Title: Bad Landlord Database Act of 2020
Policy area: Housing and Community Development

Summary:
Bad Landlord Database Act of 2020
This bill requires the Department of Housing and Urban Development to create a public database of property owners receiving housing choice voucher assistance for low-income tenants. This database must include, among other things, information regarding any violations by the property owner of certain housing quality standards and any litigation involving the property owner and housing choice voucher assistance.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3371 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3371

 To require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to create a 
database of owners of properties receiving tenant-based assistance, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 2, 2020

  Mr. Hawley introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
    referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to create a 
database of owners of properties receiving tenant-based assistance, 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 ``Bad Landlord Database Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. OVERSIGHT OF LANDLORD COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSING QUALITY 
              STANDARDS.

    Section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 
1437f) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(ee) Housing Choice Voucher Landlord Database.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--Not later than 1 year after the date 
        of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall, in 
        cooperation with all public housing agencies, create a database 
        of owners of properties receiving tenant-based assistance, 
        which shall include--
                    ``(A) a comprehensive list of all properties owned 
                by each owner that are receiving or have previously 
                received tenant-based assistance;
                    ``(B) for each property listed under subparagraph 
                (A), the identity of any private individual or entity 
                that has the legal right to lease or sublease dwelling 
                units within the property;
                    ``(C) a comprehensive list of all actions taken by 
                the Secretary and any public housing agency against an 
                owner for violations of the terms of a housing 
                assistance payments contract related to the property or 
                of the housing quality standards established under 
                subsection (o)(8)(B); and
                    ``(D) a comprehensive list of all previous or 
                ongoing litigation related to the programs authorized 
                under subsection (o) between the owner and any public 
                housing agency.
            ``(2) Public disclosures.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall maintain and 
                make available to the public a list, using information 
                from the database established under paragraph (1), of 
                all owners of properties receiving tenant-based 
                assistance, which shall include--
                            ``(i) the identity of any private 
                        individual or entity that has the legal right 
                        to lease or sublease dwelling units within each 
                        property;
                            ``(ii) all actions described to in 
                        paragraph (1)(C); and
                            ``(iii) all litigation described in 
                        paragraph (1)(D).
                    ``(B) Privacy.--Any information made available 
                under subparagraph (A)--
                            ``(i) shall be made available in a manner 
                        that protects the privacy of current and former 
                        tenants of the properties; and
                            ``(ii) shall not include, and where 
                        appropriate shall redact, the addresses of the 
                        properties and dwelling units owned by the 
                        owners or other personally identifiable 
                        information of tenants.
            ``(3) Penalty.--Any property owner who knowingly provides 
        misleading or inconsistent information to the Secretary or 
        public housing agencies, or to units of general local 
        government or other entities approved by the Secretary to 
        conduct inspections under subsection (o)(11), relating to the 
        database established under paragraph (1) with the intent to 
        undermine transparency or avoid sanction, shall be guilty of a 
        violation of section 1012 of title 18, United States Code, and 
        shall be prohibited thereafter from being awarded any contract 
        by the Federal Government.
            ``(4) Inspector general.--
                    ``(A) Investigations.--The Inspector General of the 
                Department of Housing and Urban Development may 
                investigate any suspected or alleged effort by an owner 
                to circumvent the data collection needs identified by 
                the Secretary to carry out this subsection by providing 
                misleading or inconsistent information.
                    ``(B) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the 
                date of enactment of this subsection, the Inspector 
                General of the Department of Housing and Urban 
                Development shall issue a report documenting obstacles 
                to maintaining consistent records within the database 
                established under paragraph (1), including--
                            ``(i) deficiencies in information 
                        submissions by owners;
                            ``(ii) inconsistent documentation by public 
                        housing agencies; and
                            ``(iii) legal restructuring or renaming of 
                        ownership entities by owners with the intent to 
                        evade transparency.
            ``(5) Audits and assessments.--Not later than 2 years after 
        the date of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall--
                    ``(A) audit the performance of public housing 
                agencies with the requirements under this subsection; 
                and
                    ``(B) update the section 8 management assessment 
                program of the Department of Housing and Urban 
                Development to consider compliance with the 
                requirements under this subsection.''.
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