IB 

Union Calendar No. 404 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 476 

[Report No. 111–678] 

To authorize funds to prevent housing discrimination through the use of 

nationwide testing, to increase funds for the Fair Housing Initiatives 

Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 13, 2009 

Mr. AL GREEN of Texas (for himself, Ms. WATERS, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. CLAY, 

Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. MEEK of Florida, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. 

SIRES, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. PASTOR of Arizona, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. 

MCGOVERN, Ms. EDWARDS of Maryland, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. 

CARNAHAN, Mr. GONZALEZ, and Ms. SCHAKOWSKY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

DECEMBER 9, 2010 

Additional sponsors: Ms. SUTTON, Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan, Mr. 

CAPUANO, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HONDA, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. 

CLARKE, Mr. DAVIS of Alabama, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. FILNER, 

Mr. SABLAN, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Ms. MOORE of 

Wisconsin, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. CHU, Ms. NORTON, Mr. FRANK of 

Massachusetts, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. DICKS, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. CAO, Ms. 

JACKSON LEE of Texas, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. 

KUCINICH, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. COHEN, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. RANGEL, 

Ms. MATSUI, Ms. WATSON, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. DAVIS

of Illinois, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. 

VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. RUSH, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. MAFFEI, Mr. LYNCH, 

Ms. HIRONO, Mr. BACA, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. WATT, Mr. 

PERLMUTTER, and Mr. JACKSON of Illinois 

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DECEMBER 9, 2010 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 13, 2009] 

A BILL 

To authorize funds to prevent housing discrimination through 

the use of nationwide testing, to increase funds for the 

Fair Housing Initiatives Program, 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 ‘‘Veterans, Women, Fami5 lies with Children, and Persons With Disabilities Housing 

6 Fairness Act of 2010’’. 

7 SEC. 2. TESTING FOR DISCRIMINATION. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Housing and 

9 Urban Development shall conduct a nationwide program 

10 of testing to— 

11 (1) detect and document differences in the treat12 ment of persons seeking to rent or purchase housing 

13 or obtain or refinance a home mortgage loan, and 

14 measure patterns of adverse treatment because of the 

15 race, color, religion, sex, familial status, disability 

16 status, or national origin of a renter, home buyer, or 

17 borrower; and 

18 (2) measure the prevalence of such discrimina19 tory practices across the housing and mortgage lend20 ing markets as a whole. 

21 (b) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary of Housing and 

22 Urban Development shall enter into agreements with quali23 fied fair housing enforcement organizations, as such organi24 zations are defined under subsection (h) of section 561 of 

25 the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987 (42 

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1 U.S.C. 3616a(h)), for the purpose of conducting the testing 

2 required under subsection (a). 

3 (c) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall— 

4 (1) submit to the Congress an evaluation by the 

5 Secretary of the effectiveness of the program under 

6 this section; and 

7 (2) issue regulations that require each applica8 tion for the program under this section to contain— 

9 (A) a description of the assisted activities 

10 proposed to be undertaken by the applicant; 

11 (B) a description of the experience of the 

12 applicant in formulating or carrying out pro13 grams to carry out the activities described in 

14 subsection (a); and 

15 (C) a description of proposed procedures to 

16 be used by the applicant for evaluating the re17 sults of the activities proposed to be carried out 

18 under the program. 

19 (d) REPORT.—The Secretary of Housing and Urban 

20 Development shall report to Congress— 

21 (1) on a biennial basis, the aggregate outcomes 

22 of testing required under subsection (a) along with 

23 any recommendations or proposals for legislative or 

24 administrative action to address any issues raised by 

25 such testing; and 

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1 (2) on an annual basis, a detailed summary of 

2 the messages received by the Office of Fair Housing 

3 and Equal Opportunity of the Department through 

4 its 24-hour toll-free telephone hotline, through elec5 tronic mail, and through its website. 

6 The Secretary may submit the reports required under para7 graph (1) of this subsection as part of the reports prepared 

8 in accordance with paragraphs (2) and (6) of section 808(e) 

9 of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3608(e)) and section 

10 561(j) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 

11 1987 (42 U.S.C. 3616a(j)). 

12 (e) USE OF RESULTS.—The results of any testing re13 quired under subsection (a) may be used as the basis for 

14 the Secretary, or any Federal agency authorized to bring 

15 such an enforcement action, or any State or local govern16 ment or agency, public or private nonprofit organization 

17 or institution, or other public or private entity that the Sec18 retary has entered into a contract or cooperative agreement 

19 with under section 561 of the Housing and Community De20 velopment Act of 1987 (42 U.S.C. 3616a) to commence, un21 dertake, or pursue any investigation or enforcement action 

22 to remedy any discriminatory housing practice (as such 

23 term is defined in section 802 of the Fair Housing Act (42 

24 U.S.C. 3602)) uncovered as a result of such testing. 

25 (f) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section: 

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1 (1) DISABILITY STATUS.—The term ‘‘disability 

2 status’’ has the same meaning given the term ‘‘handi3 cap’’ in section 802 of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 

4 (42 U.S.C. 3602). 

5 (2) FAMILIAL STATUS.—The term ‘‘familial sta6 tus’’ has the same meaning given that term in section 

7 802 of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3602). 

8 (g) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in this 

9 section may be construed to amend, alter, or affect any pro10 vision of criminal law or the Truth in Lending Act (15 

11 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.). 

12 (h) REGULATIONS.—Not later than the expiration of 

13 the 180-day period beginning on the date of the enactment 

14 of this Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop15 ment shall issue regulations that establish minimum stand16 ards for the training of testers of organizations conducting 

17 testing required under subsection (a). Such regulations shall 

18 serve as the basis of an evaluation of such testers, which 

19 shall be developed by the Secretary, and such regulations 

20 shall be issued after notice and an opportunity for public 

21 comment in accordance with the procedure under section 

22 553 of title 5, United States Code, applicable to substantive 

23 rules (notwithstanding subsections (a)(2), (b)(B), and 

24 (d)(3) of such section). 

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1 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are 

2 authorized to be appropriated to carry out the provisions 

3 of this section $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2011 

4 through 2015. 

5 SEC. 3. INCREASE IN FUNDING FOR THE FAIR HOUSING INI6 TIATIVES PROGRAM. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 561 of the Housing and 

8 Community Development Act of 1987 (42 U.S.C. 3616a) 

9 is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (b)— 

11 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘quali12 fied’’ before ‘‘private nonprofit fair housing en13 forcement organizations,’’; and 

14 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘quali15 fied’’ before ‘‘private nonprofit fair housing en16 forcement organizations,’’; 

17 (2) by striking subsection (g) and inserting the 

18 following: 

19 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

21 appropriated to carry out the provisions of this sec22 tion $42,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2011 through 

23 2015, of which— 

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1 ‘‘(A) not less than 75 percent of such 

2 amounts shall be for private enforcement initia3 tives authorized under subsection (b); 

4 ‘‘(B) not more than 10 percent of such 

5 amounts shall be for education and outreach pro6 grams under subsection (d); and 

7 ‘‘(C) any remaining amounts shall be used 

8 for program activities authorized under this sec9 tion. 

10 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY.—Any amount appropriated 

11 under this section shall remain available until ex12 pended to carry out the provisions of this section.’’; 

13 (3) in subsection (h), in the matter following 

14 subparagraph (C), by inserting ‘‘and meets the cri15 teria described in subparagraphs (A) and (C)’’ after 

16 ‘‘subparagraph (B)’’; and 

17 (4) in subsection (d)— 

18 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

19 (i) in subparagraph (C), by striking 

20 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

21 (ii) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

22 the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

23 (iii) by adding after subparagraph (D) 

24 the following new subparagraph: 

25 ‘‘(E) websites and other media outlets.’’; 

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1 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘or other 

2 public or private entities’’ and inserting ‘‘or 

3 other public or private nonprofit entities’’; and 

4 (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘or other 

5 public or private entities’’ and inserting ‘‘or 

6 other public or private nonprofit entities’’. 

7 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than the expiration of 

8 the 180-day period beginning on the date of the enactment 

9 of this Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop10 ment shall issue regulations that establish minimum stand11 ards for the training of testers of organizations funded with 

12 any amounts made available to carry out this section for 

13 any of fiscal years 2011 through 2015. Such regulations 

14 shall serve as the basis of an evaluation of such testers, 

15 which shall be developed by the Secretary, and shall be 

16 issued after notice and an opportunity for public comment 

17 in accordance with the procedure under section 553 of title 

18 5, United States Code, applicable to substantive rules (not19 withstanding subsections (a)(2), (b)(B), and (d)(3) of such 

20 section). 

21 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

22 It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Hous23 ing and Urban Development should— 

24 (1) fully comply with the requirements of section 

25 561(d) of the Housing and Community Development 

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1 Act of 1987 (42 U.S.C. 3616a(d)) to establish, design, 

2 and maintain a national education and outreach pro3 gram to provide a centralized, coordinated effort for 

4 the development and dissemination of the fair housing 

5 rights of individuals who seek to rent, purchase, sell, 

6 or facilitate the sale of a home; 

7 (2) expend for such education and outreach pro8 grams all amounts appropriated for such programs; 

9 (3) promulgate regulations regarding the fair 

10 housing obligations of each recipient of Federal hous11 ing and community development funds to affirma12 tively further fair housing, as that term is defined 

13 under title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (42 

14 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.); and 

15 (4) fully comply with the requirements of section 

16 810(a) of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3610(a)). 

17 SEC. 5. GRANTS TO PRIVATE ENTITIES TO STUDY HOUSING 

18 DISCRIMINATION. 

19 (a) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Secretary of Housing and 

20 Urban Development shall carry out a competitive matching 

21 grant program to assist public and private nonprofit orga22 nizations in— 

23 (1) conducting comprehensive studies that exam24 ine— 

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1 (A) the causes of housing discrimination 

2 and segregation; 

3 (B) the effects of housing discrimination 

4 and segregation on education, poverty, and eco5 nomic development; or 

6 (C) the incidences, causes, and effects of 

7 housing discrimination and segregation on vet8 erans and military personnel; and 

9 (2) implementing pilot projects that test solu10 tions that will help prevent or alleviate housing dis11 crimination and segregation. 

12 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

13 under this section, a public or private nonprofit organiza14 tion shall— 

15 (1) submit an application to the Secretary of 

16 Housing and Urban Development, containing such 

17 information as the Secretary shall require; 

18 (2) agree to provide matching non-Federal funds 

19 for 50 percent of the total amount of the grant, which 

20 matching funds may include items donated on an in21 kind contribution basis; and 

22 (3) meet the requirements of a qualified fair 

23 housing enforcement organization, as such term is de24 fined in section 561(h) of the Housing and Commu25 nity Development Act of 1987 (42 U.S.C. 3616a(h)), 

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1 or subcontract with a qualified fair housing enforce2 ment organization as a primary subcontractor. 

3 (c) REPORT.—The Secretary of Housing and Urban 

4 Development shall submit a report to the Congress on a bi5 ennial basis that provides a detailed summary of the results 

6 of the comprehensive studies and pilot projects carried out 

7 under subsection (a), together with any recommendations 

8 or proposals for legislative or administrative actions to ad9 dress any issues raised by such studies. The Secretary may 

10 submit the reports required under this subsection as part 

11 of the reports prepared in accordance with paragraphs (2) 

12 and (6) of section 808(e) of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 

13 10 3608(e)) and section 561(j) of the Housing and Commu14 nity Development Act of 1987 (42 U.S.C. 3616a(j)). 

15 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are 

16 authorized to be appropriated to carry out the provisions 

17 of this section $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2011 

18 through 2015. 

19 SEC. 6. LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS. 

20 None of the funds made available under this Act, or 

21 the amendments made by this Act, may be used for any 

22 political activities, political advocacy, or lobbying (as such 

23 terms are defined by Circular A-122 of the Office of Man24 agement and Budget, entitled ‘‘Cost Principles for Non25 Profit Organizations’’), or for expenses for travel to engage 

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1 in political activities or preparation of or provision of ad2 vice on tax returns. 

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Union Calendar No. 404 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 476 

[Report No. 111–678] 

A BILL 

To authorize funds to prevent housing discriminaProgram, and for other purposes. crease funds for the Fair Housing Initiatives tion through the use of nationwide testing, to inDECEMBER 9, 2010 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 

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