I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 69 

To reform the provisions requiring ‘‘one-strike’’ eviction from public and 

federally assisted housing. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 6, 2009 

Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To reform the provisions requiring ‘‘one-strike’’ eviction from 

public and federally assisted housing. 

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 ‘‘No One Strike Eviction 

5 Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REFORM OF ‘‘ONE STRIKE’’ MANDATORY EVICTION. 

7 (a) UNITED STATES HOUSING ACT OF 1937.—Sec8 tion 6(k) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 

9 U.S.C. 1437d(k)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through 

2 (6) as subparagraphs (A) through (F) and realign3 ing such subparagraphs (as so redesignated) so as to 

4 be indented 4 ems from the left margin; 

5 (2) by striking ‘‘(k) The Secretary shall’’ and 

6 inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(k) REVIEW OF EVICTION AND DENIALS OF TEN8 ANCY.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (3), 

10 the Secretary shall’’; 

11 (3) by striking ‘‘For any grievance concerning’’ 

12 and inserting the following: 

13 ‘‘(2) EXPEDITED PROCEDURES.—Subject to 

14 paragraph (3), for any grievance concerning’’; and 

15 (4) by adding at the end the following new 

16 paragraph: 

17 ‘‘(3) MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES AND INNO18 CENT OWNER.— 

19 ‘‘(A) MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES.—In 

20 determining whether to evict a tenant, termi21 nate a tenancy, or deny an application for ten22 ancy due to a criminal conviction of the person 

23 that is the subject of a grievance, and in any 

24 judicial review of such determination, the public 

25 housing agency or other reviewing body shall 


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1 consider all mitigating circumstances and the 

2 impact of the eviction, termination, or denial 

3 upon the family and dependents of that person. 

4 ‘‘(B) INNOCENT TENANTS.—A tenant shall 

5 not be subject to eviction, denied a tenancy, or 

6 have a tenancy terminated based solely upon 

7 the familial relationship of the tenant to a per8 son who has been convicted of a criminal of9 fense.’’. 

10 (b) QUALITY HOUSING AND WORK RESPONSIBILITY

11 ACT OF 1998.— 

12 (1) INELIGIBILITY.—Section 576 of the Quality 

13 Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 (42 

14 U.S.C. 13661) is amended— 

15 (A) in subsection (b)— 

16 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘any 

17 household with a member’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘any person’’; and 

19 (ii) in paragraph (2)— 

20 (I) by striking ‘‘any household’’ 

21 and inserting ‘‘any person’’; and 

22 (II) by striking ‘‘household mem23 ber’’ each place such term appears 

24 and inserting ‘‘person’’; 

25 (B) in subsection (c)— 


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1 (i) in the matter preceding paragraph 

2 (1)— 

3 (I) by striking ‘‘or any member 

4 of the applicant’s household’’; and 

5 (II) by striking ‘‘applicant house6 hold’’ and inserting ‘‘applicant’’; and 

7 (ii) in paragraph (2)— 

8 (I) by striking ‘‘or individuals in 

9 the applicant’s household’’; and 

10 (II) by striking ‘‘have not’’ and 

11 inserting ‘‘has not’’; 

12 (C) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub13 section (e); and 

14 (D) by inserting after subsection (c) the 

15 following new subsection: 

16 ‘‘(d) REVIEW OF DENIAL OF APPLICATION.— 

17 ‘‘(1) REVIEW OF DENIAL.—The denial of an ap18 plication under this section shall be subject to review 

19 in accordance with the provisions of section 6(k) of 

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

21 1437d(k)). 

22 ‘‘(2) INNOCENT APPLICANTS.—Nothing in this 

23 section shall allow for the denial of an application 

24 based solely on the familial relationship of an appliVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:16 Jan 09, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H69.IH H69

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1 cant to a person who has a criminal conviction or is 

2 otherwise in violation of this section.’’. 

3 (2) TERMINATION OF TENANCY AND ASSIST4 ANCE FOR ILLEGAL DRUG USERS AND ALCOHOL

5 ABUSERS IN FEDERALLY ASSISTED HOUSING.—Sec6 tion 577 of the Quality Housing and Work Respon7 sibility Act of 1998 (42 U.S.C. 13662) is amend8 ed— 

9 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘house10 hold with a member’’ and inserting ‘‘person’’; 

11 (B) in subsection (b)— 

12 (i) by striking ‘‘household based’’ and 

13 inserting ‘‘person based’’; 

14 (ii) by striking ‘‘by a household mem15 ber’’ and inserting ‘‘by that person’’; and 

16 (iii) by striking ‘‘such household mem17 ber’’ and inserting ‘‘such person’’; and 

18 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(c) REVIEW OF TERMINATION OF TENANCY.—The 

20 decision to terminate the tenancy or assistance of any per21 son under this section shall be subject to review in accord22 ance with the provisions of section 6(k) of the United 

23 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437d(k)). 

24 ‘‘(d) INNOCENT TENANTS.—Nothing in this section 

25 shall allow for the termination of a tenancy or assistance 


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1 to any person based solely on the familial relationship of 

2 the tenant to a person who is in violation of this section.’’. 

3 (c) REQUIREMENT OF INTENT OR KNOWLEDGE OF

4 CRIME BEFORE EVICTION FROM OR DENIAL OF PUBLIC

5 AND PUBLICLY ASSISTED HOUSING.—The United States 

6 Housing Act of 1937 is amended— 

7 (1) in each of sections 6(l)(6) and 8(o)(7)(D) 

8 (42 U.S.C. 1437d(l)(6) and 1437f(o)(7)(D)), by in9 serting after the first semicolon the following: ‘‘ex10 cept that such criminal or drug-related activity, en11 gaged in by a member of a tenant’s household or 

12 any guest or other person under the tenant’s control, 

13 shall not be cause for termination of tenancy of the 

14 tenant if the tenant did not know and should not 

15 have known of the activity, or if the tenant, member 

16 of the tenant’s household, or any guest or other per17 son under the tenant’s control was the victim of 

18 criminal activity; and’’; and 

19 (2) in section 8(d)(1)(B)(iii) (42 U.S.C. 

20 1437f(d)(1)(B)(iii)), by inserting after the first 

21 colon the following: ‘‘such criminal or drug-related 

22 activity, engaged in by a member of a tenant’s 

23 household or any guest or other person under the 

24 tenant’s control, shall not be cause for termination 

25 of tenancy of the tenant if the tenant did not know 


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1 and should not have known of the activity, or if the 

2 tenant, member of the tenant’s household, or any 

3 guest or other person under the tenant’s control was 

4 the victim of criminal activity; and except that’’. 

Æ 


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