II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1513 

To improve oversight of privatized military housing provided by the Department of Defense to members of the Armed Forces and their families, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 16, 2019 

Ms. CORTEZ MASTO introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To improve oversight of privatized military housing provided 

by the Department of Defense to members of the Armed 

Forces and their families, 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 ‘‘Better Military Hous5 ing Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. OVERSIGHT OF PRIVATIZED MILITARY HOUSING. 

7 (a) ENHANCING HEALTH, SAFETY, AND QUALITY OF

8 PRIVATIZED MILITARY HOUSING.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec3 retary of Defense shall develop and implement a 

4 plan to address health, safety, and quality issues at 

5 privatized military housing. 

6 (2) NEW PROCESSES, POSITIONS, AND OF7 FICES.—The plan developed and implemented under 

8 paragraph (1) may include new processes for report9 ing challenges, as well as proposals for new positions 

10 or offices responsible for oversight of privatized mili11 tary housing contracts. 

12 (3) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall con13 sult with the Secretaries of the military depart14 ments, members of the Armed Forces and their fam15 ilies, and organizations that support members of the 

16 Armed Forces and their families in the development 

17 of the plan under paragraph (1). 

18 (4) REQUIREMENTS FOR NEW PROCESSES.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—At a minimum, the new 

20 processes included in the plan under paragraph 

21 (1) shall include the following elements: 

22 (i) Ensuring that members of the 

23 Armed Forces and their families may re24 port concerns regarding privatized military 

25 housing without concern of reprisal from 


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1 the military chain of command or the land2 lord for such housing, which may include— 

3 (I) establishing a confidential 

4 hotline; or 

5 (II) providing access to military 

6 housing advocates who will maintain 

7 confidentiality. 

8 (ii) Ensuring military leadership from 

9 installation commanders to the Secretaries 

10 of the military departments are regularly 

11 updated on outstanding issues at 

12 privatized military housing facilities, in13 cluding the time landlords are taking to re14 solve work order requests and respond to 

15 queries by tenants regarding work orders. 

16 (iii) To the extent practicable, estab17 lishing standardized metrics throughout 

18 the Department of Defense for evaluating 

19 housing health risks, quality, and safety. 

20 (iv) To the extent practicable, estab21 lishing common provisions that could be in22 corporated into tenancy agreements for 

23 privatized military housing throughout the 

24 Department. 


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1 (v) Improvements in carrying out 

2 oversight of privatized military housing 

3 contracts, which may include aligning in4 centive fee payments to health, safety, and 

5 quality metrics. 

6 (vi) Improvements in training for the 

7 offices of installation commanders and 

8 housing offices concerning responsibilities, 

9 authorities, and processes related to over10 sight of privatized military housing. 

11 (B) ADDITIONAL RESOURCES.—To the ex12 tent the new processes included in the plan 

13 under paragraph (1) require additional re14 sources, the Secretary shall request such re15 sources in the following fiscal year budget. 

16 (5) REPORT AND BRIEFING.—Not later than 

17 one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

18 the Secretary of Defense and the Secretaries of the 

19 military departments shall— 

20 (A) submit to the congressional defense 

21 committees a report on the processes developed 

22 under the plan under paragraph (1) and any re23 sources needed to implement outstanding ele24 ments of such plan; and 


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1 (B) brief the congressional defense com2 mittees on such processes developed and such 

3 resources needed. 

4 (b) INFORMATION FOR TENANTS AND LAND5 LORDS.—Upon a tenant entering into a tenancy agree6 ment for a housing unit provided by the Department of 

7 Defense under a privatized military housing contract, the 

8 Secretary of Defense shall provide to the tenant informa9 tion on— 

10 (1) the rights of tenants, including recourse and 

11 actions, to include a ‘‘Tenants Bill of Rights’’; 

12 (2) the expectations of the Department regard13 ing reporting by tenants of maintenance, health, or 

14 safety issues relating to the housing unit; 

15 (3) the expectations of the Department regard16 ing the maintaining by landlords of certain stand17 ards relating to the condition, health, and safety of 

18 the housing unit; 

19 (4) a clear and comprehensive accounting of the 

20 rights and responsibilities of tenants and landlords 

21 relating to maintenance of the housing unit; and 

22 (5) a comprehensive maintenance, repair, and 

23 remediation history of the housing unit. 

24 (c) INSPECTOR GENERAL OVERSIGHT INSPECTIONS

25 OF PRIVATIZED MILITARY HOUSING.—Not later than one 


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1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and not 

2 less frequently than annually thereafter, the Inspector 

3 General of the Department of Defense shall— 

4 (1) conduct an inspection of the oversight by 

5 the Department of privatized military housing at not 

6 fewer than 15 randomly selected installations of the 

7 Department; and 

8 (2) publish on a website of the Department 

9 available to the public a summary of the results of 

10 those inspections. 

11 (d) STUDY ON POTENTIAL IMPROVEMENTS FOR

12 PRIVATIZED MILITARY HOUSING.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense 

14 shall conduct a study on ways to improve privatized 

15 military housing and the oversight and execution of 

16 privatized military housing contracts to improve 

17 housing conditions for members of the Armed 

18 Forces and their families who are stationed at in19 stallations of the Department of Defense. 

20 (2) ELEMENTS.—The study required by para21 graph (1) shall include an assessment of policy op22 tions for the Department to achieve the following ob23 jectives: 

24 (A) The use of privatized military housing 

25 contracts of shorter duration. 


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1 (B) The use of market incentives or other 

2 means to increase the availability of privatized 

3 military housing options for tenants on or out4 side of an installation, including the use of two 

5 or more landlords at a single installation, and 

6 including possibilities for increased housing op7 tions in communities where few options cur8 rently exist. 

9 (C) The use of technology applications to 

10 simplify, streamline, and improve transparency 

11 in the privatized military housing work order 

12 system. 

13 (D) The creation of a Special Housing Ad14 vocate— 

15 (i) to provide counsel to tenants of 

16 privatized military housing; and 

17 (ii) to independently represent the in18 terests of tenants before those of landlords. 

19 (E) Such other potential improvements to 

20 privatized military housing as the Secretary 

21 considers appropriate. 

22 (3) PARTNERSHIP.—The Secretary shall enter 

23 into a partnership with a federally funded research 

24 and development center to conduct the study under 

25 paragraph (1). 


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1 (4) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the 

2 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

3 shall submit to the congressional defense committees 

4 a report on the findings of the study under para5 graph (1). 

6 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 (1) CONGRESSIONAL DEFENSE COMMITTEES.— 

8 The term ‘‘congressional defense committees’’ has 

9 the meaning given that term in section 101(16) of 

10 title 10, United States Code. 

11 (2) LANDLORD.—The term ‘‘landlord’’ means 

12 an eligible entity or lessor who owns, manages, or is 

13 otherwise responsible for a housing unit under a 

14 privatized military housing contract. 

15 (3) PRIVATIZED MILITARY HOUSING.—The 

16 term ‘‘privatized military housing’’ means housing 

17 provided under subchapter IV of chapter 169 of title 

18 10, United States Code. 

19 (4) PRIVATIZED MILITARY HOUSING CON20 TRACT.—The term ‘‘privatized military housing con21 tract’’ means a ground lease and all associated docu22 mentation between the Secretary of a military de23 partment and a landlord to provide privatized mili24 tary housing. 

Æ 


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