COVID-19 Emergency Housing Relief Act of 2020

To provide additional waivers and authorities to HUD and USDA to respond to the COVID-19 emergency, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the COVID-19 Emergency Housing Relief Act of 2020 2. Definition of COVID-19 emergency period For purposes of this Act, the term COVID-19 emergency period 42 U.S.C. 4121 3. Suspension of community service, work, presence in unit, and minimum rent requirements and time limits on assistance (a) Suspension Notwithstanding any other provision of law, during the COVID-19 emergency period, the following provisions of law and requirements shall not apply: (1) Section 12(c) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 ( 42 U.S.C. 1437j(c) (2) Any work requirement or time limitation on assistance established by a public housing agency participating in the Moving to Work demonstration program authorized under section 204 of the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996 ( Public Law 104–134 (3) Paragraph (3) of section 3(a) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 ( 42 U.S.C. 1437a(a)(3) (4) Section 982.312 of the regulations of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (24 C.F.R. 982.312; relating to absence from unit). (b) Prohibition No penalty may be imposed nor any adverse action taken for failure on the part of any tenant of public housing or a dwelling unit assisted under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 ( 42 U.S.C. 1437f 4. Housing choice vouchers (a) Section 8 vouchers Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall provide that— (1) during the COVID-19 emergency period, a public housing agency may not terminate the availability to an eligible household of a housing choice voucher under section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 ( 42 U.S.C. 1437f(o) (2) in the case of any eligible household on whose behalf such a housing choice voucher has been made available, if as of the termination of the COVID-19 emergency period such availability has not terminated (including by reason of paragraph (1) of this subsection) and such voucher has not been used to enter into a lease for an assisted dwelling unit, the public housing agency making such voucher available may not terminate such availability until the expiration of the 60-day period beginning upon the termination of the COVID-19 emergency period; and (3) during the COVID-19 emergency period, clause (i) of section 8(o)(8)(A) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 ( 42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(8)(A)(i) (A) such clause shall be applied by substituting the expiration of the 90-day period beginning on the termination of the COVID-19 emergency period (as such term is defined in section 2 of the _______ Act of 2020 any assistance payment is made (B) the public housing agency shall inform the tenant household and the owner of such dwelling unit of the inspection requirement applicable to such dwelling unit pursuant to subparagraph (A). (b) Rural housing vouchers Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of Agriculture shall provide that the same restrictions and requirements applicable under subsection (a) of this section to voucher assistance under section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 shall apply with respect to voucher assistance under section 542 of the Housing Act of 1949 ( 42 U.S.C. 1490r 5. Suspension of income reviews During the COVID-19 emergency period, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the Secretary of Agriculture shall waive any requirements under law or regulation requiring review of the income of an individual or household for purposes of assistance under a housing assistance program administered by such Secretary, except— (1) in the case of review of income upon the initial provision of housing assistance; or (2) if such review is requested by an individual or household due to a loss of income. 6. Authority to suspend or delay deadlines During the COVID-19 emergency period, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the Secretary of Agriculture may suspend or delay any deadline relating to public housing agencies or owners of housing assisted under a program administered by such Secretary, except any deadline relating to responding to exigent conditions related to health and safety or emergency physical conditions. 7. Suspension of assisted housing scoring activities The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall suspend scoring under the Section 8 Management Assessment Program and the Public Housing Assessment System during the period beginning upon the date of the enactment of this Act and ending upon expiration of the 90-day period that begins upon the termination of the COVID-19 emergency period. 8. Requirements regarding residual receipts and reserve funds (a) Suspension of requirement To submit residual receipts to HUD During the COVID-19 emergency period, any requirements for owners of federally assisted multifamily housing to remit residual receipts to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall not apply. (b) Eligible uses of reserve funds During the COVID-19 emergency period, any costs of an owner of federally assisted multifamily housing for items, activities, and services related to responding to coronavirus or COVID-19 shall be considered eligible uses for the reserve fund for replacements for such housing.

Summary: COVID-19 Emergency Housing Relief Act of 2020 This bill establishes certain flexibilities related to public housing during the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus 2019) emergency. For example, the bill suspends work requirements and time limitations on assistance associated with the Move to Work program; suspends the requirement that families residing in public housing must pay a minimum amount in rent; suspends the requirement that families may not be absent from a public housing unit for more than 180 consecutive calendar days; prohibits public housing agencies (PHAs) from terminating a household's eligibility for a housing choice voucher based on the household's failure to enter into a lease for an assisted unit; requires the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to suspend income reviews, except in certain instances; allows HUD and USDA to suspend or delay certain deadlines relating to PHAs or owners of federally assisted housing; and suspends requirements for owners of federally assisted multifamily housing to remit residual receipts to HUD.