I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5827 

To promote the establishment of resident organizations and provide additional 

amounts for tenant organizations, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2023 

Mrs. RAMIREZ (for herself, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. 

CASAR, Mr. BOWMAN, Ms. CROCKETT, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. LEE of 

California, Ms. NORTON, and Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, 

and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to 

be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

A BILL 

To promote the establishment of resident organizations and 

provide additional amounts for tenant organizations, 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 ‘‘Tenants’ Right to Or5 ganize Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS. 

2 It is the sense of the Congress that all members of 

3 a household receiving tenant-based rental assistance have 

4 the right to ‘‘decent, safe, stable and sanitary housing’’. 

5 SEC. 3. HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER TENANT ORGANIZA6 TIONS. 

7 Section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 

8 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)) is amended by adding at the 

9 end the following: 

10 ‘‘(23) RIGHT TO ORGANIZE.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Tenants receiving ten12 ant-based rental assistance have the right to es13 tablish, operate, and participate in a resident 

14 organization for the purpose of addressing 

15 issues related to their living environment, which 

16 includes the terms and conditions of their ten17 ancy as well as activities related to housing and 

18 community development and may not be retali19 ated against for asserting these rights. 

20 ‘‘(B) REQUIRED ENGAGEMENT.— 

21 ‘‘(i) PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCIES.— 

22 Each public housing agency shall— 

23 ‘‘(I) recognize legitimate tenant 

24 organizations; 


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1 ‘‘(II) solicit comments from all 

2 legitimate tenant organizations not 

3 less than once each year; and 

4 ‘‘(III) not later than 60 days 

5 after receiving a comment from a le6 gitimate tenant organization, mean7 ingfully respond in writing to such 

8 comment. 

9 ‘‘(ii) OWNERS OF UNITS.—Each 

10 owner— 

11 ‘‘(I) shall recognize legitimate 

12 resident organizations; and 

13 ‘‘(II) may not retaliate with re14 spect to any tenant because of their 

15 association with a legitimate resident 

16 organization. 

17 ‘‘(C) PROTECTIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Each public hous19 ing agency and each owner may not inter20 fere with the right of tenants to establish 

21 and operate a legitimate tenant organiza22 tion. 

23 ‘‘(ii) PROTECTED ACTIVITIES.—Each 

24 public housing agency and each owner 

25 shall allow tenants and tenant organizers 


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1 to conduct the following activities related 

2 to the establishment or operation of a ten3 ant organization: 

4 ‘‘(I) Distributing leaflets in lobby 

5 areas. 

6 ‘‘(II) Placing leaflets at or under 

7 tenants’ doors. 

8 ‘‘(III) Distributing leaflets in 

9 common areas. 

10 ‘‘(IV) Initiating contact with ten11 ants. 

12 ‘‘(V) Conducting door-to-door 

13 surveys of tenants to ascertain inter14 est in establishing a legitimate tenant 

15 organization and to offer information 

16 about tenant organizations. 

17 ‘‘(VI) Posting information on 

18 bulletin boards. 

19 ‘‘(VII) Assisting tenants to par20 ticipate in tenant organization activi21 ties. 

22 ‘‘(VIII) Convening regularly 

23 scheduled tenant organization meet24 ings in a space on site and accessible 

25 to tenants, in a manner that is fully 


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1 independent of management rep2 resentatives. In order to preserve the 

3 independence of tenant organizations, 

4 management representatives may not 

5 attend such meetings unless invited by 

6 the tenant organization to specific 

7 meetings to discuss a specific issue or 

8 issues. 

9 ‘‘(IX) Other reasonable activities 

10 related to the establishment or oper11 ation of a tenant organization. 

12 ‘‘(iii) PERMISSION.—A public housing 

13 agency or owner may not require tenants 

14 or tenant organizers to obtain prior per15 mission before engaging in the activities 

16 permitted under this paragraph. 

17 ‘‘(iv) PRESUMPTION.—If a public 

18 housing agency or owner takes an adverse 

19 action against a tenant that is a member 

20 of a tenant organization there shall be a 

21 rebuttable presumption that such adverse 

22 action is an act of retaliation relating to 

23 the participation of the tenant in the ten24 ant organization. 

25 ‘‘(D) ENFORCEMENT PROTOCOL.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

2 shall, not later than 1 year after the date 

3 of the enactment of this paragraph, estab4 lish a protocol for the enforcement of this 

5 paragraph and such protocol shall— 

6 ‘‘(I) include an independent in7 vestigation of tenant and advocate al8 legations of abuse and retaliation; 

9 ‘‘(II) provide a mechanism for 

10 administrative complaints to be made 

11 and cataloged; 

12 ‘‘(III) keep tenants regularly in13 formed about the progression of any 

14 complaint; 

15 ‘‘(IV) prohibit the withholding of 

16 tenant-based rental assistance from 

17 any tenant that makes a complaint, 

18 until such complaint is closed; and 

19 ‘‘(V) provide confidentiality 

20 where necessary, including in cases 

21 where alleged abuse is extreme and 

22 targeted. 

23 ‘‘(ii) DELEGATION.—In developing the 

24 enforcement protocol under clause (i), the 


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1 Secretary may use subcontractors to 

2 preform enforcement activities. 

3 ‘‘(iii) REPORT.—The Secretary shall 

4 each quarter submit to the Committee on 

5 Financial Services of the House of Rep6 resentatives and the Committee on Bank7 ing, Housing, and Urban Affairs, a report 

8 with respect to the enforcement of this 

9 paragraph that— 

10 ‘‘(I) provides all data at both the 

11 property-level and jurisdiction-level; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(II) includes information with 

14 respect to— 

15 ‘‘(aa) the volume of out16 standing complaints; 

17 ‘‘(bb) the average response 

18 time for initial complaint; and 

19 ‘‘(cc) the average time it 

20 takes to close a complaint. 

21 ‘‘(iv) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA22 TIONS.—There are authorized to be appro23 priated, to the Secretary, such sums as are 

24 necessary to carry out this paragraph. 

25 ‘‘(E) NOTICE OF RIGHT TO ORGANIZE.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Each public hous2 ing agency shall notify each tenant receiv3 ing tenant-based rental assistance of the 

4 right to organize described in subpara5 graph (A) annually during the recertifi6 cation process. 

7 ‘‘(ii) TENANCY ADDENDUM.—The 

8 Secretary shall update the most recent 

9 Tenancy Addendum for the Section 8 Ten10 ant-Based Assistance Housing Choice 

11 Voucher Program to describe the right to 

12 organize provided for in this subsection. 

13 ‘‘(F) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(i) TENANT ORGANIZER.—The term 

15 ‘tenant organizer’ means a tenant or non16 tenant who assists tenants in establishing 

17 and operating a tenant organization, and 

18 who is not an employee or representative of 

19 current or prospective owners, managers, 

20 or their agents. 

21 ‘‘(ii) LEGITIMATE TENANT ORGANIZA22 TION.—The term ‘legitimate tenant organi23 zation’ means an organization of 3 more 

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1 sistance that has been established for the 

2 purpose described in subparagraph (A). 

3 ‘‘(iii) OWNER.—The term owner 

4 means a person who owns a dwelling unit 

5 occupied by a tenant that receives rental 

6 assistance.’’. 

7 SEC. 4. LIHTC TENANT ORGANIZATIONS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 42(g) of the Internal Rev9 enue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the 

10 following new paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(10) LIHTC TENANT ORGANIZATIONS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) RIGHTS OF TENANTS.—Tenants of 

13 rent-restricted units in any qualified low-income 

14 housing project shall have the same right as 

15 tenants described in section 8(o)(23)(A) of the 

16 United States Housing Act of 1937. 

17 ‘‘(B) RESPONSIBILITIES OF OWNERS.— 

18 ‘‘(i) Each owner of qualified low-in19 come housing project must meet the re20 quirements in subparagraphs (B)(ii) and 

21 (C) of section 8(o)(23) of the United 

22 States Housing Act of 1937. 

23 ‘‘(ii) If an owner fails to meet the re24 quirements referred to in clause (i) with 

25 respect to any qualified low-income housing 


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1 project, the credits allowed under this sec2 tion with respect to such project shall be 

3 disallowed or recaptured in an amount that 

4 is proportionate to the violation, as deter5 mined by the Secretary, but in no case less 

6 than 5 percent of the credits claimed dur7 ing the taxable year during which the vio8 lation occurred. 

9 ‘‘(iii) In the case of any failure re10 ferred to in clause (ii) that occurs after the 

11 expiration of the project’s compliance pe12 riod (as determined under subsection 

13 (i)(1)), the Secretary shall levy fines in ac14 cordance with a schedule determined by 

15 the Secretary that shall establish fines of 

16 not less than $500 per day for each day 

17 after the end of the correction period es18 tablished by the Secretary. The Secretary 

19 shall establish such schedule not later than 

20 120 days after the date of the enactment 

21 of this Act. The Secretary may delegate its 

22 duty to levy fines to the State housing 

23 credit agencies. 

24 ‘‘(C) RESPONSIBILITIES OF STATE HOUS25 ING AGENCIES.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) Each State housing credit agency 

2 must meet the requirements which are the 

3 same as the requirements of subpara4 graphs (B)(i) and (C) of section 8(o)(23) 

5 of the United States Housing Act of 1937. 

6 ‘‘(ii) If a State housing credit agency 

7 fails to meet the requirements referred to 

8 in clause (i), there shall be a reduction in 

9 the State housing credit agency’s State 

10 housing credit ceiling (as calculated under 

11 subsection (h)(3)(C)) during the calendar 

12 year following a violation in an amount de13 termined by the Secretary. 

14 ‘‘(D) ESTABLISHMENT OF PRIVATE RIGHT

15 TO ACTION.—Individuals who meet the income 

16 limitation applicable to the building under this 

17 subsection (whether prospective, present, or 

18 former occupants of the building) may file an 

19 action at law or in equity, in Federal or State 

20 court, including for injunctive relief, to enforce 

21 the various provisions of this section. 

22 ‘‘(E) ENFORCEMENT PROTOCOL.—The 

23 Secretary, after consultation with the Secretary 

24 of Housing and Urban Development, shall— 


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1 ‘‘(i) establish a protocol for the en2 forcement of this paragraph which is the 

3 same as the protocol established under sec4 tion 8(o)(23)(D)(i) of the United States 

5 Housing Act of 1937, except that, for pur6 poses of this subparagraph, the reference 

7 in such section to ‘tenant-based rental as8 sistance’ shall be treated as a reference to 

9 the right of the tenant to occupy a rent-re10 stricted unit and to any other right or 

11 privilege required to be provided to such 

12 tenant as a condition of the project being 

13 treated as a qualified low-income housing 

14 project, and 

15 ‘‘(ii) submit each quarter to the Com16 mittee on Ways and Means of the House 

17 of Representatives and the Committee on 

18 Finance of the Senate a report containing 

19 the information described in section 

20 8(o)(23)(D)(ii) of the United States Hous21 ing Act of 1937 with respect to the en22 forcement of this paragraph with respect 

23 to qualified low-income housing projects. 

24 ‘‘(F) NOTICE OF RIGHT TO ORGANIZE.— 

25 Each State housing credit agency shall annually 


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1 notify each owner and tenant of a rent-re2 stricted unit of a qualified low-income housing 

3 project of the right to organize referred to in 

4 subparagraph (A).’’. 

5 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

6 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

7 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

8 SEC. 5. FUNDING FOR TENANT AND OTHER PARTICIPATION 

9 AND CAPACITY BUILDING. 

10 Paragraph (3) of section 514(f) of the Multifamily 

11 Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act of 1997 

12 (42 U.S.C. 1437f note) is amended— 

13 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 

14 (A) in the first sentence— 

15 (i) by striking ‘‘not more than’’ and 

16 inserting ‘‘not less than’’; 

17 (ii) by striking ‘‘of low-income housing 

18 for which project-based rental assistance is 

19 provided at below market rent levels and 

20 may not be renewed (including transfer of 

21 developments to tenant groups, nonprofit 

22 organizations, and public entities), for ten23 ant services’’ and inserting the following: 

24 ‘‘and improvement of low-income housing 

25 for which project-based rental assistance, 


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1 public housing subsidies, low-income hous2 ing tax credits, Federal or State subsidized 

3 loans, enhanced vouchers under section 

4 8(t), or project-based vouchers under sec5 tion 8(o) are provided or proposed’’; and 

6 (iii) in the second parenthetical 

7 clause, by inserting before the closing pa8 renthesis the following: ‘‘, and 

9 predevelopment assistance to enable such 

10 transfers’’; and 

11 (B) by inserting after the period at the end 

12 the following: ‘‘For outreach and training of 

13 tenants and technical assistance, the Secretary 

14 shall implement a grant program utilizing per15 formance-based outcome measures for eligible 

16 costs incurred. Recipients providing capacity 

17 building or technical assistance services to ten18 ant groups shall be qualified nonprofit state19 wide, countywide, area-wide, or city-wide orga20 nizations with demonstrated experience includ21 ing at least a two-year recent track record of 

22 organizing and providing assistance to tenants, 

23 and independence from the owner, a prospective 

24 purchaser, or their managing agents. The Sec25 retary may provide assistance and training to 


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1 grantees in administrative and fiscal manage2 ment to ensure compliance with applicable Fed3 eral requirements. The Secretary shall expedite 

4 the provision of funding for the fiscal year in 

5 which the date of the enactment of this Act oc6 curs and by entering into an interagency agree7 ment for not less than $1,000,000 with the 

8 Corporation for National and Community Serv9 ice to conduct a tenant outreach and training 

10 program to eligible housing under this sub11 section. The Secretary shall also make available 

12 flexible grants to qualified nonprofit organiza13 tions that do not own eligible multifamily prop14 erties, for tenant outreach in underserved areas, 

15 and to experienced national or regional non16 profit organizations to provide specialized train17 ing or support to grantees assisted under this 

18 section. Notwithstanding any other provision of 

19 law, funds authorized under this paragraph for 

20 any fiscal year shall be available for obligation 

21 in subsequent fiscal years. The Secretary shall 

22 require each recipient of amounts made avail23 able pursuant to this subparagraph to submit 

24 to the Secretary reports, on a quarterly basis, 

25 detailing the use of such funds and including 


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1 such information as the Secretary shall re2 quire.’’. 

3 SEC. 6. CLARIFICATION OF TENANT PARTICIPATION IN 

4 MULTI-FAMILY PROJECTS. 

5 Section 202(a) of the Housing and Community De6 velopment Amendments of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 1715z–1b(a)) 

7 is amended by striking ‘‘under section 1437f of title 42’’ 

8 and inserting ‘‘under section 1437f of title 42, including 

9 a project assisted under section 8(o)(13) of the Housing 

10 Act of 1937’’. 

11 SEC. 7. RULEMAKING. 

12 The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 

13 shall, not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

14 of this section, issue a rule revising section 964.150 of 

15 title 24, Code of Federal Regulations, to permit housing 

16 agencies to fund $25 per unit per year for units rep17 resented by duly elected resident councils for resident serv18 ices. 

19 SEC. 8. SURVEY. 

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

21 Urban Development shall, not later than 1 year after the 

22 date of the enactment of this section, develop a resident 

23 survey protocol based on the National Standards for the 

24 Physical Inspection of Real Estate, that is designed to colVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:57 Oct 04, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5827.IH H5827

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1 lect insights on resident experiences with the inspection 

2 process. 

3 (b) USE OF INFORMATION.—Information collected 

4 through the survey protocol developed pursuant to sub5 section (a) shall be used to— 

6 (1) identify inspection-related challenges for 

7 residents; 

8 (2) improve the satisfaction of residents with 

9 respect to their housing conditions; 

10 (3) ensure resident voices are heard; and 

11 (4) provide quality control. 

Æ 


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