[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3390 Introduced in House (IH)]

  2d Session
                                H. R. 3390

 To reform occupancy standards for public and other federally assisted 
   housing to provide safer living environments and increased local 
                    control, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 2, 1996

  Mr. Moran introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
              Committee on Banking and Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To reform occupancy standards for public and other federally assisted 
   housing to provide safer living environments and increased local 
                    control, 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 ``One Strike You're Out, Part II 
Act''.

SEC. 2. SCREENING OF PROSPECTIVE ASSISTED FAMILIES.

    (a) In General.--Section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 
(42 U.S.C. 1437f) is amended by inserting after subsection (k) the 
following new subsection:
    ``(l) Denial of Assistance to Criminal Offenders.--In making 
assistance under this section available on behalf of eligible families, 
a public housing agency may deny the provision of such assistance in 
the same manner, for the same period, and subject to the same 
conditions that an owner of federally assisted housing may deny 
occupancy in such housing under section 642(b) of the Housing and 
Community Development Act of 1992.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Clause (A) of section 8(d)(1) of the 
United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(d)(1)(A)) is amended 
to read as follows:
            ``(A) the selection of tenants for such units shall be 
        function of the owner, subject to the provisions of the annual 
        contributions contract between the Secretary and the public 
        housing agency, except that in making such assistance available 
        the public housing agency may limit the provision of assistance 
        pursuant to subsection (l);''.

SEC. 3. OCCUPANCY SCREENING.

    Section 642 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 
(42 U.S.C. 13602)--
            (1) by inserting ``(a) General Criteria.--'' before ``In''; 
        and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsections:
    ``(b) Authority to Deny Occupancy for Criminal Offenders.--In 
selecting tenants for occupancy of dwelling units in federally assisted 
housing, if the owner of such housing determines that an applicant for 
occupancy in the housing or any member of the applicant's household is 
or was, during the preceding 3 years, engaged in any activity described 
in paragraph (2)(C) of section 645, the owner may--
            ``(1) deny such applicant occupancy and consider the 
        applicant (for purposes of any waiting list) as not having 
        applied for such occupancy ; and
            ``(2) after the expiration of the 3-year period beginning 
        upon such activity, require the applicant, as a condition of 
        occupancy in the housing or application for occupancy in the 
        housing, to submit to the owner evidence sufficient (as the 
        Secretary shall by regulation provide) to ensure that the 
        individual or individuals in the applicant's household who 
        engaged in criminal activity for which denial was made under 
        paragraph (1) have not engaged in any criminal activity during 
        such 3-year period.
    ``(c) Authority to Require Access to Criminal Records.--An owner of 
federally assisted housing may require, as a condition of providing 
occupancy in a dwelling unit in such housing to an applicant for 
occupancy and the members of the applicant's household, that each adult 
member of the household provide the owner with a signed, written 
authorization for the owner to obtain records described in section 
646(a) regarding such member of the household from the National Crime 
Information Center, police departments, and other law enforcement 
agencies.''.

SEC. 4. TERMINATION OF TENANCY.

    (a) Public Housing.--
            (1) Expedited grievance procedure.--Section 6(k) of the 
        United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437d(k)) is 
        amended in the first sentence of the matter following paragraph 
        (6) by striking ``For'' and all that follows through ``off such 
        premises'' and inserting the following: ``For any grievance 
        concerning an eviction or termination of tenancy that involves 
        any activity that is described in subsection (l)(5)''.
            (2) Leases.--Section 6(l) of the United States Housing Act 
        of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437d(l)) is amended by striking paragraphs 
        (4) and (5) and inserting the following new paragraphs:
            ``(4) require that the public housing agency may not 
        terminate the tenancy except for violation of the terms and 
        conditions of the lease, violation of applicable Federal, 
        State, or local law, or other good cause;
            ``(5) provide that any activity, engaged in by the tenant, 
        any member of the tenant's household, or any guest or other 
        person under the tenant's control (regardless of whether the 
        tenant had actual knowledge of such activity), that--
                    ``(A) threatens the health or safety of, or right 
                to peaceful enjoyment of the premises by, other tenants 
                or employees of the public housing agency or other 
                manager of the housing,
                    ``(B) threatens the health or safety of, or right 
                to peaceful enjoyment of their residences by, persons 
                residing in the immediate vicinity of the premises, or
                    ``(C) is criminal activity (including drug-related 
                criminal activity) on or off the premises,
            shall be cause for termination of tenancy; and''.
    (b) Section 8 Assistance.--Section 8(d)(1)(B) of the United States 
Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(d)(1)(B)) is amended by striking 
clauses (ii) and (iii) and inserting the following new clauses:
            ``(ii) the owner may not terminate the tenancy except for 
        violation of the terms and conditions of the lease, violation 
        of applicable Federal, State, or local law, or other good 
        cause;
            ``(iii) any activity, engaged in by the tenant, any member 
        of the tenant's household, or any guest or other person under 
        the tenant's control (regardless of whether the tenant had 
        actual knowledge of such activity), that--
                    ``(I) threatens the health or safety of, or right 
                to peaceful enjoyment of the premises by, other tenants 
                or employees of the owner or other manager of the 
                housing,
                    ``(II) threatens the health or safety of, or right 
                to peaceful enjoyment of their residences by, persons 
                residing in the immediate vicinity of the premises, or
                    ``(III) is criminal activity (including drug-
                related criminal activity) on or off the premises,
        shall be cause for termination of tenancy; and''.
    (c) Federally Assisted Housing.--Subtitle C of title VI of the 
Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13601 et seq.) 
is amended--
            (1) by adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 645. TERMINATION OF TENANCY.

    ``Each lease for a dwelling unit in federally assisted housing 
shall provide that--
            ``(1) the owner may not terminate the tenancy except for 
        violation of the terms and conditions of the lease, violation 
        of applicable Federal, State, or local law, or other good 
        cause; and
            ``(2) any activity, engaged in by the tenant, any member of 
        the tenant's household, or any guest or other person under the 
        tenant's control (regardless of whether the tenant had actual 
        knowledge of such activity), that--
                    ``(A) threatens the health or safety of, or right 
                to peaceful enjoyment of the premises by, other tenants 
                or employees of the owner or other manager of the 
                housing,
                    ``(B) threatens the health or safety of, or right 
                to peaceful enjoyment of their residences by, persons 
                residing in the immediate vicinity of the premises, or
                    ``(C) is criminal activity (including drug-related 
                criminal activity) on or off the premises,
        shall be cause for termination of tenancy.''; and
            (2) in section 683 (42 U.S.C. 13641), by adding at the end 
        the following new paragraph:
            ``(6) Drug-related criminal activity.--The term `drug-
        related criminal activity' means the illegal manufacture, sale, 
        distribution, use, or possession with intent to manufacture, 
        sell, distribute, or use, of a controlled substance (as defined 
        in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act).''.

SEC. 6. AVAILABILITY OF CRIMINAL RECORDS FOR TENANT SCREENING AND 
              EVICTION.

    Subtitle C of title VI of the Housing and Community Development Act 
of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13601 et seq.) is amended adding after section 645 
(as added by section 5(c) of this Act) the following new section:

``SEC. 646. AVAILABILITY OF RECORDS.

    ``(a) In General.--
            ``(1) Provision of information.--Notwithstanding any other 
        provision of law other than paragraph (2), upon the request of 
        an owner of federally assisted housing, the National Crime 
        Information Center, a police department, and any other law 
        enforcement agency shall provide to the owner of federally 
        assisted housing information regarding the criminal conviction 
        records of an adult applicant for, or tenants of, the federally 
        assisted housing for purposes of applicant screening, lease 
        enforcement, and eviction, but only if such Center, department, 
        or agency is presented with a written authorization, signed by 
        such applicant, for the release of such information to such 
        owner.
            ``(2) Exception.--A law enforcement agency described in 
        paragraph (1) shall provide information under this paragraph 
        relating to any criminal conviction of a juvenile only to the 
        extent that the release of such information is authorized under 
        the law of the applicable State, tribe, or locality.
    ``(b) Opportunity to Dispute.--Before an adverse action is taken 
with regard to assistance for federally assisted housing on the basis 
of a criminal record, the public housing agency or owner, as 
applicable, shall provide the tenant or applicant with a copy of the 
criminal record and an opportunity to dispute the accuracy and 
relevance of that record.
    ``(c) Fee.--A public housing agency or owner of federally assisted 
housing may be charged a reasonable fee for information provided under 
subsection (a).
    ``(d) Records Management.--Each public housing agency and owner of 
federally assisted housing that receives criminal record information 
under this section shall establish and implement a system of records 
management that ensures that any criminal record received by the agency 
or owner is--
            ``(1) maintained confidentially;
            ``(2) not misused or improperly disseminated; and
            ``(3) destroyed, once the purpose for which the record was 
        requested has been accomplished.
    ``(e) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term `adult' 
means a person who is 18 years of age or older, or who has been 
convicted of a crime as an adult under any Federal, State, or tribal 
law.''.
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