[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2836 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2836

                     To amend the Fair Housing Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 9, 1999

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
                     To amend the Fair Housing Act.

    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 ``Fair Housing Amendments Act of 
1999''.

SEC. 2. FIRST AMENDMENT PROTECTIONS.

    The Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.) is amended by adding 
at the end the following:

                 ``protection of first amendment rights

    ``Sec. 821.(a) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to make the 
expression of an opinion or the seeking of redress from public 
authority a violation of this Act.
    ``(b) A party shall not be held liable or otherwise sanctioned 
under this Act for engaging in litigation or administrative proceedings 
unless--
            ``(1) the party does so for an improper purpose, such as to 
        harass or cause unnecessary delay or needlessly to increase the 
        cost of the litigation or proceedings; and
            ``(2)(A) the claims, defenses, and other legal contentions 
        of the party in the litigation or proceedings are not warranted 
        by existing law or by a nonfrivolous argument for the 
        extension, modification, or reversal of existing law or the 
        establishment of new law; or
            ``(B) the allegations and other factual contentions, for 
        which the party in the litigation or proceedings has the burden 
        of going forward with the evidence, have no evidentiary 
        support.''.

SEC. 3. SPECIFICITY OF COMPLAINT.

    Section 810(a)(1)(B)(ii) of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 
3610(a)(1)(B)(ii)) is amended by inserting ``in sufficient detail to 
allow the respondent to prepare a response and make any available 
defenses'' after ``practice''.

SEC. 4. EXHAUSTION OF STATE REMEDIES.

    Section 815 of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3615) is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(a)'' before ``Nothing in''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) A provision of a State or local law shall not be construed to 
violate this title if the party alleging such violation has not first 
sought appropriate relief through available administrative procedures 
provided by the State or local government regarding the application of 
that provision of law.''.

SEC. 5. CLARIFICATION OF FAMILIAL STATUS PROTECTION.

    Section 802(k) of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3602(k)) is 
amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``person'' and inserting 
        ``individual''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following: ``With respect to a 
        State or local law, the protections afforded against 
        discrimination on the basis of familial status apply only with 
        respect to groups of persons related by blood, marriage, or 
        adoption, and with respect to a child under the age of 18 years 
        living in a foster care arrangement with persons who are so 
        related.''.

SEC. 6. LOCAL CONTROL OF RESIDENTIAL USES.

    Section 807 of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3607) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Nothing in this title prevents--
            ``(1) State or local government regulation of facilities 
        for residential services for persons with handicaps, if such 
        regulation reasonably requires the dispersal of such 
        facilities;
            ``(2) State or local government restriction on the maximum 
        number of unrelated persons permitted to occupy a dwelling, or 
        restriction on commercial or for-profit activities, in an area 
        restricted to single family dwellings; or
            ``(3) State or local government restriction on the 
        occupancy of facilities for residential services for persons 
        convicted of a crime for which a term of imprisonment greater 
        than one year may be imposed, or juveniles adjudicated 
        delinquents on the basis of conduct that would constitute such 
        a crime if committed by an adult.''.
                                 <all>