Title: Emergency Eviction Enforcement Act of 2020
Policy area: Housing and Community Development

Summary:
Emergency Eviction Enforcement Act of 2020
This bill prohibits a landlord, during a national emergency, from (1) evicting a tenant without a court order, (2) creating a hostile environment for a tenant for the purpose of causing the tenant to vacate, or (3) impairing the habitability of a dwelling for the purpose of causing the tenant to vacate. Violators are subject to criminal and civil penalties.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8886 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8886

 To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for prohibitions on 
                   eviction, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 7, 2020

  Mr. Cohen introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for prohibitions on 
                   eviction, 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 ``Emergency Eviction Enforcement Act 
of 2020''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITIONS ON EVICTION.

    (a) In General.--Part 1 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 
by adding at the end the following:

                ``CHAPTER 125.--PROHIBITIONS ON EVICTION

``2741. Prohibition on eviction during national emergency.
``Sec. 2741. Prohibition on eviction during national emergency
    ``(a) Civil Action.--Any person injured by a violation of this 
section may bring a cause of action for injunctive relief and damages 
equal to three times to amount of the injury, and may be awarded 
attorneys' fees.
    ``(b) In General.--Whoever, being a lessor of a covered dwelling, 
knowingly--
            ``(1) repossesses or physically attempts to repossess a 
        covered dwelling from a tenant of the covered dwelling without 
        a duly issued order from a court of jurisdiction;
            ``(2) threatens, harasses, intimidates, or creates a 
        hostile environment for a tenant of a covered dwelling for the 
        purpose of causing the tenant to vacate the covered dwelling; 
        or
            ``(3) impairs the habitability of a covered dwelling 
        (including suspending utility service, changing locks, refusing 
        to repair structure, plumbing, electrical, ventilation systems, 
        maintain appliances in state of good repair) for the purpose of 
        causing the tenant to vacate the covered dwelling,
shall be punished as provided in subsection (c).
    ``(c) Punishments.--Whoever violates subsection (b) shall--
            ``(1) for a first offense, be imprisoned not more than 1 
        year or fined under this title, or both; and
            ``(2) for each subsequent offense, be imprisoned for not 
        more than 5 years or fined under this title, or both.
    ``(d) Definition.--In this section, the term `dwelling'--
            ``(1) has the meaning given the term in section 802 of the 
        Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3602); and
            ``(2) includes houses and dwellings described in section 
        803(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 3603(b)).
For purposes of this section, a dwelling shall be located in an area 
designated by the President as a national emergency, for the duration 
of the designation, under the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 
et seq.), Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d), or Robert T. 
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 
et seq.).''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of chapters for such part is 
amended by adding at the end the following:

``125. Prohibitions on eviction.............................    2741''.
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