I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1451 
To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for prohibitions on eviction, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 1, 2021 
Mr. COHEN (for himself, Ms. OMAR, and Ms. NORTON) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for 
prohibitions on eviction, 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 ‘‘Emergency Eviction 
Enforcement Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON EVICTION DURING NATIONAL 
EMERGENCY. 
(a) CIVIL ACTION.—Any person injured by a violation 
of this section, or the Attorney General, on behalf of such 
person, unless such person at any time may bring a cause 
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of action for injunctive relief, repossession of the property 
under the terms prior to the violation of this section, and 
damages equal to the greater of three times the amount 
of the injury or three times the amount of any rent 
charged for the covered dwelling following a violation of 
this section, and may be awarded attorneys’ fees. If the 
prevailing party is the Attorney General, any damages re-
covered shall be disbursed equally between— 
(1) the victim of the offense; 
(2) a fund that shall be available to the Attor-
ney General without further appropriation or limita-
tion as to fiscal year, exclusively for purposes of en-
gaging in other civil actions under this section; and 
(3) the Legal Services Corporation for purposes 
of any activities to support the provision of fair 
housing. 
(b) IN GENERAL.—Whoever, being a lessor of a cov-
ered dwelling, knowingly— 
(1) repossesses or physically attempts to repos-
sess a covered dwelling from a tenant of the covered 
dwelling without a duly issued order from a court of 
jurisdiction; 
(2) threatens, harasses, intimidates, or creates 
a hostile environment for a tenant of a covered 
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dwelling for the purpose of causing the tenant to va-
cate the covered dwelling; or 
(3) impairs the habitability of a covered dwell-
ing (including suspending utility service, changing 
locks, refusing to repair structure, plumbing, elec-
trical, ventilation systems, maintain appliances in 
state of good repair) for the purpose of causing the 
tenant to vacate the covered dwelling, 
shall have violated this section. 
(c) DEFINITION.—In this section: 
(1) The term ‘‘dwelling’’— 
(A) has the meaning given the term in sec-
tion 802 of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 
3602); and 
(B) includes houses and dwellings de-
scribed in section 803(b) of such Act (42 
U.S.C. 3603(b)). 
(2) The term ‘‘covered dwelling’’ means a dwell-
ing located in an area designated by the President 
as a national emergency, for the duration of the des-
ignation, under the National Emergencies Act (50 
U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 247d), or Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 
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and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et 
seq.). 
Æ 
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