I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5269 
To expand public access to tenant financial assistance programs, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 17, 2021 
Ms. BUSH (for herself and Mr. BOWMAN) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To expand public access to tenant financial assistance 
programs, 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 Rental As-
sistance Program Improvement Act of 2021’’ or the 
‘‘ERAP Improvement Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. COLLABORATION WITH PUBLIC ENTITIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 501 of subtitle A of title 
V of Division M of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 
2021 (15 U.S.C. 9058a) is amended— 
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(1) in subsection (c)(5)(A)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘10 percent’’ and inserting 
‘‘15 percent’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘related to such funds.’’ 
and inserting ‘‘related to such funds and for 
collaboration with public entities as described in 
subsection (n).’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(n) COLLABORATION WITH PUBLIC ENTITIES.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary of the 
Treasury shall, not later than 30 days after the en-
actment of this subsection, issue guidance designed 
to instruct eligible grantees with respect to how best 
to collaborate with public entities to provide applica-
tion assistance services. 
‘‘(2) USE
OF
AMOUNTS
PAID
TO
ELIGIBLE 
GRANTEE.—Notwithstanding subsection (c)(5), an 
eligible grantee that collaborates with public entities 
pursuant to the guidance issued by the Secretary of 
the Treasury pursuant to paragraph (1) may use 
amounts available for administrative costs under sec-
tion (c)(5) to, in coordination with one or more pub-
lic entities, develop any administrative infrastructure 
necessary to provide application assistance services, 
including— 
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‘‘(A) training the employees of a public en-
tity or other designated institutional representa-
tive of a public entity about how to complete 
the emergency rental application process; 
‘‘(B) maintaining physical and electronic 
copies of all documents needed to apply for as-
sistance; 
‘‘(C) establishing methods of communica-
tion between eligible grantees, public entities, 
community organizations, and individual house-
holds; 
‘‘(D) providing language translation serv-
ices; 
‘‘(E) developing community outreach mate-
rials, programs, and initiatives; and 
‘‘(F) collecting and storing relevant docu-
mentation on-site at the public entity, or with 
a third party in a manner that complies with 
Federal, State, and local law. 
‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
‘‘(A) 
APPLICATION
ASSISTANCE
SERV-
ICES.—The term ‘application assistance serv-
ices’ means— 
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‘‘(i) distributing applications for as-
sistance to individuals that may qualify for 
assistance; and 
‘‘(ii) assisting individuals applying or 
assistance. 
‘‘(B) PUBLIC
ENTITY.—The term public 
entity includes— 
‘‘(i) public elementary schools and 
public secondary schools (as such terms 
are defined under section 8101 of the Ele-
mentary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965); 
‘‘(ii) public libraries; 
‘‘(iii) HUD-approved housing coun-
seling agencies and other entities receiving 
funds under section 3204 of the American 
Rescue Plan Act of 2021; 
‘‘(iv) courts that handle eviction re-
lated matters; 
‘‘(v) public housing agencies; 
‘‘(vi) public transit systems; 
‘‘(vii) State departments of motor ve-
hicles; 
‘‘(viii) the United States Postal Serv-
ice; and 
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‘‘(ix) Federal, State, and local social 
service providers.’’. 
(b) COLLABORATION WITH PUBLIC ENTITIES.—Sec-
tion 3201 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(i) COLLABORATION WITH PUBLIC ENTITIES.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary of the 
Treasury shall, not later than 30 days after the en-
actment of this subsection, issue guidance designed 
to instruct eligible grantees with respect to how best 
to collaborate with public entities to provide applica-
tion assistance services. 
‘‘(2) USE
OF
AMOUNTS
PAID
TO
ELIGIBLE 
GRANTEE.—An eligible grantee that collaborates 
with public entities pursuant to the guidance issued 
by the Secretary of the Treasury pursuant to para-
graph (1) may use not more than 15 percent of the 
amount paid to such eligible grantee under this sec-
tion to, in coordination with one or more public enti-
ties, develop any administrative infrastructure nec-
essary to provide application assistance services, in-
cluding— 
‘‘(A) training the employees of a public en-
tity or other designated institutional representa-
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tive of a public entity about how to complete 
the emergency rental application process; 
‘‘(B) maintaining physical and electronic 
copies of all documents needed to apply for as-
sistance; 
‘‘(C) establishing methods of communica-
tion between eligible grantees, public entities, 
community organizations, and individual house-
holds; 
‘‘(D) providing language translation serv-
ices; 
‘‘(E) developing community outreach mate-
rials, programs, and initiatives; and 
‘‘(F) collecting and storing relevant docu-
mentation on-site at the public entity, or with 
a third party in a manner that complies with 
Federal, State, and local law. 
‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
‘‘(A) 
APPLICATION
ASSISTANCE
SERV-
ICES.—The term ‘application assistance serv-
ices’ means— 
‘‘(i) distributing applications for as-
sistance to individuals that may qualify for 
assistance; and 
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‘‘(ii) assisting individuals applying or 
assistance. 
‘‘(B) PUBLIC
ENTITY.—The term public 
entity includes— 
‘‘(i) public elementary schools and 
public secondary schools (as such terms 
are defined under section 8101 of the Ele-
mentary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965); 
‘‘(ii) public libraries; 
‘‘(iii) public housing agencies; 
‘‘(iv) public transit systems; 
‘‘(v) State departments of motor vehi-
cles; 
‘‘(vi) the United States Postal Service; 
and 
‘‘(vii) Federal, State, and local social 
service providers.’’. 
Æ 
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