Title: Restoring Fair Housing Protections Eliminated by HUD Act of 2018
Policy area: Housing and Community Development

Summary:
Restoring Fair Housing Protections Eliminated by HUD Act of 2018
This bill requires the Department of Housing and Urban Development to take certain measures to address fair housing, including by (1) developing a public database of complaints of discriminatory housing practices, and (2) implementing or reissuing specified rules related to fair housing.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6220 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6220

 To restore the fair housing mission of the Department of Housing and 
               Urban Development, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 26, 2018

 Ms. Maxine Waters of California introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the 
   Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To restore the fair housing mission of the Department of Housing and 
               Urban Development, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Restoring Fair Housing Protections 
Eliminated by HUD Act of 2018''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The current Administration has taken several steps that 
        seriously undermine fair housing protections for all people in 
        America.
            (2) On March 10, 2017, the Department of Housing and Urban 
        Development withdrew a Federal Register notice regarding a 
        proposal to require owners and operators of homeless shelters 
        receiving funding from the Department of Housing and Urban 
        Development to post a notice informing individuals of their 
        rights under the Department of Housing and Urban Development's 
        rule entitled ``Equal Access in Accordance with an Individual's 
        Gender Identity in Community Planning and Development 
        Programs''.
            (3) On January 5, 2018, the Department of Housing and Urban 
        Development published a Federal Register notice that delayed 
        implementation of the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing 
        rule for local governments, which carries out a key mandate 
        under the Fair Housing Act.
            (4) On March 6, 2018, the Huffington Post reported that a 
        leaked Department of Housing and Urban Development internal 
        memo indicated that the Department's mission statement would be 
        changed to remove language referring to ``inclusive and 
        sustainable communities free from discrimination.''
            (5) On March 28, 2018, the New York Times reported that the 
        Department of Housing and Urban Development is attempting to 
        scale back Federal efforts to enforce fair housing laws by 
        freezing enforcement actions against local governments and 
        businesses.
            (6) On May 23, 2018, the Department of Housing and Urban 
        Development issued a notice stating that it is withdrawing the 
        ``Local Government Assessment Tool'' which assists local 
        governments in meeting their obligations under the Fair Housing 
        Act's mandate to affirmatively further fair housing.

SEC. 3. MISSION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT.

    Section 2 of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act 
(42 U.S.C. 3531) is amended--
            (1) in the section heading, by inserting ``; mission of 
        department'' after ``purpose'';
            (2) by inserting ``(a) Purpose.--'' after ``Sec. 2.''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(b) Mission of Department.--The mission of the Department of 
Housing and Urban Development shall be to create strong, sustainable, 
inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. The 
Department shall work to strengthen the housing market to bolster the 
economy and protect consumers, meet the need for quality affordable 
rental homes, utilize housing as a platform for improving quality of 
life, build inclusive and sustainable communities free from 
discrimination, and transform the way the Department does business.''.

SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION OF AFFIRMATIVELY FURTHERING FAIR HOUSING 
              REGULATION.

    Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall require local 
government consolidated plan participants required to submit an 
assessment of fair housing pursuant to the final rule entitled 
``Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing'' (24 C.F.R. 5.150 through 
5.180) to submit such a plan.

SEC. 5. REINSTATEMENT OF FAIR HOUSING ASSESSMENT TOOL.

    Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall restore the 
availability of the Local Government Assessment Tool for use by local 
governments in conducting assessments of fair housing under the 
Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing regulations.

SEC. 6. REISSUANCE OF NOTICE ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND GENDER IDENTITY 
              EQUAL ACCESS RULE.

    Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall reissue the 
``Notice on Equal Access Regardless of Sexual Orientation, Gender 
Identity, or Marital Status for HUD's Community Planning and 
Development Programs'' as revised by publication in the Federal 
Register on February 7, 2017. The Secretary shall finalize such notice 
as soon as practicable.

SEC. 7. REVIEW OF ONLINE COMPLAINTS OF VIOLATIONS OF FAIR HOUSING ACT.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall submit to 
Congress a report which contains--
            (1) a review of the complaints filed with the Secretary 
        under section 810 of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3610) 
        during the 5-year period preceding the date of the enactment of 
        this Act that alleged a discriminatory housing practice 
        involving an online platform; and
            (2) an analysis of trends and risks related to 
        discrimination occurring in connection with the use of online 
        platforms to rent or purchase housing, the sufficiency of the 
        Fair Housing Act to remedy discrimination during the rental or 
        purchase of housing through online platforms, and steps the 
        Secretary plans to take to address such discrimination.

SEC. 8. PUBLICLY AVAILABLE DATABASE FOR FAIR HOUSING COMPLAINTS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 
shall develop, and update on an annual basis, a database that is 
publicly available on the website of the Department of Housing and 
Urban Development, which includes, subject to applicable 
confidentiality constraints, for the previous year, the following:
            (1) The total number of complaints alleging violations of 
        the Fair Housing Act that were received by the Department of 
        Housing and Urban Development, disaggregated with respect to 
        both number and percentage, by each class of persons protected 
        under such Act.
            (2) The number and percentage of the total number of 
        complaints referred to in paragraph (1) that were made by 
        tenants of, and applicants for programs for, covered housing, 
        disaggregated by the program for assistance for the covered 
        housing.
            (3) For each State, the number and percentage of the total 
        number of complaints referred to in paragraph (1) that were 
        made by residents of such State.
            (4) The number and percentage of the total number of 
        complaints referred to in paragraph (1) that alleged that the 
        complainant was retaliated against after reporting the alleged 
        violation and, of such number, the number and percentage that 
        alleged that the complainant was retaliatorily evicted.
            (5) The status of the complaints referred to in paragraph 
        (1), including a detailed description of the resolutions and 
        remedies provided and, for complaints that were 
        administratively closed, of the reasons for such closures.
            (6) The number and percentage of the total number of 
        complaints referred to in paragraph (1) that were handled by 
        State or local agencies assisted under the Fair Housing 
        Assistance Program authorized under sections 810 and 817 of the 
        Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3610, 3616).
            (7) The number and percentage of the total number of 
        complaints regarding discrimination in the sale or rental of 
        housing that were referred to the Department of Justice by the 
        Department of Housing and Urban Development and the number and 
        percentage of such total number of complaints handled by the 
        Department of Justice that were not referred by the Department 
        of Housing and Urban Development.
    (b) Covered Housing.--For purposes of this Act, the term ``covered 
housing'' means--
            (1) housing assisted under the program for supportive 
        housing for the elderly under section 202 of the Housing Act of 
        1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q), including the direct loans program 
        under such section 202 as in effect before the enactment of the 
        Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (Public Law 
        101-625; November 28, 1990);
            (2) housing assisted under 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);
            (3) housing assisted under the program for housing 
        opportunities for people with AIDS/HIV under subtitle D of 
        title VIII of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing 
        Act (42 U.S.C. (42 U.S.C. 12901 et seq.);
            (4) housing assisted under any of the programs under 
        subtitles B through F of title IV of the McKinney-Vento 
        Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11371 et seq.);
            (5) housing assisted under the HOME Investments 
        Partnerships program under subtitle A of title II of the 
        Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 
        12741 et seq.);
            (6) housing assisted under the rent supplement program 
        under section 101 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 
        1965 (12 U.S.C. 1701s);
            (7) housing financed by a loan or mortgage that is insured 
        under section 221(d)(3) of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 
        1715l(d)(3)) that bears interest at a rate determined under the 
        proviso of paragraph (5) of such section 221(d);
            (8) housing insured, assisted, or held by the Secretary or 
        a State or State agency under the multifamily rental assistance 
        program under section 236 of the National Housing Act (12 
        U.S.C. 1715z-1);
            (9) public housing assisted under title I of the United 
        States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.);
            (10) a dwelling unit assisted under the Housing Choice 
        Voucher program for rental assistance under section 8(o) of the 
        United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o));
            (11) housing assisted with project-based rental assistance 
        provided under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 
        1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f);
            (12) housing assisted with funds from the Housing Trust 
        Fund as established under section 1338 of the Federal Housing 
        Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 (12 
        U.S.C. 4568);
            (13) housing assisted under any of the rural housing 
        assistance programs under section 514, 515, 516, 533, 538, or 
        542 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1484, 1485, 1486, 
        1490m, 1490p-2, 1490r);
            (14) any housing project for which equity is provided 
        through any low-income housing tax credit pursuant to section 
        42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 42);
            (15) housing assisted under the Comprehensive Service 
        Programs for Homeless Veterans program under subchapter II of 
        chapter 20 of title 38, United States Code (38 U.S.C. 2011 et 
        seq.);
            (16) housing and facilities assisted under the grant 
        program for homeless veterans with special needs under section 
        2061 of title 38, United States Code;
            (17) permanent housing for which assistance is provided 
        under the program for financial assistance for supportive 
        services for very low-income veteran families in permanent 
        housing under section 2044 of title 38, United States Code; and
            (18) housing assisted under such other Federal housing 
        programs, and federally subsidized dwelling units providing 
        affordable housing to low-income persons by means of restricted 
        rents or rental assistance, as may be identified for purposes 
        of this section by the appropriate agency.
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