[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7412 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7412

            To facilitate the use of rural housing vouchers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 20, 2024

 Ms. Crockett (for herself, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, and Ms. Salinas) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
            To facilitate the use of rural housing vouchers.

    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 ``Rural Housing Voucher Enhancement 
Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Across the Nation, Americans are facing a shortage of 
        affordable housing.
            (2) The right to a peaceful, affordable, dignified place to 
        live is a right to which every American is entitled.
            (3) In rural communities, a lack of housing supply makes 
        the loss of formerly affordable housing devastating to the 
        community.
            (4) That is why the United States Department of Agriculture 
        provides essential rural housing vouchers for those who lose 
        their affordability guarantees.
            (5) The people served by this program are predominately 
        seniors and Americans with disabilities.
            (6) The Department of Agriculture has been charged with a 
        monumentally important task that it has generally excelled in 
        performing, especially considering it operates with far less 
        funding than it needs.
            (7) Nevertheless, there are Americans who fall through the 
        cracks and face housing instability as a result.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are as follows:
            (1) To provide the Department of Agriculture with the tools 
        necessary to ensure everyone entitled to a rural housing 
        voucher remains housed.
            (2) To clearly establish a standard that it is unacceptable 
        for any person who is eligible for and chooses to use a rural 
        housing voucher to not be able to fully use their voucher.
            (3) To make clear, de facto and de jure, that giving full 
        force to rural housing vouchers is a whole-of-Government effort 
        to guarantee that housing is a human right.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act the following definitions shall apply:
            (1) Rural housing voucher.--The term ``rural housing 
        voucher'' means a voucher for rental assistance issued by the 
        Secretary of Agriculture pursuant to title V of the Housing Act 
        of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1471 et seq.) to a tenant of a multifamily 
        property previously financed with a loan made or insured under 
        section 515 of such title (42 U.S.C. 1485) or section 514 of 
        such title (42 U.S.C. 1484), or a grant under section 516 of 
        such title (42 U.S.C. 1486).
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'', except where 
        otherwise specified, means the Secretary of Agriculture.

SEC. 4. MODALITY OF NOTICE.

    (a) Modality Requirements.--
            (1) Standard.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall provide 
        all notices relating to rural housing vouchers that are mailed 
        to tenants to be provided in the format that best facilitates 
        the tenant's understanding of the notice and advises the tenant 
        of any applicable appellate rights.
            (2) Alternative formats.--
                    (A) Requirement.--If a tenant has elected to 
                receive information from another agency of the Federal 
                Government agency in an alternative format to the 
                standard format, including in a language other than 
                English or in braille, large type, or audio format, the 
                Secretary shall send all notices referred to in 
                paragraph (1) in such alternative format, together with 
                the notice in the standard format.
                    (B) Indication of preference.--The Secretary of 
                Agriculture shall make available a mechanism for 
                tenants to indicate their preference for receipt of 
                notices referred to in paragraph (1) in alternative 
                formats and shall provide such notices to tenants in 
                accordance with their indicated preference.
                    (C) Action on tenant's behalf.--The Secretary shall 
                provide for another individual, upon a signed 
                certification that the tenant has authorized such 
                action, to act on a tenant's behalf in indicating a 
                preference with respect to an alternative format of 
                notices.
    (b) Coordination Across Federal Agencies.--The Secretary of 
Agriculture shall consult and coordinate with the Secretary of the 
Treasury and the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration to 
implement the procedures and systems necessary to comply with 
subsection (a)(2)(A). The Secretary of the Treasury and the 
Commissioner of the Social Security Administration shall provide all 
information necessary to ensure such compliance.
    (c) Plain Language.--Within one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall revise the language on the 
standard notices provided pursuant to paragraph (1) to be in compliance 
with the Plain Writing Act of 2010 (5 U.S.C. 301 note).
    (d) Timeline of Notice.--
            (1) In general.--For each property financed under section 
        515, or 514 and 516, of title V of the Housing Act of 1949 
        having tenants who may be eligible for a rural housing voucher, 
        the Secretary shall provide notice as required by paragraph (2) 
        within a reasonable time. In the event of eligibility due to 
        prepayment or mortgage maturity, the Secretary shall provide 
        initial notice as required by paragraph (2) and subsequently on 
        an annual basis to each household following the initial notice.
            (2) Initial notice.--
                    (A) Prepayment.--Within 30 days of the approval by 
                the Secretary of a borrowers' request to prepay its 
                loan under such section 515 or 514 and at least 120 
                days before the prepayment date, the Secretary shall 
                provide written notice to each household residing in 
                the property that informs them of the prepayment 
                approval, the possible actions that may happen with 
                respect to the property upon that prepayment, and how 
                to secure a rural housing voucher.
                    (B) Mortgage maturity.--Not later than the date 
                that is 3 years before the date that the loan under 
                such section 515 or 514 for the property will mature, 
                the Secretary shall provide written notice to each 
                household residing in the property that informs them of 
                the date of the loan maturity, the possible actions 
                that may happen with respect to the property upon that 
                maturity, and how to secure a rural housing voucher.

SEC. 5. LANDLORD OUTREACH.

    (a) Identification of At-Risk Properties.--On an annual basis, the 
Secretary shall identify the addresses of the multifamily housing 
properties with loans financed under section 515 of the Housing Act of 
1949 having mortgages that are subject to loan acceleration or maturity 
or rental assistance contracts that the Secretary determines are at 
risk of being terminated within the ensuing 4 years without an 
extension of the rental assistance contract.
    (b) Education and Outreach to Landlords.--The Secretary shall 
engage in education and outreach to landlords, using multiple 
modalities and in-person outreach, to promote landlord interest in 
accepting rural housing vouchers that may be issued to tenants of such 
identified at-risk properties.
    (c) Area.--Such education and outreach shall be performed first 
with landlords owning properties with dwelling units for rent that are 
nearest to such identified at-risk properties and if, after extensive 
outreach, the Secretary determines there to be insufficient interest 
among such landlords the Secretary shall expand the radius for the area 
of such education and outreach progressively up to an area within a 20-
mile radius of such identified at-risk properties.
    (d) Sharing of Information.--The Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development shall provide the Secretary of Agriculture with technical 
assistance and training on conducting landlord outreach and education, 
such as partnering with at the public housing agency whose jurisdiction 
is nearest to an identified at-risk property.

SEC. 6. STRATEGIC PLAN.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall, not later than one year 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, establish and submit to 
the Congress a strategic plan that identifies--
            (1) for each of the ensuing 5 years, the multifamily 
        housing properties with loans financed under section 515 of the 
        Housing Act of 1949 having rental assistance contracts that 
        Secretary determines are at risk of exiting the portfolio, 
        whether because of the loan being paid off or for some other 
        reason;
            (2) for properties at risk of exiting the portfolio in the 
        next year, tenants whose leases would expire or come up for 
        renewal within one, two, and three months of the anticipated 
        exit date of the property;
            (3) a process for regularly updating the information 
        described in (2), as precisely as possible, as the anticipated 
        exit date of the property approaches;
            (4) a method for identifying at-risk tenants who may not 
        receive a rural housing voucher;
            (5) an outreach strategy to inform such at-risk tenants of 
        their status and options for remaining housed;
            (6) metrics and procedures to track the status and outcomes 
        of such at-risk tenants; and
            (7) a comprehensive procedure to ensure at-risk tenants 
        have their vouchers and have a suitable dwelling to rent using 
        the voucher by the time their lease expires or comes up for 
        renewal.
    (b) Implementation.--The Secretary shall fully and expeditiously 
implement the strategic plan established pursuant to subsection (a) 
within two years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (c) Reports.--During the 30-month period beginning on the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall provide a report to the 
Congress not less frequently than every three months on the status of 
the development of the strategic plan and the implementation of the 
plan.
    (d) Coordination Across Federal Government.--To the extent other 
Federal agencies are identified under the strategic plan established 
pursuant to subsection (a) as being necessary for the implementation of 
the plan, it shall be the duty of each such agency so identified to 
assist to the greatest extent practical in fulfilling relevant requests 
by the Secretary of Agriculture.

SEC. 7. PROTECTION OF AT-RISK TENANTS.

    (a) Waiver and Modification.--The Secretary may waive any waiting 
period or deadline involved in the disbursement or execution of a rural 
housing voucher for at-risk tenants as the Secretary deems necessary to 
ensure such tenants remain housed.
    (b) Identifying Housing Stock.--The Secretary shall work with 
interested landlords identified in section 5 of this Act to pre-clear 
dwellings near at-risk tenants as available for rental using a rural 
housing voucher.

SEC. 8. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

    (a) Initial Report.--The Secretary shall, not later than one year 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, submit to the Congress and 
make publicly available on the website of the Department of 
Agriculture, a report detailing--
            (1) for tenants in rural multifamily housing properties 
        with loans financed under section 515 of the Housing Act of 
        1949 having rental assistance contracts that terminated, the 
        housing outcomes for such tenants one month, three months, six 
        months, and one year after the tenant's lease expires or is 
        renewed; and
            (2) for each of the ensuing 4 years how many rural 
        multifamily housing properties are expected to end 
        participation the programs under title V of the Housing Act of 
        1949, the number of potentially impacted residents, and how 
        many properties are at-risk as described in section 5(a).
    (b) Annual Report.--On an annual basis, the Secretary shall submit 
to the Congress and make publicly available on the website of the 
Department of Agriculture information identifying--
            (1) the number of rural housing vouchers issued during the 
        preceding year;
            (2) the reason for the issuance such vouchers, including 
        whether the mortgage on a property was prepaid, the mortgage 
        for the property was foreclosed, or any other reason;
            (3) whether the property was subject to any form of use 
        restriction; and
            (4) the number of vouchers that were not renewed that were 
        previously utilized by tenants and the reason for non-renewal 
        of the voucher.

SEC. 9. REGULATIONS.

    The Secretary shall issue any regulations that may be necessary to 
carry out this Act and shall issue a notice of proposed rulemaking for 
such regulations not later than 3 years after the date of the enactment 
of this Act.

SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary for the Secretary of Agriculture to--
            (1) hire additional staff to implement and enforce this 
        Act; and
            (2) obtain such additional supplies and information 
        technology to carry out this Act.
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