I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6696 
To create a database of eviction information, establish grant programs for 
eviction prevention and legal aid, and limit use of housing court-related 
records in consumer reports, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 9, 2022 
Ms. PRESSLEY (for herself, Ms. DELAURO, and Ms. BUSH) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To create a database of eviction information, establish grant 
programs for eviction prevention and legal aid, and limit 
use of housing court-related records in consumer reports, 
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 ‘‘Housing Emergencies 
Lifeline Program Act of 2022’’ or the ‘‘HELP Act of 
2022’’. 
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds that— 
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(1) housing is fundamentally an issue of eco-
nomic and racial justice and a critical determinant 
of health; 
(2) the 2008 financial crisis was a Great De-
pression-level event for Black Americans, wiping out 
decades of gains in Black homeownership, which has 
now fallen to its lowest rate since the passage of the 
Fair Housing Act in 1968; 
(3) Black borrowers were 76 percent more like-
ly to have lost their home to foreclosure than White 
borrowers during the foreclosure crisis; 
(4) Black and Hispanic households continue to 
be about twice as likely as White households to rent 
their homes; 
(5) in 2016, 58 percent of Black household 
heads and 54 percent of Hispanic household heads 
were renting their homes, compared with 28 percent 
of White household heads; 
(6) while cost burdens affect households of all 
races and ethnicities, Black and Brown renters are 
much more likely to be burdened, with 55 percent of 
Black renters considered to be rent burdened com-
pared to only 43 percent of White renters; 
(7) Black households account for 12 percent of 
all households in the United States, but 19 percent 
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of all renters and 26 of all renter households with 
extremely low incomes; 
(8) prior to the coronavirus pandemic, it was 
estimated that around 3.7 million evictions are filed 
every year, a rate of about 7 every minute; 
(9) across the United States, one in 20 renters 
faces an eviction every year, but for Black renters, 
the number is one in 11; 
(10) every day families are displaced by the 
eviction crisis, a reality that is only further exacer-
bated by the COVID–19 pandemic and that falls 
disproportionately on Black renters, and particularly 
Black women renters; 
(11) the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development does not require the reporting or col-
lection of eviction data, including among households 
in federally assisted housing, and should be required 
to do so; 
(12) the American Civil Liberties Union’s anal-
ysis of Eviction Lab data found that, on average, 
‘‘Black renters had evictions filed against them at 
nearly twice the rate of White renters’’ and that 
Black women specifically were filed against for evic-
tion at ‘‘double the rate of White renters or higher 
in 17 of 36 [S]tates’’; 
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(13) right to counsel is a matter of racial jus-
tice, equity, and ensuring equal protection under the 
law; 
(14) nationally, it is estimated that more than 
81 percent of landlords are represented in housing 
court proceedings, compared to less than 3 percent 
of tenants in such proceedings; 
(15) a Massachusetts COVID–19 legal help 
project found that when providing full legal rep-
resentation to low-income tenants, 90 percent of 
cases closed resulted in positive outcomes, with 70 
percent of tenants remaining in their homes and 20 
percent of tenants having more time to find a place 
to live; and 
(16) a California study of the Shriver Civil 
Counsel Program found that 91 percent of Shriver 
cases ended with the eviction record sealed, 81 per-
cent with the eviction not reported to a credit agen-
cy, and 71 percent with a neutral reference provided 
by the landlord, tenants in such cases saved nearly 
$800 more in reduced rent and other fees while pay-
ing holdover damages or attorney’s fees only half as 
often, and 71 percent of represented clients that had 
been required to move had obtained a new rental 
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unit, compared to 43 percent of unrepresented ten-
ants. 
SEC. 3. DATABASE OF EVICTION INFORMATION. 
(a) REPORTS BY HOUSING PROVIDERS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Housing 
and Urban Development shall require each State 
and local entity that receives covered housing assist-
ance to submit to the Secretary annual reports 
under this section regarding evictions from assisted 
dwelling units of the covered housing occurring dur-
ing the preceding year. 
(2) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted pursu-
ant to subsection (a) shall include— 
(A) for each household subject to an evic-
tion proceeding during the year which the re-
port covers— 
(i) the reason or reasons that the evic-
tion proceeding was undertaken and, in the 
case of any eviction proceeding undertaken 
in whole or in part based on an arrearage 
in rent owed, the amount of such arrear-
age and the amount of the tenant’s re-
quired contribution toward rent; 
(ii) the date on which the household 
was ordered to be evicted; 
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(iii) the address of the dwelling unit 
from which the household was evicted; 
(iv) whether the household was rep-
resented by legal counsel in any eviction 
proceeding, if such information is available; 
(v) the number of days the household 
was given to vacate the dwelling unit, if 
such information is available; and 
(vi) whether a writ of execution was 
issued in regards to the eviction; and 
(B) for each individual in any household 
subject to an eviction proceeding during the 
year which the report covers— 
(i) the name of the individual; 
(ii) the annual income of the indi-
vidual in the fiscal year prior to the year 
during which the individual was evicted, if 
available; 
(iii) the disability status of the indi-
vidual evicted, if available; 
(iv) any available demographic infor-
mation about the individual including race, 
ethnicity, age, and gender; 
(v) any foster care history for the in-
dividual, if available; 
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(vi) any serious physical health prob-
lems or serious mental illness of the indi-
vidual, if such information is available; 
(vii) any history of prior homelessness 
of the individual, if such information is 
available; and 
(viii) whether the individual has a 
criminal record, if such information is 
available. 
(3) DATA REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary of 
Housing and Urban Development shall develop re-
quirements for States and local entities that receive 
covered housing assistance that— 
(A) provide that the provision of the infor-
mation being collected under this subsection 
shall be voluntary on the part of any individual 
or household who is or was a tenant in an as-
sisted dwelling unit of covered housing; 
(B) provide limitations on how long the in-
formation described in paragraph (2) shall be 
retained; 
(C) establish data privacy and security re-
quirements for the information described in 
paragraph (2) that include appropriate meas-
ures to ensure that the privacy of the individ-
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uals and households is protected and that the 
information, including any personally identifi-
able information, is collected and used only for 
the purpose of submitting reports under para-
graph (1); and 
(D) confidentiality protections for data col-
lected about any individuals who are survivors 
of intimate partner violence, sexual assault, or 
stalking. 
(b) DATABASE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 
a database for collecting and maintaining informa-
tion submitted in reports pursuant to subsection (a). 
(2) DISAGGREGATION.—To the extent possible, 
such database shall be disaggregated by the smallest 
census tract, block group, or block possible for the 
data set, and by income, race, gender, disability, and 
all other protected classes under the Fair Housing 
Act. 
(3) PRIVACY
PROTECTIONS.—The Secretary 
shall establish appropriate measures regarding infor-
mation in the database to ensure that, subject to 
paragraph (4), the privacy of the individuals and 
households is protected and that any personally 
identifiable information is not disclosed. 
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(4) RESEARCH.—The Secretary may make full 
and unredacted information available to academic in-
stitutions for the purpose of researching causes and 
solutions to evictions and adherence to civil rights 
protections. 
SEC. 4. ASSISTANCE FOR EVICTION RELATED LEGAL AID. 
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec-
retary $10,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2022, to remain 
available until expended, for assistance under the Emer-
gency Solutions Grants program under subtitle B of title 
IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 
U.S.C. 11371 et seq.), to be used only for— 
(1) providing legal counsel for tenants subject 
to or at risk of eviction with regard to any eviction- 
related legal proceeding; and 
(2) costs of any court fees associated with an 
eviction-related legal proceeding for a tenant (ex-
cluding any attorneys fees for the attorney of the 
landlord of the tenant). 
SEC. 5. CONSUMER REPORTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 605(a) of the Fair Credit 
Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c(a)) is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
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‘‘(9) An eviction, or any information related to 
an eviction or a proceeding seeking eviction, of a 
consumer from a rental dwelling. 
‘‘(10) Any adverse item of information related 
to rent or utility arrears.’’. 
(b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by this 
section shall apply to any consumer report (as defined in 
section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 
1681a)) issued on or after the date of the enactment of 
this Act. 
SEC. 6. EVICTION INFORMATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, not later 
than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
issue rules that require each owner of a covered federally 
assisted rental dwelling unit to ensure that each tenant 
of such dwelling unit owned by such owner receives infor-
mation, in writing— 
(1) not less than once each year regarding— 
(A) the rights and responsibilities of such 
owner with regard to eviction; and 
(B) local organizations and resources that 
can provide assistance in eviction-related mat-
ters; and 
(2) upon provision of any notice of eviction, 
stating the reason or reasons for the eviction. 
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(b) HOTLINE.—The Secretary shall, not later than 
1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, estab-
lish a hotline to provide assistance with regard to eviction- 
related matters to tenants of covered federally assisted 
rental dwelling units. 
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 
(a) For purposes of this Act: 
(1) 
ASSISTANCE.—The 
term 
‘‘assistance’’ 
means any grant, loan, subsidy, contract, cooperative 
agreement, or other form of financial assistance, but 
such term does not include the insurance or guar-
antee of a loan, mortgage, or pool of loans or mort-
gages. 
(2) COVERED
FEDERALLY
ASSISTED
RENTAL 
DWELLING UNIT.—The term ‘‘covered federally as-
sisted rental dwelling unit’’ means a residential 
dwelling unit that— 
(A) is made available for rental; and 
(B)(i) for which assistance is provided, or 
that is part of a housing project for which as-
sistance is provided, under any program admin-
istered by the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development, including— 
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(I) the public housing program under 
the United States Housing Act of 1937 
(42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.); 
(II) the program for rental assistance 
under section 8 of the United States Hous-
ing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f); 
(III) the HOME Investment Partner-
ships program under title II of the Cran-
ston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing 
Act (42 U.S.C. 12721 et seq.); 
(IV) title IV of the McKinney-Vento 
Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11360 
et seq.); 
(V) the Housing Trust Fund program 
under section 1338 of the Housing and 
Community Development Act of 1992 (12 
U.S.C. 4568); 
(VI) the program for supportive hous-
ing for the elderly under section 202 of the 
Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q); 
(VII) the program for supportive 
housing for persons with disabilities under 
section 811 of the Cranston-Gonzalez Na-
tional Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 
8013); 
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(VIII) the AIDS Housing Opportuni-
ties program under subtitle D of title VIII 
of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Afford-
able Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12901 et 
seq.); 
(IX) the program for Native American 
housing under the Native American Hous-
ing Assistance and Self-Determination Act 
of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.); and 
(X) the program for housing assist-
ance for Native Hawaiians under title VIII 
of the Native American Housing Assist-
ance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 
(25 U.S.C. 4221 et seq.); or 
(ii) is a property, or is on or in a property, 
that has a federally backed mortgage loan or 
federally backed multifamily mortgage loan, as 
such terms are defined in section 4024(a) of 
the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9058(a)). 
(3) COVERED
HOUSING.—The term ‘‘covered 
housing’’ means a dwelling unit assisted with 
amounts made available, or a loan or mortgage 
made, insured, or guaranteed, under any of the fol-
lowing programs: 
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(A) The programs for tenant- and project- 
based rental assistance under section 8 of the 
United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 
1437f). 
(B) The program for public housing under 
the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 
U.S.C. 1437 et seq.). 
(C) The program for supportive housing 
for the elderly under section 202 of the Hous-
ing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q). 
(D) The program for supportive housing 
for persons with disabilities under section 811 
of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable 
Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013). 
(E) The community development block 
grant program under title I of the Housing and 
Community Development Act of 1974 (42 
U.S.C. 5301 et seq.). 
(F) The HOME Investment Partnerships 
program under titles I and II of the Cranston- 
Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 
U.S.C. 12704 et seq.). 
(G) The program for housing opportunities 
for persons with AIDS under subtitle D of title 
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