I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1336
To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to provide
enhanced vouchers for rental assistance under section 8 of the United
States Housing Act of 1937 for low-income elderly and disabled tenants
of housing projects with expiring contracts for Federal rental assistance
to ensure that such tenants can afford to retain their previously assisted
dwelling units, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 25, 1999
Mr. LAZIO (for himself, Mr. LEACH, and Mr. WALSH) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Banking and Financial Services
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop-
ment to provide enhanced vouchers for rental assistance
under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of
1937 for low-income elderly and disabled tenants of
housing projects with expiring contracts for Federal rent-
al assistance to ensure that such tenants can afford
to retain their previously assisted dwelling units, 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 ‘‘Emergency Resident
Protection Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—
(1) there exists throughout the United States a
need for decent, safe and affordable housing;
(2) affordable housing is critical to the well-
being of vulnerable families, particularly seniors and
persons with disabilities;
(3) an unprecedented number of contracts for
Federal rental assistance are expiring now and will
expire in the near future, including contracts cov-
ering 2,384,000 units in fiscal year 2000 alone;
(4) a growing number of private owners of af-
fordable housing developments are choosing to not
renew their subsidy contracts with the Federal gov-
ernment;
(5) in cases where assistance contracts are not
renewed, rent levels in the affected developments
may rise dramatically;
(6) an overwhelming majority of residents in
these developments are seniors or persons with dis-
abilities and have little or no means of paying addi-
tional rent from personal income, effectively forcing
them to move from what have been their homes for
almost a quarter of a century; and
(7) the Federal Government should use all ap-
propriate means to ensure that those least able to
provide for themselves enjoy the protection and wel-
fare of the people of the United States.
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to protect
vulnerable residents of affordable housing, particularly
seniors and persons with disabilities, and to help provide
those residents with peace of mind and security for
living—
(1) by providing greater rental assistance flexi-
bility to ensure that vulnerable populations are not
forced to move from their homes when rent levels
rise; and
(2) where appropriate, by encouraging private
owners of affordable housing developments to con-
tinue serving low-income families by allowing such
housing providers greater flexibility for refinancing
and by ensuring more effective administration by the
Federal Government of rental assistance contract re-
negotiations.
SEC. 
3. 
ENHANCED 
VOUCHERS 
FOR 
RESIDENTS 
OF
PROJECTS WITH EXPIRING CONTRACTS.
Section 524 of the Multifamily Assisted Housing Re-
form and Affordability Act of 1997 (42 U.S.C. 1437f
note) is amended by adding at the end the following new
subsection:
‘‘(b) ENHANCED VOUCHERS UPON CONTRACT EXPI-
RATION.—In the case of contracts for assistance under
section 8 referred to in subsection (a) of this section that
are not renewed under subsection (a) (or any other au-
thority), the following provisions shall apply:
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To the extent that amounts
for assistance under this subsection are provided in
advance in appropriation Acts, upon the date of the
expiration of the contract for project-based assist-
ance for a covered project, the Secretary—
‘‘(A) shall make enhanced voucher assist-
ance under this subsection available on behalf
of each covered resident of a covered project;
and
‘‘(B) may make enhanced voucher assist-
ance under this section available on behalf of
any other low-income family who, upon the date
of such expiration, is residing in an assisted
dwelling unit in a covered project that is located
in a low-vacancy area.
‘‘(2) 
ENHANCED
ASSISTANCE.—Enhanced
voucher assistance under this subsection for a family
shall be voucher assistance under section 8(o) of the
United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C.
1437f(o)), except that under such enhanced voucher
assistance—
‘‘(A) if the assisted family elects to remain
in the covered project in which the family was
residing on the date of the expiration of such
contract and the rent for such unit exceeds the
applicable payment standard established pursu-
ant to section 8(o) for the unit, the amount of
rental assistance provided on behalf of family
shall be determined using a payment standard
that is equal to the rent for the dwelling unit,
subject to paragraph (10)(A) of such section
8(o); and
‘‘(B) if the assisted family elects to move
from such covered project, subparagraph (A) of
this paragraph shall not apply and the payment
standard for the dwelling unit occupied by the
family shall be determined in accordance with
section 8(o).
‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub-
section, the following definitions shall apply:
‘‘(A) ASSISTED
DWELLING
UNIT.—The
term ‘assisted dwelling unit’ means a dwelling
unit that—
‘‘(i) is in a covered project; and
‘‘(ii) is covered by rental assistance
provided under the contract for project-
based assistance for the covered project.
‘‘(B) COVERED PROJECT.—The term ‘cov-
ered project’ means any housing that—
‘‘(i) consists of more than 4 dwelling
units;
‘‘(ii) is covered in whole or in part by
a contract for project-based assistance
under—
‘‘(I) the new construction or sub-
stantial rehabilitation program under
section 8(b)(2) of the United States
Housing Act of 1937 (as in effect be-
fore October 1, 1983),
‘‘(II) the property disposition
program under section 8(b) of the
United States Housing Act of 1937,
‘‘(III) the moderate rehabilitation
program under section 8(e)(2) of the
United States Housing Act of 1937
(as in effect before October 1, 1991);
‘‘(IV) the loan management as-
sistance program under section 8 of
the United States Housing Act of
1937,
‘‘(V) section 23 of the United
States Housing Act of 1937 (as in ef-
fect before January 1, 1975),
‘‘(VI) the rent supplement pro-
gram under section 101 of the Hous-
ing and Urban Development Act of
1965, or
‘‘(VII) section 8 of the United
States Housing Act of 1937, following
conversion from assistance under sec-
tion 101 of the Housing and Urban
Development Act of 1965,
which contract will (under its own terms)
expire during the period consisting of fiscal
years 2000 through 2004; and
‘‘(iii) is not housing for which resi-
dents are eligible for enhanced voucher as-
sistance as provided under the ‘Preserving
Existing Housing Investment’ account in
the Departments of Veterans Affairs and
Housing and Urban Development, and
Independent Agencies Appropriations Act,
1997 (Public Law 104–204; 110 Stat.
2884), pursuant to such provision or any
other subsequently enacted provision of
law.
‘‘(C) COVERED RESIDENT.—The term ‘cov-
ered resident’ means a family who—
‘‘(i) is an elderly family or a disabled
family (as such terms are defined in sec-
tion 3(b) of the United States Housing Act
of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)); and
‘‘(ii) upon the date of the expiration
of the contract for project-based assistance
for a covered project, is residing in an as-
sisted dwelling unit in the covered project.
‘‘(D) LOW-VACANCY
AREA.—The term
‘low-vacancy area’ means an area that, in the
determination of the Secretary, has an inad-
equate supply of habitable, affordable housing
for low-income families using tenant-based as-
sistance.
‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—
There are authorized to be appropriated for each of
fiscal years 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004 such
sums as may be necessary for enhanced voucher as-
sistance under this subsection.’’.
SEC. 4. RENEWAL OF SECTION 8 CONTRACTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 524(a)
of the Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Afford-
ability Act of 1997 (42 U.S.C. 1437f note) is amended—
(1) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘ at rent
levels that do not exceed comparable market rents
for the market area’’; and
(2) in the last sentence, by striking the period
at the end and inserting the following: ‘‘and, in the
case of expiring contracts, if provided shall be pro-
vided at rent levels that are—
‘‘(A) equal to 90 percent of comparable
market rents for the market area, in the case
of a project having rent levels under the expir-
ing contract that do not exceed 90 percent of
such comparable market rents;
‘‘(B) equal to the existing rents under the
expiring contract, in the case of a project hav-
ing rent levels under the expiring contract that
exceed 90 percent of comparable market rents
for the market area but do not exceed such
comparable market rents; and
‘‘(C) equal to comparable market rents for
the market area, in the case of a project that
is not eligible for mortgage restructuring under
this title and has rent levels under the expiring
contract that exceed such comparable market
rents.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 524(a)(2)
of the Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Afford-
ability Act of 1997 (42 U.S.C. 1437f note) is amended—
(1) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ‘‘and’’
after the semicolon at the end;
(2) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘; and’’
and inserting a period; and
(3) by striking subparagraph (E).
SEC. 5. ELIGIBLE PURPOSES OF INTEREST REDUCTION
PAYMENT GRANTS.
(a) ELIGIBLE PURPOSES.—Section 236(s)(3) of the
National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715z–1(s)(3)) is
amended—
(1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at
the end:
(2) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period
at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph: