[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2486 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2486
To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to award
grants for landlord-tenant mediation programs.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 17, 2019
Ms. Hassan (for herself, Mr. Kaine, and Mr. Van Hollen) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to award
grants for landlord-tenant mediation programs.
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 ``Prevent Evictions Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Covered grant.--The term ``covered grant'' means an
implementation grant or program expansion grant.
(2) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means a
State or a court thereof, a political subdivision of a State or
a court thereof, a Tribal government, or any other appropriate
public or nonprofit entity as determined by the Secretary, that
is formulating or carrying out a program that primarily
involves meditation between landlords and tenants.
(3) Implementation grant.--The term ``implementation
grant'' means a grant awarded under section 5(b).
(4) Program expansion grant.--The term ``program expansion
grant'' means a grant awarded under section 5(c).
(5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Housing and Urban Development.
(6) Small-dollar eviction.--The term ``small-dollar
eviction'' means an eviction resulting from an eviction case
brought against a tenant for nonpayment of rent in which the
unpaid amount is less than 1 month's rent.
SEC. 3. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Landlords often make their largest profit margins in
low-income neighborhoods. This is in part due to the difference
between the perceived risk of low-income tenants defaulting on
their rent and the actual risk.
(2) A significant proportion of eviction money judgments--
in some jurisdictions, potentially more than 40 percent--are
for less than 1 month's rent, based on median rent per census
tract.
(3) According to the book ``Evicted: Poverty and Profit in
the American City'' by Matthew Desmond, families and
individuals who are evicted are more likely to experience a
decline in mental and physical health, have poor attendance in
school, and have more trouble holding a job.
SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) landlord-tenant mediation is a valuable and cost-
effective way to keep tenants in their homes, and more
investment in that type of mediation is warranted;
(2) there is a lack of research on the potential for
certain types of insurance to be cost-effective interventions
that keep tenants in their homes, which warrants future study;
(3) eviction should be a last resort; and
(4) reducing the number of small-dollar evictions will
produce a substantial return on investment for individuals and
families and for society as a whole.
SEC. 5. LANDLORD-TENANT MEDIATION COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--The Secretary shall award competitive grants under
subsections (b) and (c) to eligible entities to assist those entities
in establishing and administering, or continuing, landlord-tenant
mediation programs.
(b) Implementation Grants.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall award competitive
grants to eligible entities to assist the entities in
establishing and administering landlord-tenant mediation
programs.
(2) Term.--The term of an implementation grant shall be 2
years.
(3) Amount.--The amount of an implementation grant shall be
not more than $1,500,000.
(4) Use of funds.--An eligible entity may use an
implementation grant to establish--
(A) a statewide mediation program; or
(B) a mediation program in a political subdivision
of a State or in the jurisdiction of an Indian Tribe
that demonstrates a high need for such a program due
to--
(i) the rate of evictions in the political
subdivision or Tribal jurisdiction; or
(ii) other characteristics of the political
subdivision or Indian Tribe that contribute to
the rate of evictions in the political
subdivision or Tribal jurisdiction.
(5) Federal share.--The Federal share of the cost of a
mediation program established using an implementation grant may
not exceed 50 percent.
(c) Program Expansion Grants.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall award competitive
grants to eligible entities to assist the entities in
continuing activities related to landlord-tenant mediation.
(2) Term.--The term of a program expansion grant shall be 3
years.
(3) Amount.--The amount of a program expansion grant shall
be not more than $1,000,000.
(4) Maintenance of effort.--Amounts made available to an
eligible entity under a program expansion grant shall be used
to supplement, and not supplant, contributions made by the
eligible entity for existing landlord-tenant mediation
activities.
(d) General Rules for Covered Grants.--
(1) Use of funds.--An eligible entity may use a covered
grant to pay for operating costs, staff salaries, mediator
compensation, information technology, interpreters, outreach
services, and recruitment.
(2) Good faith participation.--An eligible entity that
receives a covered grant shall encourage each party
participating in the landlord-tenant mediation program funded
by the grant to make a good faith effort to discuss potential
resolutions.
(3) Geographic and population diversity.--The Secretary
shall ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that
recipients of covered grants represent--
(A) diverse geographical areas of the United
States; and
(B) States, political subdivisions of States, and
Indian Tribes of varying population sizes.
(4) Free to tenants.--A tenant may not be charged for
participating in landlord-tenant mediation funded by a covered
grant.
(e) Oversight Requirements.--For each year of a covered grant
received by an eligible entity, the eligible entity shall submit to the
Secretary a report that--
(1) describes how the eligible entity used the grant funds
during that year; and
(2) includes any performance data, relating to programs
funded by the covered grant, that the eligible entity submitted
to a State or political subdivision thereof, if applicable.
(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section such sums as may be necessary
for fiscal year 2020 and each fiscal year thereafter.
SEC. 6. STUDY AND DEMONSTRATION OF EVICTION-PREVENTING INSURANCE
MODELS.
(a) In General.--Not later than 18 months after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall study, and submit to
Congress a report on--
(1) insurance models designed to reduce evictions or expand
access to rental opportunities for tenants, such as rental
payment insurance;
(2) the cost of various insurance models described in
paragraph (1); and
(3) the effects of various insurance models described in
paragraph (1) on tenants, landlords, and housing markets.
(b) Objectives.--In conducting the study under subsection (a), the
Secretary shall seek to--
(1) better understand insurance models described in that
subsection that are not widely available in the United States;
(2) assess the viability of the insurance models in United
States markets and how the insurance models could be
implemented through private, public, or subsidized programs;
(3) determine whether insurance models in which the
insurance policy is purchased by the tenant, the landlord, or a
public entity would be most effective in achieving the
objectives under this subsection;
(4) study any existing relevant insurance programs and the
effectiveness of those programs, both domestically and
internationally;
(5) study how Federal mortgage insurance programs could
help inform the structure or breadth of the insurance models;
(6) study how the insurance models could be structured in
order to best prevent evictions, particularly small-dollar
evictions;
(7) study how to structure the insurance models in order to
prevent moral hazard;
(8) study the potential for the insurance models to serve
as a bridge for tenants between--
(A) participating in more cost-intensive, longer-
term housing programs, such as public housing under the
United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et
seq.) or rental assistance under section 8 of that Act
(42 U.S.C. 1437f); and
(B) leaving the programs described in subparagraph
(A) entirely;
(9) study how the insurance models could be tailored to
target or benefit lower-income families or vulnerable renters;
and
(10) study the extent to which the insurance models could
be paired with landlord-tenant mediation efforts.
(c) Results of Study.--
(1) Report.--The Secretary shall include in the report
under subsection (a)--
(A) a description of any insurance models that--
(i) have the strongest potential to achieve
the objectives under subsection (b); and
(ii) could be tested through a
demonstration project; and
(B) a proposal for a demonstration project to test
the most promising insurance model described in
subparagraph (A).
(2) Demonstration project priority for grant recipients.--
In selecting the jurisdiction in which to conduct the
demonstration project proposed under paragraph (1)(B), the
Secretary shall give priority to jurisdictions served by a
recipient of a covered grant.
(3) Budget request.--After submitting the report under
subsection (a), the Secretary shall include in the first annual
budget request that the Secretary submits to Congress under
section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, a request for
funds for the demonstration proposal described in paragraph
(1)(B).
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