I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5352 

To provide rental assistance to low-income tenants of certain multifamily 

rural housing projects, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 20, 2018 

Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire (for herself, Mr. NOLAN, and Ms. SHEA-PORTER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To provide rental assistance to low-income tenants of certain 

multifamily rural housing projects, 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 ‘‘Rural Housing Preser5 vation Act of 2018’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AVAILABILITY OF RURAL HOUSING VOUCHERS FOR 

2 TENANTS IN PROJECTS WITH MATURING 

3 LOANS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 542 of the Housing Act 

5 of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1490r) is amended by adding at the 

6 end the following new subsections: 

7 ‘‘(c) RURAL VOUCHERS FOR TENANTS OF PROJECTS

8 WITH PREPAID OR MATURING LOANS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—Subject to the availability of 

10 amounts provided in appropriation Acts and to para11 graph (3), the Secretary shall provide rural housing 

12 vouchers under this section, in the amount provided 

13 under this section, to any low-income household (in14 cluding those not receiving rental assistance) resid15 ing in a property financed with a loan made or in16 sured under section 514 or 515 (42 U.S.C. 1484, 

17 1485) which has been prepaid, has been foreclosed, 

18 or has matured, after September 30, 2005, or resid19 ing in a property assisted under section 514 or 516 

20 (42 U.S.C. 1484, 1486) that is owned by a nonprofit 

21 organization or public agency. 

22 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATION AND SUBSIDIES.—The 

23 Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, 

24 administer and operate such vouchers with current 

25 regulations and administrative guidance applicable 

26 to enhanced vouchers under section 8(t) of the 


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

2 1437f(t)) and administered by the Secretary of 

3 Housing and Urban Development. The amount of 

4 rental assistance provided on behalf of holders of 

5 such vouchers shall be the same as that provided on 

6 behalf of holders of enhanced vouchers under such 

7 section 8(t). 

8 ‘‘(3) TERMINATION OF ASSISTANCE.—The Sec9 retary shall terminate the provision of voucher as10 sistance pursuant to this subsection, with respect to 

11 a property, if— 

12 ‘‘(A) at any time, a new loan is made or 

13 insured under section 515 or 514 for the prop14 erty; and 

15 ‘‘(B) as a result of such loan, rental assist16 ance is provided on behalf of the voucher holder 

17 in an amount comparable to the rental assist18 ance provided on behalf of the voucher holder 

19 under the voucher program. 

20 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION RELATING TO PROJECTS WITH

21 PREPAID LOANS.—The Secretary shall not issue vouchers 

22 under this section to residents who remain in properties 

23 that were financed with a loan made or insured under sec24 tion 514 or 515 that has been prepaid and that are subject 

25 to any restrictive use agreements entered into pursuant 


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1 to section 502(c)(5)(G). The Secretary shall review and 

2 approve all proposed rent increases for residents of such 

3 properties that are protected by such use agreements and 

4 issue, to such residents, limited voucher assistance that 

5 covers the cost of all approved future rent increases that 

6 are not related to the cost of prepaying the loan or refi7 nancing the property.’’. 

8 (b) REQUIREMENT FOR SECTION 515 PROJECTS TO

9 ACCEPT VOUCHERS.—Section 515 of the Housing Act of 

10 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1485) is amended by adding at the end 

11 the following new subsection: 

12 ‘‘(bb) REQUIREMENT TO ACCEPT RURAL HOUSING

13 VOUCHERS.—No owner of a property previously financed 

14 with a loan made or insured under this section, whether 

15 such loan is outstanding or fully paid, may refuse to lease 

16 an available dwelling unit in the property to a household 

17 on behalf of whom voucher assistance is provided under 

18 section 542 (42 U.S.C. 1490r), and to enter into a voucher 

19 contract respecting such unit, a proximate cause of which 

20 is the status of such current or prospective tenant as a 

21 holder of such voucher.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. DECOUPLING RENTAL ASSISTANCE FROM MATUR2 ING RURAL HOUSING LOANS. 

3 Paragraph (2) of section 521(a) of the Housing Act 

4 of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1490a(a)(2)) is amended by adding 

5 at the end the following new subparagraph: 

6 ‘‘(F) RENTAL ASSISTANCE FOR PROJECTS

7 WITH MATURED LOANS.— 

8 ‘‘(i) AUTHORITY.—To continue to 

9 make decent, safe and sanitary housing 

10 available to low-income occupants of 

11 projects originally financed with a loan 

12 made or insured under section 514 or 515 

13 that has matured on or after the date of 

14 the enactment of this subparagraph or 

15 with a grant under section 516, and at 

16 rental rates commensurate to income as 

17 specified in subparagraph (A) of this para18 graph, the Secretary may, subject to the 

19 availability of amounts provided in appro20 priation Acts, contract to make, make, and 

21 renew annual assistance payments pursu22 ant to this subparagraph to the owners of 

23 such projects. 

24 ‘‘(ii) OFFER.—The Secretary shall en25 sure that an offer to provide a contract for 

26 assistance payments pursuant to this subVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:48 Apr 02, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5352.IH H5352

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1 paragraph shall be extended to all owners 

2 of projects described in clause (i) not later 

3 than 24 months before the maturation of 

4 the loan (except in the case of loans ma5 turing after the date that is 24 months be6 fore the date of the enactment of this sub7 paragraph). 

8 ‘‘(iii) TERMS.—Each contract for as9 sistance payments pursuant to this sub10 paragraph shall— 

11 ‘‘(I) have a term of 20 years and 

12 be subject to availability of amounts 

13 provided in annual appropriations 

14 Acts; 

15 ‘‘(II) cover all new and existing 

16 households residing in the project, re17 gardless of whether or not they were 

18 previously assisted under the rental 

19 assistance program authorized under 

20 subparagraph (A); 

21 ‘‘(III) be recorded at such local 

22 real property recording office as is 

23 prescribed by the State in which the 

24 project is located; 


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1 ‘‘(IV) bind the owner of the 

2 project and the owner’s successors to 

3 continue to operate the project in ac4 cordance with such agreements; 

5 ‘‘(V) require the owner (and such 

6 successors) to agree to continue to op7 erate the projects as if it were subject 

8 to an existing loan under section 514 

9 or 515 or grant under section 516, as 

10 applicable; 

11 ‘‘(VI) extend to residents of the 

12 project all the rights that at the time 

13 such contract is entered into are ex14 tended to residents of projects subject 

15 to an existing loan under section 514 

16 or 515 or a grant under section 516, 

17 as applicable; 

18 ‘‘(VII) require the owner (and 

19 such successors) to maintain the as20 sisted housing as decent, safe, and 

21 sanitary housing; and 

22 ‘‘(VIII) provide that the Sec23 retary may renew the contract for ad24 ditional 5-year terms if the assisted 

25 housing is maintained in such decent, 


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1 safe, and sanitary condition, as deter2 mined by the Secretary. 

3 ‘‘(iv) ACTUAL MARKET RENTALS.— 

4 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—A contract 

5 for assistance provided pursuant to 

6 this subparagraph for a project shall 

7 provide assistance to the owner based 

8 on an initial reasonable operating 

9 budget the rents for which do not ex10 ceed such actual market rental rates 

11 for the area in which the project is lo12 cated, as are established by the Sec13 retary. 

14 ‘‘(II) ADJUSTMENT; RENEWAL.— 

15 The Secretary shall adjust the actual 

16 market rental rates used for purposes 

17 of this clause annually. 

18 ‘‘(v) RENEWAL; ADJUSTMENT.—In 

19 providing assistance pursuant to this sub20 paragraph, the Secretary shall require the 

21 owner of the project to renew the assist22 ance provided to each household not less 

23 frequently than annually, in accordance 

24 with the provisions of subparagraph (A), 

25 and shall adjust the amount of assistance 


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1 provided to a household at any other time 

2 upon a decrease in the household’s month3 ly income of $100 or more. 

4 ‘‘(vi) ADMINISTRATION.—Rental as5 sistance contracts authorized by this sub6 paragraph shall, except as otherwise pro7 vided in this subparagraph, be adminis8 tered by the Secretary in the same manner 

9 as rental assistance contracts for projects 

10 having existing loans made or insured 

11 under section 515 or existing loans and 

12 grants made under sections 514 and 

13 516.’’. 

14 SEC. 4. UNIFORM STANDARDS FOR TRANSFERS OF SEC15 TION 515 PROPERTIES USING LOW-INCOME 

16 TAX CREDITS. 

17 Section 515 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 

18 1485), as amended by the preceding provisions of this Act, 

19 is further amended by adding at the end the following new 

20 subsection: 

21 ‘‘(cc) REQUIREMENTS FOR TRANSFERS OF PROP22 ERTIES INVOLVING LOW-INCOME HOUSING TAX CRED23 ITS.—The Secretary shall establish, without exception, 

24 uniform requirements, terms, and conditions for any sale 

25 or transfer of a property financed with a loan under this 


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1 section to any entity, including a nonprofit organization, 

2 that is seeking to acquire such property with amounts au3 thorized under this section and any low-income housing 

4 tax credit under section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code 

5 of 1986.’’. 

6 SEC. 5. RURAL MULTIFAMILY HOUSING REVITALIZATION 

7 PROGRAM. 

8 Section 515 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 

9 1485), as amended by the preceding provisions of this Act, 

10 is further amended by adding at the end the following new 

11 subsection: 

12 ‘‘(dd) MULTIFAMILY HOUSING REVITALIZATION

13 PROGRAM.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may estab15 lish a Multifamily Housing Revitalization Program 

16 for the preservation and revitalization of multifamily 

17 housing projects funded with loans made available 

18 pursuant to this section and sections 514 and 516 

19 to ensure that such projects have sufficient resources 

20 to provide safe and affordable housing for low-in21 come residents and farm laborers. 

22 ‘‘(2) OPTIONS.—In carrying out paragraph (1), 

23 the Secretary may— 

24 ‘‘(A) with respect to such loans— 

25 ‘‘(i) reduce or eliminate interest; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) defer loan payments; and 

2 ‘‘(iii) subordinate, reduce, or reamor3 tize loan debt; and 

4 ‘‘(B) provide other financial assistance, in5 cluding— 

6 ‘‘(i) advances; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) payments and incentives (includ8 ing the ability of owners to obtain reason9 able returns on investment). 

10 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—In exchange for assist11 ance provided pursuant to this subsection, the Sec12 retary shall enter into a restrictive use agreement 

13 with the property owner to ensure that the property 

14 remains subject to low-income use restrictions for an 

15 additional period of time consistent with the terms 

16 of the restructuring. 

17 ‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS FOR RURAL HOUSING

18 VOUCHERS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) AUTHORITY.—If the Secretary deter20 mines that additional voucher funds under sec21 tion 542 (42 U.S.C. 1490r) are needed, funds 

22 for the revitalization program under this sub23 section may be used for such vouchers for any 

24 low-income household (including those not re25 ceiving rental assistance) residing in a property 


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1 financed with a loan under this section that has 

2 been prepaid after September 30, 2005. 

3 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT.—Notwithstanding section 

4 542, the amount of a voucher provided pursu5 ant to this paragraph shall be the difference be6 tween comparable market rent for the unit and 

7 the tenant-paid rent for such unit. 

8 ‘‘(C) AVAILABILITY.—Funds made avail9 able for vouchers pursuant to this paragraph 

10 shall be subject to the availability of annual ap11 propriations. 

12 ‘‘(D) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary 

13 shall, to the maximum extent practicable, ad14 minister vouchers provided pursuant to this 

15 paragraph with current regulations and admin16 istrative guidance applicable to housing vouch17 ers under section 8 of the United States Hous18 ing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f) adminis19 tered by the Secretary of Housing and Urban 

20 Development. 

21 ‘‘(5) USE OF VOUCHER FUNDS FOR REVITAL22 IZATION PROGRAM.—If the Secretary determines 

23 that additional funds for the revitalization program 

24 under this section are needed, funds for the rural 

25 housing voucher program under section 542 may be 


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1 used for the revitalization program under this sec2 tion.’’. 

3 SEC. 6. REGULATIONS. 

4 The Secretary of Agriculture shall issue regulations 

5 necessary to carry out the amendments made by this Act 

6 not later than the expiration of the 120-day period begin7 ning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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