IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3620 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2019 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

AN ACT 

To provide rental assistance to low-income tenants in certain 

multifamily rural housing projects financed by the Rural 

Housing Service of the Department of Agriculture, and 

to develop and implement a plan for preserving the affordability of rural rental housing, and for other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Strategy and Invest5 ment in Rural Housing Preservation Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PERMANENT ESTABLISHMENT OF HOUSING PRES7 ERVATION AND REVITALIZATION PROGRAM. 

8 Title V of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1471 

9 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following 

10 new section: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 545. HOUSING PRESERVATION AND REVITALIZATION 

12 PROGRAM. 

13 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall carry 

14 out a program under this section for the preservation and 

15 revitalization of multifamily rental housing projects fi16 nanced under section 515 or both sections 514 and 516. 

17 ‘‘(b) NOTICE OF MATURING LOANS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) TO OWNERS.—On an annual basis, the 

19 Secretary shall provide written notice to each owner 

20 of a property financed under section 515 or both 

21 sections 514 and 516 that will mature within the 4- 

22 year period beginning upon the provision of such no23 tice, setting forth the options and financial incen24 tives that are available to facilitate the extension of 


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1 the loan term or the option to decouple a rental as2 sistance contract pursuant to subsection (f). 

3 ‘‘(2) TO TENANTS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For each property fi5 nanced under section 515 or both sections 514 

6 and 516, not later than the date that is 2 years 

7 before the date that such loan will mature, the 

8 Secretary shall provide written notice to each 

9 household residing in such property that in10 forms them of the date of the loan maturity, 

11 the possible actions that may happen with re12 spect to the property upon such maturity, and 

13 how to protect their right to reside in federally 

14 assisted housing after such maturity. 

15 ‘‘(B) LANGUAGE.—Notice under this para16 graph shall be provided in plain English and 

17 shall be translated to other languages in the 

18 case of any property located in an area in which 

19 a significant number of residents speak such 

20 other languages. 

21 ‘‘(c) LOAN RESTRUCTURING.—Under the program 

22 under this section, the Secretary may restructure such ex23 isting housing loans, as the Secretary considers appro24 priate, for the purpose of ensuring that such projects have 

25 sufficient resources to preserve the projects to provide safe 


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1 and affordable housing for low-income residents and farm 

2 laborers, by— 

3 ‘‘(1) reducing or eliminating interest; 

4 ‘‘(2) deferring loan payments; 

5 ‘‘(3) subordinating, reducing, or reamortizing 

6 loan debt; and 

7 ‘‘(4) providing other financial assistance, in8 cluding advances, payments, and incentives (includ9 ing the ability of owners to obtain reasonable re10 turns on investment) required by the Secretary. 

11 ‘‘(d) RENEWAL OF RENTAL ASSISTANCE.—When the 

12 Secretary offers to restructure a loan pursuant to sub13 section (c), the Secretary shall offer to renew the rental 

14 assistance contract under section 521(a)(2) for a 20-year 

15 term that is subject to annual appropriations, provided 

16 that the owner agrees to bring the property up to such 

17 standards that will ensure its maintenance as decent, safe, 

18 and sanitary housing for the full term of the rental assist19 ance contract. 

20 ‘‘(e) RESTRICTIVE USE AGREEMENTS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—As part of the preserva22 tion and revitalization agreement for a project, the 

23 Secretary shall obtain a restrictive use agreement 

24 that obligates the owner to operate the project in ac25 cordance with this title. 


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1 ‘‘(2) TERM.— 

2 ‘‘(A) NO EXTENSION OF RENTAL ASSIST3 ANCE CONTRACT.—Except when the Secretary 

4 enters into a 20-year extension of the rental as5 sistance contract for the project, the term of 

6 the restrictive use agreement for the project 

7 shall be consistent with the term of the restruc8 tured loan for the project. 

9 ‘‘(B) EXTENSION OF RENTAL ASSISTANCE

10 CONTRACT.—If the Secretary enters into a 20- 

11 year extension of the rental assistance contract 

12 for a project, the term of the restrictive use 

13 agreement for the project shall be for 20 years. 

14 ‘‘(C) TERMINATION.—The Secretary may 

15 terminate the 20-year use restrictive use agree16 ment for a project prior to the end of its term 

17 if the 20-year rental assistance contract for the 

18 project with the owner is terminated at any 

19 time for reasons outside the owner’s control. 

20 ‘‘(f) DECOUPLING OF RENTAL ASSISTANCE.— 

21 ‘‘(1) RENEWAL OF RENTAL ASSISTANCE CON22 TRACT.—If the Secretary determines that a matur23 ing loan for a project cannot reasonably be restruc24 tured in accordance with subsection (c) and the 

25 project was operating with rental assistance under 


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1 section 521, the Secretary may renew the rental as2 sistance contract, notwithstanding any provision of 

3 section 521, for a term, subject to annual appropria4 tions, of at least 10 years but not more than 20 

5 years. 

6 ‘‘(2) RENTS.—Any agreement to extend the 

7 term of the rental assistance contract under section 

8 521 for a project shall obligate the owner to con9 tinue to maintain the project as decent, safe and 

10 sanitary housing and to operate the development in 

11 accordance with this title, except that rents shall be 

12 based on the lesser of— 

13 ‘‘(A) the budget-based needs of the project; 

14 or 

15 ‘‘(B) (ii) the operating cost adjustment 

16 factor as a payment standard as provided under 

17 section 524 of the Multifamily Assisted Hous18 ing Reform and Affordability Act of 1997 (42 

19 U.S.C. 1437 note). 

20 ‘‘(g) MULTIFAMILY HOUSING TRANSFER TECHNICAL

21 ASSISTANCE.—Under the program under this section, the 

22 Secretary may provide grants to qualified non-profit orga23 nizations and public housing agencies to provide technical 

24 assistance, including financial and legal services, to bor25 rowers under loans under this title for multifamily housing 


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1 to facilitate the acquisition of such multifamily housing 

2 properties in areas where the Secretary determines there 

3 is a risk of loss of affordable housing. 

4 ‘‘(h) TRANSFER OF RENTAL ASSISTANCE.—After the 

5 loan or loans for a rental project originally financed under 

6 section 515 or both sections 514 and 516 have matured 

7 or have been prepaid and the owner has chosen not to 

8 restructure the loan pursuant to subsection (c), a tenant 

9 residing in such project shall have 18 months prior to loan 

10 maturation or prepayment to transfer the rental assist11 ance assigned to the tenant’s unit to another rental project 

12 originally financed under section 515 or both sections 514 

13 and 516, and the owner of the initial project may rent 

14 the tenant’s previous unit to a new tenant without income 

15 restrictions. 

16 ‘‘(i) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of any amounts 

17 made available for the program under this section for any 

18 fiscal year, the Secretary may use not more than 

19 $1,000,000 for administrative expenses for carrying out 

20 such program. 

21 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

22 is authorized to be appropriated for the program under 

23 this section $200,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 

24 through 2024.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR RURAL HOUSING VOUCHERS. 

2 Section 542 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 

3 1490r) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

4 subsection: 

5 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY OF HOUSEHOLDS IN SECTION 514, 

6 515, AND 516 PROJECTS.—The Secretary may provide 

7 rural housing vouchers under this section for any low-in8 come household (including those not receiving rental as9 sistance) residing in a property financed with a loan made 

10 or insured under section 514 or 515 (42 U.S.C. 1484, 

11 1485) which has been prepaid, has been foreclosed, or has 

12 matured after September 30, 2005, or residing in a prop13 erty assisted under section 514 or 516 that is owned by 

14 a nonprofit organization or public agency.’’. 

15 SEC. 4. AMOUNT OF VOUCHER ASSISTANCE. 

16 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the 

17 case of any rural housing voucher provided pursuant to 

18 section 542 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 

19 1490r), the amount of the monthly assistance payment for 

20 the household on whose behalf such assistance is provided 

21 shall be determined as provided in subsection (a) of such 

22 section 542. 

23 SEC. 5. USE OF AVAILABLE RENTAL ASSISTANCE. 

24 Subsection (d) of section 521 of the Housing Act of 

25 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1490a(d)) is amended by adding at the 

26 end the following new paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(3) In the case of any rental assistance contract au2 thority that becomes available because of the termination 

3 of assistance on behalf of an assisted family— 

4 ‘‘(A) at the option of the owner of the rental 

5 project, the Secretary shall provide the owner a pe6 riod of 6 months before such assistance is made 

7 available pursuant to subparagraph (B) during 

8 which the owner may use such assistance authority 

9 to provide assistance of behalf of an eligible unas10 sisted family that— 

11 ‘‘(i) is residing in the same rental project 

12 that the assisted family resided in prior to such 

13 termination; or 

14 ‘‘(ii) newly occupies a dwelling unit in such 

15 rental project during such period; and 

16 ‘‘(B) except for assistance used as provided in 

17 subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall use such re18 maining authority to provide such assistance on be19 half of eligible families residing in other rental 

20 projects originally financed under section 515 or 

21 both sections 514 and 516 of this Act.’’. 

22 SEC. 6. FUNDING FOR MULTIFAMILY TECHNICAL IMPROVE23 MENTS. 

24 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec25 retary of Agriculture $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2020 for 


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1 improving the technology of the Department of Agri2 culture used to process loans for multifamily housing and 

3 otherwise managing such housing. Such improvements 

4 shall be made within the 5-year period beginning upon the 

5 appropriation of such amounts and such amount shall re6 main available until the expiration of such 5-year period. 

7 SEC. 7. PLAN FOR PRESERVING AFFORDABILITY OF RENT8 AL PROJECTS. 

9 (a) PLAN.—The Secretary of Agriculture (in this sec10 tion referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall submit a written 

11 plan to the Congress, not later than the expiration of the 

12 6-month period beginning on the date of the enactment 

13 of this Act, for preserving the affordability for low-income 

14 families of rental projects for which loans were made 

15 under section 515 or made to nonprofit or public agencies 

16 under section 514 and avoiding the displacement of tenant 

17 households, which shall— 

18 (1) set forth specific performance goals and 

19 measures; 

20 (2) set forth the specific actions and mecha21 nisms by which such goals will be achieved; 

22 (3) set forth specific measurements by which 

23 progress towards achievement of each goal can be 

24 measured; 


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1 (4) provide for detailed reporting on outcomes; 

2 and 

3 (5) include any legislative recommendations to 

4 assist in achievement of the goals under the plan. 

5 (b) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 

6 (1) ESTABLISHMENT; PURPOSE.—The Sec7 retary shall establish an advisory committee whose 

8 purpose shall be to assist the Secretary in preserving 

9 section 515 properties and section 514 properties 

10 owned by nonprofit or public agencies through the 

11 multifamily housing preservation and revitalization 

12 program under section 545 and in implementing the 

13 plan required under subsection (a). 

14 (2) MEMBER.—The advisory committee shall 

15 consist of 14 members, appointed by the Secretary, 

16 as follows: 

17 (A) A State Director of Rural Develop18 ment for the Department of Agriculture. 

19 (B) The Administrator for Rural Housing 

20 Service of the Department of Agriculture. 

21 (C) Two representatives of for-profit devel22 opers or owners of multifamily rural rental 

23 housing. 


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1 (D) Two representatives of non-profit de2 velopers or owners of multifamily rural rental 

3 housing. 

4 (E) Two representatives of State housing 

5 finance agencies. 

6 (F) Two representatives of tenants of mul7 tifamily rural rental housing. 

8 (G) One representative of a community de9 velopment financial institution that is involved 

10 in preserving the affordability of housing as11 sisted under sections 514, 515, and 516 of the 

12 Housing Act of 1949. 

13 (H) One representative of a nonprofit or14 ganization that operates nationally and has ac15 tively participated in the preservation of hous16 ing assisted by the Rural Housing Service by 

17 conducting research regarding, and providing fi18 nancing and technical assistance for, preserving 

19 the affordability of such housing. 

20 (I) One representative of low-income hous21 ing tax credit investors. 

22 (J) One representative of regulated finan23 cial institutions that finance affordable multi24 family rural rental housing developments. 


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1 (3) MEETINGS.—The advisory committee shall 

2 meet not less often than once each calendar quarter. 

3 (4) FUNCTIONS.—In providing assistance to the 

4 Secretary to carry out its purpose, the advisory com5 mittee shall carry out the following functions: 

6 (A) Assisting the Rural Housing Service of 

7 the Department of Agriculture to improve esti8 mates of the size, scope, and condition of rental 

9 housing portfolio of the Service, including the 

10 time frames for maturity of mortgages and 

11 costs for preserving the portfolio as affordable 

12 housing. 

13 (B) Reviewing current policies and proce14 dures of the Rural Housing Service regarding 

15 preservation of affordable rental housing fi16 nanced under sections 514, 515, 516, and 538 

17 of the Housing Act of 1949, the Multifamily 

18 Preservation and Revitalization Demonstration 

19 program (MPR), and the rental assistance pro20 gram and making recommendations regarding 

21 improvements and modifications to such policies 

22 and procedures. 

23 (C) Providing ongoing review of Rural 

24 Housing Service program results. 


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1 (D) Providing reports to the Congress and 

2 the public on meetings, recommendations, and 

3 other findings of the advisory committee. 

4 (5) TRAVEL COSTS.—Any amounts made avail5 able for administrative costs of the Department of 

6 Agriculture may be used for costs of travel by mem7 bers of the advisory committee to meetings of the 

8 committee. 

9 SEC. 8. COVERED HOUSING PROGRAMS. 

10 Paragraph (3) of section 41411(a) of the Violence 

11 Against Women Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12491(a)(3)) is 

12 amended— 

13 (1) in subparagraph (I), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

14 the end; 

15 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (J) as sub16 paragraph (K); and 

17 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (I) the fol18 lowing new subparagraph: 

19 ‘‘(J) rural development housing voucher 

20 assistance provided by the Secretary of Agri21 culture pursuant to section 542 of the Housing 

22 Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1490r), without regard 


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1 to subsection (b) of such section, and applicable 

2 appropriation Acts; and’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 10, 

2019. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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