I
104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3390
To reform occupancy standards for public and other federally assisted housing
to provide safer living environments and increased local control, and
for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 2, 1996
Mr. MORAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Banking and Financial Services
A BILL
To reform occupancy standards for public and other federally
assisted housing to provide safer living environments and
increased local control, 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 ‘‘One Strike You’re Out,
Part II Act’’.
SEC. 2. SCREENING OF PROSPECTIVE ASSISTED FAMILIES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8 of the United States
Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f) is amended by
inserting after subsection (k) the following new subsection:
‘‘(l) DENIAL OF ASSISTANCE TO CRIMINAL OFFEND-
ERS.—In making assistance under this section available
on behalf of eligible families, a public housing agency may
deny the provision of such assistance in the same manner,
for the same period, and subject to the same conditions
that an owner of federally assisted housing may deny occu-
pancy in such housing under section 642(b) of the Hous-
ing and Community Development Act of 1992.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Clause (A) of sec-
tion 8(d)(1) of the United States Housing Act of 1937
(42 U.S.C. 1437f(d)(1)(A)) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(A) the selection of tenants for such units
shall be function of the owner, subject to the provi-
sions of the annual contributions contract between
the Secretary and the public housing agency, except
that in making such assistance available the public
housing agency may limit the provision of assistance
pursuant to subsection (l);’’.
SEC. 3. OCCUPANCY SCREENING.
Section 642 of the Housing and Community Develop-
ment Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13602)—
(1) by inserting ‘‘(a) GENERAL CRITERIA.—’’
before ‘‘In’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
sections:
‘‘(b) AUTHORITY TO DENY OCCUPANCY FOR CRIMI-
NAL OFFENDERS.—In selecting tenants for occupancy of
dwelling units in federally assisted housing, if the owner
of such housing determines that an applicant for occu-
pancy in the housing or any member of the applicant’s
household is or was, during the preceding 3 years, engaged
in any activity described in paragraph (2)(C) of section
645, the owner may—
‘‘(1) deny such applicant occupancy and con-
sider the applicant (for purposes of any waiting list)
as not having applied for such occupancy ; and
‘‘(2) after the expiration of the 3-year period
beginning upon such activity, require the applicant,
as a condition of occupancy in the housing or appli-
cation for occupancy in the housing, to submit to the
owner evidence sufficient (as the Secretary shall by
regulation provide) to ensure that the individual or
individuals in the applicant’s household who engaged
in criminal activity for which denial was made under
paragraph (1) have not engaged in any criminal ac-
tivity during such 3-year period.
‘‘(c) AUTHORITY TO REQUIRE ACCESS TO CRIMINAL
RECORDS.—An owner of federally assisted housing may
require, as a condition of providing occupancy in a dwell-
ing unit in such housing to an applicant for occupancy
and the members of the applicant’s household, that each
adult member of the household provide the owner with a
signed, written authorization for the owner to obtain
records described in section 646(a) regarding such mem-
ber of the household from the National Crime Information
Center, police departments, and other law enforcement
agencies.’’.
SEC. 4. TERMINATION OF TENANCY.
(a) PUBLIC HOUSING.—
(1) EXPEDITED GRIEVANCE PROCEDURE.—Sec-
tion 6(k) of the United States Housing Act of 1937
(42 U.S.C. 1437d(k)) is amended in the first sen-
tence of the matter following paragraph (6) by strik-
ing ‘‘For’’ and all that follows through ‘‘off such
premises’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘For any
grievance concerning an eviction or termination of
tenancy that involves any activity that is described
in subsection (l)(5)’’.
(2) LEASES.—Section 6(l) of the United States
Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437d(l)) is
amended by striking paragraphs (4) and (5) and in-
serting the following new paragraphs:
‘‘(4) require that the public housing agency
may not terminate the tenancy except for violation
of the terms and conditions of the lease, violation of
applicable Federal, State, or local law, or other good
cause;
‘‘(5) provide that any activity, engaged in by
the tenant, any member of the tenant’s household,
or any guest or other person under the tenant’s con-
trol (regardless of whether the tenant had actual
knowledge of such activity), that—
‘‘(A) threatens the health or safety of, or
right to peaceful enjoyment of the premises by,
other tenants or employees of the public hous-
ing agency or other manager of the housing,
‘‘(B) threatens the health or safety of, or
right to peaceful enjoyment of their residences
by, persons residing in the immediate vicinity of
the premises, or
‘‘(C) is criminal activity (including drug-re-
lated criminal activity) on or off the premises,
shall be cause for termination of tenancy; and’’.
(b) SECTION 8 ASSISTANCE.—Section 8(d)(1)(B) of
the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C.
1437f(d)(1)(B)) is amended by striking clauses (ii) and
(iii) and inserting the following new clauses:
‘‘(ii) the owner may not terminate the tenancy
except for violation of the terms and conditions of
the lease, violation of applicable Federal, State, or
local law, or other good cause;
‘‘(iii) any activity, engaged in by the tenant,
any member of the tenant’s household, or any guest
or other person under the tenant’s control (regard-
less of whether the tenant had actual knowledge of
such activity), that—
‘‘(I) threatens the health or safety of, or
right to peaceful enjoyment of the premises by,
other tenants or employees of the owner or
other manager of the housing,
‘‘(II) threatens the health or safety of, or
right to peaceful enjoyment of their residences
by, persons residing in the immediate vicinity of
the premises, or
‘‘(III) is criminal activity (including drug-
related criminal activity) on or off the premises,
shall be cause for termination of tenancy; and’’.
(c) FEDERALLY ASSISTED HOUSING.—Subtitle C of
title VI of the Housing and Community Development Act
of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13601 et seq.) is amended—
(1) by adding at the end the following new sec-
tion:
‘‘SEC. 645. TERMINATION OF TENANCY.
‘‘Each lease for a dwelling unit in federally assisted
housing shall provide that—
‘‘(1) the owner may not terminate the tenancy
except for violation of the terms and conditions of
the lease, violation of applicable Federal, State, or
local law, or other good cause; and
‘‘(2) any activity, engaged in by the tenant, any
member of the tenant’s household, or any guest or
other person under the tenant’s control (regardless
of whether the tenant had actual knowledge of such
activity), that—
‘‘(A) threatens the health or safety of, or
right to peaceful enjoyment of the premises by,
other tenants or employees of the owner or
other manager of the housing,
‘‘(B) threatens the health or safety of, or
right to peaceful enjoyment of their residences
by, persons residing in the immediate vicinity of
the premises, or
‘‘(C) is criminal activity (including drug-re-
lated criminal activity) on or off the premises,
shall be cause for termination of tenancy.’’; and
(2) in section 683 (42 U.S.C. 13641), by add-
ing at the end the following new paragraph:
‘‘(6) DRUG-RELATED CRIMINAL ACTIVITY.—The
term ‘drug-related criminal activity’ means the ille-
gal manufacture, sale, distribution, use, or posses-
sion with intent to manufacture, sell, distribute, or
use, of a controlled substance (as defined in section
102 of the Controlled Substances Act).’’.
SEC. 6. AVAILABILITY OF CRIMINAL RECORDS FOR TENANT
SCREENING AND EVICTION.
Subtitle C of title VI of the Housing and Community
Development Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13601 et seq.) is
amended adding after section 645 (as added by section
5(c) of this Act) the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 646. AVAILABILITY OF RECORDS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—
‘‘(1) PROVISION
OF
INFORMATION.—Notwith-
standing any other provision of law other than para-
graph (2), upon the request of an owner of federally
assisted housing, the National Crime Information
Center, a police department, and any other law en-
forcement agency shall provide to the owner of fed-
erally assisted housing information regarding the
criminal conviction records of an adult applicant for,
or tenants of, the federally assisted housing for pur-
poses of applicant screening, lease enforcement, and
eviction, but only if such Center, department, or
agency is presented with a written authorization,
signed by such applicant, for the release of such in-
formation to such owner.
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—A law enforcement agency
described in paragraph (1) shall provide information
under this paragraph relating to any criminal con-
viction of a juvenile only to the extent that the re-
lease of such information is authorized under the
law of the applicable State, tribe, or locality.
‘‘(b) OPPORTUNITY TO DISPUTE.—Before an adverse
action is taken with regard to assistance for federally as-
sisted housing on the basis of a criminal record, the public
housing agency or owner, as applicable, shall provide the
tenant or applicant with a copy of the criminal record and
an opportunity to dispute the accuracy and relevance of
that record.
‘‘(c) FEE.—A public housing agency or owner of fed-
erally assisted housing may be charged a reasonable fee
for information provided under subsection (a).
‘‘(d) RECORDS MANAGEMENT.—Each public housing
agency and owner of federally assisted housing that re-
ceives criminal record information under this section shall
establish and implement a system of records management
that ensures that any criminal record received by the
agency or owner is—