[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3612 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3612

   To amend the Fair Housing Act to prohibit discrimination based on 
                  source of income or veteran status.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 13, 2018

 Mr. Hatch (for himself and Mr. Kaine) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
                           and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Fair Housing Act to prohibit discrimination based on 
                  source of income or veteran status.

    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 Improvement Act of 
2018''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITING HOUSING DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SOURCE OF INCOME OR 
              VETERAN STATUS.

    (a) In General.--The Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.) is 
amended--
            (1) in section 802 (42 U.S.C. 3602), by adding at the end 
        the following:
    ``(p) `Source of income' includes--
            ``(1) a housing voucher under section 8 of the United 
        States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f) and any form of 
        Federal, State, or local housing assistance provided to a 
        family or provided to a housing owner on behalf of a family, 
        including rental vouchers, rental assistance, and rental 
        subsidies from nongovernmental organizations;
            ``(2) income received during a taxable year as Social 
        Security benefits, as defined in section 86(d) of the Internal 
        Revenue Code of 1986, or as supplemental security income 
        benefits under title XVI of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
        1381 et seq.);
            ``(3) income received by court order, including spousal 
        support and child support;
            ``(4) any payment from a trust, guardian, or conservator; 
        and
            ``(5) any other lawful source of income.
    ``(q) `Veteran status' means--
            ``(1) a member of the uniformed services, as defined in 
        section 101 of title 10, United States Code; or
            ``(2) a veteran, as defined in section 101 of title 38, 
        United States Code.'';
            (2) in section 804 (42 U.S.C. 3604)--
                    (A) by inserting ``source of income, veteran 
                status,'' after ``familial status,'' each place that 
                term appears; and
                    (B) in subsection (c)--
                            (i) by inserting ``(1)'' before ``To 
                        make''; and
                            (ii) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(2) Nothing in this title shall be construed to--
            ``(A) prohibit a lender from implementing a loan program 
        for veterans or based upon veteran status; or
            ``(B) prohibit an entity from providing housing assistance 
        under section 8(o)(19) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 
        (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(19)), the Homeless Providers Grant and Per 
        Diem program of the Department of Veterans Affairs, or any 
        other Federal housing assistance program for veterans or based 
        upon veterans status.'';
            (3) in section 805 (42 U.S.C. 3605)--
                    (A) in subsection (a), by inserting ``source of 
                income, veteran status,'' after ``familial status,''; 
                and
                    (B) in subsection (c), by inserting ``source of 
                income, veteran status,'' after ``handicap,'';
            (4) in section 806 (42 U.S.C. 3606), by inserting ``source 
        of income, veteran status,'' after ``familial status,''; and
            (5) in section 808(e)(6) (42 U.S.C. 3608(e)(6)), by 
        inserting ``source of income, veteran status,'' after 
        ``handicap,''.
    (b) Prevention of Intimidation in Fair Housing Cases.--Section 901 
of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3631) is amended by 
inserting ``source of income (as defined in section 802), veteran 
status (as defined in section 802),'' before ``or national origin'' 
each place that term appears.
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