I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5277 
To establish a Housing Stabilization Fund to provide emergency housing 
assistance to extremely low-income renters and homeowners, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 25, 2023 
Mr. LIEU (for himself, Ms. CROCKETT, Mr. MULLIN, and Mr. JACKSON of Illi-
nois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To establish a Housing Stabilization Fund to provide emer-
gency housing assistance to extremely low-income renters 
and homeowners, 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 ‘‘Prevent Homelessness 
Act of 2023’’. 
SEC. 2. HOUSING STABILIZATION FUND. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Housing 
and Urban Development, acting through the Office of Spe-
cial Needs Assistance Programs of the Office of Commu-
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nity Planning and Development, shall establish and ad-
minister a fund to be known as the Housing Stabilization 
Fund. 
(b) GRANTS.—Amounts in the Fund shall be avail-
able, to the extent provided in advance in appropriations 
Acts, only for making annual grants under this section, 
in the amount determined pursuant to subsection (f), to 
continua of care to provide short-term assistance under 
emergency housing assistance programs that the Secretary 
determines, pursuant to applications under subsection (e), 
meet the requirements of subsection (c). 
(c) EMERGENCY HOUSING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM 
REQUIREMENTS.—An emergency housing assistance pro-
gram shall be considered to meet the requirements of this 
subsection only if the program— 
(1) is carried out by a continuum of care or 
other agency, organization, or entity selected by a 
continuum of care; 
(2) operates within the geographical area served 
by the continuum of care; 
(3) provides financial assistance only on behalf 
of extremely low-income families and very low-in-
come families who— 
(A) are unable to meet housing-related ob-
ligations (as described in subsection (d) of this 
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section) due to a financial hardship, which shall 
include the situations described in clause (i) of 
section 3(a)(3)(B) of the United States Hous-
ing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(a)(3)(B)(i)), 
a family or health crisis, unexpected expenses, 
unsafe or unhealthy living conditions, and such 
other situations as the Secretary may provide; 
and 
(B) provide evidence of such inability to 
meet housing related obligations, which may in-
clude past-due utilities or rent notices, eviction 
notices, and such other evidence as the Sec-
retary may provide, except that a continuum of 
care may, in consultation with the Secretary, 
provide for additional manners of identifying in-
ability to meet housing related obligations in 
situations in which such notices are not avail-
able; 
(4) provides for coordination with any local 
homeless prioritization criteria, including the Coordi-
nated Entry System or any other evidence-based 
analytic targeting tool, applicable within the area in 
which the program will be carried out, in accordance 
with such requirements as the Secretary shall pro-
vide; and 
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(5) meets such other requirements as the Sec-
retary may establish. 
(d) ELIGIBLE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—Amounts 
from grants under this section for an emergency housing 
assistance program shall be used to provide financial as-
sistance only to meet housing-related obligations, includ-
ing— 
(1) prospective rent due, except that such as-
sistance may not— 
(A) be provided for a family for more than 
8 months (whether consecutive or not) within 
the preceding 12 months; or 
(B) exceed on a monthly basis the amount 
that the Secretary determines is reasonable in 
comparison with rents charged for comparable 
dwelling units located in the same area in the 
private, unassisted local market; 
(2) rental arrears, with payments based on ac-
tual rent amount due; 
(3) mortgage payments due, including amounts 
past due, except that such assistance may not be 
provided for a household for more than 8 months 
(whether consecutive or not) within the preceding 12 
months and may not exceed on a monthly basis such 
amount as the Secretary shall determine; 
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(4) utility payments due, including amounts 
past due; 
(5) housing repairs necessary to make the 
premises habitable, including installing insulation, 
window repair, door repair, roof repair, and other re-
pairs; 
(6) costs of obtaining services for behavioral, 
emotional, and mental health issues, domestic vio-
lence issues, child welfare issues, employment coun-
seling, substance abuse treatment, or other services; 
(7) costs of obtaining housing counseling or ad-
vice, including outreach, mediation, and case man-
agement; 
(8) costs of obtaining legal assistance relating 
to eviction, foreclosure, and other issues relating to 
a family retaining its housing; 
(9) security deposit payments due; and 
(10) other short-term costs the payment of 
which increase housing stability for an extremely 
low-income family or a very low-income family, in-
cluding costs for gas, groceries, automotive repair, 
public transportation, furniture, application fees, re-
unification services, and such other costs as the Sec-
retary may provide. 
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(e) APPLICATIONS.—The Secretary shall require, for 
a continuum of care to receive a grant under this section 
for a fiscal year, that the continuum of care submit to 
the Secretary, and the Secretary approve, an application 
containing such information as the Secretary considers 
necessary to ensure that grant amounts are used in ac-
cordance with this section. 
(f) AMOUNT OF GRANTS.— 
(1) ALLOCATION.— 
(A) FISCAL
YEAR
2025.—For fiscal year 
2025, any amounts made available from the 
Fund for grants under this section shall be allo-
cated for grants to continua of care according 
to the formula established pursuant to para-
graph (2). 
(B) SUCCEEDING
FISCAL
YEARS.—For 
each fiscal year thereafter, of any amounts 
made available from the Fund for grants under 
this section— 
(i) 80 percent shall be allocated for 
grants to continua of care according to the 
formula established pursuant to paragraph 
(2); and 
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(ii) 20 percent shall be allocated for 
grants to continua of care according to a 
competition pursuant to paragraph (3). 
(2) FORMULA.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, by 
regulation, establish a formula for use to allo-
cate amounts in the Fund for grants for a fiscal 
year, in accordance with paragraph (1), for 
continua of care whose applications for such 
year for such assistance have been approved 
pursuant to subsection (e). 
(B) FACTORS.—The formula required by 
subparagraph (A) shall be designed to take into 
consideration, for the area served by a con-
tinuum of care— 
(i) the extent of the population that 
are extremely low-income families, includ-
ing the homeless population that is 
unsheltered, who are severely cost-bur-
dened by housing-related costs, including 
obligations described in subsection (d); 
(ii) the extent of the population that 
are very low-income families; and 
(iii) such other factors as the Sec-
retary may provide. 
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The Secretary shall determine data to be used 
for the factors considered under the formula 
based on the most recently conducted Point-In- 
Time Homeless Count administered by the Sec-
retary. 
(3) COMPETITION.—The Secretary shall, by 
regulation, establish a competition for use to allocate 
amounts in the Fund for grants for a fiscal year for 
continua of care pursuant to paragraph (1)(B)(ii), 
which shall be based on measurable criteria that— 
(A) to the greatest extent possible, are re-
quired to be collected and reported to the De-
partment of Housing and Urban Development 
or any other Federal agency under other provi-
sions of law already in effect or otherwise do 
not impose new burdens on continua of care; 
(B) provide for targeting of assistance 
made available under an emergency housing as-
sistance program to households having the low-
est incomes; 
(C) encourage the leveraging of other non- 
Federal funds for providing assistance under an 
emergency housing assistance program; 
(D) encourage emergency housing assist-
ance programs assisted with grants under this 
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section to provide preventive assistance to avoid 
homelessness; and 
(E) encourage problem-solving and diver-
sion methods, including the applicant’s capacity 
and interest in providing innovative delivery of 
housing stability interventions and connecting 
households to other public benefits that pro-
mote housing stability. 
(g) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this Act, the fol-
lowing definitions shall apply: 
(1) CONTINUUM
OF
CARE.—The term ‘‘con-
tinuum of care’’ means a collaborative applicant es-
tablished and operating for a geographic area for 
purposes of the Continuum of Care Program under 
subtitle C of title IV of the McKinney-Vento Home-
less Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11381 et seq.). 
(2) EXTREMELY
LOW-INCOME
FAMILY; VERY 
LOW-INCOME FAMILY.—The terms ‘‘extremely low- 
income family’’ and ‘‘very low-income family’’ have 
the meanings given such terms in section 3(b) of the 
United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 
1437a(b)). 
(3) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the 
Housing Stabilization Fund established under sub-
section (a). 
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(4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 
(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated for the Fund $100,000,000 
for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029. 
Æ 
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