I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6220 
To restore the fair housing mission of the Department of Housing and 
Urban Development, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 26, 2018 
Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Com-
mittee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined 
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To restore the fair housing mission of the Department of 
Housing and Urban Development, 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 ‘‘Restoring Fair Hous-
ing Protections Eliminated by HUD Act of 2018’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) The current Administration has taken sev-
eral steps that seriously undermine fair housing pro-
tections for all people in America. 
(2) On March 10, 2017, the Department of 
Housing and Urban Development withdrew a Fed-
eral Register notice regarding a proposal to require 
owners and operators of homeless shelters receiving 
funding from the Department of Housing and 
Urban Development to post a notice informing indi-
viduals of their rights under the Department of 
Housing and Urban Development’s rule entitled 
‘‘Equal Access in Accordance with an Individual’s 
Gender Identity in Community Planning and Devel-
opment Programs’’. 
(3) On January 5, 2018, the Department of 
Housing and Urban Development published a Fed-
eral Register notice that delayed implementation of 
the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule for 
local governments, which carries out a key mandate 
under the Fair Housing Act. 
(4) On March 6, 2018, the Huffington Post re-
ported that a leaked Department of Housing and 
Urban Development internal memo indicated that 
the Department’s mission statement would be 
changed to remove language referring to ‘‘inclusive 
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and sustainable communities free from discrimina-
tion.’’ 
(5) On March 28, 2018, the New York Times 
reported that the Department of Housing and 
Urban Development is attempting to scale back Fed-
eral efforts to enforce fair housing laws by freezing 
enforcement actions against local governments and 
businesses. 
(6) On May 23, 2018, the Department of Hous-
ing and Urban Development issued a notice stating 
that it is withdrawing the ‘‘Local Government As-
sessment Tool’’ which assists local governments in 
meeting their obligations under the Fair Housing 
Act’s mandate to affirmatively further fair housing. 
SEC. 3. MISSION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND 
URBAN DEVELOPMENT. 
Section 2 of the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development Act (42 U.S.C. 3531) is amended— 
(1) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘; MIS-
SION OF DEPARTMENT’’ after ‘‘PURPOSE’’; 
(2) by inserting ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—’’ after ‘‘SEC. 
2.’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
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‘‘(b) MISSION OF DEPARTMENT.—The mission of the 
Department of Housing and Urban Development shall be 
to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and 
quality affordable homes for all. The Department shall 
work to strengthen the housing market to bolster the econ-
omy and protect consumers, meet the need for quality af-
fordable rental homes, utilize housing as a platform for 
improving quality of life, build inclusive and sustainable 
communities free from discrimination, and transform the 
way the Department does business.’’. 
SEC. 
4. 
IMPLEMENTATION 
OF 
AFFIRMATIVELY 
FUR-
THERING FAIR HOUSING REGULATION. 
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development shall require local government consolidated 
plan participants required to submit an assessment of fair 
housing pursuant to the final rule entitled ‘‘Affirmatively 
Furthering Fair Housing’’ (24 C.F.R. 5.150 through 
5.180) to submit such a plan. 
SEC. 5. REINSTATEMENT OF FAIR HOUSING ASSESSMENT 
TOOL. 
Not later than 30 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development shall restore the availability of the Local 
Government Assessment Tool for use by local governments 
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in conducting assessments of fair housing under the Af-
firmatively Furthering Fair Housing regulations. 
SEC. 6. REISSUANCE OF NOTICE ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION 
AND 
GENDER 
IDENTITY 
EQUAL 
ACCESS 
RULE. 
Not later than 30 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development shall reissue the ‘‘Notice on Equal Access 
Regardless of Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, or 
Marital Status for HUD’s Community Planning and De-
velopment Programs’’ as revised by publication in the 
Federal Register on February 7, 2017. The Secretary 
shall finalize such notice as soon as practicable. 
SEC. 7. REVIEW OF ONLINE COMPLAINTS OF VIOLATIONS 
OF FAIR HOUSING ACT. 
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development shall submit to Congress a report which con-
tains— 
(1) a review of the complaints filed with the 
Secretary under section 810 of the Fair Housing 
Act (42 U.S.C. 3610) during the 5-year period pre-
ceding the date of the enactment of this Act that al-
leged a discriminatory housing practice involving an 
online platform; and 
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(2) an analysis of trends and risks related to 
discrimination occurring in connection with the use 
of online platforms to rent or purchase housing, the 
sufficiency of the Fair Housing Act to remedy dis-
crimination during the rental or purchase of housing 
through online platforms, and steps the Secretary 
plans to take to address such discrimination. 
SEC. 8. PUBLICLY AVAILABLE DATABASE FOR FAIR HOUS-
ING COMPLAINTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Housing and 
Urban Development shall develop, and update on an an-
nual basis, a database that is publicly available on the 
website of the Department of Housing and Urban Devel-
opment, which includes, subject to applicable confiden-
tiality constraints, for the previous year, the following: 
(1) The total number of complaints alleging vio-
lations of the Fair Housing Act that were received 
by the Department of Housing and Urban Develop-
ment, disaggregated with respect to both number 
and percentage, by each class of persons protected 
under such Act. 
(2) The number and percentage of the total 
number of complaints referred to in paragraph (1) 
that were made by tenants of, and applicants for 
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programs for, covered housing, disaggregated by the 
program for assistance for the covered housing. 
(3) For each State, the number and percentage 
of the total number of complaints referred to in 
paragraph (1) that were made by residents of such 
State. 
(4) The number and percentage of the total 
number of complaints referred to in paragraph (1) 
that alleged that the complainant was retaliated 
against after reporting the alleged violation and, of 
such number, the number and percentage that al-
leged that the complainant was retaliatorily evicted. 
(5) The status of the complaints referred to in 
paragraph (1), including a detailed description of 
the resolutions and remedies provided and, for com-
plaints that were administratively closed, of the rea-
sons for such closures. 
(6) The number and percentage of the total 
number of complaints referred to in paragraph (1) 
that were handled by State or local agencies assisted 
under the Fair Housing Assistance Program author-
ized under sections 810 and 817 of the Fair Hous-
ing Act (42 U.S.C. 3610, 3616). 
(7) The number and percentage of the total 
number of complaints regarding discrimination in 
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the sale or rental of housing that were referred to 
the Department of Justice by the Department of 
Housing and Urban Development and the number 
and percentage of such total number of complaints 
handled by the Department of Justice that were not 
referred by the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development. 
(b) COVERED HOUSING.—For purposes of this Act, 
the term ‘‘covered housing’’ means— 
(1) housing assisted under the program for sup-
portive housing for the elderly under section 202 of 
the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q), includ-
ing the direct loans program under such section 202 
as in effect before the enactment of the Cranston- 
Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (Public 
Law 101–625; November 28, 1990); 
(2) housing assisted under the program for sup-
portive housing for persons with disabilities under 
section 811 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Af-
fordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013); 
(3) housing assisted under the program for 
housing opportunities for people with AIDS/HIV 
under subtitle D of title VIII of the Cranston-Gon-
zalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 
(42 U.S.C. 12901 et seq.); 
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(4) housing assisted under any of the programs 
under subtitles B through F of title IV of the 
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 
U.S.C. 11371 et seq.); 
(5) housing assisted under the HOME Invest-
ments Partnerships program under subtitle A of title 
II of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable 
Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12741 et seq.); 
(6) housing assisted under the rent supplement 
program under section 101 of the Housing and 
Urban Development Act of 1965 (12 U.S.C. 1701s); 
(7) housing financed by a loan or mortgage 
that is insured under section 221(d)(3) of the Na-
tional Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715l(d)(3)) that 
bears interest at a rate determined under the proviso 
of paragraph (5) of such section 221(d); 
(8) housing insured, assisted, or held by the 
Secretary or a State or State agency under the mul-
tifamily rental assistance program under section 236 
of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715z–1); 
(9) public housing assisted under title I of the 
United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 
et seq.); 
(10) a dwelling unit assisted under the Housing 
Choice Voucher program for rental assistance under 
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needs under section 2061 of title 38, United States 
Code; 
(17) permanent housing for which assistance is 
provided under the program for financial assistance 
for supportive services for very low-income veteran 
families in permanent housing under section 2044 of 
title 38, United States Code; and 
(18) housing assisted under such other Federal 
housing programs, and federally subsidized dwelling 
units providing affordable housing to low-income 
persons by means of restricted rents or rental assist-
ance, as may be identified for purposes of this sec-
tion by the appropriate agency. 
Æ 
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