IB 
Union Calendar No. 156 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3620 
[Report No. 116–198] 
To provide rental assistance to low-income tenants in certain multifamily 
rural housing projects financed by the Rural Housing Service of the 
Department of Agriculture, and to develop and implement a plan for 
preserving the affordability of rural rental housing, and for other pur-
poses. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 5, 2019 
Mr. CLAY (for himself and Mr. CLEAVER) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
SEPTEMBER 6, 2019 
Additional sponsors: Mrs. AXNE, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, and Mr. DAVID 
SCOTT of Georgia 
SEPTEMBER 6, 2019 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 5, 2019] 
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A BILL 
To provide rental assistance to low-income tenants in certain 
multifamily rural housing projects financed by the Rural 
Housing Service of the Department of Agriculture, and 
to develop and implement a plan for preserving the af-
fordability of rural rental housing, and for other pur-
poses. 
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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 ‘‘Strategy and Investment 
in Rural Housing Preservation Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. PERMANENT ESTABLISHMENT OF HOUSING PRES-
ERVATION AND REVITALIZATION PROGRAM. 
Title V of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1471 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
section: 
‘‘SEC. 545. HOUSING PRESERVATION AND REVITALIZATION 
PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall carry out 
a program under this section for the preservation and revi-
talization of multifamily rental housing projects financed 
under section 515 or both sections 514 and 516. 
‘‘(b) NOTICE OF MATURING LOANS.— 
‘‘(1) TO OWNERS.—On an annual basis, the Sec-
retary shall provide written notice to each owner of 
a property financed under section 515 or both sec-
tions 514 and 516 that will mature within the 4-year 
period beginning upon the provision of such notice, 
setting forth the options and financial incentives that 
are available to facilitate the extension of the loan 
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term or the option to decouple a rental assistance con-
tract pursuant to subsection (f). 
‘‘(2) TO TENANTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For each property fi-
nanced under section 515 or both sections 514 
and 516, not later than the date that is 2 years 
before the date that such loan will mature, the 
Secretary shall provide written notice to each 
household residing in such property that informs 
them of the date of the loan maturity, the pos-
sible actions that may happen with respect to the 
property upon such maturity, and how to protect 
their right to reside in federally assisted housing 
after such maturity. 
‘‘(B) LANGUAGE.—Notice under this para-
graph shall be provided in plain English and 
shall be translated to other languages in the case 
of any property located in an area in which a 
significant number of residents speak such other 
languages. 
‘‘(c) LOAN RESTRUCTURING.—Under the program 
under this section, the Secretary may restructure such exist-
ing housing loans, as the Secretary considers appropriate, 
for the purpose of ensuring that such projects have sufficient 
resources to preserve the projects to provide safe and afford-
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able housing for low-income residents and farm laborers, 
by— 
‘‘(1) reducing or eliminating interest; 
‘‘(2) deferring loan payments; 
‘‘(3) subordinating, reducing, or reamortizing 
loan debt; and 
‘‘(4) providing other financial assistance, includ-
ing advances, payments, and incentives (including 
the ability of owners to obtain reasonable returns on 
investment) required by the Secretary. 
‘‘(d) RENEWAL OF RENTAL ASSISTANCE.—When the 
Secretary offers to restructure a loan pursuant to subsection 
(c), the Secretary shall offer to renew the rental assistance 
contract under section 521(a)(2) for a 20-year term that 
is subject to annual appropriations, provided that the 
owner agrees to bring the property up to such standards 
that will ensure its maintenance as decent, safe, and sani-
tary housing for the full term of the rental assistance con-
tract. 
‘‘(e) RESTRICTIVE USE AGREEMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—As part of the preserva-
tion and revitalization agreement for a project, the 
Secretary shall obtain a restrictive use agreement that 
obligates the owner to operate the project in accord-
ance with this title. 
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‘‘(2) TERM.— 
‘‘(A) NO
EXTENSION
OF
RENTAL
ASSIST-
ANCE
CONTRACT.—Except when the Secretary 
enters into a 20-year extension of the rental as-
sistance contract for the project, the term of the 
restrictive use agreement for the project shall be 
consistent with the term of the restructured loan 
for the project. 
‘‘(B) EXTENSION
OF
RENTAL
ASSISTANCE 
CONTRACT.—If the Secretary enters into a 20- 
year extension of the rental assistance contract 
for a project, the term of the restrictive use agree-
ment for the project shall be for 20 years. 
‘‘(C) TERMINATION.—The Secretary may 
terminate the 20-year use restrictive use agree-
ment for a project prior to the end of its term 
if the 20-year rental assistance contract for the 
project with the owner is terminated at any time 
for reasons outside the owner’s control. 
‘‘(f) DECOUPLING OF RENTAL ASSISTANCE.— 
‘‘(1) RENEWAL
OF
RENTAL
ASSISTANCE
CON-
TRACT.—If the Secretary determines that a maturing 
loan for a project cannot reasonably be restructured 
in accordance with subsection (c) and the project was 
operating with rental assistance under section 521, 
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the Secretary may renew the rental assistance con-
tract, notwithstanding any provision of section 521, 
for a term, subject to annual appropriations, of at 
least 10 years but not more than 20 years. 
‘‘(2) RENTS.—Any agreement to extend the term 
of the rental assistance contract under section 521 for 
a project shall obligate the owner to continue to main-
tain the project as decent, safe and sanitary housing 
and to operate the development in accordance with 
this title, except that rents shall be based on the lesser 
of— 
‘‘(A) the budget-based needs of the project; 
or 
‘‘(B) (ii) the operating cost adjustment fac-
tor as a payment standard as provided under 
section 524 of the Multifamily Assisted Housing 
Reform and Affordability Act of 1997 (42 U.S.C. 
1437 note). 
‘‘(g) MULTIFAMILY HOUSING TRANSFER TECHNICAL 
ASSISTANCE.—Under the program under this section, the 
Secretary may provide grants to qualified non-profit orga-
nizations and public housing agencies to provide technical 
assistance, including financial and legal services, to bor-
rowers under loans under this title for multifamily housing 
to facilitate the acquisition of such multifamily housing 
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properties in areas where the Secretary determines there is 
a risk of loss of affordable housing. 
‘‘(h) TRANSFER OF RENTAL ASSISTANCE.—After the 
loan or loans for a rental project originally financed under 
section 515 or both sections 514 and 516 have matured or 
have been prepaid and the owner has chosen not to restruc-
ture the loan pursuant to subsection (c), a tenant residing 
in such project shall have 18 months prior to loan matura-
tion or prepayment to transfer the rental assistance as-
signed to the tenant’s unit to another rental project origi-
nally financed under section 515 or both sections 514 and 
516, and the owner of the initial project may rent the ten-
ant’s previous unit to a new tenant without income restric-
tions. 
‘‘(i) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of any amounts 
made available for the program under this section for any 
fiscal year, the Secretary may use not more than $1,000,000 
for administrative expenses for carrying out such program. 
‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to be appropriated for the program under this 
section $200,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 
2024.’’. 
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SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR RURAL HOUSING VOUCHERS. 
Section 542 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 
1490r) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection: 
‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY OF HOUSEHOLDS IN SECTION 514, 
515, AND 516 PROJECTS.—The Secretary may provide 
rural housing vouchers under this section for any low-in-
come household (including those not receiving rental assist-
ance) residing in a property financed with a loan made 
or insured under section 514 or 515 (42 U.S.C. 1484, 1485) 
which has been prepaid, has been foreclosed, or has matured 
after September 30, 2005, or residing in a property assisted 
under section 514 or 516 that is owned by a nonprofit orga-
nization or public agency.’’. 
SEC. 4. AMOUNT OF VOUCHER ASSISTANCE. 
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the 
case of any rural housing voucher provided pursuant to sec-
tion 542 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1490r), 
the amount of the monthly assistance payment for the 
household on whose behalf such assistance is provided shall 
be determined as provided in subsection (a) of such section 
542. 
SEC. 5. USE OF AVAILABLE RENTAL ASSISTANCE. 
Subsection (d) of section 521 of the Housing Act of 
1949 (42 U.S.C. 1490a(d)) is amended by adding at the 
end the following new paragraph: 
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