[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9708 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9708
To provide transparency in short-term rental listings, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 15, 2026
Mrs. Harshbarger introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide transparency in short-term rental listings, and for other
purposes.
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 ``Safety Enforcement for Children and
Users through Rental Evaluation and Disclosure Act of 2026'' or the
``SECURED Act of 2026''.
SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS REGARDING REGISTERED CHILD SEX OFFENDERS AND
SHORT-TERM RENTALS.
(a) Requirements.--
(1) Covered platforms.--A provider of a covered platform--
(A) prior to publishing a listing by a property
owner for a short-term rental on the covered platform,
shall implement reasonable procedures to request that
the property owner disclose whether the property owner
is a registered child sex offender; and
(B) if a property owner discloses under
subparagraph (A) that the property owner is a
registered child sex offender, shall include a clear
and conspicuous public disclosure with respect to any
such listing by the property owner published on the
covered platform to a prospective guest prior to the
point of sale that shall include a link to a public sex
offender registry where such disclosure may be
independently verified.
(2) Property owners.--A property owner who is a registered
child sex offender--
(A) shall respond to a request made by a provider
of a covered platform under paragraph (1)(A); and
(B) may not provide materially false information
with respect to any such request.
(b) Enforcement.--
(1) Enforcement by commission.--
(A) Unfair or deceptive acts or practices.--A
violation of subsection (a) shall be treated as a
violation of a regulation under section 18(a)(1)(B) of
the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C.
57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair or deceptive acts or
practices.
(B) Powers of commission.--The Commission shall
enforce subsection (a) in the same manner, by the same
means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and
duties as though all applicable terms and provisions of
the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.)
were incorporated into and made a part of this Act, and
any person who violates such subsection shall be
subject to the penalties and entitled to the privileges
and immunities provided in the Federal Trade Commission
Act.
(2) Actions by states.--
(A) In general.--In any case in which the attorney
general of a State, or an official or agency of a
State, has reason to believe that an interest of the
residents of such State has been or is threatened or
adversely affected by an act or practice in violation
of subsection (a), the State, as parens patriae, may
bring a civil action on behalf of the residents of the
State in an appropriate district court of the United
States to--
(i) enjoin such act or practice;
(ii) enforce compliance with such
subsection;
(iii) obtain damages, restitution, or other
compensation on behalf of residents of the
State; or
(iv) obtain such other legal and equitable
relief as the court may consider to be
appropriate.
(B) Notice.--Before filing an action under this
paragraph, the attorney general, official, or agency of
the State involved shall provide to the Commission a
written notice of such action and a copy of the
complaint for such action. If the attorney general,
official, or agency determines that it is not feasible
to provide the notice described in this subparagraph
before the filing of the action, the attorney general,
official, or agency shall provide written notice of the
action and a copy of the complaint to the Commission
immediately upon the filing of the action.
(C) Authority of commission.--
(i) In general.--On receiving notice under
subparagraph (B) of an action under this
paragraph, the Commission shall have the
right--
(I) to intervene in the action;
(II) upon so intervening, to be
heard on all matters arising therein;
and
(III) to file petitions for appeal.
(ii) Limitation on state action while
federal action is pending.--If the Commission
or the Attorney General of the United States
has instituted a civil action for violation of
subsection (a) (referred to in this clause as
the ``Federal action''), no State attorney
general, official, or agency may bring an
action under this paragraph during the pendency
of the Federal action against any defendant
named in the complaint in the Federal action
for any violation of such subsection alleged in
such complaint.
(c) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
Trade Commission.
(2) Covered platform.--The term ``covered platform'' means
a digital platform, website, application, or other similar
service that facilitates short-term rentals.
(3) Property owner.--The term ``property owner'' means an
individual who holds legal title to, or has the right to offer
for rent, a short-term rental listed on a covered platform,
whether listed directly or through an agent of the individual.
(4) Public sex offender registry.--The term ``public sex
offender registry'' means a government-maintained, publicly
accessible database of registered sex offenders, including the
National Sex Offender Public website and any other similar
registry maintained by a State.
(5) Registered child sex offender.--The term ``registered
child sex offender'' means an individual who is required by law
to register as a sex offender on a public sex offender registry
if such registration is based on, in whole or in part, a
conviction for a sexual offense that the individual committed
against another individual who was under the age of 18 years
old at the time of such offense.
(6) Short-term rental.--The term ``short-term rental''
means any dwelling unit, residence, or other real property that
a guest or lessee may occupy in exchange for monetary
compensation for a period of fewer than 9 consecutive months
for each such guest or lessee.
(d) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect on the date
that is 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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