I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6696 

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 

FEBRUARY 9, 2022 

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 2022’’ or the ‘‘HELP Act of 

6 2022’’. 

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) every day families are displaced by the 

10 eviction crisis, a reality that is only further exacer11 bated by the COVID–19 pandemic and that falls 

12 disproportionately on Black renters, and particularly 

13 Black women renters; 

14 (11) the Department of Housing and Urban 

15 Development does not require the reporting or col16 lection of eviction data, including among households 

17 in federally assisted housing, and should be required 

18 to do so; 

19 (12) the American Civil Liberties Union’s anal20 ysis of Eviction Lab data found that, on average, 

21 ‘‘Black renters had evictions filed against them at 

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

23 Black women specifically were filed against for evic24 tion at ‘‘double the rate of White renters or higher 

25 in 17 of 36 [S]tates’’; 


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1 (13) right to counsel is a matter of racial jus2 tice, equity, and ensuring equal protection under the 

3 law; 

4 (14) nationally, it is estimated that more than 

5 81 percent of landlords are represented in housing 

6 court proceedings, compared to less than 3 percent 

7 of tenants in such proceedings; 

8 (15) a Massachusetts COVID–19 legal help 

9 project found that when providing full legal rep10 resentation to low-income tenants, 90 percent of 

11 cases closed resulted in positive outcomes, with 70 

12 percent of tenants remaining in their homes and 20 

13 percent of tenants having more time to find a place 

14 to live; and 

15 (16) a California study of the Shriver Civil 

16 Counsel Program found that 91 percent of Shriver 

17 cases ended with the eviction record sealed, 81 per18 cent with the eviction not reported to a credit agen19 cy, and 71 percent with a neutral reference provided 

20 by the landlord, tenants in such cases saved nearly 

21 $800 more in reduced rent and other fees while pay22 ing holdover damages or attorney’s fees only half as 

23 often, and 71 percent of represented clients that had 

24 been required to move had obtained a new rental 


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1 unit, compared to 43 percent of unrepresented ten2 ants. 

3 SEC. 3. DATABASE OF EVICTION INFORMATION. 

4 (a) REPORTS BY HOUSING PROVIDERS.— 

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

6 and Urban Development shall require each State 

7 and local entity that receives covered housing assist8 ance to submit to the Secretary annual reports 

9 under this section regarding evictions from assisted 

10 dwelling units of the covered housing occurring dur11 ing the preceding year. 

12 (2) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted pursu13 ant to subsection (a) shall include— 

14 (A) for each household subject to an evic15 tion proceeding during the year which the re16 port covers— 

17 (i) the reason or reasons that the evic18 tion proceeding was undertaken and, in the 

19 case of any eviction proceeding undertaken 

20 in whole or in part based on an arrearage 

21 in rent owed, the amount of such arrear22 age and the amount of the tenant’s re23 quired contribution toward rent; 

24 (ii) the date on which the household 

25 was ordered to be evicted; 


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1 (iii) the address of the dwelling unit 

2 from which the household was evicted; 

3 (iv) whether the household was rep4 resented by legal counsel in any eviction 

5 proceeding, if such information is available; 

6 (v) the number of days the household 

7 was given to vacate the dwelling unit, if 

8 such information is available; and 

9 (vi) whether a writ of execution was 

10 issued in regards to the eviction; and 

11 (B) for each individual in any household 

12 subject to an eviction proceeding during the 

13 year which the report covers— 

14 (i) the name of the individual; 

15 (ii) the annual income of the indi16 vidual in the fiscal year prior to the year 

17 during which the individual was evicted, if 

18 available; 

19 (iii) the disability status of the indi20 vidual evicted, if available; 

21 (iv) any available demographic infor22 mation about the individual including race, 

23 ethnicity, age, and gender; 

24 (v) any foster care history for the in25 dividual, if available; 


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1 (vi) any serious physical health prob2 lems or serious mental illness of the indi3 vidual, if such information is available; 

4 (vii) any history of prior homelessness 

5 of the individual, if such information is 

6 available; and 

7 (viii) whether the individual has a 

8 criminal record, if such information is 

9 available. 

10 (3) DATA REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary of 

11 Housing and Urban Development shall develop re12 quirements for States and local entities that receive 

13 covered housing assistance that— 

14 (A) provide that the provision of the infor15 mation being collected under this subsection 

16 shall be voluntary on the part of any individual 

17 or household who is or was a tenant in an as18 sisted dwelling unit of covered housing; 

19 (B) provide limitations on how long the in20 formation described in paragraph (2) shall be 

21 retained; 

22 (C) establish data privacy and security re23 quirements for the information described in 

24 paragraph (2) that include appropriate meas25 ures to ensure that the privacy of the individVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Feb 17, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6696.IH H6696

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1 uals and households is protected and that the 

2 information, including any personally identifi3 able information, is collected and used only for 

4 the purpose of submitting reports under para5 graph (1); and 

6 (D) confidentiality protections for data col7 lected about any individuals who are survivors 

8 of intimate partner violence, sexual assault, or 

9 stalking. 

10 (b) DATABASE.— 

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

12 a database for collecting and maintaining informa13 tion submitted in reports pursuant to subsection (a). 

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

15 such database shall be disaggregated by the smallest 

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

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

18 all other protected classes under the Fair Housing 

19 Act. 

20 (3) PRIVACY PROTECTIONS.—The Secretary 

21 shall establish appropriate measures regarding infor22 mation in the database to ensure that, subject to 

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

24 households is protected and that any personally 

25 identifiable information is not disclosed. 


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

2 and unredacted information available to academic in3 stitutions for the purpose of researching causes and 

4 solutions to evictions and adherence to civil rights 

5 protections. 

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

7 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec8 retary $10,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2022, to remain 

9 available until expended, for assistance under the Emer10 gency Solutions Grants program under subtitle B of title 

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

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

13 (1) providing legal counsel for tenants subject 

14 to or at risk of eviction with regard to any eviction15 related legal proceeding; and 

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

17 eviction-related legal proceeding for a tenant (ex18 cluding any attorneys fees for the attorney of the 

19 landlord of the tenant). 

20 SEC. 5. CONSUMER REPORTS. 

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

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

23 at the end the following: 


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

2 an eviction or a proceeding seeking eviction, of a 

3 consumer from a rental dwelling. 

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

5 to rent or utility arrears.’’. 

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

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

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

9 1681a)) issued on or after the date of the enactment of 

10 this Act. 

11 SEC. 6. EVICTION INFORMATION. 

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

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

14 issue rules that require each owner of a covered federally 

15 assisted rental dwelling unit to ensure that each tenant 

16 of such dwelling unit owned by such owner receives infor17 mation, in writing— 

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

19 (A) the rights and responsibilities of such 

20 owner with regard to eviction; and 

21 (B) local organizations and resources that 

22 can provide assistance in eviction-related mat23 ters; and 

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

25 stating the reason or reasons for the eviction. 


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

2 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, estab3 lish a hotline to provide assistance with regard to eviction4 related matters to tenants of covered federally assisted 

5 rental dwelling units. 

6 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

7 (a) For purposes of this Act: 

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

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

10 agreement, or other form of financial assistance, but 

11 such term does not include the insurance or guar12 antee of a loan, mortgage, or pool of loans or mort13 gages. 

14 (2) COVERED FEDERALLY ASSISTED RENTAL

15 DWELLING UNIT.—The term ‘‘covered federally as16 sisted rental dwelling unit’’ means a residential 

17 dwelling unit that— 

18 (A) is made available for rental; and 

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

20 that is part of a housing project for which as21 sistance is provided, under any program admin22 istered by the Secretary of Housing and Urban 

23 Development, including— 


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1 (I) the public housing program under 

2 the United States Housing Act of 1937 

3 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.); 

4 (II) the program for rental assistance 

5 under section 8 of the United States Hous6 ing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f); 

7 (III) the HOME Investment Partner8 ships program under title II of the Cran9 ston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing 

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

11 (IV) title IV of the McKinney-Vento 

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

13 et seq.); 

14 (V) the Housing Trust Fund program 

15 under section 1338 of the Housing and 

16 Community Development Act of 1992 (12 

17 U.S.C. 4568); 

18 (VI) the program for supportive hous19 ing for the elderly under section 202 of the 

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

21 (VII) the program for supportive 

22 housing for persons with disabilities under 

23 section 811 of the Cranston-Gonzalez Na24 tional Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 

25 8013); 


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1 (VIII) the AIDS Housing Opportuni2 ties program under subtitle D of title VIII 

3 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Afford4 able Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12901 et 

5 seq.); 

6 (IX) the program for Native American 

7 housing under the Native American Hous8 ing Assistance and Self-Determination Act 

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

10 (X) the program for housing assist11 ance for Native Hawaiians under title VIII 

12 of the Native American Housing Assist13 ance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 

14 (25 U.S.C. 4221 et seq.); or 

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

16 that has a federally backed mortgage loan or 

17 federally backed multifamily mortgage loan, as 

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

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

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

21 housing’’ means a dwelling unit assisted with 

22 amounts made available, or a loan or mortgage 

23 made, insured, or guaranteed, under any of the fol24 lowing programs: 


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1 (A) The programs for tenant- and project2 based rental assistance under section 8 of the 

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

4 1437f). 

5 (B) The program for public housing under 

6 the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 

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

8 (C) The program for supportive housing 

9 for the elderly under section 202 of the Hous10 ing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q). 

11 (D) The program for supportive housing 

12 for persons with disabilities under section 811 

13 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable 

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

15 (E) The community development block 

16 grant program under title I of the Housing and 

17 Community Development Act of 1974 (42 

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

19 (F) The HOME Investment Partnerships 

20 program under titles I and II of the Cranston21 Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 

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

23 (G) The program for housing opportunities 

24 for persons with AIDS under subtitle D of title 


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1 VIII of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Afford2 able Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12901 et seq.). 

3 (H) The programs for homeless assistance 

4 under title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless 

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

6 (4) COVERED HOUSING ASSISTANCE.—The term 

7 ‘‘covered housing assistance’’ means assistance 

8 under any program specified in paragraph (3). 

9 (5) LEGAL COUNSEL.—The term ‘‘legal coun10 sel’’ means full representation by an attorney 

11 throughout proceedings in issue. 

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

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

14 including a cooperative, an agency of the Federal 

15 Government, or a public housing agency, having the 

16 legal right to lease or sublease dwelling units. 

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

18 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 

Æ 


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