[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6785 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6785

To reform the provisions requiring ``one-strike'' eviction from public 
                    and federally assisted housing.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 1, 2008

 Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas (for herself, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Meeks of New 
York, Ms. Lee, and Ms. Watson) introduced the following bill; which was 
            referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To reform the provisions requiring ``one-strike'' eviction from public 
                    and federally assisted housing.

    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 ``No One Strike Eviction Act of 
2008''.

SEC. 2. REFORM OF ``ONE STRIKE'' MANDATORY EVICTION.

    (a) United States Housing Act of 1937.--Section 6(k) of the United 
States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437d(k)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through (6) as 
        subparagraphs (A) through (F) and realigning such subparagraphs 
        (as so redesignated) so as to be indented 4 ems from the left 
        margin;
            (2) by striking ``(k) The Secretary shall'' and inserting 
        the following:
    ``(k) Review of Eviction and Denials of Tenancy.--
            ``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (3), the Secretary 
        shall'';
            (3) by striking ``For any grievance concerning'' and 
        inserting the following:
            ``(2) Expedited procedures.--Subject to paragraph (3), for 
        any grievance concerning''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(3) Mitigating circumstances and innocent owner.--
                    ``(A) Mitigating circumstances.--In determining 
                whether to evict a tenant, terminate a tenancy, or deny 
                an application for tenancy due to a criminal conviction 
                of the person that is the subject of a grievance, and 
                in any judicial review of such determination, the 
                public housing agency or other reviewing body shall 
                consider all mitigating circumstances and the impact of 
                the eviction, termination, or denial upon the family 
                and dependents of that person.
                    ``(B) Innocent tenants.--A tenant shall not be 
                subject to eviction, denied a tenancy, or have a 
                tenancy terminated based solely upon the familial 
                relationship of the tenant to a person who has been 
                convicted of a criminal offense.''.
    (b) Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998.--
            (1) Ineligibility.--Section 576 of the Quality Housing and 
        Work Responsibility Act of 1998 (42 U.S.C. 13661) is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (b)--
                            (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ``any 
                        household with a member'' and inserting ``any 
                        person''; and
                            (ii) in paragraph (2)--
                                    (I) by striking ``any household'' 
                                and inserting ``any person''; and
                                    (II) by striking ``household 
                                member'' each place such term appears 
                                and inserting ``person'';
                    (B) in subsection (c)--
                            (i) in the matter preceding paragraph (1)--
                                    (I) by striking ``or any member of 
                                the applicant's household''; and
                                    (II) by striking ``applicant 
                                household'' and inserting 
                                ``applicant''; and
                            (ii) in paragraph (2)--
                                    (I) by striking ``or individuals in 
                                the applicant's household''; and
                                    (II) by striking ``have not'' and 
                                inserting ``has not'';
                    (C) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection 
                (e); and
                    (D) by inserting after subsection (d) the following 
                new subsection:
    ``(d) Review of Denial of Application.--
            ``(1) Review of denial.--The denial of an application under 
        this section shall be subject to review in accordance with the 
        provisions of section 6(k) of the United States Housing Act of 
        1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437d(k)).
            ``(2) Innocent applicants.--Nothing in this section shall 
        allow for the denial of an application based solely on the 
        familial relationship of an applicant to a person who has a 
        criminal conviction or is otherwise in violation of this 
        section.''.
            (2) Termination of tenancy and assistance for illegal drug 
        users and alcohol abusers in federally assisted housing.--
        Section 577 of the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act 
        of 1998 (42 U.S.C. 13662) is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a), by striking ``household with 
                a member'' and inserting ``person'';
                    (B) in subsection (b)--
                            (i) by striking ``household based'' and 
                        inserting ``person based'';
                            (ii) by striking ``by a household member'' 
                        and inserting ``by that person''; and
                            (iii) by striking ``such household member'' 
                        and inserting ``such person''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Review of Termination of Tenancy.--The decision to terminate 
the tenancy or assistance of any person under this section shall be 
subject to review in accordance with the provisions of section 6(k) of 
the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437d(k)).
    ``(d) Innocent Tenants.--Nothing in this section shall allow for 
the termination of a tenancy or assistance to any person based solely 
on the familial relationship of the tenant to a person who is in 
violation of this section.''.
    (c) Requirement of Intent or Knowledge of Crime Before Eviction 
From or Denial of Public and Publicly Assisted Housing.--The United 
States Housing Act of 1937 is amended--
            (1) in each of sections 6(l)(6) and 8(o)(7)(D) (42 U.S.C. 
        1437d(l)(6) and 1437f(o)(7)(D)), by inserting after the first 
        semicolon the following: ``except that such criminal or drug-
        related activity, engaged in by a member of a tenant's 
        household or any guest or other person under the tenant's 
        control, shall not be cause for termination of tenancy of the 
        tenant if the tenant did not know and should not have known of 
        the activity, or if the tenant, member of the tenant's 
        household, or any guest or other person under the tenant's 
        control was the victim of criminal activity; and''; and
            (2) in section 8(d)(1)(B)(iii) (42 U.S.C. 
        1437f(d)(1)(B)(iii)), by inserting after the first colon the 
        following: ``such criminal or drug-related activity, engaged in 
        by a member of a tenant's household or any guest or other 
        person under the tenant's control, shall not be cause for 
        termination of tenancy of the tenant if the tenant did not know 
        and should not have known of the activity, or if the tenant, 
        member of the tenant's household, or any guest or other person 
        under the tenant's control was the victim of criminal activity; 
        and except that''.
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