUAL MARKET RENTALS.— 

24 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—A contract 

25 for assistance provided pursuant to 


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1 this subparagraph for a project shall 

2 provide assistance to the owner based 

3 on an initial reasonable operating 

4 budget the rents for which do not ex5 ceed such actual market rental rates 

6 for the area in which the project is lo7 cated, as are established by the Sec8 retary. 

9 ‘‘(II) ADJUSTMENT; RENEWAL.— 

10 The Secretary shall adjust the actual 

11 market rental rates used for purposes 

12 of this clause annually. 

13 ‘‘(v) RENEWAL; ADJUSTMENT.—In 

14 providing assistance pursuant to this sub15 paragraph, the Secretary shall require the 

16 owner of the project to renew the assist17 ance provided to each household not less 

18 frequently than annually, in accordance 

19 with the provisions of subparagraph (A), 

20 and shall adjust the amount of assistance 

21 provided to a household at any other time 

22 upon a decrease in the household’s month23 ly income of $100 or more. 

24 ‘‘(vi) ADMINISTRATION.—Rental as25 sistance contracts authorized by this subVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Apr 14, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4908.IH H4908

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1 paragraph shall, except as otherwise pro2 vided in this subparagraph, be adminis3 tered by the Secretary in the same manner 

4 as rental assistance contracts for projects 

5 having existing loans made or insured 

6 under section 515 or existing loans and 

7 grants made under sections 514 and 

8 516.’’. 

9 SEC. 4. UNIFORM STANDARDS FOR TRANSFERS OF SEC10 TION 515 PROPERTIES USING LOW-INCOME 

11 TAX CREDITS. 

12 Section 515 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 

13 1485) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

14 subsection: 

15 ‘‘(bb) REQUIREMENTS FOR TRANSFERS OF PROP16 ERTIES INVOLVING LOW-INCOME HOUSING TAX CRED17 ITS.—The Secretary shall establish, without exception, 

18 uniform requirements, terms, and conditions for any sale 

19 or transfer of a property financed with a loan under this 

20 section to any entity, including a nonprofit organization, 

21 that is seeking to acquire such property with amounts au22 thorized under this section and any low-income housing 

23 tax credit under section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code 

24 of 1986.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. RURAL MULTIFAMILY HOUSING REVITALIZATION 

2 PROGRAM. 

3 Section 515 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 

4 1485) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

5 subsection: 

6 ‘‘(bb) MULTIFAMILY HOUSING REVITALIZATION

7 PROGRAM.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may estab9 lish a Multifamily Housing Revitalization Program 

10 for the preservation and revitalization of multifamily 

11 housing projects funded with loans made available 

12 pursuant to this section and sections 514 and 516 

13 to ensure that such projects have sufficient resources 

14 to provide safe and affordable housing for low-in15 come residents and farm laborers. 

16 ‘‘(2) OPTIONS.—In carrying out paragraph (1), 

17 the Secretary may— 

18 ‘‘(A) with respect to such loans— 

19 ‘‘(i) reduce or eliminate interest; 

20 ‘‘(ii) defer loan payments; and 

21 ‘‘(iii) subordinate, reduce, or reamor22 tize loan debt; and 

23 ‘‘(B) provide other financial assistance, in24 cluding— 

25 ‘‘(i) advances; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) payments and incentives (includ2 ing the ability of owners to obtain reason3 able returns on investment). 

4 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—In exchange for assist5 ance provided pursuant to this subsection, the Sec6 retary shall enter into with the property owner a re7 strictive use agreement to ensure that the property 

8 remains subject to low-income use restrictions for an 

9 additional period of time consistent with the terms 

10 of the restructuring. 

11 ‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS FOR RURAL HOUSING

12 VOUCHERS.— 

13 ‘‘(A) AUTHORITY.—If the Secretary deter14 mines that additional funds for vouchers under 

15 the rural housing voucher program under sec16 tion 542 (42 U.S.C. 1490r) are needed, funds 

17 for the revitalization program under this sub18 section may be used for such vouchers for any 

19 low-income household (including those not re20 ceiving rental assistance) residing in a property 

21 financed with a loan under this section that has 

22 been prepaid after September 30, 2005. 

23 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT.—Notwithstanding section 

24 542, the amount of a voucher provided pursu25 ant to this paragraph shall be the difference beVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Apr 14, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4908.IH H4908

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1 tween comparable market rent for the unit and 

2 the tenant-paid rent for such unit. 

3 ‘‘(C) AVAILABILITY.—Funds made avail4 able for vouchers pursuant to this paragraph 

5 shall be subject to the availability of annual ap6 propriations. 

7 ‘‘(D) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary 

8 shall, to the maximum extent practicable, ad9 minister vouchers provided pursuant to this 

10 paragraph with current regulations and admin11 istrative guidance applicable to housing vouch12 ers under section 8 of the United States Hous13 ing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f) adminis14 tered by the Secretary of Housing and Urban 

15 Development.’’. 

16 SEC. 6. REGULATIONS. 

17 The Secretary of Agriculture shall issue regulations 

18 necessary to carry out the amendments made by this Act 

19 not later than the expiration of the 120-day period begin20 ning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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