[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 660 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.660

                       One Hundred Fourth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE FIRST SESSION

         Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
  the fourth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-five


                                 An Act


 
   To amend the Fair Housing Act to modify the exemption from certain 
familial status discrimination prohibitions granted to housing for older 
                                persons.

    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 ``Housing for Older Persons Act of 
1995''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF HOUSING FOR OLDER PERSONS.

    Section 807(b)(2)(C) of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 
3607(b)(2)(C)) is amended to read as follows:
        ``(C) intended and operated for occupancy by persons 55 years 
    of age or older, and--
            ``(i) at least 80 percent of the occupied units are 
        occupied by at least one person who is 55 years of age or 
        older;
            ``(ii) the housing facility or community publishes and 
        adheres to policies and procedures that demonstrate the intent 
        required under this subparagraph; and
            ``(iii) the housing facility or community complies with 
        rules issued by the Secretary for verification of occupancy, 
        which shall--
                ``(I) provide for verification by reliable surveys and 
            affidavits; and
                ``(II) include examples of the types of policies and 
            procedures relevant to a determination of compliance with 
            the requirement of clause (ii). Such surveys and affidavits 
            shall be admissible in administrative and judicial 
            proceedings for the purposes of such verification.''.

SEC. 3. GOOD FAITH ATTEMPT AT COMPLIANCE; DEFENSE AGAINST CIVIL MONEY 
              DAMAGES.

    Section 807(b) of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3607(b)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
    ``(5)(A) A person shall not be held personally liable for monetary 
damages for a violation of this title if such person reasonably relied, 
in good faith, on the application of the exemption under this 
subsection relating to housing for older persons.
    ``(B) For the purposes of this paragraph, a person may only show 
good faith reliance on the application of the exemption by showing 
that--
        ``(i) such person has no actual knowledge that the facility or 
    community is not, or will not be, eligible for such exemption; and
        ``(ii) the facility or community has stated formally, in 
    writing, that the facility or community complies with the 
    requirements for such exemption.''.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.