ness and a recommendation for when there should 
be a follow-up report. 
‘‘(k) NONCOMPLIANCE.— 
‘‘(1) INVESTIGATION AND ENFORCEMENT.—In 
carrying out this section, the Secretary shall develop 
and implement procedures to review complaints al-
leging noncompliance by any recipient or contractor 
with the requirements of this section, and to take 
such actions as provided in this subsection as the 
Secretary determines appropriate to ensure compli-
ance and prevent future noncompliance. 
‘‘(2) SANCTIONS.—Recipient agencies and their 
contractors and subcontractors that do not comply 
with this section or the requirements established 
under the program under this section shall be sanc-
tioned by the Secretary, and such sanctions shall in-
clude reduction of future funds from the Depart-
ment, including any discretionary funds available 
under the HOPE VI program under section 24 of 
the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 
1437v), debarment, suspension, limited denial of 
participation in programs of the Department, or 
such other sanctions as determined by the Secretary 
to discourage noncompliance. 
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‘‘(3) LIMITATIONS ON CONTRACTS.—Recipients 
shall refrain from entering into contracts with any 
contractor in any case in which the recipient has no-
tice or knowledge that the contractor has violated 
this section or the requirements of the program 
under this section. 
‘‘(4) RELIEF AND RIGHT OF ACTION.—If an in-
vestigation by the Department results in conclusive 
findings of noncompliance, the Department may re-
quire the recipient or contractor to grant relief, such 
as compensation of costs or damages incurred or 
suffered, to the aggrieved party, as determined by 
the Secretary. The aggrieved party also shall have 
the right to bring a civil action against the recipient 
or contractor found to be in noncompliance by the 
Department to recover costs or damages incurred or 
suffered. 
‘‘(5) EFFECT
ON
OTHER
RIGHTS
AND
REM-
EDIES.—This subsection shall not be construed to 
interfere with judicial review regarding compliance 
with this section pursuant to chapter 7 of title 5, 
United States Code, or an action regarding such 
compliance under section 1979 of the Revised Stat-
utes of the United States (42 U.S.C. 1983), or any 
other rights or remedies of an aggrieved party and 
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shall not preempt and State or local laws that facili-
tate achieving the purposes of this section and pro-
vide additional protections to low- and very low-in-
come persons or qualified businesses, or both. 
‘‘(l) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section, 
the following definitions shall apply: 
‘‘(1) 
CONTRACTOR.—The 
term 
‘contractor’ 
means any entity that contracts with a recipient to 
perform work generated by the expenditure of assist-
ance from the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development. 
‘‘(2) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘Department’ 
means the Department of Housing and Urban De-
velopment. 
‘‘(3) LOW- AND VERY LOW-INCOME PERSONS.— 
The terms ‘low-income persons’ and ‘very low-income 
persons’ have the same meanings given the terms 
‘low-income families’ and ‘very low-income families’, 
respectively, in section 3(b)(2) of the United States 
Housing Act of 1937, or such other definitions as 
the Secretary may determine appropriate to facili-
tate the employment of a low- and very low-income 
persons in a designated area or areas, on a tem-
porary or permanent basis, based on a family’s re-
ceipt, in such area or areas of Federal, State, or 
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local government housing, income, food, or other 
subsidies, and on such other criteria as the Sec-
retary may establish through regulation. Notwith-
standing any provision of this paragraph, any person 
who qualifies for a priority under subsection (g)(1), 
and who was very low income shall, for purposes of 
this section, continue to qualify, as initially verified, 
for a period of 5 years, irrespective of any increase 
in the person’s income or other change in that per-
son’s priority status during such period. 
‘‘(4) QUALIFIED BUSINESS.—The term ‘quali-
fied business’ means a entity that meets such cri-
teria as the Secretary may establish, which may in-
clude a national certification process. 
‘‘(5) RECIPIENT.—The term ‘recipient’ means 
any entity that receives assistance directly from the 
Department, and includes any State, unit of local 
government, public housing agency, Indian housing 
authority, Indian tribe, and any other public body, 
public or private nonprofit or for-profit organization, 
and private agency or institution. 
‘‘(6) 
SECRETARY.—The 
term 
‘Secretary’ 
means, except as specifically provided otherwise, the 
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 
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‘‘(m) COORDINATION WITH OTHER FEDERAL AGEN-
CIES.— 
‘‘(1) COLLABORATIVE
AGREEMENTS.—Within 
180 days after the enactment of the Affordable 
Communities Employment Act of 2011, the Sec-
retary shall enter into formal collaborative agree-
ments regarding training, employment, contracting, 
or other areas as determined by the Secretary for 
low- and very low-income persons and qualified busi-
nesses with the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Com-
merce, the Administrator of the Small Business Ad-
ministration, the Secretary of Transportation, the 
Secretary of Education, and the heads of such other 
Federal agencies as the Secretary determines nec-
essary to carry out this section and to promote and 
maximize access to existing resources and programs. 
‘‘(2) REPORT.—Within 12 months after the en-
actment of the Affordable Communities Employment 
Act of 2011, the Secretary shall submit a report to 
the Congress on changes needed in the programs ad-
ministered by other agencies that interact with the 
program under this section to facilitate the effective 
implementation and outcomes of the program under 
this section.’’. 
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