Establishment of Office of Eviction Prevention

(a)

In general

Section 4 of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act (42 U.S.C. 3533) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

(i)

Office of Eviction Prevention

(1)

Establishment

There is established in the Department, in the Office of the Secretary, the Office of Eviction Prevention.(2)

Director

There is established the position of Director of the Office of Eviction Prevention. The Director shall be the head of the Office of Eviction Prevention and shall be appointed by, and shall report to, the Secretary. Such position shall be a career-reserved position in the Senior Executive Service.(3)

Mission

The mission of the Office of Eviction Prevention shall be to prevent evictions from rental housing and to protect tenants of such housing from the harm of evictions and eviction filings.(4)

Functions

The Director shall have primary responsibility within the Department for all activities and matters relating to eviction prevention, including the following:(A)Administering the Eviction Protection Grant Program of the Department, including—(i)conducting a robust evaluation of grantees under the program and the activities undertaken under the program by grantees, and assessing whether such activities improved outcomes for tenants served by a grant, taking into consideration the differing tenant protections in States and localities;(ii)identifying, and reporting to the Congress on, best practices and activities for eviction protection, including identifying resources and funding needed to continue and replicate best practices and activities; and(iii)providing technical assistance and support to grantees under the program to provide them with training, expertise, best practices, and problem-solving strategies.(B)Analyzing and reporting on information gathered through the Eviction Protection Grant Program and other programs administered by the Office.(C)Coordinating with the Office of Policy Development and Research of the Department in establishing a database on evictions, which shall be administered by such Office and shall include such measures as may be necessary to protect against the release of personally identifiable information regarding tenants, analyzing information collected by such database, and reporting to the Congress regarding such analyses.(D)Coordinating strategies to prevent evictions and early lease terminations in housing programs administered by the Department, including through—(i)training offices and personnel of the Department on eviction prevention policies and programs and tenants rights; and(ii)coordinating with other offices of the Department, including the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity and the Office of Gender-Based Violence.(E)Collaborating with other Federal agencies, including the Office of Access to Justice of the Department of Justice, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Defense, to develop best practices for eviction prevention strategies within Federal programs and the private rental market. (F)Identifying strategies to prevent and reduce evictions across the United States, including—(i)collaborating with Federal agencies whose activities impact tenants in federally subsidized housing and housing in the private rental market, including the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Transportation, the United States Domestic Policy Council, and the National Economic Council;(ii)establishing a working group on eviction prevention to study and develop solutions to the national eviction crisis, which working group shall include representatives of agencies referred to in clause (i), tenant representatives, representatives of legal services providers, and grantees under the Eviction Protection Grant Program;(iii)providing technical assistance to housing providers, State and local governments, and other agencies on issues related to evictions and tenant protections; and(iv)coordinating with State and local governments and agencies, including State housing finance agencies, on such issues.(G)Conducting outreach to and engagement with tenants to—(i)provide education and information about tenant protections and available eviction prevention programs, including by developing resources and materials for tenants;(ii)collect complaints and feedback from tenants and community members on evictions and eviction-prevention programs; and(iii)refer complaints regarding evictions to appropriate Federal, State, and local agencies or organizations, including legal and other advocacy organizations, appropriate to address housing-related issues.(5)

Covered evictions

For purposes of this subsection the term eviction includes the variety of processes and means by which landlords remove tenants from rental properties, including—(A)court-ordered evictions, including eviction filings, court-ordered eviction rulings, and any eviction actions that take place through the judicial system;(B)extra-legal evictions that do not involve the judicial system, commonly known as illegal, unlawful, informal, or self-help evictions, including threatening tenants, changing the locks on rental units, shutting off the utilities to such units, and paying tenants to surrender occupancy of a unit;(C)administrative actions by public housing agencies to evict residents of public housing; and(D)early lease terminations by housing providers receiving assistance from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

(b)

Transfer

The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall provide for the transfer of the administration of the Eviction Protection Grant Program of the Department, which as of the date of the enactment of this Act is the responsibility of the Office of Policy Development and Research, to the Director of the Office of Eviction Prevention established under section 4(i) of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act, as added by the amendment made by subsection (a) of this section.