to facilitate the acquisition of such multifamily housing 
properties in areas where the Secretary determines there 
is a risk of loss of affordable housing. 
‘‘(h) TRANSFER OF RENTAL ASSISTANCE.—After the 
loan or loans for a rental project originally financed under 
section 515 or both sections 514 and 516 have matured 
or have been prepaid and the owner has chosen not to 
restructure the loan pursuant to subsection (c), a tenant 
residing in such project shall have 18 months prior to loan 
maturation or prepayment to transfer the rental assist-
ance assigned to the tenant’s unit to another rental project 
originally financed under section 515 or both sections 514 
and 516, and the owner of the initial project may rent 
the tenant’s previous unit to a new tenant without income 
restrictions. 
‘‘(i) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of any amounts 
made available for the program under this section for any 
fiscal year, the Secretary may use not more than 
$1,000,000 for administrative expenses for carrying out 
such program. 
‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
is authorized to be appropriated for the program under 
this section $200,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 
through 2024.’’.
SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR RURAL HOUSING VOUCHERS. 
Section 542 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 
1490r) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection: 
‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY OF HOUSEHOLDS IN SECTION 514, 
515, AND 516 PROJECTS.—The Secretary may provide 
rural housing vouchers under this section for any low-in-
come household (including those not receiving rental as-
sistance) residing in a property financed with a loan made 
or insured under section 514 or 515 (42 U.S.C. 1484, 
1485) which has been prepaid, has been foreclosed, or has 
matured after September 30, 2005, or residing in a prop-
erty assisted under section 514 or 516 that is owned by 
a nonprofit organization or public agency.’’. 
SEC. 4. AMOUNT OF VOUCHER ASSISTANCE. 
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the 
case of any rural housing voucher provided pursuant to 
section 542 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 
1490r), the amount of the monthly assistance payment for 
the household on whose behalf such assistance is provided 
shall be determined as provided in subsection (a) of such 
section 542. 
SEC. 5. USE OF AVAILABLE RENTAL ASSISTANCE. 
Subsection (d) of section 521 of the Housing Act of 
1949 (42 U.S.C. 1490a(d)) is amended by adding at the 
end the following new paragraph:
‘‘(3) In the case of any rental assistance contract au-
thority that becomes available because of the termination 
of assistance on behalf of an assisted family— 
‘‘(A) at the option of the owner of the rental 
project, the Secretary shall provide the owner a pe-
riod of 6 months before such assistance is made 
available pursuant to subparagraph (B) during 
which the owner may use such assistance authority 
to provide assistance of behalf of an eligible unas-
sisted family that— 
‘‘(i) is residing in the same rental project 
that the assisted family resided in prior to such 
termination; or 
‘‘(ii) newly occupies a dwelling unit in such 
rental project during such period; and 
‘‘(B) except for assistance used as provided in 
subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall use such re-
maining authority to provide such assistance on be-
half of eligible families residing in other rental 
projects originally financed under section 515 or 
both sections 514 and 516 of this Act.’’. 
SEC. 6. FUNDING FOR MULTIFAMILY TECHNICAL IMPROVE-
MENTS. 
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec-
retary of Agriculture $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2020 for
improving the technology of the Department of Agri-
culture used to process loans for multifamily housing and 
otherwise managing such housing. Such improvements 
shall be made within the 5-year period beginning upon the 
appropriation of such amounts and such amount shall re-
main available until the expiration of such 5-year period. 
SEC. 7. PLAN FOR PRESERVING AFFORDABILITY OF RENT-
AL PROJECTS. 
(a) PLAN.—The Secretary of Agriculture (in this sec-
tion referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall submit a written 
plan to the Congress, not later than the expiration of the 
6-month period beginning on the date of the enactment 
of this Act, for preserving the affordability for low-income 
families of rental projects for which loans were made 
under section 515 or made to nonprofit or public agencies 
under section 514 and avoiding the displacement of tenant 
households, which shall— 
(1) set forth specific performance goals and 
measures; 
(2) set forth the specific actions and mecha-
nisms by which such goals will be achieved; 
(3) set forth specific measurements by which 
progress towards achievement of each goal can be 
measured;
(4) provide for detailed reporting on outcomes; 
and 
(5) include any legislative recommendations to 
assist in achievement of the goals under the plan. 
(b) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 
(1) ESTABLISHMENT; 
PURPOSE.—The Sec-
retary shall establish an advisory committee whose 
purpose shall be to assist the Secretary in preserving 
section 515 properties and section 514 properties 
owned by nonprofit or public agencies through the 
multifamily housing preservation and revitalization 
program under section 545 and in implementing the 
plan required under subsection (a). 
(2) MEMBER.—The advisory committee shall 
consist of 14 members, appointed by the Secretary, 
as follows: 
(A) A State Director of Rural Develop-
ment for the Department of Agriculture. 
(B) The Administrator for Rural Housing 
Service of the Department of Agriculture. 
(C) Two representatives of for-profit devel-
opers or owners of multifamily rural rental 
housing.
(D) Two representatives of non-profit de-
velopers or owners of multifamily rural rental 
housing. 
(E) Two representatives of State housing 
finance agencies. 
(F) Two representatives of tenants of mul-
tifamily rural rental housing. 
(G) One representative of a community de-
velopment financial institution that is involved 
in preserving the affordability of housing as-
sisted under sections 514, 515, and 516 of the 
Housing Act of 1949. 
(H) One representative of a nonprofit or-
ganization that operates nationally and has ac-
tively participated in the preservation of hous-
ing assisted by the Rural Housing Service by 
conducting research regarding, and providing fi-
nancing and technical assistance for, preserving 
the affordability of such housing. 
(I) One representative of low-income hous-
ing tax credit investors. 
(J) One representative of regulated finan-
cial institutions that finance affordable multi-
family rural rental housing developments.
(3) MEETINGS.—The advisory committee shall 
meet not less often than once each calendar quarter. 
(4) FUNCTIONS.—In providing assistance to the 
Secretary to carry out its purpose, the advisory com-
mittee shall carry out the following functions: 
(A) Assisting the Rural Housing Service of 
the Department of Agriculture to improve esti-
mates of the size, scope, and condition of rental 
housing portfolio of the Service, including the 
time frames for maturity of mortgages and 
costs for preserving the portfolio as affordable 
housing. 
(B) Reviewing current policies and proce-
dures of the Rural Housing Service regarding 
preservation of affordable rental housing fi-
nanced under sections 514, 515, 516, and 538 
of the Housing Act of 1949, the Multifamily 
Preservation and Revitalization Demonstration 
program (MPR), and the rental assistance pro-
gram and making recommendations regarding 
improvements and modifications to such policies 
and procedures. 
(C) Providing ongoing review of Rural 
Housing Service program results.
(D) Providing reports to the Congress and 
the public on meetings, recommendations, and 
other findings of the advisory committee. 
(5) TRAVEL COSTS.—Any amounts made avail-
able for administrative costs of the Department of 
Agriculture may be used for costs of travel by mem-
bers of the advisory committee to meetings of the 
committee. 
SEC. 8. COVERED HOUSING PROGRAMS. 
Paragraph (3) of section 41411(a) of the Violence 
Against Women Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12491(a)(3)) is 
amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (I), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(2) by redesignating subparagraph (J) as sub-
paragraph (K); and 
(3) by inserting after subparagraph (I) the fol-
lowing new subparagraph: 
‘‘(J) rural development housing voucher 
assistance provided by the Secretary of Agri-
culture pursuant to section 542 of the Housing 
Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1490r), without regard
to subsection (b) of such section, and applicable 
appropriation Acts; and’’. 
Passed the House of Representatives September 10, 
2019. 
Attest: 
Clerk.
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 3620 
AN ACT 
To provide rental assistance to low-income tenants 
in certain multifamily rural housing projects fi-
nanced by the Rural Housing Service of the De-
partment of Agriculture, and to develop and im-
plement a plan for preserving the affordability of 
rural rental housing, and for other purposes.