I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5038 

To create a database of eviction information, establish grant programs for 

eviction prevention and legal aid, and limit use of housing court-related 

records in consumer reports, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 27, 2023 

Ms. PRESSLEY (for herself, Ms. DELAURO, and Ms. BUSH) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To create a database of eviction information, establish grant 

programs for eviction prevention and legal aid, and limit 

use of housing court-related records in consumer reports, 

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 Emergencies 

5 Lifeline Program Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘HELP Act of 

6 2023’’. 

7 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 

8 The Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) housing is fundamentally an issue of eco2 nomic and racial justice and a critical determinant 

3 of health; 

4 (2) the 2008 financial crisis was a Great De5 pression-level event for Black Americans, wiping out 

6 decades of gains in Black homeownership, which has 

7 now fallen to its lowest rate since the passage of the 

8 Fair Housing Act in 1968; 

9 (3) Black borrowers were 76 percent more like10 ly to have lost their home to foreclosure than White 

11 borrowers during the foreclosure crisis; 

12 (4) Black and Hispanic households continue to 

13 be about twice as likely as White households to rent 

14 their homes; 

15 (5) in 2016, 58 percent of Black household 

16 heads and 54 percent of Hispanic household heads 

17 were renting their homes, compared with 28 percent 

18 of White household heads; 

19 (6) while cost burdens affect households of all 

20 races and ethnicities, Black and Brown renters are 

21 much more likely to be burdened, with 55 percent of 

22 Black renters considered to be rent burdened com23 pared to only 43 percent of White renters; 

24 (7) Black households account for 12 percent of 

25 all households in the United States, but 19 percent 


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1 of all renters and 26 of all renter households with 

2 extremely low incomes; 

3 (8) prior to the coronavirus pandemic, it was 

4 estimated that around 3.7 million evictions are filed 

5 every year, a rate of about 7 every minute; 

6 (9) across the United States, one in 20 renters 

7 faces an eviction every year, but for Black renters, 

8 the number is one in 11; 

9 (10) the Department of Housing and Urban 

10 Development does not require the reporting or col11 lection of eviction data, including among households 

12 in federally assisted housing, and should be required 

13 to do so; 

14 (11) the American Civil Liberties Union’s anal15 ysis of Eviction Lab data found that, on average, 

16 ‘‘Black renters had evictions filed against them at 

17 nearly twice the rate of White renters’’ and that 

18 Black women specifically were filed against for evic19 tion at ‘‘double the rate of White renters or higher 

20 in 17 of 36 [S]tates’’; 

21 (12) right to counsel is a matter of racial jus22 tice, equity, and ensuring equal protection under the 

23 law; 

24 (13) nationally, it is estimated that more than 

25 81 percent of landlords are represented in housing 


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1 court proceedings, compared to less than 3 percent 

2 of tenants in such proceedings; 

3 (14) a Massachusetts COVID–19 legal help 

4 project found that when providing full legal rep5 resentation to low-income tenants, 90 percent of 

6 cases closed resulted in positive outcomes, with 70 

7 percent of tenants remaining in their homes and 20 

8 percent of tenants having more time to find a place 

9 to live; and 

10 (15) a California study of the Shriver Civil 

11 Counsel Program found that 91 percent of Shriver 

12 cases ended with the eviction record sealed, 81 per13 cent with the eviction not reported to a credit agen14 cy, and 71 percent with a neutral reference provided 

15 by the landlord, tenants in such cases saved nearly 

16 $800 more in reduced rent and other fees while pay17 ing holdover damages or attorney’s fees only half as 

18 often, and 71 percent of represented clients that had 

19 been required to move had obtained a new rental 

20 unit, compared to 43 percent of unrepresented ten21 ants. 

22 SEC. 3. DATABASE OF EVICTION INFORMATION. 

23 (a) REPORTS BY HOUSING PROVIDERS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Housing 

25 and Urban Development shall require each State 


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1 and local entity that receives covered housing assist2 ance to submit to the Secretary annual reports 

3 under this section regarding evictions from assisted 

4 dwelling units of the covered housing occurring dur5 ing the preceding year. 

6 (2) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted pursu7 ant to subsection (a) shall include— 

8 (A) for each household subject to an evic9 tion proceeding during the year which the re10 port covers— 

11 (i) the reason or reasons that the evic12 tion proceeding was undertaken and, in the 

13 case of any eviction proceeding undertaken 

14 in whole or in part based on an arrearage 

15 in rent owed, the amount of such arrear16 age and the amount of the tenant’s re17 quired contribution toward rent; 

18 (ii) the date on which the household 

19 was ordered to be evicted; 

20 (iii) the address of the dwelling unit 

21 from which the household was evicted; 

22 (iv) whether the household was rep23 resented by legal counsel in any eviction 

24 proceeding, if such information is available; 


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1 (v) the number of days the household 

2 was given to vacate the dwelling unit, if 

3 such information is available; and 

4 (vi) whether a writ of execution was 

5 issued in regards to the eviction; and 

6 (B) for each individual in any household 

7 subject to an eviction proceeding during the 

8 year which the report covers— 

9 (i) the name of the individual; 

10 (ii) the annual income of the indi11 vidual in the fiscal year prior to the year 

12 during which the individual was evicted, if 

13 available; 

14 (iii) the disability status of the indi15 vidual evicted, if available; 

16 (iv) any available demographic infor17 mation about the individual including race, 

18 ethnicity, age, and gender; 

19 (v) any foster care history for the in20 dividual, if available; 

21 (vi) any serious physical health prob22 lems or serious mental illness of the indi23 vidual, if such information is available; 


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1 (vii) any history of prior homelessness 

2 of the individual, if such information is 

3 available; and 

4 (viii) whether the individual has a 

5 criminal record, if such information is 

6 available. 

7 (3) DATA REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary of 

8 Housing and Urban Development shall develop re9 quirements for States and local entities that receive 

10 covered housing assistance that— 

11 (A) provide that the provision of the infor12 mation being collected under this subsection 

13 shall be voluntary on the part of any individual 

14 or household who is or was a tenant in an as15 sisted dwelling unit of covered housing; 

16 (B) provide limitations on how long the in17 formation described in paragraph (2) shall be 

18 retained; 

19 (C) establish data privacy and security re20 quirements for the information described in 

21 paragraph (2) that include appropriate meas22 ures to ensure that the privacy of the individ23 uals and households is protected and that the 

24 information, including any personally identifi25 able information, is collected and used only for 


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1 the purpose of submitting reports under para2 graph (1); and 

3 (D) confidentiality protections for data col4 lected about any individuals who are survivors 

5 of intimate partner violence, sexual assault, or 

6 stalking. 

7 (b) DATABASE.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

9 a database for collecting and maintaining informa10 tion submitted in reports pursuant to subsection (a). 

11 (2) DISAGGREGATION.—To the extent possible, 

12 such database shall be disaggregated by the smallest 

13 census tract, block group, or block possible for the 

14 data set, and by income, race, gender, disability, and 

15 all other protected classes under the Fair Housing 

16 Act. 

17 (3) PRIVACY PROTECTIONS.—The Secretary 

18 shall establish appropriate measures regarding infor19 mation in the database to ensure that, subject to 

20 paragraph (4), the privacy of the individuals and 

21 households is protected and that any personally 

22 identifiable information is not disclosed. 

23 (4) RESEARCH.—The Secretary may make full 

24 and unredacted information available to academic in25 stitutions for the purpose of researching causes and 


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1 solutions to evictions and adherence to civil rights 

2 protections. 

3 SEC. 4. ASSISTANCE FOR EVICTION RELATED LEGAL AID. 

4 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec5 retary $10,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2024, to remain 

6 available until expended, for assistance under the Emer7 gency Solutions Grants program under subtitle B of title 

8 IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 

9 U.S.C. 11371 et seq.), to be used only for— 

10 (1) providing legal counsel for tenants subject 

11 to or at risk of eviction with regard to any eviction12 related legal proceeding; and 

13 (2) costs of any court fees associated with an 

14 eviction-related legal proceeding for a tenant (ex15 cluding any attorneys fees for the attorney of the 

16 landlord of the tenant). 

17 SEC. 5. CONSUMER REPORTS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 605(a) of the Fair Credit 

19 Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c(a)) is amended by adding 

20 at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(9) An eviction, or any information related to 

22 an eviction or a proceeding seeking eviction, of a 

23 consumer from a rental dwelling. 

24 ‘‘(10) Any adverse item of information related 

25 to rent or utility arrears.’’. 


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1 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by this 

2 section shall apply to any consumer report (as defined in 

3 section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 

4 1681a)) issued on or after the date of the enactment of 

5 this Act. 

6 SEC. 6. EVICTION INFORMATION. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, not later 

8 than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

9 issue rules that require each owner of a covered federally 

10 assisted rental dwelling unit to ensure that each tenant 

11 of such dwelling unit owned by such owner receives infor12 mation, in writing— 

13 (1) not less than once each year regarding— 

14 (A) the rights and responsibilities of such 

15 owner with regard to eviction; and 

16 (B) local organizations and resources that 

17 can provide assistance in eviction-related mat18 ters; and 

19 (2) upon provision of any notice of eviction, 

20 stating the reason or reasons for the eviction. 

21 (b) HOTLINE.—The Secretary shall, not later than 

22 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, estab23 lish a hotline to provide assistance with regard to eviction24 related matters to tenants of covered federally assisted 

25 rental dwelling units. 


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1 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

2 (a) For purposes of this Act: 

3 (1) ASSISTANCE.—The term ‘‘assistance’’ 

4 means any grant, loan, subsidy, contract, cooperative 

5 agreement, or other form of financial assistance, but 

6 such term does not include the insurance or guar7 antee of a loan, mortgage, or pool of loans or mort8 gages. 

9 (2) COVERED FEDERALLY ASSISTED RENTAL

10 DWELLING UNIT.—The term ‘‘covered federally as11 sisted rental dwelling unit’’ means a residential 

12 dwelling unit that— 

13 (A) is made available for rental; and 

14 (B)(i) for which assistance is provided, or 

15 that is part of a housing project for which as16 sistance is provided, under any program admin17 istered by the Secretary of Housing and Urban 

18 Development, including— 

19 (I) the public housing program under 

20 the United States Housing Act of 1937 

21 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.); 

22 (II) the program for rental assistance 

23 under section 8 of the United States Hous24 ing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f); 

25 (III) the HOME Investment Partner26 ships program under title II of the CranVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:38 Aug 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5038.IH H5038

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1 ston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing 

2 Act (42 U.S.C. 12721 et seq.); 

3 (IV) title IV of the McKinney-Vento 

4 Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11360 

5 et seq.); 

6 (V) the Housing Trust Fund program 

7 under section 1338 of the Housing and 

8 Community Development Act of 1992 (12 

9 U.S.C. 4568); 

10 (VI) the program for supportive hous11 ing for the elderly under section 202 of the 

12 Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q); 

13 (VII) the program for supportive 

14 housing for persons with disabilities under 

15 section 811 of the Cranston-Gonzalez Na16 tional Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 

17 8013); 

18 (VIII) the AIDS Housing Opportuni19 ties program under subtitle D of title VIII 

20 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Afford21 able Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12901 et 

22 seq.); 

23 (IX) the program for Native American 

24 housing under the Native American HousVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:38 Aug 16, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5038.IH H5038

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1 ing Assistance and Self-Determination Act 

2 of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.); and 

3 (X) the program for housing assist4 ance for Native Hawaiians under title VIII 

5 of the Native American Housing Assist6 ance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 

7 (25 U.S.C. 4221 et seq.); or 

8 (ii) is a property, or is on or in a property, 

9 that has a federally backed mortgage loan or 

10 federally backed multifamily mortgage loan, as 

11 such terms are defined in section 4024(a) of 

12 the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9058(a)). 

13 (3) COVERED HOUSING.—The term ‘‘covered 

14 housing’’ means a dwelling unit assisted with 

15 amounts made available, or a loan or mortgage 

16 made, insured, or guaranteed, under any of the fol17 lowing programs: 

18 (A) The programs for tenant- and project19 based rental assistance under section 8 of the 

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

21 1437f). 

22 (B) The program for public housing under 

23 the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 

24 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.). 


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1 (C) The program for supportive housing 

2 for the elderly under section 202 of the Hous3 ing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q). 

4 (D) The program for supportive housing 

5 for persons with disabilities under section 811 

6 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable 

7 Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013). 

8 (E) The community development block 

9 grant program under title I of the Housing and 

10 Community Development Act of 1974 (42 

11 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.). 

12 (F) The HOME Investment Partnerships 

13 program under titles I and II of the Cranston14 Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 

15 U.S.C. 12704 et seq.). 

16 (G) The program for housing opportunities 

17 for persons with AIDS under subtitle D of title 

18 VIII of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Afford19 able Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12901 et seq.). 

20 (H) The programs for homeless assistance 

21 under title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless 

22 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11361 et seq.). 

23 (4) COVERED HOUSING ASSISTANCE.—The term 

24 ‘‘covered housing assistance’’ means assistance 

25 under any program specified in paragraph (3). 


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1 (5) LEGAL COUNSEL.—The term ‘‘legal coun2 sel’’ means full representation by an attorney 

3 throughout proceedings in issue. 

4 (6) OWNER.—For the purposes of this Act, the 

5 term ‘‘owner’’ means any private person or entity, 

6 including a cooperative, an agency of the Federal 

7 Government, or a public housing agency, having the 

8 legal right to lease or sublease dwelling units. 

9 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

10 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 

Æ 


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