Title: Ensuring Affordable Housing Security During the Coronavirus Emergency Act of 2020
Policy area: Housing and Community Development

Summary:
Ensuring Affordable Housing Security During the Coronavirus Emergency Act of 2020
This bill provides for housing assistance during the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) public health emergency.
Specifically, tenants in certain federally assisted housing shall not be required to make rent payments from the date of the bill's enactment until six months after the end of the COVID-19 emergency declaration.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Agriculture must reimburse public housing agencies (PHAs) and owners of federally assisted housing for these suspended rent payments, including any increase in low-income housing choice voucher assistance payments made by PHAs to compensate for the suspended rent payments.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6374 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6374

     To suspend requirements that tenants of assisted housing make 
 contributions toward rent during the public health emergency relating 
                to coronavirus, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 23, 2020

Ms. Velazquez introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To suspend requirements that tenants of assisted housing make 
 contributions toward rent during the public health emergency relating 
                to coronavirus, 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 ``Ensuring Affordable Housing Security 
During the Coronavirus Emergency Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. SUSPENSION OF REQUIREMENTS REGARDING TENANT CONTRIBUTION TOWARD 
              RENT.

    (a) Suspension.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 
obligation of each tenant household of a dwelling unit in assisted 
housing to pay any contribution toward rent for occupancy in such 
dwelling unit shall be suspended with respect to such occupancy during 
the period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act and 
ending 6 months after the date of the termination by the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency of the emergency declared on March 13, 
2020, by the President under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 4121 et seq.) relating to the 
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
    (b) Federal Reimbursement Payments.--To the extent that amounts are 
made available pursuant to subsection (e) for reimbursements under this 
subsection, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development or the 
Secretary of Agriculture, as appropriate, shall--
            (1) provide owners of assisted housing and public housing 
        agencies for any amounts in rent not received as a result of 
        subsection (a), plus the amount of any increases in costs of 
        administering and maintaining such housing to the extent only 
        that such increases result from the public health emergency 
        relating to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19); and
            (2) in the case of public housing agencies providing 
        assistance under section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act 
        of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)), reimburse such agencies in an 
        amount sufficient to cover any increase in housing assistance 
        payments resulting from the suspension of tenant rent payments 
        pursuant to subsection (a), plus the amount of any increases in 
        the cost of administering such assistance to the extent only 
        that such increases result from the public health emergency 
        relating to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
    (c) Prohibitions.--
            (1) On fines.--No tenant or tenant household may be charged 
        a fine or fee for nonpayment of rent in accordance with 
        subsection (a) and such nonpayment of rent shall not be grounds 
        for any termination of tenancy or eviction.
            (2) On debt.--No tenant or tenant household may be treated 
        as accruing any debt by reason of suspension of contribution of 
        rent under subsection (a).
            (3) On repayment.--No tenant or tenant household may be 
        held liable for repayment of any amount of rent contribution 
        suspended under subsection (a).
            (4) On credit scores.--The nonpayment of rent by a tenant 
        or tenant household shall not be reported to a consumer 
        reporting agency nor shall such nonpayment adversely affect a 
        tenant or member of a tenant household's credit score.
    (d) Assisted Housing.--For purposes of this section, the term 
``assisted housing'' means housing or a dwelling unit assisted under--
            (1) section 213, 220, 221(d)(3), 221(d)(4), 223(e), 231, or 
        236 of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715l(d)(3), (d)(4), 
        or 1715z-1);
            (2) section 101 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 
        1965 (12 U.S.C. 1701s);
            (3) section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 
        1701q);
            (4) section 811 of the Cranston-Gonzales National 
        Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013);
            (5) title II of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable 
        Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12701 et seq.);
            (6) subtitle D of title VIII of the Cranston-Gonzalez 
        National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12901 et seq.);
            (7) title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 
        1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.);
            (8) section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 
        U.S.C. 1437f);
            (9) the public housing program under title I of the United 
        States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.); or
            (10) section 514, 515, 516, 521(a)(2), 538, or 542 of the 
        Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1484, 1485, 1486, 1490a(a)(2), 
        1490p-2, 1490r).
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to make payments under 
subsection (b) to all owners of assisted housing and public housing 
agencies.
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