I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 243
To provide for reviews of criminal records of applicants for participation
in shared housing arrangements, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 6, 1999
Ms. SANCHEZ (for herself, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. FROST, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr.
PALLONE, and Mrs. MALONEY of New York) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To provide for reviews of criminal records of applicants for
participation in shared housing arrangements, 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 ‘Older and Disabled
Americans Criminal Protection Act of 1998’.
SEC. 2. BACKGROUND CHECKS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—A shared housing referral service,
as determined for the purpose of this section by the Attor-
ney General, may request the Attorney General to conduct
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a search and exchange of records under subsection (b) re-
garding any applicant for participation in a shared hous-
ing arrangement as a service provider resident by—
(1) submitting, to the Attorney General—
(A) fingerprints regarding such applicant;
and
(B) a written statement authorizing the
shared housing referral service to request the
search and exchange of records regarding the
applicant, which is signed by the applicant; and
(2) making the submission of the information
under paragraph (1) not more than 7 days (not in-
cluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public holi-
days under section 6103 of title 5, United States
Code) after completing acquiring the information.
(b) SEARCH AND EXCHANGE OF RECORDS.—Pursu-
ant to any submission that complies with subsection (a),
the Attorney General shall search the records of the Crimi-
nal Justice Information Services Division of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation for any criminal history records
corresponding to the fingerprints or other positive identi-
fication submitted. The Attorney General shall provide
any corresponding information identified by the search to
the appropriate State or local governmental agency au-
thorized to receive such information.
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(c) USE OF INFORMATION.—Information regarding
any applicant for participation in a shared housing ar-
rangement obtained pursuant to subsection (b) may be
used only by the shared housing referral service requesting
the information and only for determining the suitability
of the applicant for participation in a shared housing ar-
rangement as a service provider resident.
(d) FEES.—The Attorney General may charge a rea-
sonable fee, which may not exceed $50, to any shared
housing referral service requesting a search and exchange
of records pursuant to subsection (b) to cover the costs
of conducting the search and providing the records.
(e) REPORT.—The Attorney General shall submit a
report to the House of Representatives and the Senate not
later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act
regarding the number of requests for searches and ex-
changes of records made under this section by shared
housing referral services and the disposition of such re-
quests.
SEC. 3. CRIMINAL PENALTY.
Whoever knowingly uses any information obtained
pursuant to section 2(b) in violation of section 2(c) shall
be fined under title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned
for not more than 2 years, or both.
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SEC. 4. ORGANIZATIONAL LIABILITY.
A shared housing referral agency that, in making a
determination regarding any referral for participation in
a shared housing arrangement, reasonably relies upon in-
formation provided to the agency by the Attorney General
pursuant to section 2 shall not be liable, in any action
for damages based on the referral determination, for any
damages resulting from incompleteness or inaccuracy of
the information.
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act, the following definitions
shall apply:
(1) SHARED
HOUSING
ARRANGEMENT.—The
term ‘shared housing arrangement’ means a primary
residential arrangement that consists of at least 2
persons—
(A) who reside in the same dwelling unit
and share the use of all or part of the facilities
of the dwelling unit;
(B) who have no familial relationship;
(C) one of whom is the owner or lessee of
the dwelling unit, including any owner or lessee
who is an elderly person or a person with dis-
abilities, and
(D) another of whom provides care or
other services for the benefit of the person de-
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scribed in subparagraph (C) in exchange for
free occupancy in the dwelling unit, a reduction
in the cost otherwise charged for occupancy of
the dwelling unit, or other remuneration.
(2) SHARED
HOUSING
REFERRAL
SERVICE.—
The term ‘shared housing referral service’ means
any nonprofit organization, person, or other entity
that, for consideration, performs services which in-
volve the referral of individuals or families for par-
ticipation in shared housing arrangements as service
provider residents.
(3) SERVICE PROVIDER RESIDENT.—The term
‘service provider resident’ means, with respect to a
shared housing arrangement, the individual partici-
pating in the arrangement who is described in para-
graph (1)(D).
(4) ELDERLY PERSON; PERSON WITH DISABIL-
ITIES.—The terms ‘elderly person’ and ‘person with
disabilities’ have the meanings given such terms in
section 3(b) of the United States Housing Act of
1937.
SEC. 6. REGULATIONS.
The Attorney General may prescribe any regulations
necessary to carry out this Act, including regulations re-
garding the security, confidentiality, accuracy, use, and
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dissemination of information and audits and record-
keeping and the imposition of fees necessary for the recov-
ery of costs.
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