I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3827 
To improve the program under section 8 of the United States Housing 
Act of 1937 for using amounts for rental voucher assistance for project- 
based rental assistance, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 23, 2015 
Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To improve the program under section 8 of the United States 
Housing Act of 1937 for using amounts for rental vouch-
er assistance for project-based rental assistance, 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 ‘‘Project-Based Voucher 
Improvement Act of 2015’’. 
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SEC. 2. UNITS OWNED BY PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCIES. 
Paragraph (11) of section 8(o) of the United States 
Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(11)) is amend-
ed— 
(1) by striking ‘‘(11) LEASING
OF
UNITS 
OWNED BY PHA.—If’’ and inserting the following: 
‘‘(11) LEASING OF UNITS OWNED BY PHA.— 
‘‘(A) INSPECTIONS AND RENT DETERMINA-
TIONS.—If’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph: 
‘‘(B) UNITS
OWNED
BY
PHA.—For pur-
poses of this subsection, the term ‘owned by a 
public housing agency’ means, with respect to a 
dwelling unit, that the dwelling unit is in a 
project that is owned by such agency, by an en-
tity wholly controlled by such agency, or by a 
limited liability company or limited partnership 
in which such agency (or an entity wholly con-
trolled by such agency) holds a controlling in-
terest in the managing member or general part-
ner. A dwelling unit shall not be deemed to be 
owned by a public housing agency for purposes 
of this subsection because the agency holds a 
fee interest as ground lessor in the property on 
which the unit is situated, holds a security in-
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terest under a mortgage or deed of trust on the 
unit, or holds a non-controlling interest in an 
entity which owns the unit or in the managing 
member or general partner of an entity which 
owns the unit.’’. 
SEC. 3. PHA PROJECT-BASED ASSISTANCE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (13) of section 8(o) of 
the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 
1437f(o)(13)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘structure’’ each place such 
term appears and inserting ‘‘project’’; 
(2) by striking ‘‘structures’’ each place such 
term appears and inserting ‘‘projects’’; 
(3) by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting 
the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(B) PERCENTAGE LIMITATION.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 
(ii), a public housing agency may use for 
project-based assistance under this para-
graph not more than 20 percent of the au-
thorized units for the agency. 
‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—A public housing 
agency may use up to an additional 10 
percent of the authorized units for the 
agency for project-based assistance under 
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this paragraph, to provide units that house 
individuals and families that meet the defi-
nition of homeless under section 103 of the 
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act 
(42 U.S.C. 11302), that house families 
with veterans, that provide supportive 
housing to persons with disabilities or el-
derly persons, or that are located in areas 
where vouchers under this subsection are 
difficult to use, as specified in subpara-
graph (D)(ii)(II). Any units of project- 
based assistance that are attached to units 
previously subject to federally required 
rent restrictions or receiving another type 
of long-term housing subsidy provided by 
the Secretary shall not count toward the 
percentage limitation under clause (i) of 
this subparagraph. The Secretary may, by 
regulation, establish additional categories 
for the exception under this clause.’’; 
(4) by striking subparagraph (D) and inserting 
the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(D) INCOME-MIXING REQUIREMENT.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—Except as pro-
vided in clause (ii), not more than the 
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greater of 25 dwelling units or 25 percent 
of the dwelling units in any project may be 
assisted under a housing assistance pay-
ment contract for project-based assistance 
pursuant to this paragraph. For purposes 
of this subparagraph, the term ‘project’ 
means a single building, multiple contig-
uous buildings, or multiple buildings on 
contiguous parcels of land. 
‘‘(ii) EXCEPTIONS.— 
‘‘(I) CERTAIN
FAMILIES.—The 
limitation under clause (i) shall not 
apply to dwelling units assisted under 
a contract that are exclusively made 
available to elderly families or to 
households eligible for supportive serv-
ices that are made available to the as-
sisted residents of the project, accord-
ing to standards for such services the 
Secretary may establish. 
‘‘(II) CERTAIN AREAS.—With re-
spect to areas in which tenant-based 
vouchers for assistance under this 
subsection are difficult to use, as de-
termined by the Secretary, and with 
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respect to census tracts with a poverty 
rate of 20 percent or less, clause (i) 
shall be applied by substituting ‘40 
percent’ for ‘25 percent’, and the Sec-
retary may, by regulation, establish 
additional conditions. 
‘‘(III) CERTAIN
CONTRACTS.— 
The limitation under clause (i) shall 
not apply with respect to contracts or 
renewal of contracts under which a 
greater percentage of the dwelling 
units in a project were assisted under 
a housing assistance payment contract 
for project-based assistance pursuant 
to this paragraph on the date of the 
enactment 
of 
the 
Project-Based 
Voucher Improvement Act of 2015. 
‘‘(IV) CERTAIN
PROPERTIES.— 
Any units of project-based assistance 
under this paragraph that are at-
tached to units previously subject to 
federally required rent restrictions or 
receiving other project-based assist-
ance provided by the Secretary shall 
not count toward the percentage limi-
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tation imposed by this subparagraph 
(D). 
‘‘(iii) ADDITIONAL MONITORING AND 
OVERSIGHT
REQUIREMENTS.—The 
Sec-
retary may establish additional require-
ments for monitoring and oversight of 
projects in which more than 40 percent of 
the dwelling units are assisted under a 
housing assistance payment contract for 
project-based assistance pursuant to this 
paragraph.’’; 
(5) by striking subparagraph (F) and inserting 
the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(F) CONTRACT TERM.— 
‘‘(i) TERM.—A housing assistance 
payment contract pursuant to this para-
graph between a public housing agency 
and the owner of a project may have a 
term of up to 20 years, subject to— 
‘‘(I) the availability of sufficient 
appropriated funds for the purpose of 
renewing expiring contracts for assist-
ance payments, as provided in appro-
priation Acts and in the agency’s an-
nual contributions contract with the 
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Secretary, provided that in the event 
of insufficient appropriated funds, 
payments due under contracts under 
this paragraph shall take priority if 
other cost-saving measures that do 
not require the termination of an ex-
isting contract are available to the 
agency; and 
‘‘(II) compliance with the inspec-
tion requirements under paragraph 
(8), except that the agency shall not 
be required to make biennial inspec-
tions of each assisted unit in the de-
velopment. 
‘‘(ii) ADDITION OF ELIGIBLE UNITS.— 
Subject to the limitations of subparagraphs 
(B) and (D), the agency and the owner 
may add eligible units within the same 
project to a housing assistance payments 
contract at any time during the term 
thereof without being subject to any addi-
tional competitive selection procedures. 
‘‘(iii) HOUSING
UNDER
CONSTRUC-
TION
OR
RECENTLY
CONSTRUCTED.—An 
agency may enter into a housing assistance 
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payments contract with an owner for any 
unit that does not qualify as existing hous-
ing and is under construction or recently 
has been constructed whether or not the 
agency has executed an agreement to enter 
into a contract with the owner, provided 
that the owner demonstrates compliance 
with applicable requirements prior to exe-
cution of the housing assistance payments 
contract. This clause shall not subject a 
housing assistance payments contract for 
existing housing under this paragraph to 
such requirements or otherwise limit the 
extent to which a unit may be assisted as 
existing housing. 
‘‘(iv) ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS.—The 
contract may specify additional conditions, 
including with respect to continuation, ter-
mination, or expiration, and shall specify 
that upon termination or expiration of the 
contract without extension, each assisted 
family may elect to use its assistance 
under this subsection to remain in the 
same project if its unit complies with the 
inspection requirements under paragraph 
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(8), the rent for the unit is reasonable as 
required by paragraph (10)(A), and the 
family pays its required share of the rent 
and the amount, if any, by which the unit 
rent (including the amount allowed for ten-
ant-based utilities) exceeds the applicable 
payment standard.’’; 
(6) in subparagraph (G), by striking ‘‘15 years’’ 
and inserting ‘‘20 years’’; 
(7) by striking subparagraph (I) and inserting 
the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(I) RENT ADJUSTMENTS.—A housing as-
sistance payments contract pursuant to this 
paragraph entered into after the date of the en-
actment of the Project-Based Voucher Improve-
ment Act of 2015 shall provide for annual rent 
adjustments upon the request of the owner, ex-
cept that— 
‘‘(i) by agreement of the parties, a 
contract may allow a public housing agency 
to adjust the rent for covered units using 
an operating cost adjustment factor estab-
lished by the Secretary pursuant to section 
524(c) of the Multifamily Assisted Housing 
Reform and Affordability Act of 1997 
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(which shall not result in a negative ad-
justment), in which case the contract may 
require an additional adjustment, if re-
quested, up to the reasonable rent periodi-
cally during the term of the contract, and 
shall require such an adjustment, if re-
quested, upon extension pursuant to sub-
paragraph (G); 
‘‘(ii) the adjusted rent shall not ex-
ceed the maximum rent permitted under 
subparagraph (H); 
‘‘(iii) the contract may provide that 
the maximum rent permitted for a dwelling 
unit shall not be less than the initial rent 
for the dwelling unit under the initial 
housing assistance payments contract cov-
ering the units; and 
‘‘(iv) the provisions of subsection 
(c)(2)(C) shall not apply.’’; 
(8) in subparagraph (J)— 
(A) in the first sentence— 
(i) by striking ‘‘shall’’ and inserting 
‘‘may’’; and 
(ii) by inserting before the period the 
following ‘‘or may permit owners to select 
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applicants from site-based waiting lists as 
specified in this subparagraph’’; 
(B) by striking the third sentence and in-
serting the following: ‘‘The agency or owner 
may establish preferences or criteria for selec-
tion for a unit assisted under this paragraph 
that are consistent with the public housing 
agency plan for the agency approved under sec-
tion 5A and that give preference to families 
who qualify for voluntary services, including 
disability-specific services, offered in conjunc-
tion with assisted units.’’; and 
(C) by striking the fifth and sixth sen-
tences and inserting the following: ‘‘A public 
housing agency may establish and utilize proce-
dures for owner-maintained site-based waiting 
lists, under which applicants may apply at, or 
otherwise designate to the public housing agen-
cy, the project or projects in which they seek to 
reside, except that all eligible applicants on the 
waiting list of an agency for assistance under 
this subsection shall be permitted to place their 
names on such separate list, subject to policies 
and procedures established by the Secretary. All 
such procedures shall comply with title VI of 
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the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Fair Housing 
Act, section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 
1973, and other applicable civil rights laws. The 
owner or manager of a project assisted under 
this paragraph shall not admit any family to a 
dwelling unit assisted under a contract pursu-
ant to this paragraph other than a family re-
ferred by the public housing agency from its 
waiting list, or a family on a site-based waiting 
list that complies with the requirements of this 
subparagraph. A public housing agency shall 
disclose to each applicant all other options in 
the selection of a project in which to reside that 
are provided by the public housing agency and 
are available to the applicant.’’; 
(9) in subparagraph (M)(ii), by inserting before 
the period at the end the following: ‘‘relating to 
funding other than housing assistance payments’’; 
and 
(10) by adding at the end the following new 
subparagraphs: 
‘‘(N) STRUCTURE OWNED BY AGENCY.—A 
public housing agency engaged in an initiative 
to improve, develop, or replace a public housing 
property or site may attach assistance to an ex-
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isting, newly constructed, or rehabilitated struc-
ture in which the agency has an ownership in-
terest or which the agency has control of with-
out following a competitive process, provided 
that the agency has notified the public of its in-
tent through its public housing agency plan and 
subject to the limitations and requirements of 
this paragraph. 
‘‘(O) SPECIAL
PURPOSE
VOUCHERS.—A 
public housing agency that administers vouch-
ers authorized under subsection (o)(19) or (x) 
of this section may provide such assistance in 
accordance with the limitations and require-
ments of this paragraph, without additional re-
quirements for approval by the Secretary.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The Secretary of Housing 
and Urban Development shall issue notice or regulations 
to implement subsection (a) of this section and such sub-
section shall take effect upon such issuance. 
Æ 
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