171 
lawful activity engaged in by one or more persons, includ-
ing the filing or maintaining of a nonfrivolous legal action, 
that is engaged in solely for the purpose of achieving or 
preventing action by a Government official or entity, or 
a court of competent jurisdiction. 
SEC. 203. Except as explicitly provided in law, any 
grant, cooperative agreement or other assistance made 
pursuant to title II of this Act shall be made on a competi-
tive basis and in accordance with section 102 of the De-
partment of Housing and Urban Development Reform Act 
of 1989 (42 U.S.C. 3545). 
SEC. 204. Funds of the Department of Housing and 
Urban Development subject to the Government Corpora-
tion Control Act or section 402 of the Housing Act of 
1950 shall be available, without regard to the limitations 
on administrative expenses, for legal services on a contract 
or fee basis, and for utilizing and making payment for 
services and facilities of the Federal National Mortgage 
Association, Government National Mortgage Association, 
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, Federal Fi-
nancing Bank, Federal Reserve banks or any member 
thereof, Federal Home Loan banks, and any insured bank 
within the meaning of the Federal Deposit Insurance Cor-
poration Act, as amended (12 U.S.C. 1811–1). 
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SEC. 205. Unless otherwise provided for in this Act 
or through a reprogramming of funds, no part of any ap-
propriation for the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development shall be available for any program, project 
or activity in excess of amounts set forth in the budget 
estimates submitted to Congress. 
SEC. 206. Corporations and agencies of the Depart-
ment of Housing and Urban Development which are sub-
ject to the Government Corporation Control Act are here-
by authorized to make such expenditures, within the limits 
of funds and borrowing authority available to each such 
corporation or agency and in accordance with law, and to 
make such contracts and commitments without regard to 
fiscal year limitations as provided by section 104 of such 
Act as may be necessary in carrying out the programs set 
forth in the budget for 2020 for such corporation or agen-
cy except as hereinafter provided: Provided, That collec-
tions of these corporations and agencies may be used for 
new loan or mortgage purchase commitments only to the 
extent expressly provided for in this Act (unless such loans 
are in support of other forms of assistance provided for 
in this or prior appropriations Acts), except that this pro-
viso shall not apply to the mortgage insurance or guaranty 
operations of these corporations, or where loans or mort-
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173 
gage purchases are necessary to protect the financial in-
terest of the United States Government. 
SEC. 207. The Secretary of Housing and Urban De-
velopment shall provide quarterly reports to the House 
and Senate Committees on Appropriations regarding all 
uncommitted, unobligated, recaptured and excess funds in 
each program and activity within the jurisdiction of the 
Department and shall submit additional, updated budget 
information to these Committees upon request. 
SEC. 208. The President’s formal budget request for 
fiscal year 2021, as well as the Department of Housing 
and Urban Development’s congressional budget justifica-
tions to be submitted to the Committees on Appropriations 
of the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall use 
the identical account and sub-account structure provided 
under this Act. 
SEC. 209. No funds provided under this title may be 
used for an audit of the Government National Mortgage 
Association that makes applicable requirements under the 
Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661 et seq.). 
SEC. 210. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision 
of law, subject to the conditions listed under this section, 
for fiscal years 2020 and 2021, the Secretary of Housing 
and Urban Development may authorize the transfer of 
some or all project-based assistance, debt held or insured 
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by the Secretary and statutorily required low-income and 
very low-income use restrictions if any, associated with one 
or more multifamily housing project or projects to another 
multifamily housing project or projects. 
(b) PHASED
TRANSFERS.—Transfers of project- 
based assistance under this section may be done in phases 
to accommodate the financing and other requirements re-
lated to rehabilitating or constructing the project or 
projects to which the assistance is transferred, to ensure 
that such project or projects meet the standards under 
subsection (c). 
(c) The transfer authorized in subsection (a) is sub-
ject to the following conditions: 
(1) NUMBER AND BEDROOM SIZE OF UNITS.— 
(A) For occupied units in the transferring 
project: The number of low-income and very 
low-income units and the configuration (i.e., 
bedroom size) provided by the transferring 
project shall be no less than when transferred 
to the receiving project or projects and the net 
dollar amount of Federal assistance provided to 
the transferring project shall remain the same 
in the receiving project or projects. 
(B) For unoccupied units in the transfer-
ring project: The Secretary may authorize a re-
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duction in the number of dwelling units in the 
receiving project or projects to allow for a re-
configuration of bedroom sizes to meet current 
market demands, as determined by the Sec-
retary and provided there is no increase in the 
project-based assistance budget authority. 
(2) The transferring project shall, as deter-
mined by the Secretary, be either physically obsolete 
or economically nonviable. 
(3) The receiving project or projects shall meet 
or exceed applicable physical standards established 
by the Secretary. 
(4) The owner or mortgagor of the transferring 
project shall notify and consult with the tenants re-
siding in the transferring project and provide a cer-
tification of approval by all appropriate local govern-
mental officials. 
(5) The tenants of the transferring project who 
remain eligible for assistance to be provided by the 
receiving project or projects shall not be required to 
vacate their units in the transferring project or 
projects until new units in the receiving project are 
available for occupancy. 
(6) The Secretary determines that this transfer 
is in the best interest of the tenants. 
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(7) If either the transferring project or the re-
ceiving project or projects meets the condition speci-
fied in subsection (d)(2)(A), any lien on the receiv-
ing project resulting from additional financing ob-
tained by the owner shall be subordinate to any 
FHA-insured mortgage lien transferred to, or placed 
on, such project by the Secretary, except that the 
Secretary may waive this requirement upon deter-
mination that such a waiver is necessary to facilitate 
the financing of acquisition, construction, and/or re-
habilitation of the receiving project or projects. 
(8) If the transferring project meets the re-
quirements of subsection (d)(2), the owner or mort-
gagor of the receiving project or projects shall exe-
cute and record either a continuation of the existing 
use agreement or a new use agreement for the 
project where, in either case, any use restrictions in 
such agreement are of no lesser duration than the 
existing use restrictions. 
(9) The transfer does not increase the cost (as 
defined in section 502 of the Congressional Budget 
Act of 1974, as amended) of any FHA-insured 
mortgage, except to the extent that appropriations 
are provided in advance for the amount of any such 
increased cost. 
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(1) is enrolled as a student at an institution of 
higher education (as defined under section 102 of 
the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1002)); 
(2) is under 24 years of age; 
(3) is not a veteran; 
(4) is unmarried; 
(5) does not have a dependent child; 
(6) is not a person with disabilities, as such 
term is defined in section 3(b)(3)(E) of the United 
States 
Housing 
Act 
of 
1937 
(42 
U.S.C. 
1437a(b)(3)(E)) and was not receiving assistance 
under such section 8 as of November 30, 2005; 
(7) is not a youth who left foster care at age 
14 or older and is at risk of becoming homeless; and 
(8) is not otherwise individually eligible, or has 
parents who, individually or jointly, are not eligible, 
to receive assistance under section 8 of the United 
States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f). 
(b) For purposes of determining the eligibility of a 
person to receive assistance under section 8 of the United 
States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f), any finan-
cial assistance (in excess of amounts received for tuition 
and any other required fees and charges) that an indi-
vidual receives under the Higher Education Act of 1965 
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(20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), from private sources, or an insti-
tution of higher education (as defined under the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002)), shall be consid-
ered income to that individual, except for a person over 
the age of 23 with dependent children. 
SEC. 212. The funds made available for Native Alas-
kans under the heading ‘‘Native American Housing Block 
Grants’’ in title II of this Act shall be allocated to the 
same Native Alaskan housing block grant recipients that 
received funds in fiscal year 2005. 
SEC. 213. Notwithstanding any other provision of 
law, in fiscal year 2020, in managing and disposing of any 
multifamily property that is owned or has a mortgage held 
by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and 
during the process of foreclosure on any property with a 
contract for rental assistance payments under section 8 
of the United States Housing Act of 1937 or other Fed-
eral programs, the Secretary shall maintain any rental as-
sistance payments under section 8 of the United States 
Housing Act of 1937 and other programs that are at-
tached to any dwelling units in the property. To the extent 
the Secretary determines, in consultation with the tenants 
and the local government, that such a multifamily prop-
erty owned or held by the Secretary is not feasible for con-
tinued rental assistance payments under such section 8 
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or other programs, based on consideration of (1) the costs 
of rehabilitating and operating the property and all avail-
able Federal, State, and local resources, including rent ad-
justments under section 524 of the Multifamily Assisted 
Housing 
Reform 
and 
Affordability 
Act 
of 
1997 
(‘‘MAHRAA’’) and (2) environmental conditions that can-
not be remedied in a cost-effective fashion, the Secretary 
may, in consultation with the tenants of that property, 
contract for project-based rental assistance payments with 
an owner or owners of other existing housing properties, 
or provide other rental assistance. The Secretary shall also 
take appropriate steps to ensure that project-based con-
tracts remain in effect prior to foreclosure, subject to the 
exercise of contractual abatement remedies to assist relo-
cation of tenants for imminent major threats to health and 
safety after written notice to and informed consent of the 
affected tenants and use of other available remedies, such 
as partial abatements or receivership. After disposition of 
any multifamily property described under this section, the 
contract and allowable rent levels on such properties shall 
be subject to the requirements under section 524 of 
MAHRAA. 
SEC. 214. Public housing agencies that own and oper-
ate 400 or fewer public housing units may elect to be ex-
empt from any asset management requirement imposed by 
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the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in con-
nection with the operating fund rule: Provided, That an 
agency seeking a discontinuance of a reduction of subsidy 
under the operating fund formula shall not be exempt 
from asset management requirements. 
SEC. 215. With respect to the use of amounts pro-
vided in this Act and in future Acts for the operation, cap-
ital improvement and management of public housing as 
authorized by sections 9(d) and 9(e) of the United States 
Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437g(d) and (e)), the 
Secretary shall not impose any requirement or guideline 
relating to asset management that restricts or limits in 
any way the use of capital funds for central office costs 
pursuant to section 9(g)(1) or 9(g)(2) of the United States 
Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437g(g)(1), (2)): Pro-
vided, That a public housing agency may not use capital 
funds authorized under section 9(d) for activities that are 
eligible under section 9(e) for assistance with amounts 
from the operating fund in excess of the amounts per-
mitted under section 9(g)(1) or 9(g)(2). 
SEC. 216. No official or employee of the Department 
of Housing and Urban Development shall be designated 
as an allotment holder unless the Office of the Chief Fi-
nancial Officer has determined that such allotment holder 
has implemented an adequate system of funds control and 
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has received training in funds control procedures and di-
rectives. The Chief Financial Officer shall ensure that 
there is a trained allotment holder for each HUD appro-
priation under the accounts ‘‘Executive Offices’’ and ‘‘Ad-
ministrative Support Offices,’’ as well as each paragraph 
receiving appropriations under the heading ‘‘Program Of-
fice Salaries and Expenses’’, ‘‘Government National Mort-
gage Association—Guarantees of Mortgage-Backed Secu-
rities Loan Guarantee Program Account’’, and ‘‘Office of 
Inspector General’’ within the Department of Housing and 
Urban Development. 
SEC. 217. The Secretary of the Department of Hous-
ing and Urban Development shall, for fiscal year 2020, 
notify the public through the Federal Register and other 
means, as determined appropriate, of the issuance of a no-
tice of the availability of assistance or notice of funding 
availability (NOFA) for any program or discretionary 
fund administered by the Secretary that is to be competi-
tively awarded. Notwithstanding any other provision of 
law, for fiscal year 2020, the Secretary may make the 
NOFA available only on the Internet at the appropriate 
Government web site or through other electronic media, 
as determined by the Secretary. 
SEC. 218. Payment of attorney fees in program-re-
lated litigation shall be paid from the individual program 
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