I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 6713 
To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to ensure that certain edu-
cation and workforce development benefits administered by the Secretary 
of Veterans Affairs are treated as income by landlords evaluating the 
ability of a servicemember, veteran, or a spouse or child of a servicemem-
ber or veteran, to pay rent, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 15, 2025 
Mr. ESPAILLAT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to ensure 
that certain education and workforce development bene-
fits administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
are treated as income by landlords evaluating the ability 
of a servicemember, veteran, or a spouse or child of 
a servicemember or veteran, to pay rent, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protect Veteran Stu-
dents, Job Seekers, and Entrepreneurs Housing Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN DEPARTMENT OF VET-
ERANS AFFAIRS BENEFITS IN DETERMINING 
INCOME FOR PURPOSES OF ENTERING INTO 
RESIDENTIAL LEASES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title III of the Servicemembers 
Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. 3951 et seq.) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new section (and con-
forming the table of contents at the beginning of such Act 
accordingly): 
‘‘SEC. 309. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN DEPARTMENT OF VET-
ERANS AFFAIRS BENEFITS IN DETERMINING 
INCOME FOR PURPOSES OF ENTERING INTO 
RESIDENTIAL LEASES. 
‘‘(a) PROTECTION.—In determining whether a cov-
ered individual has an income sufficient to enter into a 
lease of premises for a residential purpose, the landlord 
(or other person with paramount title) of the premises 
shall treat any educational assistance received by the cov-
ered individual under any of chapter 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 
35, or 36 of title 38, United States Code, or chapter 1606 
or 1607 of title 10, United States Code, as income. 
‘‘(b) LEASE PERIOD.—When entering into a lease of 
premises for a residential purpose with a covered indi-
vidual pursuant to subsection (a), the landlord (or other 
person with paramount title) shall guarantee that the pe-
riod of the lease does not exceed the number of months 
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of entitlement the individual has for the educational assist-
ance described in such subsection. 
‘‘(c) PENALTIES.—(1) A landlord (or other person 
with paramount title) who knowingly takes an action con-
trary to this section, or attempts to do so, may not partici-
pate in a covered Federally assisted rental housing pro-
gram. 
‘‘(2) A person who knowingly takes an action con-
trary to this section, or attempts to do so, shall be fined 
as provided in title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned 
for not more than one year, or both. 
‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘covered individual’ means a 
servicemember, veteran, or a spouse or child of a 
servicemember or veteran, who is entitled to edu-
cational assistance under chapter 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 
35, or 36 of title 38, United States Code, or chapter 
1606 or 1607 of title 10, United States Code. 
‘‘(2) The term ‘covered Federally assisted rent-
al housing’ means a residential dwelling unit that is 
made available for rental and for which assistance is 
provided, or that is part of a housing project for 
which assistance is provided, under any program ad-
ministered by the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
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‘‘(M) the low-income housing tax credit 
program under section 42 of the Internal Rev-
enue Code.’’. 
(b) EXTENDED GRACE PERIOD TO MAINTAIN BENE-
FITS.—Chapter 36 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section 
(and conforming the table of sections at the beginning of 
such chapter accordingly): 
‘‘§ 3699C. Grace period for individuals to maintain 
benefits 
‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT.—If the Secretary determines 
that a covered individual is not eligible for educational as-
sistance described in subsection (b)(1) by reason of the 
covered individual failing to fulfill a single program re-
quirement, the Secretary may not terminate the individual 
from using such assistance until— 
‘‘(1) the Secretary notifies the individual of 
such failure; and 
‘‘(2) a period of 60 days has elapsed following 
such notification. 
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘covered individual’ means an in-
dividual who is entitled to educational assistance 
under chapter 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, or 36 of this 
title or chapter 1606 or 1607 of title 10. 
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‘‘(2) The term ‘program requirement’ means a 
requirement to participate in educational assistance 
described in paragraph (1) relating to any of the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(A) Missing a recertification appointment. 
‘‘(B) Withdrawing from a class. 
‘‘(C) With respect to a dependent, the 
death of the veteran. 
‘‘(D) Loss of employment. 
‘‘(E) Any other requirement the Secretary 
determines appropriate.’’. 
Æ 
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