[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7856 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7856
To provide protection for survivors of domestic violence, sexual
violence, and sex trafficking under the Fair Housing Act.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 5, 2026
Ms. Wasserman Schultz (for herself, Ms. Malliotakis, Ms. Adams, Ms.
Barragan, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Bell, Mr. Bishop, Ms. Bonamici, Ms.
Budzinski, Mr. Carson, Ms. Chu, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Costa, Ms. Crockett, Mr.
Davis of Illinois, Mr. Davis of North Carolina, Ms. Dean of
Pennsylvania, Mr. DeSaulnier, Mrs. Dingell, Mr. Evans of Pennsylvania,
Ms. Lois Frankel of Florida, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mr. Ivey, Mr. Jackson
of Illinois, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. Keating, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Mr.
Khanna, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Mr. Lieu, Ms.
McClellan, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Mr. Mrvan, Ms. Norton, Ms. Ocasio-
Cortez, Mrs. Ramirez, Ms. Ross, Mr. Soto, Ms. Titus, Ms. Tlaib, Mr.
Torres of New York, Mrs. Watson Coleman, and Ms. Wilson of Florida)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide protection for survivors of domestic violence, sexual
violence, and sex trafficking under 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 for Survivors Act of
2026''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Cities, towns, and rural communities in the United
States continue to face enormous challenges regarding domestic
violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking, dating violence,
stalking, and other forms of intimate partner and gender-based
violence.
(2) One in three women and one in four men in the United
States have experienced rape, physical violence, or stalking by
an intimate partner in his or her lifetime.
(3) Intimate partner violence alone affects more than
10,000,000 people in the United States every year.
(4) Among women experiencing sex trafficking, many of their
traffickers are also their intimate partners.
(5) Each day, an average of three women are killed by a
current or former partner.
(6) Researchers estimate that domestic violence costs
employers up to $8,300,000,000 each year, and that sexual
violence results in more than $122,000 in lifetime costs per
survivor and nearly $3,100,000,000,000 in costs to the United
States economy across all 25,000,000 survivors in the United
States.
(7) Research indicates the following:
(A) 90 percent of homeless women report having
experienced severe physical or sexual violence at some
point in their lives, including sexual exploitation and
trafficking.
(B) 84 percent of survivors in domestic violence
shelters reported that they needed help finding
affordable housing. More than half of victims who
identified a need for housing services did not receive
them.
(C) Survivors who become homeless as a result of
sexual assault are vulnerable to further violence,
including sexual victimization, exploitation, and sex
trafficking. Being homeless can increase an
individual's risk of experiencing violence, including
sexual violence.
(D) Women and men who experienced food or housing
insecurity in a 12-month period were more likely to
experience rape, physical violence, or stalking by an
intimate partner in the same period.
(E) Women of color, domestic violence survivors,
and women with children are among those at the highest
risk of eviction.
(F) Vulnerable women are also at risk of sex
trafficking and exploitation by landlords who pressure
them for sex in exchange for rent or a delay in rent
payments.
(G) Women who experience intimate partner violence
are four times more likely to experience homelessness
than those who do not.
(H) A majority of survivors who experience a sexual
assault in their home do not relocate to a safe
environment because they do not have sufficient funds,
have a past eviction or criminal record related to
their experience as a survivor, are not aware of
temporary shelter and housing resources available to
survivors, or suffer from trauma that can make
relocation feel impossible.
(I) Survivors of domestic violence or sexual
assault often face eviction based on a single incident
of violence.
(8) Domestic and sexual violence survivors often find
themselves trapped in homes where they are further victimized
by caregivers, parents, siblings, landlords, intimate partners,
neighbors, or others in or near their home.
(9) Domestic and sexual violence survivors continue to face
discrimination in securing and maintaining housing based on
their status as survivors and as a result of abuse committed
against them.
(10) Survivors of domestic violence or sexual assault are
commonly denied housing opportunities if a previous residence
of the survivor was a domestic violence shelter, if the
survivor has secured a protective order, or if there is other
evidence that the survivor has experienced a previous domestic
violence incident.
(11) Securing safe and affordable housing for survivors is
a fundamental component of ending domestic and sexual violence.
SEC. 3. SURVIVORS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE OR SEXUAL ASSAULT AS PROTECTED
CLASS UNDER THE FAIR HOUSING ACT.
(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) `Domestic violence'--
``(1) has the meaning given the term in section 40002(a) of
the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12291(a));
and
``(2) includes--
``(A) dating violence and stalking, as such terms
are defined in such section 40002(a); and
``(B) threatened domestic violence.
``(q) `Sexual assault'--
``(1) has the meaning given the term in section 40002(a) of
the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12291(a));
and
``(2) includes threatened sexual assault.
``(r) `Severe forms of trafficking in persons' has the meaning
given the term in section 103 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act
of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102).
``(s) `Coercion' has the meaning given the term in section 103 of
the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7102).
``(t) `Survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, or severe
forms of trafficking in persons' includes any person who experienced or
is perceived to have experienced domestic violence, sexual assault, or
severe forms of trafficking in persons.'';
(2) in section 804 (42 U.S.C. 3604)--
(A) in subsection (a), by striking ``or national
origin'' and inserting ``national origin, or whether a
person is a survivor of domestic violence, sexual
assault, or severe forms of trafficking in persons'';
(B) in subsection (b), by striking ``or national
origin'' and inserting ``national origin, or whether a
person is a survivor of domestic violence, sexual
assault, or severe forms of trafficking in persons'';
(C) in subsection (c), by striking ``or national
origin'' and inserting ``national origin, or whether a
person is a survivor of domestic violence, sexual
assault, or severe forms of trafficking in persons'';
(D) in subsection (d), by striking ``or national
origin'' and inserting ``national origin, or whether a
person is a survivor of domestic violence, sexual
assault, or severe forms of trafficking in persons'';
and
(E) in subsection (e), by striking ``or national
origin'' and inserting ``national origin, or whether a
person is a survivor of domestic violence, sexual
assault, or severe forms of trafficking in persons'';
(3) in section 805 (42 U.S.C. 3605)--
(A) in subsection (a), by striking ``or national
origin'' and inserting ``national origin, or whether a
person is a survivor of domestic violence, sexual
assault, or severe forms of trafficking in persons'';
and
(B) in subsection (c), by striking ``or familial
status'' and inserting ``familial status, or whether a
person is a survivor of domestic violence, sexual
assault, or severe forms of trafficking in persons'';
(4) in section 806 (42 U.S.C. 3606), by striking ``or
national origin'' and inserting ``national origin, or whether a
person is a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, or
severe forms of trafficking in persons'';
(5) in section 807 (42 U.S.C. 3607), by adding at the end
the following:
``(c) Nothing in this title shall prohibit a Federal, State, unit
of local government, or other assistance or preference program from
being designed to assist or benefit survivors of domestic violence,
sexual assault, or severe forms of trafficking in persons in seeking,
securing, or maintaining dwellings, shelters, or any other form of
housing for such survivors, including associated notices, statements,
or advertisements of such dwelling.''; and
(6) in section 808(e)(6) (42 U.S.C. 3608(e)(6)), by
inserting ``status as a survivor of domestic violence, sexual
assault, or severe forms of trafficking in persons,'' after
``handicap,''.
(b) Prevention of Intimidation in Fair Housing Cases.--Title IX of
the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3631) is amended--
(1) in section 901 (42 U.S.C. 3631)--
(A) in the matter preceding subsection (a), by
inserting ``or coercion'' after ``threat of force'';
(B) in subsection (a), by striking ``or national
origin'' and inserting ``national origin, or because
the person is a survivor of domestic violence, sexual
assault, or severe forms of trafficking in persons'';
(C) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ``or national
origin'' and inserting ``national origin, or because a
person is a survivor of domestic violence, sexual
assault, or severe forms of trafficking in persons'';
and
(D) in subsection (c), by striking ``or national
origin'' and inserting ``national origin, or because a
person is a survivor of domestic violence, sexual
assault, or severe forms of trafficking in persons'';
and
(2) by inserting after section 901 the following:
``SEC. 902. DEFINITIONS.
``In this title, the terms `domestic violence', `sexual assault',
`severe forms of trafficking in persons', `coercion', and `survivor of
domestic violence, sexual assault, or severe forms of trafficking in
persons' shall have the meaning given such terms in section 802.''.
(c) Preservation of Survivors' Ability To Recover for Other Forms
of Discrimination.--Nothing in this Act, or an amendment made by this
Act, shall be interpreted to limit the ability of survivors of domestic
violence, sexual assault, or severe forms of trafficking in persons to
recover for any other claims of discrimination under the Fair Housing
Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.), including with respect to failure to
conform to gender stereotypes or policies that disproportionately
affect women.
<all>