I 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6785 
To reform the provisions requiring ‘‘one-strike’’ eviction from public and 
federally assisted housing. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 1, 2008 
Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas (for herself, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. MEEKS of New 
York, Ms. LEE, and Ms. WATSON) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To reform the provisions requiring ‘‘one-strike’’ eviction from 
public and federally assisted housing. 
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 ‘‘No One Strike Eviction 
Act of 2008’’. 
SEC. 2. REFORM OF ‘‘ONE STRIKE’’ MANDATORY EVICTION. 
(a) UNITED STATES HOUSING ACT OF 1937.—Sec-
tion 6(k) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 
U.S.C. 1437d(k)) is amended— 
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(1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through 
(6) as subparagraphs (A) through (F) and realign-
ing such subparagraphs (as so redesignated) so as to 
be indented 4 ems from the left margin; 
(2) by striking ‘‘(k) The Secretary shall’’ and 
inserting the following: 
‘‘(k) REVIEW OF EVICTION AND DENIALS OF TEN-
ANCY.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (3), 
the Secretary shall’’; 
(3) by striking ‘‘For any grievance concerning’’ 
and inserting the following: 
‘‘(2) EXPEDITED
PROCEDURES.—Subject to 
paragraph (3), for any grievance concerning’’; and 
(4) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(3) MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES AND INNO-
CENT OWNER.— 
‘‘(A) MITIGATING
CIRCUMSTANCES.—In 
determining whether to evict a tenant, termi-
nate a tenancy, or deny an application for ten-
ancy due to a criminal conviction of the person 
that is the subject of a grievance, and in any 
judicial review of such determination, the public 
housing agency or other reviewing body shall 
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consider all mitigating circumstances and the 
impact of the eviction, termination, or denial 
upon the family and dependents of that person. 
‘‘(B) INNOCENT TENANTS.—A tenant shall 
not be subject to eviction, denied a tenancy, or 
have a tenancy terminated based solely upon 
the familial relationship of the tenant to a per-
son who has been convicted of a criminal of-
fense.’’. 
(b) QUALITY HOUSING AND WORK RESPONSIBILITY 
ACT OF 1998.— 
(1) INELIGIBILITY.—Section 576 of the Quality 
Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 (42 
U.S.C. 13661) is amended— 
(A) in subsection (b)— 
(i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘any 
household with a member’’ and inserting 
‘‘any person’’; and 
(ii) in paragraph (2)— 
(I) by striking ‘‘any household’’ 
and inserting ‘‘any person’’; and 
(II) by striking ‘‘household mem-
ber’’ each place such term appears 
and inserting ‘‘person’’; 
(B) in subsection (c)— 
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(i) in the matter preceding paragraph 
(1)— 
(I) by striking ‘‘or any member 
of the applicant’s household’’; and 
(II) by striking ‘‘applicant house-
hold’’ and inserting ‘‘applicant’’; and 
(ii) in paragraph (2)— 
(I) by striking ‘‘or individuals in 
the applicant’s household’’; and 
(II) by striking ‘‘have not’’ and 
inserting ‘‘has not’’; 
(C) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub-
section (e); and 
(D) by inserting after subsection (d) the 
following new subsection: 
‘‘(d) REVIEW OF DENIAL OF APPLICATION.— 
‘‘(1) REVIEW OF DENIAL.—The denial of an ap-
plication under this section shall be subject to review 
in accordance with the provisions of section 6(k) of 
the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 
1437d(k)). 
‘‘(2) INNOCENT APPLICANTS.—Nothing in this 
section shall allow for the denial of an application 
based solely on the familial relationship of an appli-
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cant to a person who has a criminal conviction or is 
otherwise in violation of this section.’’. 
(2) TERMINATION
OF
TENANCY
AND
ASSIST-
ANCE
FOR
ILLEGAL
DRUG
USERS
AND
ALCOHOL 
ABUSERS IN FEDERALLY ASSISTED HOUSING.—Sec-
tion 577 of the Quality Housing and Work Respon-
sibility Act of 1998 (42 U.S.C. 13662) is amend-
ed— 
(A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘house-
hold with a member’’ and inserting ‘‘person’’; 
(B) in subsection (b)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘household based’’ and 
inserting ‘‘person based’’; 
(ii) by striking ‘‘by a household mem-
ber’’ and inserting ‘‘by that person’’; and 
(iii) by striking ‘‘such household mem-
ber’’ and inserting ‘‘such person’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(c) REVIEW OF TERMINATION OF TENANCY.—The 
decision to terminate the tenancy or assistance of any per-
son under this section shall be subject to review in accord-
ance with the provisions of section 6(k) of the United 
States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437d(k)). 
‘‘(d) INNOCENT TENANTS.—Nothing in this section 
shall allow for the termination of a tenancy or assistance 
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to any person based solely on the familial relationship of 
the tenant to a person who is in violation of this section.’’. 
(c) REQUIREMENT OF INTENT OR KNOWLEDGE OF 
CRIME BEFORE EVICTION FROM OR DENIAL OF PUBLIC 
AND PUBLICLY ASSISTED HOUSING.—The United States 
Housing Act of 1937 is amended— 
(1) in each of sections 6(l)(6) and 8(o)(7)(D) 
(42 U.S.C. 1437d(l)(6) and 1437f(o)(7)(D)), by in-
serting after the first semicolon the following: ‘‘ex-
cept that such criminal or drug-related activity, en-
gaged in by a member of a tenant’s household or 
any guest or other person under the tenant’s control, 
shall not be cause for termination of tenancy of the 
tenant if the tenant did not know and should not 
have known of the activity, or if the tenant, member 
of the tenant’s household, or any guest or other per-
son under the tenant’s control was the victim of 
criminal activity; and’’; and 
(2) in section 8(d)(1)(B)(iii) (42 U.S.C. 
1437f(d)(1)(B)(iii)), by inserting after the first 
colon the following: ‘‘such criminal or drug-related 
activity, engaged in by a member of a tenant’s 
household or any guest or other person under the 
tenant’s control, shall not be cause for termination 
of tenancy of the tenant if the tenant did not know 
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and should not have known of the activity, or if the 
tenant, member of the tenant’s household, or any 
guest or other person under the tenant’s control was 
the victim of criminal activity; and except that’’. 
Æ 
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