I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6880 
To increase the number of landlords participating in the Housing Choice 
Voucher program. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 1, 2022 
Mr. CLEAVER (for himself and Mr. KATKO) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To increase the number of landlords participating in the 
Housing Choice Voucher program. 
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 ‘‘Choice in Affordable 
Housing Act of 2022’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act— 
(1) the term ‘‘Housing Choice Voucher pro-
gram’’ means the tenant-based assistance program 
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under section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act 
of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)); and 
(2) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 
of Housing and Urban Development. 
SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Housing Choice Voucher program is 
the Federal Government’s largest program helping 
low-income families, the elderly, and persons with 
disabilities to afford decent, safe, and sanitary hous-
ing in the private market. 
(2) The Housing Choice Voucher program is 
proven to have positive impacts on voucher holders, 
including increased housing stability, reduced home-
lessness, and children lifted out of poverty. 
(3) As a public-private partnership, the Hous-
ing Choice Voucher program relies on the willingness 
of private landlords to accept vouchers. 
(4) Landlord participation is declining in the 
Housing Choice Voucher program, with an average 
of 10,000 housing providers leaving the program 
each year between 2010 and 2016. 
(5) Landlord participation is especially lacking 
in ‘‘high-opportunity neighborhoods’’ that have low 
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poverty rates and good access to quality schools, 
jobs, and public transportation. 
(6) The Secretary has conducted and continues 
to conduct research on landlord participation in the 
Housing Choice Voucher program. 
(7) The Moving to Work demonstration pro-
gram of the Department of Housing and Urban De-
velopment has given participating public housing 
agencies the ability to test innovative strategies to 
incentivize landlords to accept vouchers. 
SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) the Housing Choice Voucher program 
should be improved to increase the number of land-
lords, particularly landlords with units in high-op-
portunity neighborhoods, who accept vouchers in 
order to expand housing choice and opportunity, and 
further fair housing; and 
(2) Federal programs to help people afford safe 
and decent housing are important in all commu-
nities, including urban, rural, and tribal areas. 
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SEC. 5. INCENTIVIZING LANDLORD PARTICIPATION IN 
HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER PROGRAM. 
(a) ONE-TIME INCENTIVE PAYMENTS.—Section 8(o) 
of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 
1437f(o)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(21) ONE-TIME INCENTIVE PAYMENTS.— 
‘‘(A) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 
term ‘eligible unit’ means a dwelling unit 
that— 
‘‘(i) is located in a census tract with 
a poverty rate of less than 20 percent; and 
‘‘(ii) has not previously been subject 
to a housing assistance payment contract 
under this subsection. 
‘‘(B) INCENTIVE PAYMENT AUTHORITY.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—To incentivize 
landlords who own dwelling units in low- 
poverty areas to enter into housing assist-
ance payment contracts under this sub-
section, the Secretary shall provide assist-
ance under this paragraph to public hous-
ing agencies to be used to offer a one-time 
payment directly to the owner of an eligi-
ble unit entering into a housing assistance 
payment contract with the public housing 
agency for the eligible unit. 
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