I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 476 

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 

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. 

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 ‘‘Housing Fairness Act 

5 of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TESTING FOR DISCRIMINATION. 

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

3 Urban Development shall conduct a nationwide program 

4 of testing to— 

5 (1) detect and document differences in the 

6 treatment of persons seeking to rent or purchase 

7 housing or obtain or refinance a home mortgage 

8 loan, and measure patterns of adverse treatment be9 cause of the race, color, religion, sex, familial status, 

10 disability status, or national origin of a renter, home 

11 buyer, or borrower; and 

12 (2) measure the prevalence of such discrimina13 tory practices across the housing and mortgage lend14 ing markets as a whole. 

15 (b) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary of Housing 

16 and Urban Development shall enter into agreements with 

17 qualified fair housing enforcement organizations, as such 

18 organizations are defined under subsection (h) of section 

19 561 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 

20 1987 (42 U.S.C. 3616a(h)), for the purpose of conducting 

21 the testing required under subsection (a). 

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

23 Development shall report to Congress— 

24 (1) on a biennial basis, the results of each 

25 round of testing required under subsection (a) along 

26 with any recommendations or proposals for legislaVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:49 Jan 14, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H476.IH H476

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1 tive or administrative action to address any issues 

2 raised by such testing; and 

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

4 the calls received by the Fair Housing Administra5 tion’s 24-hour toll-free telephone hotline. 

6 (d) USE OF RESULTS.—The results of any testing re7 quired under subsection (a) may be used as the basis for 

8 the Secretary, or any State or local government or agency, 

9 public or private nonprofit organization or institution, or 

10 other public or private entity that the Secretary has en11 tered into a contract or cooperative agreement with under 

12 section 561 of the Housing and Community Development 

13 Act of 1987 (42 U.S.C. 3616a) to commence, undertake, 

14 or pursue any investigation or enforcement action to rem15 edy any discrimination uncovered as a result of such test16 ing. 

17 (e) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section: 

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

19 status’’ has the same meaning given the term 

20 ‘‘handicap’’ in section 802 of the Civil Rights Act of 

21 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3602). 

22 (2) FAMILIAL STATUS.—The term ‘‘familial sta23 tus’’ has the same meaning given that term in sec24 tion 802 of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 

25 3602). 


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1 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the provi3 sions of this section $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2010 and 

4 each fiscal year thereafter. 

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

7 Section 561 of the Housing and Community Develop8 ment Act of 1987 (42 U.S.C. 3616a) is amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (b)— 

10 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘quali11 fied’’ before ‘‘private nonprofit fair housing en12 forcement organizations,’’; and 

13 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘quali14 fied’’ before ‘‘private nonprofit fair housing en15 forcement organizations,’’; 

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

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

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

20 appropriated to carry out the provisions of this sec21 tion $52,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 

22 through 2014, of which— 

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

24 amounts shall be for private enforcement initia25 tives authorized under subsection (b); 


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

2 amounts shall be for education and outreach 

3 programs under subsection (d); and 

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

5 for program activities authorized under this sec6 tion. 

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

8 under this section shall remain available until ex9 pended.’’; 

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

11 subparagraph (C), by inserting ‘‘and meets the cri12 teria described in subparagraphs (A) and (C)’’ after 

13 ‘‘subparagraph (B)’’; and 

14 (4) in subsection (d)— 

15 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

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

17 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

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

19 the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

20 (iii) by adding after subparagraph (D) 

21 the following new subparagraph: 

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

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

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

25 other public or private nonprofit entities’’; and 


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

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

3 other public or private nonprofit entities’’. 

4 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

5 It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of 

6 Housing and Urban Development should— 

7 (1) fully comply with the requirements of sec8 tion 561(d) of the Housing and Community Develop9 ment Act of 1987 (42 U.S.C. 3616a(d)) to establish, 

10 design, and maintain a national education and out11 reach program to provide a centralized, coordinated 

12 effort for the development and dissemination of the 

13 fair housing rights of individuals who seek to rent, 

14 purchase, sell, or facilitate the sale of a home; 

15 (2) utilize all amounts appropriated for such 

16 education and outreach program under section 

17 561(g) of such Act; and 

18 (3) promulgate regulations regarding the fair 

19 housing obligations of each recipient of Federal 

20 housing funds to affirmatively further fair housing, 

21 as that term is defined under title VIII of the Civil 

22 Rights Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.). 


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

2 DISCRIMINATION. 

3 (a) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Secretary of Housing 

4 and Urban Development shall carry out a competitive 

5 matching grant program to assist private nonprofit orga6 nizations in— 

7 (1) conducting comprehensive studies that ex8 amine— 

9 (A) the causes of housing discrimination 

10 and segregation; and 

11 (B) the effects of housing discrimination 

12 and segregation on education, poverty, and eco13 nomic development; and 

14 (2) implementing pilot projects that test solu15 tions that will help prevent or alleviate housing dis16 crimination and segregation. 

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

18 under this section, a private nonprofit organization shall— 

19 (1) submit an application to the Secretary of 

20 Housing and Urban Development, containing such 

21 information as the Secretary shall require; and 

22 (2) agree to provide matching non-Federal 

23 funds for 25 percent of the total amount of the 

24 grant, which matching funds may include items do25 nated on an in-kind contribution basis. 


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1 (c) PREFERENCE.—In awarding any grant under this 

2 section, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 

3 shall give preference to any applicant who is— 

4 (1) a qualified fair housing enforcement organi5 zation, as such organization is defined under sub6 section (h) of section 561 of the Housing and Com7 munity Development Act of 1987 (42 U.S.C. 

8 3616a(h)); or 

9 (2) a partner of any such organization. 

10 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

11 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the provi12 sions of this section $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

13 2010 through 2014. 

Æ 


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