Title: Coronavirus Housing Counseling Improvement Act of 2020
Policy area: Housing and Community Development

Summary:
Coronavirus Housing Counseling Improvement Act of 2020
This bill authorizes additional housing counseling services, provided through the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, with priority for funding given to counseling organizations that target and provide their services to low-income and minority homeowners, renters, individuals experiencing homelessness, and individuals at risk of homelessness.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6704 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6704

 To authorize additional funding for housing counseling services, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 5, 2020

 Mrs. Axne (for herself and Ms. Waters) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize additional funding for housing counseling services, 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 ``Coronavirus Housing Counseling 
Improvement Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) the spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), 
        which is now considered a global pandemic, is expected to 
        negatively impact the incomes of potentially millions of 
        homeowners, renters, individuals experiencing homelessness, and 
        individuals at risk of homelessness, making it difficult for 
        them to pay their mortgages or rents on time;
            (2) housing counseling is critical to ensuring that 
        homeowners, renters, individuals experiencing homelessness, and 
        individuals at risk of homelessness have the resources they 
        need to manage financial hardships from the COVID-19 crisis;
            (3) foreclosure mitigation services are also critical to 
        address the needs of homeowners who lose employment and income 
        because of the pandemic and who face serious delinquency or 
        mortgage default, or are in foreclosing proceedings during this 
        period;
            (4) evaluations from the National Foreclosure Mitigation 
        Counseling program revealed that homeowners at risk of or 
        facing foreclosure are better served when they have access to a 
        housing counselor and a range of tools and resources to help 
        them avoid losing their home and have the support they need to 
        tailor the best possible response to their situation.

SEC. 3. FUNDING FOR HOUSING COUNSELING SERVICES.

    (a) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation (in this 
section referred to as the ``Corporation'') established under the 
Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation Act (42 U.S.C. 8101 et seq.) 
$700,000,000 for fiscal year 2020 for assistance under section 106 of 
the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 (12 U.S.C. 1701x) for 
housing counseling services, which shall remain available until 
September 30, 2023.
    (b) Prioritization of Housing Counseling Services.--Of any amounts 
made available pursuant to subsection (a), not less than 40 percent 
shall be provided to counseling organizations that target counseling 
services regarding loss mitigation to minority and low-income 
homeowners, renters, individuals experiencing homelessness, and 
individuals at risk of homelessness or provide such services in 
neighborhoods with high concentrations of minority and low-income 
homeowners, renters, individuals experiencing homelessness, and 
individuals at risk of homelessness.
    (c) Eligible Uses.--Amounts made available pursuant to subsection 
(a) may be used in such amounts as the Corporation determines for costs 
of--
            (1) public education and outreach;
            (2) direct services, including the full range of services 
        provided by housing counselors to assist homeowners, renters, 
        individuals experiencing homelessness, and individuals at risk 
        of homelessness, including the practices, tools, and 
        innovations in foreclosure mitigation that were utilized in the 
        National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program, and 
        financial capability, credit counseling, homeless counseling, 
        and rental counseling;
            (3) equipment and technology, including broadband internet 
        and equipment upgrades needed to ensure timely and effective 
        service delivery; and
            (4) training, including capacitating housing counseling 
        staff in various modes of counseling, including rental and 
        foreclosure, delivery of remote counseling utilizing improved 
        technology, enhanced network security, and supportive options 
        for the delivery of client services;
all of which may be billed as direct costs.
    (d) Disbursement.--The Corporation shall disburse all amounts made 
available pursuant to subsection (a) as expeditiously as possible, 
through grants to housing counseling intermediaries approved by the 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, State housing finance 
agencies, and NeighborWorks organizations. The aggregate amount 
provided to NeighborWorks organizations shall not exceed 15 percent of 
the total amounts made available pursuant to subsection (a).
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