[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 119 (Monday, June 29, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H2644-H2663]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EMERGENCY HOUSING PROTECTIONS AND RELIEF ACT OF 2020
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1017, I call up
the bill (H.R. 7301) to prevent evictions, foreclosures, and unsafe
housing conditions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, and for other
purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Cuellar). Pursuant to House Resolution
1017, the bill is considered read.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 7301
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Emergency
Housing Protections and Relief Act of 2020''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act
is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
TITLE I--PROTECTING RENTERS AND HOMEOWNERS FROM EVICTIONS AND
FORECLOSURES
Sec. 101. Emergency rental assistance.
Sec. 102. Homeowner Assistance Fund.
Sec. 103. Protecting renters and homeowners from evictions and
foreclosures.
Sec. 104. Liquidity for mortgage servicers and residential rental
property owners.
Sec. 105. Rural rental assistance.
Sec. 106. Funding for public housing and tenant-based rental
assistance.
Sec. 107. Supplemental funding for supportive housing for the elderly,
supportive housing for persons with disabilities,
supportive housing for persons with AIDS, and project-
based section 8 rental assistance.
Sec. 108. Fair Housing.
Sec. 109. Funding for housing counseling services.
TITLE II--PROTECTING PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS
Sec. 201. Homeless assistance funding.
Sec. 202. Emergency rental assistance voucher program.
TITLE I--PROTECTING RENTERS AND HOMEOWNERS FROM EVICTIONS AND
FORECLOSURES
SEC. 101. EMERGENCY RENTAL ASSISTANCE.
(a) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized
to be appropriated to the Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development (referred to in this section as the
``Secretary'') $100,000,000,000 for an additional amount for
grants under the Emergency Solutions Grants program under
subtitle B of title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11371 et seq.), to remain available
until expended (subject to subsections (d) and (n) of this
section), to be used for providing short- or medium-term
assistance with rent and rent-related costs (including
tenant-paid utility costs, utility- and rent-arrears, fees
charged for those arrears, and security and utility deposits)
in accordance with paragraphs (4) and (5) of section 415(a)
of such Act (42 U.S.C. 11374(a)) and this section.
(b) Definition of at Risk of Homelessness.--Notwithstanding
section 401(1) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act
(42 U.S.C. 11360(1)), for purposes of assistance made
available with amounts made available pursuant to subsection
(a), the term ``at risk of homelessness'' means, with respect
to an individual or family, that the individual or family--
(1) has an income below 80 percent of the median income for
the area as determined by the Secretary; and
(2) has an inability to attain or maintain housing
stability or has insufficient resources to pay for rent or
utilities due to financial hardships.
(c) Income Targeting and Calculation.--For purposes of
assistance made available with amounts made available
pursuant to subsection (a)--
(1) each recipient of such amounts shall use--
(A) not less than 40 percent of the amounts received only
for providing assistance for individuals or families
experiencing homelessness, or for persons or families at risk
of homelessness who have incomes not exceeding 30 percent of
the median income for the area as determined by the
Secretary;
(B) not less than 70 percent of the amounts received only
for providing assistance for individuals or families
experiencing homelessness, or for persons or families at risk
of homelessness who have incomes not exceeding 50 percent of
the median income for the area as determined by the
Secretary; and
(C) the remainder of the amounts received only for
providing assistance to individuals or families experiencing
homelessness, or for persons or families at risk of
homelessness who have incomes not exceeding 80 percent of the
median income for the area as determined by the Secretary,
but such recipient may establish a higher percentage limit
for purposes of subsection (b)(1), which shall not in any
case exceed 120 percent of the area median income, if the
recipient states that it will serve such population in its
plan; and
(2) in determining the income of a household for
homelessness prevention assistance--
(A) the calculation of income performed at the time of
application for such assistance, including arrearages, shall
consider only income that the household is currently
receiving at such time and any income recently terminated
shall not be included;
(B) any calculation of income performed with respect to
households receiving ongoing assistance (such as medium-term
rental assistance) 3 months after initial receipt of
assistance shall consider only the income that the household
is receiving at the time of such review; and
(C) the calculation of income performed with respect to
households receiving assistance for arrearages shall consider
only the income that the household was receiving at the time
such arrearages were incurred.
(d) 3-Year Availability.--
(1) In general.--Each recipient of amounts made available
pursuant to subsection (a) shall--
(A) expend not less than 60 percent of such grant amounts
within 2 years of the date that such funds became available
to the recipient for obligation; and
(B) expend 100 percent of such grant amounts within 3 years
of such date.
(2) Reallocation after 2 years.--The Secretary may
recapture any amounts not expended in compliance with
paragraph (1)(A) and reallocate such amounts to recipients in
compliance with the formula referred to in subsection
(h)(1)(A).
(e) Rent Restrictions.--
(1) Inapplicability.--Section 576.106(d) of title 24, Code
of Federal Regulations, shall not apply with respect to
homelessness prevention assistance made available with
amounts made available under subsection (a).
(2) Amount of rental assistance.--In providing homelessness
prevention assistance with amounts made available under
subsection (a), the maximum amount of rental assistance that
may be provided shall be the greater of--
(A) 120 percent of the higher of--
(i) the Fair Market Rent established by the Secretary for
the metropolitan area or county; or
(ii) the applicable Small Area Fair Market Rent established
by the Secretary; or
(B) such higher amount as the Secretary shall determine is
needed to cover market rents in the area.
(f) Subleases.--A recipient shall not be prohibited from
providing assistance authorized under subsection (a) with
respect to subleases that are valid under State law.
(g) Housing Relocation or Stabilization Activities.--A
recipient of amounts made available pursuant to subsection
(a) may expend up to 25 percent of its allocation for
activities under section 415(a)(5) of the McKinney-Vento
Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11374(a)(5)), except that
notwithstanding such section, activities authorized under
this subsection may be provided only for individuals or
families who have incomes not exceeding 50 percent of the
area median income and meet the criteria in subsection (b)(2)
of this section or section 103 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11302). This subsection shall not
apply to rent-related costs that are specifically authorized
under subsection (a) of this section.
(h) Allocation of Assistance.--
(1) In general.--In allocating amounts made available
pursuant to subsection (a), the Secretary shall--
(A)(i) for any purpose authorized in this section--
(I) allocate 2 percent of such amount for Indian tribes and
tribally designated housing entities (as such terms are
defined in section 4 of the Native American Housing
Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C.
4103)) under the formula established pursuant to section 302
of such Act (25 U.S.C. 4152), except that 0.3 percent of the
amount allocated under this clause shall be allocated for the
Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; and
(II) allocate 0.3 percent of such amount for the Virgin
Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana
Islands;
(ii) not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, obligate and disburse the amounts allocated
pursuant to clause (i) in accordance with such allocations
and provide such recipient with any necessary guidance for
use of the funds; and
(B)(i) not later than 7 days after the date of enactment of
this Act and after setting aside amounts under subparagraph
(A), allocate 50 percent of any such remaining amounts under
the formula specified in subsections (a), (b), and (e) of
section 414 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42
U.S.C. 11373) for, and notify, each State, metropolitan city,
and urban county that is to receive a direct grant of such
amounts; and
(ii) not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of
this Act, obligate and disburse the amounts allocated
pursuant to clause (i)
[[Page H2645]]
in accordance with such allocations and provide such
recipient with any necessary guidance for use of the funds;
and
(C)(i) not later than 45 days after the date of enactment
of this Act, allocate any remaining amounts for eligible
recipients according to a formula to be developed by the
Secretary that takes into consideration the formula referred
to in subparagraph (A) and the need for emergency rental
assistance under this section, including the severe housing
cost burden among extremely low- and very low-income renters
and disruptions in housing and economic conditions, including
unemployment; and
(ii) not later than 30 days after the date of the
allocation of such amounts pursuant to clause (i), obligate
and disburse such amounts in accordance with such
allocations.
(2) Allocations to states.--
(A) In general.--Notwithstanding subsection (a) of section
414 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.
11373(a)) and section 576.202(a) of title 24, Code of Federal
Regulations, a State recipient of an allocation under this
section may elect to use up to 100 percent of its allocation
to carry out activities eligible under this section directly.
(B) Requirement.--Any State recipient making an election
described in subparagraph (A) shall serve households
throughout the entire State, including households in rural
communities and small towns.
(3) Election not to administer.--If a recipient other than
a State elects not to receive funds under this section, such
funds shall be allocated to the State recipient in which the
recipient is located.
(4) Partnerships, subgrants, and contracts.--A recipient of
a grant under this section may distribute funds through
partnerships, subgrants, or contracts with an entity, such as
a public housing agency (as such term is defined in section
3(b) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C.
1437a(b))), that is capable of carrying activities under this
section.
(5) Revision to rule.--The Secretary shall revise section
576.3 of tile 24, Code of Federal Regulations, to change the
set aside for allocation to the territories to exactly 0.3
percent.
(i) Inapplicability of Matching Requirement.--Subsection
(a) of section 416 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance
Act (42 U.S.C. 11375(a)) shall not apply to any amounts made
available pursuant to subsection (a) of this section.
(j) Reimbursement of Eligible Activities.--Amounts made
available pursuant to subsection (a) may be used by a
recipient to reimburse expenditures incurred for eligible
activities under this section after March 27, 2020.
(k) Prohibition on Prerequisites.--None of the funds made
available pursuant to this section may be used to require any
individual receiving assistance under the program under this
section to receive treatment or perform any other
prerequisite activities as a condition for receiving shelter,
housing, or other services.
(l) Waivers and Alternative Requirements.--
(1) In general.--
(A) Authority.--In administering the amounts made available
pursuant to subsection (a), the Secretary may waive, or
specify alternative requirements for, any provision of any
statute or regulation that the Secretary administers in
connection with the obligation by the Secretary or the use by
the recipient of such amounts (except for requirements
related to fair housing, nondiscrimination, labor standards,
prohibition on prerequisites, minimum data reporting, and the
environment), if the Secretary finds that good cause exists
for the waiver or alternative requirement and such waiver or
alternative requirement is necessary to expedite the use of
funds made available pursuant to this section, to respond to
public health orders or conditions related to the COVID-19
emergency, or to ensure that eligible individuals can attain
or maintain housing stability.
(B) Public notice.--The Secretary shall notify the public
through the Federal Register or other appropriate means of
any waiver or alternative requirement under this paragraph,
and that such public notice shall be provided, at a minimum,
on the internet at the appropriate Government website or
through other electronic media, as determined by the
Secretary.
(C) Eligibility requirements.--Eligibility for rental
assistance or housing relocation and stabilization services
shall not be restricted based upon the prior receipt of
assistance under the program during the preceding three
years.
(2) Public hearings.--
(A) Inapplicability of in-person hearing requirements
during the covid-19 emergency.--
(i) In general.--A recipient under this section shall not
be required to hold in-person public hearings in connection
with its citizen participation plan, but shall provide
citizens with notice, including publication of its plan for
carrying out this section on the internet, and a reasonable
opportunity to comment of not less than 5 days.
(ii) Resumption of in-person hearing requirements.--After
the period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act and
ending on the date of the termination by the Federal
Emergency Management Agency of the emergency declared on
March 13, 2020, by the President under the Robert T. Stafford
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 4121
et seq.) relating to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
pandemic, and after the period described in subparagraph (B),
the Secretary shall direct recipients under this section to
resume pre-crisis public hearing requirements.
(B) Virtual public hearings.--
(i) In general.--During the period that national or local
health authorities recommend social distancing and limiting
public gatherings for public health reasons, a recipient may
fulfill applicable public hearing requirements for all grants
from funds made available pursuant to this section by
carrying out virtual public hearings.
(ii) Requirements.--Any virtual hearings held under clause
(i) by a recipient under this section shall provide
reasonable notification and access for citizens in accordance
with the recipient's certifications, timely responses from
local officials to all citizen questions and issues, and
public access to all questions and responses.
(m) Consultation.--In addition to any other citizen
participation and consultation requirements, in developing
and implementing a plan to carry out this section, each
recipient of funds made available pursuant to this section
shall consult with the applicable Continuum or Continuums of
Care for the area served by the recipient and organizations
representing underserved communities and populations and
organizations with expertise in affordable housing, fair
housing, and services for people with disabilities.
(n) Administration.--
(1) By secretary.--Of any amounts made available pursuant
to subsection (a)--
(A) not more than the lesser of 0.5 percent, or
$15,000,000, may be used by the Secretary for staffing,
training, technical assistance, technology, monitoring,
research, and evaluation activities necessary to carry out
the program carried out under this section, and such amounts
shall remain available until September 30, 2024; and
(B) not more than $2,000,000 shall be available to the
Office of the Inspector General for audits and investigations
of the program authorized under this section.
(2) By recipients.--Notwithstanding section 576.108 of
title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations, with respect to
amounts made available pursuant to this section, a recipient
may use up to 10 percent of the recipient's grant for payment
of administrative costs related to the planning and execution
of activities.
SEC. 102. HOMEOWNER ASSISTANCE FUND.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Fund.--The term ``Fund'' means the Homeowner Assistance
Fund established under subsection (b).
(2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Treasury.
(3) State.--The term ``State'' means any State of the
United States, the District of Columbia, any territory of the
United States, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin
Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
(b) Establishment of Fund.--There is established at the
Department of the Treasury a Homeowner Assistance Fund to
provide such funds as are made available under subsection (g)
to State housing finance agencies for the purpose of
preventing homeowner mortgage defaults, foreclosures, and
displacements of individuals and families experiencing
financial hardship after January 21, 2020.
(c) Allocation of Funds.--
(1) Administration.--Of any amounts made available for the
Fund, the Secretary of the Treasury may allocate, in the
aggregate, an amount not exceeding 5 percent--
(A) to the Office of Financial Stability established under
section 101(a) of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of
2008 (12 U.S.C. 5211(a)) to administer and oversee the Fund,
and to provide technical assistance to States for the
creation and implementation of State programs to administer
assistance from the Fund; and
(B) to the Inspector General of the Department of the
Treasury for oversight of the program under this section.
(2) For states.--The Secretary shall establish such
criteria as are necessary to allocate the funds available
within the Fund for each State. The Secretary shall allocate
such funds among all States taking into consideration the
number of unemployment claims within a State relative to the
nationwide number of unemployment claims.
(3) Small state minimum.--The amount allocated for each
State shall not be less than $250,000,000.
(4) Set-aside for insular areas.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of this section, of any amounts authorized to be
appropriated pursuant to subsection (g), the Secretary shall
reserve $200,000,000 to be disbursed to Guam, American Samoa,
the Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands based on
each such territory's share of the combined total population
of all such territories, as determined by the Secretary. For
the purposes of this paragraph, population shall be
determined based on the most recent year for which data are
available from the United States Census Bureau.
(5) Set-aside for indian tribes and native hawaiians.----
(A) Indian tribes.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
this section, of any amounts authorized to be appropriated
pursuant to subsection (g), the Secretary shall use 5 percent
to make grants in accordance
[[Page H2646]]
with subsection (f) to eligible recipients for the purposes
described in subsection (e)(1).
(B) Native hawaiians.-- Of the funds set aside under
subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall use 0.3 percent to make
grants to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands in accordance
with subsection (f) for the purposes described in subsection
(e)(1).
(d) Disbursement of Funds.--
(1) Administration.--Except for amounts made available for
assistance under subsection (f), State housing finance
agencies shall be primarily responsible for administering
amounts disbursed from the Fund, but may delegate
responsibilities and sub-allocate amounts to community
development financial institutions and State agencies that
administer Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program of the
Department of Health and Human Services.
(2) Notice of funding.--The Secretary shall provide public
notice of the amounts that will be made available to each
State and the method used for determining such amounts not
later than the expiration of the 14-day period beginning on
the date of the enactment of this Act of enactment.
(3) SHFA plans.--
(A) Eligibility.--To be eligible to receive funding
allocated for a State under the section, a State housing
finance agency for the State shall submit to the Secretary a
plan for the implementation of State programs to administer,
in part or in full, the amount of funding the state is
eligible to receive, which shall provide for the commencement
of receipt of applications by homeowners for assistance, and
funding of such applications, not later than the expiration
of the 6-month period beginning upon the approval under this
paragraph of such plan.
(B) Multiple plans.--. A State housing finance agency may
submit multiple plans, each covering a separate portion of
funding for which the State is eligible.
(C) Timing.--The Secretary shall approve or disapprove a
plan within 30 days after the plan's submission and, if
disapproved, explain why the plan could not be approved.
(D) Disbursement upon approval.--The Secretary shall
disburse to a State housing finance agency the appropriate
amount of funding upon approval of the agency's plan.
(E) Amendments.--A State housing finance agency may
subsequently amend a plan that has previously been approved,
provided that any plan amendment shall be subject to the
approval of the Secretary. The Secretary shall approve any
plan amendment or disapprove such amendment explain why the
plan amendment could not be approved within 45 days after
submission to the Secretary of such amendment.
(F) Technical assistance.--The Secretary shall provide
technical assistance for any State housing finance agency
that twice fails to have a submitted plan approved.
(4) Plan templates.--The Secretary shall, not later than 30
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, publish
templates that States may utilize in drafting the plans
required under paragraph (3)(A). The template plans shall
include standard program terms and requirements, as well as
any required legal language, which State housing finance
agencies may modify with the consent of the Secretary.
(e) Permissible Uses of Fund.--
(1) In general.--Funds made available to State housing
finance agencies pursuant to this section may be used for the
purposes established under subsection (b), which may
include--
(A) mortgage payment assistance, including financial
assistance to allow a borrower to reinstate their mortgage or
to achieve a more affordable mortgage payment, which may
include principal reduction or rate reduction, provided that
any mortgage payment assistance is tailored to a borrower's
needs and their ability to repay, and takes into
consideration the loss mitigation options available to the
borrower;
(B) assistance with payment of taxes, hazard insurance,
flood insurance, mortgage insurance, or homeowners'
association fees;
(C) utility payment assistance, including electric, gas,
water, and internet service, including broadband internet
access service (as such term is defined in section 8.1(b) of
title 47, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor
regulation));
(D) reimbursement of funds expended by a State or local
government during the period beginning on January 21, 2020,
and ending on the date that the first funds are disbursed by
the State under the Fund, for the purpose of providing
housing or utility assistance to individuals or otherwise
providing funds to prevent foreclosure or eviction of a
homeowner or prevent mortgage delinquency or loss of housing
or critical utilities as a response to the coronavirus
disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic; and
(E) any other assistance for homeowners to prevent
eviction, mortgage delinquency or default, foreclosure, or
the loss of essential utility services.
(2) Targeting.--
(A) Requirement.--Not less than 60 percent of amounts made
available for each State or other entity allocated amounts
under subsection (c) shall be used for activities under
paragraph (1) that assist homeowners having incomes equal to
or less than 80 percent of the area median income.
(B) Determination of income.-- In determining the income of
a household for purposes of this paragraph, income shall be
considered to include only income that the household is
receiving at the time of application for assistance from the
Fund and any income recently terminated shall not be
included, except that for purposes of households receiving
assistance for arrearages income shall include only the
income that the household was receiving at the time such
arrearages were incurred.
(C) Language assistance.--Each State housing finance agency
or other entity allocated amounts under subsection (c) shall
make available to each applicant for assistance from amounts
from the Fund language assistance in any language that such
language assistance is available in and shall provide notice
to each such applicant that such language assistance is
available.
(3) Administrative expenses.--Not more than 15 percent of
the amount allocated to a State pursuant to subsection (c)
may be used by a State housing financing agency for
administrative expenses. Any amounts allocated to
administrative expenses that are no longer necessary for
administrative expenses may be used in accordance with
paragraph (1).
(f) Tribal and Native Hawaiian Assistance.--
(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
(A) Department of hawaiian home lands.--The term
``Department of Hawaiian Home Lands'' has the meaning given
the term in section 801 of the Native American Housing
Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C.
4221).
(B) Eligible recipient.--The term ``eligible recipient''
means any entity eligible to receive a grant under section
101 of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-
Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4111).
(2) Requirements.--
(A) Allocation.--Except for the funds set aside under
subsection (c)(5)(B), the Secretary shall allocate the funds
set aside under subsection (c)(5)(A) using the allocation
formula described in subpart D of part 1000 of title 24, Code
of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulations).
(B) Native hawaiians.--The Secretary shall use the funds
made available under subsection (c)(5)(B) in accordance with
part 1006 of title 24, Code of Federal Regulations (or
successor regulations).
(3) Transfer.--The Secretary shall transfer any funds made
available under subsection (c)(5) that have not been
allocated by an eligible recipient or the Department of
Hawaiian Home Lands, as applicable, to provide the assistance
described in subsection (e)(1) by December 31, 2030, to the
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to carry out the
Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act
of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.).
(g) Funding.--There is authorized to be appropriated to the
Homeowner Assistance Fund established under subsection (b)
$75,000,000,000, to remain available until expended or
transferred or credited under subsection (i).
(h) Use of Housing Finance Agency Innovation Fund for the
Hardest Hit Housing Markets Funds.--A State housing finance
agency may reallocate any administrative or programmatic
funds it has received as an allocation from the Housing
Finance Agency Innovation Fund for the Hardest Hit Housing
Markets created pursuant to section 101(a) of the Emergency
Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (12 U.S.C. 5211(a)) that
have not been otherwise allocated or disbursed as of the date
of enactment of this Act to supplement any administrative or
programmatic funds received from the Housing Assistance Fund.
Such reallocated funds shall not be considered when
allocating resources from the Housing Assistance Fund using
the process established under subsection (c) and shall remain
available for the uses permitted and under the terms and
conditions established by the contract with Secretary created
pursuant to subsection (d)(1) and the terms of subsection
(i).
(i) Reporting Requirements.--The Secretary shall provide
public reports not less frequently than quarterly regarding
the use of funds provided by the Homeowner Assistance Fund.
Such reports shall include the following data by State and by
program within each State, both for the past quarter and
throughout the life of the program--
(1) the amount of funds allocated;
(2) the amount of funds disbursed;
(3) the number of households and individuals assisted;
(4) the acceptance rate of applicants;
(5) the type or types of assistance provided to each
household;
(6) whether the household assisted had a federally backed
loan and identification of the Federal entity backing such
loan;
(7) the average amount of funding provided per household
receiving assistance and per type of assistance provided;
(8) the average number of monthly payments that were
covered by the funding amount that a household received, as
applicable, disaggregated by type of assistance provided;
(9) the income level of each household receiving
assistance; and
(10) the outcome 12 months after the household has received
assistance.
Each report under this subsection shall disaggregate the
information provided under paragraphs (3) through (10) by
State, zip code, racial and ethnic composition of the
household, and whether or not the person from the household
applying for assistance speaks English as a second language.
SEC. 103. PROTECTING RENTERS AND HOMEOWNERS FROM EVICTIONS
AND FORECLOSURES.
(a) Eviction Moratorium.--The CARES Act is amended by
striking section 4024 (15
[[Page H2647]]
U.S.C. 9058; Public Law 116-136; 134 Stat. 492) and inserting
the following new section:
``SEC. 4024. TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON EVICTION FILINGS.
``(a) Congressional Findings.--The Congress finds that--
``(1) according to the 2018 American Community Survey, 36
percent of households in the United States--more than 43
million households--are renters;
``(2) in 2019 alone, renters in the United States paid $512
billion in rent;
``(3) according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of
Harvard University, 20.8 million renters in the United States
spent more than 30 percent of their incomes on housing in
2018 and 10.9 million renters spent more than 50 percent of
their incomes on housing in the same year;
``(4) according to data from the Department of Labor, more
than 30 million people have filed for unemployment since the
COVID-19 pandemic began;
``(5) the impacts of the spread of COVID-19, which is now
considered a global pandemic, are expected to negatively
impact the incomes of potentially millions of renter
households, making it difficult for them to pay their rent on
time; and
``(6) evictions in the current environment would increase
homelessness and housing instability which would be
counterproductive towards the public health goals of keeping
individuals in their homes to the greatest extent possible.
``(b) Moratorium.--During the period beginning on the date
of the enactment of this Act and ending 12 months after such
date of enactment, the lessor of a covered dwelling located
in such State may not make, or cause to be made, any filing
with the court of jurisdiction to initiate a legal action to
recover possession of the covered dwelling from the tenant
for nonpayment of rent or other fees or charges.
``(c) Definitions.--For purposes of this section, the
following definitions shall apply:
``(1) Covered dwelling.--The term `covered dwelling' means
a dwelling that is occupied by a tenant--
``(A) pursuant to a residential lease; or
``(B) without a lease or with a lease terminable at will
under State law.
``(2) Dwelling.--The term `dwelling' has the meaning given
such term in section 802 of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C.
3602) and includes houses and dwellings described in section
803(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 3603(b)).
``(d) Notice To Vacate After Moratorium Expiration Date.--
After the expiration of the period described in subsection
(b), the lessor of a covered dwelling may not require the
tenant to vacate the covered dwelling by reason of nonpayment
of rent or other fees or charges before the expiration of the
30-day period that begins upon the provision by the lessor to
the tenant, after the expiration of the period described in
subsection (b), of a notice to vacate the covered
dwelling.''.
(b) Mortgage Relief.--
(1) Forbearance and foreclosure moratorium for covered
mortgage loans.--Section 4022 of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C.
9056) is amended--
(A) by striking ``Federally backed mortgage loan'' each
place such term appears and inserting ``covered mortgage
loan''; and
(B) in subsection (a)--
(i) by amending paragraph (2) to read as follows:
``(2) Covered mortgage loan.--The term `covered mortgage
loan' means any credit transaction that is secured by a
mortgage, deed of trust, or other equivalent consensual
security interest on a 1- to 4-unit dwelling or on
residential real property that includes a 1- to 4-unit
dwelling, except that it shall not include a credit
transaction under an open end credit plan other than a
reverse mortgage.''; and
(ii) by adding at the end the following:
``(3) Covered period.--With respect to a loan, the term
`covered period' means the period beginning on the date of
enactment of this Act and ending 12 months after such date of
enactment.''.
(2) Automatic forbearance for delinquent borrowers.--
Section 4022(c) of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9056(c)), as
amended by paragraph (5) of this subsection, is further
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(9) Automatic forbearance for delinquent borrowers.--
``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding any other law governing
forbearance relief--
``(i) any borrower whose covered mortgage loan became 60
days delinquent between March 13, 2020, and the date of
enactment of this paragraph, and who has not already received
a forbearance under subsection (b), shall automatically be
granted a 60-day forbearance that begins on the date of
enactment of this paragraph, provided that a borrower shall
not be considered delinquent for purposes of this paragraph
while making timely payments or otherwise performing under a
trial modification or other loss mitigation agreement; and
``(ii) any borrower whose covered mortgage loan becomes 60
days delinquent between the date of enactment of this
paragraph and the end of the covered period, and who has not
already received a forbearance under subsection (b), shall
automatically be granted a 60-day forbearance that begins on
the 60th day of delinquency, provided that a borrower shall
not be considered delinquent for purposes of this paragraph
while making timely payments or otherwise performing under a
trial modification or other loss mitigation agreement.
``(B) Initial extension.--An automatic forbearance provided
under subparagraph (A) shall be extended for up to an
additional 120 days upon the borrower's request, oral or
written, submitted to the borrower's servicer affirming that
the borrower is experiencing a financial hardship that
prevents the borrower from making timely payments on the
covered mortgage loan due, directly or indirectly, to the
COVID-19 emergency.
``(C) Subsequent extension.--A forbearance extended under
subparagraph (B) shall be extended for up to an additional
180 days, up to a maximum of 360 days (including the period
of automatic forbearance), upon the borrower's request, oral
or written, submitted to the borrower's servicer affirming
that the borrower is experiencing a financial hardship that
prevents the borrower from making timely payments on the
covered mortgage loan due, directly or indirectly, to the
COVID-19 emergency.
``(D) Right to elect to continue making payments.--With
respect to a forbearance provided under this paragraph, the
borrower of such loan may elect to continue making regular
payments on the loan. A borrower who makes such election
shall be offered a loss mitigation option pursuant to
subsection (d) within 30 days of resuming regular payments to
address any payment deficiency during the forbearance.
``(E) Right to shorten forbearance.--At a borrower's
request, any period of forbearance provided under this
paragraph may be shortened. A borrower who makes such a
request shall be offered a loss mitigation option pursuant to
subsection (d) within 30 days of resuming regular payments to
address any payment deficiency during the forbearance.
``(10) Automatic forbearance for certain reverse mortgage
loans.--
``(A) In general.--When any covered mortgage loan which is
also a federally-insured reverse mortgage loan, during the
covered period, is due and payable due to the death of the
last borrower or end of a deferral period or eligible to be
called due and payable due to a property charge default, or
if the borrower defaults on a property charge repayment plan,
or if the borrower defaults for failure to complete property
repairs, or if an obligation of the borrower under the
Security Instrument is not performed, the mortgagee
automatically shall be granted a six-month extension of--
``(i) the mortgagee's deadline to request due and payable
status from the Department of Housing and Urban Development;
``(ii) the mortgage's deadline to send notification to the
mortgagor or his or her heirs that the loan is due and
payable;
``(iii) the deadline to initiate foreclosure;
``(iv) any reasonable diligence period related to
foreclosure or the Mortgagee Optional Election;
``(v) if applicable, the deadline to obtain the due and
payable appraisal; and
``(vi) any claim submission deadline, including the 6-month
acquired property marketing period.
``(B) Forbearance period.--The mortgagee shall not request
due and payable status from the Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development nor initiate foreclosure during this six-
month period described under subparagraph (A), which shall be
considered a forbearance period.
``(C) Extension.--A forbearance provided under subparagraph
(B) and related deadline extension authorized under
subparagraph (A) shall be extended for an additional 180 days
upon--
``(i) the borrower's request, oral or written, submitted to
the borrower's servicer affirming that the borrower is
experiencing a financial hardship that prevents the borrower
from making payments on property charges, completing property
repairs, or performing an obligation of the borrower under
the Security Instrument due, directly or indirectly, to the
COVID-19 emergency;
``(ii) a non-borrowing spouse's request, oral or written,
submitted to the servicer affirming that the non-borrowing
spouse has been unable to satisfy all criteria for the
Mortgagee Optional Election program due, directly or
indirectly, to the COVID-19 emergency, or to perform all
actions necessary to become an eligible non-borrowing spouse
following the death of all borrowers; or
``(iii) a successor-in-interest of the borrower's request,
oral or written, submitted to the servicer affirming the
heir's difficulty satisfying the reverse mortgage loan due,
directly or indirectly, to the COVID-19 emergency.
``(D) Curtailment of debenture interest.--Where any covered
mortgage loan which is also a federally insured reverse
mortgage loan is in default during the covered period and
subject to a prior event which provides for curtailment of
debenture interest in connection with a claim for insurance
benefits, the curtailment of debenture interest shall be
suspended during any forbearance period provided herein.''.
(3) Additional foreclosure and repossession protections.--
Section 4022(c) of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9056(c)) is
amended--
(A) in paragraph (2), by striking ``may not initiate any
judicial or non-judicial foreclosure process, move for a
foreclosure judgment or order of sale, or execute a
foreclosure-related eviction or foreclosure sale for not less
than the 60-day period beginning on March 18, 2020'' and
inserting ``may not initiate or proceed with any judicial or
non-judicial foreclosure process, schedule a foreclosure
sale, move for a foreclosure judgment or order of sale,
execute a foreclosure related eviction or foreclosure sale
for six
[[Page H2648]]
months after the date of enactment of the Emergency Housing
Protections and Relief Act of 2020''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(3) Repossession moratorium.--In the case of personal
property, including any recreational or motor vehicle, used
as a dwelling, no person may use any judicial or non-judicial
procedure to repossess or otherwise take possession of such
property for six months after date of enactment of this
paragraph.''.
(4) Mortgage forbearance reforms.--Section 4022 of the
CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9056) is amended--
(A) in subsection (b), by striking paragraphs (1), (2), and
(3) and inserting the following:
``(1) In general.--During the covered period, a borrower
with a covered mortgage loan who has not obtained automatic
forbearance pursuant to this section and who is experiencing
a financial hardship that prevents the borrower from making
timely payments on the covered mortgage loan due, directly or
indirectly, to the COVID-19 emergency may request forbearance
on the loan, regardless of delinquency status, by--
``(A) submitting a request, orally or in writing, to the
servicer of the loan; and
``(B) affirming that the borrower is experiencing a
financial hardship that prevents the borrower from making
timely payments on the covered mortgage loan due, directly or
indirectly, to the COVID-19 emergency.
``(2) Duration of forbearance.--
``(A) In general.--Upon a request by a borrower to a
servicer for forbearance under paragraph (1), such
forbearance shall be granted by the servicer for the period
requested by the borrower, up to an initial length of 180
days, the length of which shall be extended by the servicer,
at the request of the borrower for the period or periods
requested, for a total forbearance period of up to 12-months.
``(B) Minimum forbearance amounts.--For purposes of
granting a forbearance under this paragraph, a servicer may
grant an initial forbearance with a term of not less than 90
days, provided that it is automatically extended for an
additional 90 days unless the servicer confirms the borrower
does not want to renew the forbearance or that the borrower
is no longer experiencing a financial hardship that prevents
the borrower from making timely mortgage payments due,
directly or indirectly, to the COVID-19 emergency.
``(C) Right to shorten forbearance.--At a borrower's
request, any period of forbearance described under this
paragraph may be shortened. A borrower who makes such a
request shall be offered a loss mitigation option pursuant to
subsection (d) within 30 days of resuming regular payments to
address any payment deficiency during the forbearance.
``(3) Accrual of interest or fees.--A servicer shall not
charge a borrower any fees, penalties, or interest (beyond
the amounts scheduled or calculated as if the borrower made
all contractual payments on time and in full under the terms
of the mortgage contract) in connection with a forbearance,
provided that a servicer may offer the borrower a
modification option at the end of a forbearance period
granted hereunder that includes the capitalization of past
due principal and interest and escrow payments as long as the
borrower's principal and interest payment under such
modification remains at or below the contractual principal
and interest payments owed under the terms of the mortgage
contract before such forbearance period except as the result
of a change in the index of an adjustable rate mortgage.
``(4) Communication with servicers.--Any communication
between a borrower and a servicer described under this
section may be made in writing or orally, at the borrower's
choice.
``(5) Communication with borrowers with a disability.--Upon
request from a borrower, servicers shall communicate with
borrowers who have a disability in the borrower's preferred
method of communication. For purposes of this paragraph, the
term `disability' has the meaning given that term in the Fair
Housing Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, or
the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.''; and
(B) in subsection (c), by amending paragraph (1) to read as
follows:
``(1) No documentation required.--A servicer of a covered
mortgage loan shall not require any documentation with
respect to a forbearance under this section other than the
borrower's affirmation (oral or written) to a financial
hardship that prevents the borrower from making timely
payments on the covered mortgage loan due, directly or
indirectly, to the COVID-19 emergency. An oral request for
forbearance and oral affirmation of hardship by the borrower
shall be sufficient for the borrower to obtain or extend a
forbearance.''.
(5) Other servicer requirements during forbearance.--
Section 4022(c) of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9056(c)), as
amended by paragraph (3) of this subsection, is further
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(4) Forbearance terms notice.--Within 30 days of a
servicer of a covered mortgage loan providing forbearance to
a borrower under subsection (b) or paragraph (9) or (10), or
10 days if the forbearance is for a term of less than 60
days, but only where the forbearance was provided in response
to a borrower's request for forbearance or when an automatic
forbearance was initially provided under paragraph (9) or
(10), and not when an existing forbearance is automatically
extended, the servicer shall provide the borrower with a
notice in accordance with the terms in paragraph (5).
``(5) Contents of notice.--The written notice required
under paragraph (4) shall state in plain language--
``(A) the specific terms of the forbearance;
``(B) the beginning and ending dates of the forbearance;
``(C) that the borrower is eligible for up to 12 months of
forbearance;
``(D) that the borrower may request an extension of the
forbearance unless the borrower will have reached the maximum
period at the end of the forbearance;
``(E) that the borrower may request that the initial or
extended period be shortened at any time;
``(F) that the borrower should contact the servicer before
the end of the forbearance period;
``(G) a description of the loss mitigation options that may
be available to the borrower at the end of the forbearance
period based on the borrower's specific loan;
``(H) information on how to find a housing counseling
agency approved by the Department of Housing and Urban
Development;
``(I) in the case of a forbearance provided pursuant to
paragraph (9) or (10), that the forbearance was automatically
provided and how to contact the servicer to make arrangements
for further assistance, including any renewal; and
``(J) where applicable, that the forbearance is subject to
an automatic extension including the terms of any such
automatic extensions and when any further extension would
require a borrower request.
``(6) Treatment of escrow accounts.--During any forbearance
provided under this section, a servicer shall pay or advance
funds to make disbursements in a timely manner from any
escrow account established on the covered mortgage loan.
``(7) Notification for borrowers.--During the period that
begins 90 days after the date of the enactment of this
paragraph and ends at the end of the covered period, each
servicer of a covered mortgage loan shall be required to--
``(A) make available in a clear and conspicuous manner on
their webpage accurate information, in English and Spanish,
for borrowers regarding the availability of forbearance as
provided under subsection (b); and
``(B) notify every borrower whose payments on a covered
mortgage loan are delinquent in any oral communication with
or to the borrower that the borrower may be eligible to
request forbearance as provided under subsection (b), except
that such notice shall not be required if the borrower
already has requested forbearance under subsection (b).
``(8) Certain treatment under respa.--As long as a
borrower's payment on a covered mortgage loan was not more
than 30 days delinquent on March 13, 2020, a servicer may not
deem the borrower as delinquent while a forbearance granted
under subsection (b) is in effect for purposes of the
application of sections 6 and 10 of the Real Estate
Settlement Procedures Act and any applicable regulations.''.
(6) Post-forbearance loss mitigation.--
(A) Amendment to cares act.--Section 4022 of the CARES Act
(15 U.S.C. 9056) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(d) Post-Forbearance Loss Mitigation.--
``(1) Notice of availability of additional forbearance.--
With respect to any covered mortgage loan as to which
forbearance under this section has been granted and not
otherwise extended, including by automatic extension, a
servicer shall, no later than 30 days before the end of the
forbearance period, in writing, notify the borrower that
additional forbearance may be available and how to request
such forbearance, except that no such notice is required
where the borrower already has requested an extension of the
forbearance period, is subject to automatic extension
pursuant to subsection (b)(2)(B), or no additional
forbearance is available.
``(2) Loss mitigation offer before expiration of
forbearance.--No later than 30 days before the end of any
forbearance period that has not been extended or 30 days
after a request by a consumer to terminate the forbearance,
which time shall be before the servicer initiates or engages
in any foreclosure activity listed in subsection (c)(2),
including incurring or charging to a borrower any fees or
corporate advances related to a foreclosure, the servicer
shall, in writing--
``(A) offer the borrower a loss mitigation option, without
the charging of any fees or penalties other than interest,
such that the borrower's principal and interest payment
remains the same as it was prior to the forbearance, subject
to any adjustment of the index pursuant to the terms of an
adjustable rate mortgage, and that either--
``(i) defers the payment of total arrearages, including any
escrow advances, to the end of the existing term of the loan,
without the charging or collection of any additional interest
on the deferred amounts; or
``(ii) extends the term of the mortgage loan, and
capitalizes, defers, or forgives all escrow advances and
other arrearages;
provided, however, that the servicer may offer the borrower a
loss mitigation option that reduces the principal and
interest payment on the loan and capitalizes, defers, or
forgives all escrow advances or arrearages if the servicer
has information indicating that
[[Page H2649]]
the borrower cannot resume the pre-forbearance mortgage
payments; and
``(B) concurrent with the loss mitigation offer in
subparagraph (A), notify the borrower that the borrower has
the right to be evaluated for other loss mitigation options
if the borrower is not able to make the payment under the
option offered in subparagraph (A).
``(3) Evaluation for loss mitigation prior to foreclosure
initiation.--Before a servicer may initiate or engage in any
foreclosure activity listed in subsection (c)(2), including
incurring or charging to a borrower any fees or corporate
advances related to a foreclosure on the basis that the
borrower has failed to perform under the loss mitigation
offer in paragraph (2)(A) within the first 90 days after the
option is offered, including a failure to accept the loss
mitigation offer in paragraph (2)(A), the servicer shall--
``(A) unless the borrower has already submitted a complete
application that the servicer is reviewing--
``(i) notify the borrower in writing of the documents and
information, if any, needed by the servicer to enable the
servicer to consider the borrower for all available loss
mitigation options;
``(ii) exercise reasonable diligence to obtain the
documents and information needed to complete the borrower's
loss mitigation application;
``(B) upon receipt of a complete application or if, despite
the servicer's exercise of reasonable diligence, the loss
mitigation application remains incomplete sixty days after
the notice in paragraph (2)(A) is sent, conduct an evaluation
of the complete or incomplete loss mitigation application
without reference to whether the borrower has previously
submitted a complete loss mitigation application and offer
the borrower all available loss mitigation options for which
the borrower qualifies under applicable investor guidelines,
including guidelines regarding required documentation.
``(4) Effect on future requests for loss mitigation
review.--An application, offer, or evaluation for loss
mitigation under this section shall not be the basis for the
denial of a borrower's application as duplicative or for a
reduction in the borrower's appeal rights under Regulation X
(12 C.F.R. 1024) in regard to any loss mitigation application
submitted after the servicer has complied with the
requirements of paragraphs (2) and (3).
``(5) Safe harbor.--Any loss mitigation option authorized
by the Federal National Mortgage Association, the Federal
Home Loan Corporation, or the Federal Housing Administration
that either--
``(A) defers the payment of total arrearages, including any
escrow advances, to the end of the existing term of the loan,
without the charging or collection of any additional interest
on the deferred amounts, or
``(B) extends the term of the mortgage loan, and
capitalizes, defers, or forgives all escrow advances and
other arrearages, without the charging of any fees or
penalties beyond interest on any amount capitalized into the
loan principal,
shall be deemed to comply with the requirements of paragraph
(1)(B).
``(6) Home retention options for certain reverse mortgage
loans.--
``(A) In general.--For a covered mortgage loan which is
also a federally-insured reverse mortgage loan, a servicer's
conduct shall be deemed to comply with this section provided
that if the loan is eligible to be called due and payable due
to a property charge default, the mortgagee shall, as a
precondition to sending a due and payable request to the
Secretary or initiating or continuing a foreclosure process--
``(i) make a good faith effort to communicate with the
borrower regarding available home retention options to cure
the property charge default, including encouraging the
borrower to apply for home retention options; and
``(ii) consider the borrower for all available home
retention options as allowed by the Secretary.
``(B) Permissible repayment plans.--The Secretary shall
amend its allowable home retention options to permit a
repayment plan of up to 120 months in length, and to permit a
repayment plan without regard to prior defaults on repayment
plans.
``(C) Limitation on interest curtailment.--The Secretary
may not curtail interest paid to mortgagees who engage in
loss mitigation or home retention actions through interest
curtailment during such loss mitigation or home retention
review or during the period when a loss mitigation or home
retention plan is in effect and ending 90 days after any such
plan terminates.''.
(B) Amendment to housing act of 1949.--Section 505 of the
Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1475) is amended--
(i) by striking the section heading and inserting ``loss
mitigation and foreclosure procedures'';
(ii) in subsection (a), by striking the section designation
and all that follows through ``During any'' and inserting the
following:
``Sec. 505. (a) Moratorium.--(1) In determining a
borrower's eligibility for relief, the Secretary shall make
all eligibility decisions based on the borrower's household's
income, expenses, and circumstances.
``(2) During any''.
(iii) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (c);
and
(iv) by inserting after subsection (a) the following new
subsection:
``(b) Loan Modification.--(1) Notwithstanding any other
provision of this title, for any loan made under section 502
or 504, the Secretary may modify the interest rate and extend
the term of such loan for up to 30 years from the date of
such modification.
``(2) At the end of any moratorium period granted under
this section or under the Emergency Housing Protections and
Relief Act of 2020, the Secretary shall determine whether the
borrower can reasonably resume making principal and interest
payments after the Secretary modifies the borrower's loan
obligations in accordance with paragraph (1).''.
(7) Multifamily mortgage forbearance.--Section 4023 of the
CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9057) is amended--
(A) by striking ``Federally backed multifamily mortgage
loan'' each place such term appears and inserting
``multifamily mortgage loan'';
(B) in subsection (b), by striking ``during'' and inserting
``due, directly or indirectly, to'';
(C) in subsection (c)(1)--
(i) in subparagraph (A), by adding ``and'' at the end;
(ii) by striking subparagraphs (B) and (C) and inserting
the following:
``(B) provide the forbearance for up to the end of the
period described under section 4024(b).''; and
(D) by redesignating subsection (f) as subsection (g);
(E) by inserting after subsection (e) the following:
``(f) Treatment After Forbearance.--With respect to a
multifamily mortgage loan provided a forbearance under this
section, the servicer of such loan--
``(1) shall provide the borrower with a 12-month period
beginning at the end of such forbearance to become current on
the payments under such loan;
``(2) may not charge any late fees, penalties, or other
charges with respect to payments on the loan that were due
during the forbearance period, if such payments are made
before the end of the 12-month period; and
``(3) may not report any adverse information to a credit
rating agency (as defined under section 603 of the Fair
Credit Reporting Act with respect to any payments on the loan
that were due during the forbearance period, if such payments
are made before the end of the 12-month period.).''; and
(F) in subsection (g), as so redesignated--
(i) in paragraph (2)--
(I) by striking ``that--'' and all that follows through
``(A) is secured by'' and inserting ``that is secured by'';
(II) by striking ``; and'' and inserting a period; and
(III) by striking subparagraph (B); and
(ii) by amending paragraph (5) to read as follows:
``(5) Covered period.--With respect to a loan, the term
`covered period' has the meaning given that term under
section 4022(a)(3).''.
(8) Renter protections during forbearance period.-- A
borrower that receives a forbearance pursuant to section 4022
or 4023 of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9056 or 9057) may not,
for the duration of the forbearance--
(A) evict or initiate the eviction of a tenant solely for
nonpayment of rent or other fees or charges; or
(B) charge any late fees, penalties, or other charges to a
tenant for late payment of rent.
(9) Extension of gse patch.--
(A) Non-applicability of existing sunset.--Section
1026.43(e)(4)(iii)(B) of title 12, Code of Federal
Regulations, shall have no force or effect.
(B) Extended sunset.--The special rules in section
1026.43(e)(4) of title 12, Code of Federal Regulations, shall
apply to covered transactions consummated prior to June 1,
2022, or such later date as the Director of the Bureau of
Consumer Financial Protection may determine, by rule.
(10) Servicer safe harbor from investor liability.--
(A) Safe harbor.--
(i) In general.--A servicer of covered mortgage loans or
multifamily mortgage loans shall be deemed not to have
violated any duty or contractual obligation owed to investors
or other parties regarding such mortgage loans on account of
offering or implementing in good faith forbearance during the
covered period or offering or implementing in good faith
post-forbearance loss mitigation (including after the
expiration of the covered period) in accordance with the
terms of sections 4022 and 4023 of the CARES Act to
borrowers, respectively, on covered or multifamily mortgage
loans that it services and shall not be liable to any party
who is owed such a duty or obligation or subject to any
injunction, stay, or other equitable relief to such party on
account of such offer or implementation of forbearance or
post-forbearance loss mitigation.
(ii) Other persons.--Any person, including a trustee of a
securitization vehicle or other party involved in a
securitization or other investment vehicle, who in good faith
cooperates with a servicer of covered or multifamily mortgage
loans held by that securitization or investment vehicle to
comply with the terms of section 4022 and 4023 of the CARES
Act, respectively, to borrowers on covered or multifamily
mortgage loans owned by the securitization or other
investment vehicle shall not be liable to any party who is
owed such a duty or obligation or subject to any injunction,
stay, or other equitable relief to such party on account of
its cooperation with an offer or implementation
[[Page H2650]]
of forbearance during the covered period or post-forbearance
loss mitigation, including after the expiration of the
covered period.
(B) Standard industry practice.--During the covered period,
notwithstanding any contractual restrictions, it is deemed to
be standard industry practice for a servicer to offer
forbearance or loss mitigation options in accordance with the
terms of sections 4022 and 4023 of the CARES Act to
borrowers, respectively, on all covered or multifamily
mortgage loans it services.
(C) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this paragraph may be
construed as affecting the liability of a servicer or other
person for actual fraud in the servicing of a mortgage loan
or for the violation of a State or Federal law.
(D) Definitions.--In this paragraph:
(i) Covered mortgage loan.--The term ``covered mortgage
loan'' has the meaning given that term under section 4022(a)
of the CARES Act.
(ii) Covered period.--The term ``covered period'' has the
meaning given that term under section 4023(g) of the CARES
Act.
(iii) Multifamily mortgage loan.--The term ``multifamily
mortgage loan'' has the meaning given that term under section
4023(g) of the CARES Act.
(iv) Servicer.--The term ``servicer''--
(I) has the meaning given the term under section 6(i) of
the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (12 U.S.C.
2605(i)); and
(II) means a master servicer and a subservicer, as such
terms are defined, respectively, under section 1024.31 of
title 12, Code of Federal Regulations.
(v) Securitization vehicle.--The term ``securitization
vehicle'' has the meaning give that term under section
129A(f) of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1639a(f)).
(c) Bankruptcy Protections.--
(1) Bankruptcy protections for federal coronavirus relief
payments.--Section 541(b) of title 11, United States Code, is
amended--
(A) in paragraph (9), in the matter following subparagraph
(B), by striking ``or'';
(B) in paragraph (10)(C), by striking the period at the end
and inserting ``; or''; and
(C) by inserting after paragraph (10) the following:
``(11) payments made under Federal law relating to the
national emergency declared by the President under the
National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) with
respect to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).''.
(2) Protection against discriminatory treatment of
homeowners in bankruptcy.--Section 525 of title 11, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(d) A person may not be denied any forbearance,
assistance, or loan modification relief made available to
borrowers by a mortgage creditor or servicer because the
person is or has been a debtor, or has received a discharge,
in a case under this title.''.
(3) Increasing the homestead exemption.--Section 522 of
title 11, United States Code, is amended--
(A) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ``$15,000'' and
inserting ``$100,000''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(r) Notwithstanding any other provision of applicable
nonbankruptcy law, a debtor in any State may exempt from
property of the estate the property described in subsection
(d)(1) not to exceed the value in subsection (d)(1) if the
exemption for such property permitted by applicable
nonbankruptcy law is lower than that amount.''.
(4) Effect of missed mortgage payments on discharge.--
Section 1328 of title 11, United States Code, is amended by
adding at the end the following:
``(i) A debtor shall not be denied a discharge under this
section because, as of the date of discharge, the debtor did
not make 6 or fewer payments directly to the holder of a debt
secured by real property.
``(j) Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (b), upon the
debtor's request, the court shall grant a discharge of all
debts provided for in the plan that are dischargeable under
subsection (a) if the debtor--
``(1) has made payments under a confirmed plan for at least
1 year; and
``(2) is experiencing or has experienced a material
financial hardship due, directly or indirectly, to the
coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.''.
(5) Expanded eligibility for chapter 13.--Section 109(e) of
title 11, United States Code, is amended--
(A) by striking ``$250,000'' each place the term appears
and inserting ``$850,000''; and
(B) by striking ``$750,000'' each place the term appears
and inserting ``$2,600,000''.
(6) Extended cure period for homeowners harmed by covid-19
pandemic.--
(A) In general.--Chapter 13 of title 11, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end thereof the following:
``Sec. 1331. Special provisions related to COVID-19 pandemic
``(a) Notwithstanding subsections (b)(2) and (d) of section
1322, if the debtor is experiencing or has experienced a
material financial hardship due, directly or indirectly, to
the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a plan may
provide for the curing of any default within a reasonable
time, not to exceed 7 years after the time that the first
payment under the original confirmed plan was due, and
maintenance of payments while the case is pending on any
unsecured claim or secured claim on which the last payment is
due after the expiration of such time. Any such plan
provision shall not affect the applicable commitment period
under section 1325(b).
``(b) For purposes of sections 1328(a) and 1328(b), any
cure or maintenance payments under subsection (a) that are
made after the end of the period during which the plan
provides for payments (other than payments under subsection
(a)) shall not be treated as payments under the plan.
``(c) Notwithstanding section 1329(c), a plan modified
under section 1329 at the debtor's request may provide for
cure or maintenance payments under subsection (a) over a
period that is not longer than 7 years after the time that
the first payment under the original confirmed plan was due.
``(d) Notwithstanding section 362(c)(2), during the period
after the debtor receives a discharge and the period during
which the plan provides for the cure of any default and
maintenance of payments under the plan, section 362(a) shall
apply to the holder of a claim for which a default is cured
and payments are maintained under subsection (a) and to any
property securing such claim.
``(e) Notwithstanding section 1301(a)(2), the stay of
section 1301(a) terminates upon the granting of a discharge
under section 1328 with respect to all creditors other than
the holder of a claim for which a default is cured and
payments are maintained under subsection (a).''.
(B) Table of contents.--The table of sections of chapter
13, title 11, United States Code, is amended by adding at the
end thereof the following:
``Sec. 1331. Special provisions related to COVID-19 Pandemic.''.
(C) Application.--The amendments made by this paragraph
shall apply only to any case under title 11, United States
Code, commenced before 3 years after the date of enactment of
this Act and pending on or commenced after such date of
enactment, in which a plan under chapter 13 of title 11,
United States Code, was not confirmed before March 27, 2020.
SEC. 104. LIQUIDITY FOR MORTGAGE SERVICERS AND RESIDENTIAL
RENTAL PROPERTY OWNERS.
(a) In General.--Section 4003 of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C.
9042), is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(i) Liquidity for Mortgage Servicers.--
``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), the Secretary
shall ensure that servicers of covered mortgage loans (as
defined under section 4022) and multifamily mortgage loans
(as defined under section 4023) are provided the opportunity
to participate in the loans, loan guarantees, or other
investments made by the Secretary under this section. The
Secretary shall ensure that servicers are provided with
access to such opportunities under equitable terms and
conditions regardless of their size.
``(2) Mortgage servicer eligibility.--In order to receive
assistance under subsection (b)(4), a mortgage servicer
shall--
``(A) demonstrate that the mortgage servicer has
established policies and procedures to use such funds only to
replace funds used for borrower assistance, including to
advance funds as a result of forbearance or other loss
mitigation provided to borrowers;
``(B) demonstrate that the mortgage servicer has
established policies and procedures to provide forbearance,
post-forbearance loss mitigation, and other assistance to
borrowers in compliance with the terms of section 4022 or
4023, as applicable;
``(C) demonstrate that the mortgage servicer has
established policies and procedures to ensure that
forbearance and post-forbearance assistance is available to
all borrowers in a non-discriminatory fashion and in
compliance with the Fair Housing Act, the Equal Credit
Opportunity Act, and other applicable fair housing and fair
lending laws; and
``(D) comply with the limitations on compensation set forth
in section 4004.
``(3) Mortgage servicer requirements.--A mortgage servicer
receiving assistance under subsection (b)(4) may not, while
the servicer is under any obligation to repay funds provided
or guaranteed under this section--
``(A) pay dividends with respect to the common stock of the
mortgage servicer or purchase an equity security of the
mortgage servicer or any parent company of the mortgage
servicer if the security is listed on a national securities
exchange, except to the extent required under a contractual
obligation that is in effect on the date of enactment of this
subsection; or
``(B) prepay any debt obligation.''.
(b) Credit Facility for Residential Rental Property
Owners.--
(1) In general.--The Board of Governors of the Federal
Reserve System shall--
(A) establish a facility, using amounts made available
under section 4003(b)(4) of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C.
9042(b)(4)), to make long-term, low-cost loans to residential
rental property owners as to temporarily compensate such
owners for documented financial losses caused by reductions
in rent payments; and
(B) defer such owners' required payments on such loans
until after six months after the date of enactment of this
Act.
(2) Requirements.--A borrower that receives a loan under
this subsection may not, for the duration of the loan--
(A) evict or initiate the eviction of a tenant solely for
nonpayment of rent or other fees or charges;
(B) charge any late fees, penalties, or other charges to a
tenant for late payment of rent; and
[[Page H2651]]
(C) with respect to a person or entity described under
paragraph (4), discriminate on the basis of source of income.
(3) Report on residential rental property owners.--The
Board of Governors shall issue a report to the Congress
containing the following, with respect to each property owner
receiving a loan under this subsection:
(A) The number of borrowers that received assistance under
this subsection.
(B) The average total loan amount that each borrower
received.
(C) The total number of rental units that each borrower
owned.
(D) The average rent charged by each borrower.
(4) Report on large residential rental property owners.--
The Board of Governors shall issue a report to Congress that
identifies any person or entity that in aggregate owns or
holds a controlling interest in any entity that, in
aggregate, owns--
(A) more than 100 rental units that are located within in a
single Metropolitan Statistical Area;
(B) more than 1,000 rental units nationwide; or
(C) rental units in three or more States.
(c) Amendments to National Housing Act.--Section 306(g)(1)
of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1721(a)) is amended--
(1) in the fifth sentence, by inserting after ``issued''
the following: ``, subject to any pledge or grant of security
interest of the Federal Reserve under section 4003(a) of the
CARES Act (Public Law 116-136; 134 Stat. 470; 15 U.S.C.
9042(a)) and to any such mortgage or mortgages or any
interest therein and the proceeds thereon, which the
Association may elect to approve''; and
(2) in the sixth sentence--
(A) by striking ``or (C)'' and inserting ``(C)''; and
(B) by inserting before the period the following: ``, or
(D) its approval and honoring of any pledge or grant of
security interest of the Federal Reserve under section
4003(a) of the CARES Act and to any such mortgage or
mortgages or any interest therein and proceeds thereon as''.
SEC. 105. RURAL RENTAL ASSISTANCE.
There is authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2020
$309,000,000 for rural rental assistance, which shall remain
available until September 30, 2021, of which--
(1) up to $25,000,000 may be used for an additional amount
for rural housing vouchers for any low-income households
(including those not receiving rental assistance) residing in
a property financed with a section 515 loan which has been
prepaid after September 30, 2005, or has matured after
September 30, 2019; and
(2) the remainder shall be used for an additional amount
for rural rental assistance agreements entered into or
renewed pursuant to section 521(a)(2) of the Housing Act of
1949 (42 U.S.C. 1490a(a)(2)) to--
(A) supplement the rental assistance of households on whose
behalf assistance is being provided; and
(B) provide rental assistance on behalf of households who
are not being assisted with such rental assistance but who
qualify for such assistance.
SEC. 106. FUNDING FOR PUBLIC HOUSING AND TENANT-BASED RENTAL
ASSISTANCE.
(a) Public Housing Operating Fund.--There is authorized to
be appropriated for an additional amount for fiscal year 2020
for the Public Housing Operating Fund under section 9(e) of
the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437g(e))
$2,000,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2021.
(b) Tenant-Based Section 8 Rental Assistance.--There is
authorized to be appropriated for an additional amount for
fiscal year 2020 for the tenant-based rental assistance under
section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42
U.S.C. 1437f(o)) $3,000,000,000, to remain available until
September 30, 2021, of which not more than $500,000,000 may
be used for administrative fees under section 8(q) of such
Act (42 U.S.C. 1437f(q)).
(c) Applicability of Waivers.--Any waiver or alternative
requirement made by the Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development pursuant to the heading ``Tenant-Based Rental
Assistance'' or ``Public Housing Operating Fund'' in title
XII of division B of the CARES Act (Public Law 116-136) shall
apply with respect to amounts made available pursuant to this
section.
SEC. 107. SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDING FOR SUPPORTIVE HOUSING FOR THE
ELDERLY, SUPPORTIVE HOUSING FOR PERSONS WITH
DISABILITIES, SUPPORTIVE HOUSING FOR PERSONS
WITH AIDS, AND PROJECT-BASED SECTION 8 RENTAL
ASSISTANCE.
(a) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized
to be appropriated $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2020 for
additional assistance for supportive housing for the elderly,
of which--
(1) $200,000,000 shall be for rental assistance under
section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q) or
section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C.
1437f), as appropriate, and for hiring additional staff and
for services and costs, including acquiring personal
protective equipment, to prevent, prepare for, or respond to
the public health emergency relating to Coronavirus Disease
2019 (COVID-19) pandemic; and
(2) $300,000,000 shall be for grants under section 676 of
the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C.
13632) for costs of providing service coordinators for
purposes of coordinating services to prevent, prepare for, or
respond to the public health emergency relating to
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Any provisions of, and waivers and alternative requirements
issued by the Secretary pursuant to, the heading ``Department
of Housing and Urban Development--Housing Programs--Housing
for the Elderly'' in title XII of division B of the CARES Act
(Public Law 116-136) shall apply with respect to amounts made
available pursuant to this subsection.
(b) Eligibility of Supportive Housing for Persons With
Disabilities.--Subsection (a) of section 676 of the Housing
and Community Development Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13632(a))
shall be applied, for purposes of subsection (a) of this
section, by substituting ``(G), and (H)'' for `` and (G)''.
(c) Service Coordinators.--
(1) Hiring.--In the hiring of staff using amounts made
available pursuant to this section for costs of providing
service coordinators, grantees shall consider and hire, at
all levels of employment and to the greatest extent possible,
a diverse staff, including by race, ethnicity, gender, and
disability status. Each grantee shall submit a report to the
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development describing
compliance with the preceding sentence not later than the
expiration of the 120-day period that begins upon the
termination of the emergency declared on March 13, 2020, by
the President under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief
and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 4121 et seq.)
relating to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
(2) One-time grants.--Grants made using amounts made
available pursuant to subsection (a) for costs of providing
service coordinators shall not be renewable.
(3) One-year availability.--Any amounts made available
pursuant to this section for costs of providing service
coordinators that are allocated for a grantee and remain
unexpended upon the expiration of the 12-month period
beginning upon such allocation shall be recaptured by the
Secretary.
(d) Funding for Supportive Housing for Persons With
Disabilities.--There is authorized to be appropriated
$200,000,000 for fiscal year 2020 for additional assistance
for supportive housing for persons with disabilities under
section 811 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable
Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013). Any provisions of, and waivers
and alternative requirements issued by the Secretary pursuant
to, the heading ``Department of Housing and Urban
Development--Housing Programs--Housing for Persons With
Disabilities'' in title XII of division B of the CARES Act
(Public Law 116-136) shall apply with respect to amounts made
available pursuant to this subsection.
(e) Funding for Housing Opportunities for People With AIDS
Program.--There is authorized to be appropriated $15,000,000
for fiscal year 2020 for additional assistance for the
Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS program under the
AIDS Housing Opportunity Act (42 U.S.C. 12901 et seq.). Any
provisions of, and waivers and alternative requirements
issued by the Secretary pursuant to, the heading ``Department
of Housing and Urban Development--Community Planning and
Development--Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS'' in
title XII of division B of the CARES Act (Public Law 116-136)
shall apply with respect to amounts made available pursuant
to this subsection.
(f) Funding for Project-Based Section 8 Rental
Assistance.--There is authorized to be appropriated
$750,000,000 for fiscal year 2020 for additional assistance
for project-based rental assistance under section 8 of the
United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f). Any
provisions of, and waivers and alternative requirements
issued by the Secretary pursuant to, the heading ``Department
of Housing and Urban Development--Housing Programs--Project-
Based Rental Assistance'' in title XII of division B of the
CARES Act (Public Law 116-136) shall apply with respect to
amounts made available pursuant to this subsection.
SEC. 108. FAIR HOUSING.
(a) Definition of COVID-19 Emergency Period.-- For purposes
of this Act, the term ``COVID-19 emergency period'' means the
period that begins upon the date of the enactment of this Act
and ends upon the date of the termination by the Federal
Emergency Management Agency of the emergency declared on
March 13, 2020, by the President under the Robert T. Stafford
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 4121
et seq.) relating to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
pandemic.
(b) Fair Housing Activities.--
(1) Authorization of appropriations.--To ensure existing
grantees have sufficient resource for fair housing activities
and for technology and equipment needs to deliver services
through use of the Internet or other electronic or virtual
means in response to the public health emergency related to
the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, there is
authorized to be appropriated $4,000,000 for Fair Housing
Organization Initiative grants through the Fair Housing
Initiatives Program under section 561 of the Housing and
Community Development Act of 1987 (42 U.S.C. 3616a).
(2) 3-year availability.--Any amounts made available
pursuant paragraph (1) that are allocated for a grantee and
remain unexpended upon the expiration of the 3-year period
beginning upon such allocation shall be recaptured by the
Secretary.
(c) Fair Housing Education.--There is authorized to be
appropriated $10,000,000 for the
[[Page H2652]]
Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity of the
Department of Housing and Urban Development to carry out a
national media campaign and local education and outreach to
educate the public of increased housing rights during COVID-
19 emergency period, that provides that information and
materials used in such campaign are available--
(1) in the languages used by communities with limited
English proficiency; and
(2) to persons with disabilities.
SEC. 109. FUNDING FOR HOUSING COUNSELING SERVICES.
(a) Congressional Findings.--The Congress finds that--
(1) the spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19),
which is now considered a global pandemic, is expected to
negatively impact the incomes of potentially millions of
homeowners, renters, individuals experiencing homelessness,
and individuals at risk of homelessness, making it difficult
for them to pay their mortgages or rents on time;
(2) housing counseling is critical to ensuring that
homeowners, renters, individuals experiencing homelessness,
and individuals at risk of homelessness have the resources
they need to manage financial hardships from the COVID-19
crisis;
(3) loan preservation and foreclosure mitigation services
are also critical to address the needs of homeowners who lose
employment and income because of the pandemic and who face
serious delinquency or home loan default, or are in
foreclosing proceedings during this period;
(4) evaluations from the National Foreclosure Mitigation
Counseling program revealed that homeowners at risk of or
facing foreclosure are better served when they have access to
a housing counselor and a range of tools and resources to
help them avoid losing their home and have the support they
need to tailor the best possible response to their situation.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized
to be appropriated to the Neighborhood Reinvestment
Corporation (in this section referred to as the
``Corporation'') established under the Neighborhood
Reinvestment Corporation Act (42 U.S.C. 8101 et seq.)
$100,000,000 for fiscal year 2020 for housing counseling
services, which shall remain available until September 30,
2023.
(c) Prioritization of Housing Counseling Services.--Of any
grant funds made available pursuant to subsection (b), not
less than 40 percent shall be provided to counseling
organizations that target counseling services to minority and
low-income homeowners, renters, individuals experiencing
homelessness, and individuals at risk of homelessness or
provide such services in neighborhoods with high
concentrations of minority and low-income homeowners,
renters, individuals experiencing homelessness, and
individuals at risk of homelessness.
(d) Eligible Uses.--Amounts made available pursuant to
subsection (b) may be used in such amounts as the Corporation
determines for costs of--
(1) public education and outreach;
(2) direct services, including the full range of services
provided by housing counselors to assist homeowners,
including manufactured homeowners, regardless of financing
type, renters, individuals experiencing homelessness, and
individuals at risk of homelessness, including the practices,
tools, and innovations in foreclosure mitigation that were
utilized in the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling
Program, and financial capability, credit counseling,
homeless counseling, and rental counseling;
(3) equipment and technology, including broadband internet
and equipment upgrades needed to ensure timely and effective
service delivery;
(4) training, including capacitating housing counseling
staff in various modes of counseling, including rental and
foreclosure, delivery of remote counseling utilizing improved
technology, enhanced network security, and supportive options
for the delivery of client services; and
(5) administration and oversight of the program in
accordance with the Corporation's rate for program
administration.
(e) Disbursement.--The Corporation shall disburse all grant
funds made available pursuant to subsection (b) as
expeditiously as possible, through grants to housing
counseling intermediaries approved by the Department of
Housing and Urban Development, State housing finance
agencies, and NeighborWorks organizations. The aggregate
amount provided to NeighborWorks organizations shall not
exceed 15 percent of the total of grant funds made available
pursuant to subsection (b).
TITLE II--PROTECTING PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS
SEC. 201. HOMELESS ASSISTANCE FUNDING.
(a) Emergency Homeless Assistance.--
(1) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized
to be appropriated under the Emergency Solutions Grants
program under subtitle B of title IV of the McKinney-Vento
Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11371 et seq.)
$11,500,000,000 for grants under such subtitle in accordance
with this subsection to respond to needs arising from the
public health emergency relating to Coronavirus Disease 2019
(COVID-19). Of such amounts made available, $4,000,000,000
shall be allocated in accordance with sections 413 and 414 of
the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11372,
11373).
(2) Formula.--Notwithstanding sections 413 and 414 of the
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11372,
11373), the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (in
this Act referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall allocate any
amounts remaining after amounts are allocated pursuant to
paragraph (1) in accordance with a formula to be established
by the Secretary that takes into consideration the following
factors:
(A) Risk of transmission of coronavirus in a jurisdiction.
(B) Whether a jurisdiction has a high number or rate of
sheltered and unsheltered homeless individuals and families.
(C) Economic and housing market conditions in a
jurisdiction.
(3) Eligible activities.--In addition to eligible
activities under section 415(a) of the McKinney-Vento
Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11374(a), amounts made
available pursuant to paragraph (1) may also be used for
costs of the following activities:
(A) Providing training on infectious disease prevention and
mitigation.
(B) Providing hazard pay, including for time worked before
the effectiveness of this subparagraph, for staff working
directly to prevent and mitigate the spread of coronavirus or
COVID-19 among people experiencing or at risk of
homelessness.
(C) Reimbursement of costs for eligible activities
(including activities described in this paragraph) relating
to preventing, preparing for, or responding to the
coronavirus or COVID-19 that were accrued before the date of
the enactment of this Act.
(D) Notwithstanding 24 CFR 576.102(a)(3), providing a hotel
or motel voucher for a homeless individual or family.
Use of such amounts for activities described in this
paragraph shall not be considered use for administrative
purposes for purposes of section 418 of the McKinney-Vento
Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11377).
(4) Inapplicability of procurement standards.--To the
extent amounts made available pursuant to paragraph (1) are
used to procure goods and services relating to activities to
prevent, prepare for, or respond to the coronavirus or COVID-
19, the standards and requirements regarding procurement that
are otherwise applicable shall not apply.
(5) Inapplicability of habitability and environmental
review standards.--Any Federal standards and requirements
regarding habitability and environmental review shall not
apply with respect to any emergency shelter that is assisted
with amounts made available pursuant to paragraph (1) and has
been determined by a State or local health official, in
accordance with such requirements as the Secretary shall
establish, to be necessary to prevent and mitigate the spread
of coronavirus or COVID-19, such shelters.
(6) Inapplicability of cap on emergency shelter
activities.--Subsection (b) of section 415 of the McKinney-
Vento Homeless Assistance Act shall not apply to any amounts
made available pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection.
(7) Initial allocation of assistance.--Section 417(b) of
the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.
11376(b)) shall be applied with respect to amounts made
available pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection by
substituting ``30-day'' for ``60-day''.
(8) Waivers and alternative requirements.--
(A) Authority.--In administering amounts made available
pursuant to paragraph (1), the Secretary may waive, or
specify alternative requirements for, any provision of any
statute or regulation (except for any requirements related to
fair housing, nondiscrimination, labor standards, and the
environment) that the Secretary administers in connection
with the obligation or use by the recipient of such amounts,
if the Secretary finds that good cause exists for the waiver
or alternative requirement and such waiver or alternative
requirement is consistent with the purposes described in this
subsection.
(B) Notification.--The Secretary shall notify the public
through the Federal Register or other appropriate means 5
days before the effective date of any such waiver or
alternative requirement, and any such public notice may be
provided on the Internet at the appropriate Government web
site or through other electronic media, as determined by the
Secretary.
(C) Exemption.--The use of amounts made available pursuant
to paragraph (1) shall not be subject to the consultation,
citizen participation, or match requirements that otherwise
apply to the Emergency Solutions Grants program, except that
a recipient shall publish how it has and will utilize its
allocation at a minimum on the Internet at the appropriate
Government web site or through other electronic media.
(9) Inapplicability of matching requirement.--Subsection
(a) of section 416 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance
Act (42 U.S.C. 11375(a)) shall not apply to any amounts made
available pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection.
(10) Prohibition on prerequisites.--None of the funds
authorized under this subsection may be used to require
people experiencing homelessness to receive treatment or
perform any other prerequisite activities as a condition for
receiving shelter, housing, or other services.
(b) Continuum of Care Program.--Due to the emergency
relating to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic,
the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for fiscal year
2020 for the Continuum of Care program under subtitle C of
title IV of the McKinney-
[[Page H2653]]
Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11381 et seq.) shall
have no force or effect and the Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development shall distribute amounts made available for
such fiscal year for such program based on the results of the
competition for amounts made available for such program for
fiscal year 2019 (FR-6300--25), except that grant amounts may
be adjusted to account for changes in fair market rents.
SEC. 202. EMERGENCY RENTAL ASSISTANCE VOUCHER PROGRAM.
(a) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized
to be appropriated to the Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development (in this section referred to as the
``Secretary''), $1,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2020, to
remain available until expended, for incremental emergency
vouchers under subsection (b).
(b) Emergency Vouchers.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall provide emergency
rental assistance vouchers under this subsection, which shall
be tenant-based rental assistance under section 8(o) the
United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)).
(2) Selection of families.--
(A) Mandatory preferences.--Each public housing agency
administering assistance under this section shall provide
preference for such assistance to eligible families that
are--
(i) homeless (as such term is defined in section 103(a) of
the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C.
11302(a));
(ii) at risk of homelessness (as such term is defined in
section 401 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42
U.S.C. 11360); or
(iii) fleeing, or attempting to flee, domestic violence,
dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
(B) Allocation.--In allocating amounts made available under
this section, the Secretary shall--
(i) not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment
of this Act, allocate at least 50 percent of such amounts to
public housing agencies in accordance with a formula that
considers--
(I) the capability of public housing agencies to promptly
use emergency vouchers provided under this section; and
(II) the need for emergency vouchers provided under this
section in the geographical area, based on factors determined
by the Secretary, including risk of transmission of
coronavirus, high numbers or rates of sheltered and
unsheltered homelessness, and economic and housing market
conditions;
(ii) allocate remaining amounts in accordance with a
formula that considers--
(I) the criteria under clause (i) and the success of a
public housing agency in promptly utilizing vouchers awarded
under clause (i); and
(II) the capability of the public housing agency to create
and manage structured partnerships with service providers for
the delivery of appropriate community-based services; and
(iii) designate the number of vouchers under this section
that each public housing agency that is awarded funds under
this section is authorized to administer.
(C) Election not to administer.--If a public housing agency
elects not to administer amounts under this section, the
Secretary shall award such amounts to other public housing
agencies according to the criteria in subparagraph (B).
(D) Failure to use vouchers promptly.--If a public housing
agency fails to issue all of its authorized vouchers under
this section on behalf of eligible families within a
reasonable period of time as determined by the Secretary, the
Secretary shall reallocate any unissued vouchers and
associated funds to others public housing agencies according
to the criteria under subparagraph (B)(ii).
(3) Waivers and alternative requirements.--Any waiver or
alternative requirement that the Secretary makes available to
all public housing agencies in connection with assistance
made available under the heading ``Tenant-Based Rental
Assistance'' in title XII of division B of the CARES Act
(Public Law 116-136; 134 Stat.601) shall apply to assistance
under this section until the expiration of such waiver or
alternative requirement.
(4) Termination of vouchers upon turnover.--
(A) In general.--A public housing agency may not reissue
any vouchers made available under this section when
assistance for the family initially assisted is terminated.
(B) Reallocation.--Upon termination of assistance for one
or more families assisted by a public housing agency under
this section, the Secretary shall reallocate amounts that are
no longer needed by such public housing agency for assistance
under this section to another public housing agency for the
renewal of vouchers previously authorized under this section.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The bill shall be debatable for 1 hour,
equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member
of the Committee on Financial Services.
The gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters) and the gentleman from
Michigan (Mr. Huizenga) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California.
General Leave
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks
on H.R. 7301 and to insert extraneous material thereon.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from California?
There was no objection.
{time} 1415
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 7301, the Emergency
Housing Protections and Relief Act of 2020.
This bill includes several provisions that were included in the
HEROES Act and independently led by a number of members of the
Financial Services Committee. Some people hearing this bill won't
understand what we are attempting to do here today. As I said, this was
a part of the HEROES Act that passed this House, but we have been
waiting on the Senate to take up the HEROES Act. They are not taking it
up. They don't seem to care. They don't seem to understand that there
are people out there who are going to be evicted, and so, we have
pulled it out of the HEROES Act, and we are taking it up independently
so that we can send a message to the Senate that we want this measure
heard.
So, we have a number of Members who have participated in putting this
legislation together and who had independent bills to do so. That
includes Representatives Lacy Clay, Denny Heck, David Scott, Chuy
Garcia, Cindy Axne, Nydia Velazquez, Ayanna Pressley, Katie Porter, and
Al Green.
Mr. Speaker, America was facing an affordable housing crisis before
this pandemic hit. With so many families struggling as a result of the
pandemic, we are now on the precipice of an eviction and a homeless
crisis like we have never seen in our lifetime.
We can't wait any longer. We have got to move. The CARES Act was an
important step towards providing relief, but more help is needed. We
knew, for example, that an eviction moratorium without the provision of
rental assistance would only delay disastrous outcomes as families
would have to pay more than they could afford, a lump sum of 3 to 4
months of unpaid rent at the expiration of the moratorium.
This House followed through on providing several additional and
targeted housing solutions when it passed the HEROES Act.
Unfortunately, in the 45 days since the HEROES Act passed, there has
been no action taken by either our Republican colleagues in the Senate
or the Trump administration. This is simply unacceptable.
As a matter of fact, someone said this morning, and I repeat, we have
not heard one word, not one peep from this administration about rental
assistance.
We saw in the aftermath of the 2008 crisis what the consequences are
when Congress acts too slowly: 10 million foreclosures, almost $17
trillion in household wealth lost, increases in rates of homelessness
all across the country. And we saw how communities of color were
disproportionately hit with foreclosures and a corresponding loss of
wealth after they had been targeted with predatory mortgage products.
Today, there are over 2.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the
United States and over 125,000 Americans have died. The Centers for
Disease Control reported that as of June 20, hospitalization rates for
COVID-19 are highest among Native, Black, and Latinx Americans. We also
know that people of color account for the largest portion of the
essential workers, have a higher incidence of preexisting health
conditions, and that with these preexisting health conditions they
have, they have limited access to healthcare, and have fewer
opportunities to isolate because they cannot work from home.
But I must emphasize that this pandemic did not create such
disparities, it only exacerbated them, and I hope this pandemic has
finally drawn widespread public attention to all of these disparities.
Congress cannot fail again to quickly act as we did in the aftermath
of the 2008 crisis. Since passage of the HEROES Act, our Nation's
renters and homeowners have experienced renewed pressures.
When June rent came due, one in three renters were unable to fully
pay their rent.
[[Page H2654]]
On June 14, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that the number
of homeowners in forbearance reached 4.2 million.
Since passage of the HEROES Act, we have now experienced record days
of both new positive coronavirus tests, including in Texas, Florida,
Georgia and my State of California.
And since the HEROES Act passed, over 11 million Americans have filed
for unemployment insurance. There are now only 25 days left before the
Federal eviction ban expires on July 25. When it does, many families
who have been unable to pay their rent because of the COVID-19 pandemic
will face eviction and the devastating consequences that evictions have
on families, particularly children.
Our committee heard testimony in January from one gentleman about
what it was like when all of his belongings were put out on the
sidewalk and he and his children were forced out of their home. He told
us how he fell behind on rent while trying to obtain training for a
higher paying job and how the sheriff banged on his door one morning
while his 9-year-old son was getting ready for school. He described how
he and his wife watched as all of their personal belongings were thrown
on to the front lawn, including items with sentimental value like their
wedding photos. He said, ``I remember the feeling that I'd failed.
Failed as a husband and as a father to provide a place for my family.''
Several landlords declined his rental applications after charging a
nonreimbursable application fee, likely because they saw the eviction
on his record, and he and his family stayed at motels that were even
more costly than paying rent.
Maya Angelou once wrote that: ``Home is a refuge not only from the
world, but a refuge from my worries, my troubles, my concerns.'' And we
know all too well what happens to families, and especially children,
when their homes are forcibly taken from them.
We cannot sit idly by. We must understand that an eviction can
disrupt every aspect of a family's life, putting them at greater risk
of job loss, homelessness, and gaps or other disruptions to a child's
education.
Housing instability can be particularly traumatic for young children
and can have lifelong impacts. Studies show that children who avoid
eviction due to a long-term housing subsidy have better educational
achievement, obtain higher paying jobs as adults, and are less likely
to become incarcerated. Many families with evictions on their records
cannot find another home and fall into homelessness.
So, again, we cannot sit idly by and let this eviction crisis cause
irreparable harm to millions of families around the country. The bill
before us today pulls out the key housing protection and relief
provisions from the HEROES Act.
Specifically, let me tell what you the bill does. It provides $100
billion for an emergency rental assistance fund and $75 billion for a
homeowners' assistance fund to ensure renters and homeowners can cover
their housing expenses, including rent, mortgage payments, and utility
bills.
It extends and expands the eviction and foreclosure moratoria for all
renters and homeowners, as well as provides additional forbearance
relief.
It provides $18 billion in funding for homeless assistance and other
Federal housing assistance programs to ensure rents remain affordable
and housing is maintained in a safe and decent condition.
It creates a lending facility for mortgage servicers and rental
property owners to help them finance their obligations and shortfalls
in rent.
It ensures robust, fair housing enforcement and housing counseling to
protect all renters and homeowners.
What happens next is up to us. Each of us in this Chamber knows the
value of a place where we and our family come together, share a meal,
and safely rest our heads. We also know that households of color still
have not fully recovered from the 2008 crisis, and we know that they
will continue to be disproportionately impacted if the pandemic causes
the housing crisis to worsen.
I, for one, refuse to do nothing while families suffer. This is an
emergency, and it calls for the emergency response provided by this
legislation.
We can't wait. I strongly urge my colleagues to support this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. HUIZENGA. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this bill, and I
yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, this is the second time the House will vote on the
provisions in this bill, and the Chair just laid that out. Every single
one of these provisions was included in the so-called HEROES Act, a
partisan attempt that we debated last month.
Well, just like that $3 trillion grab bag, this bill will have no
chance in the Senate. It will not be signed by the President. At the
conclusion of this debate, we will be right back where we started.
I say to my colleagues, why not try something new, try
bipartisanship. It worked in the CARES Act and the other four COVID-19
response bills that we had, and I tell you it could work here, as well.
But rather than work across the aisle, the Democratic leadership,
gave us no advance warning this bill would be debated on the House
floor, and rather than work across the aisle, my colleagues jammed
through the bill the day the Rules Committee held a meeting on five
other bills.
Moreover, the Rules Committee reported out a closed rule on this
bill. Now, let's explain that to America what a closed bill or closed
rule means. There are three types of rules:
An ``open'' rule, meaning you can add any amendment that you want.
A ``structured'' rule, which says, you know what, we are going to
narrow those amendments to those areas that we think are most pertinent
to the bill.
And then a ``closed'' rule, which says you get nothing. You don't
have any say in trying to change this or improve this bill. It doesn't
matter. We don't want to hear from the minority. We don't even want to
hear from our own Members what ideas they might have.
So, notwithstanding there have been numerous concerns raised about
this bill, there will be no opportunity to amend it. There will be no
opportunity to strengthen it or to improve what is already, in my
opinion, a bad bill.
This outcome will only stifle debate. This outcome will only hurt the
bill's chances for any type of actual success. But clearly that is not
the goal here. It is an attempt to find another wedge issue to divide
us.
Nevertheless, I would like to emphasize that Republicans and I are
committed to working together to support efforts that are targeted and
effective in responding to this devastating pandemic. When we work
together there is nothing that can stand in our way. The CARES Act is
proof of that, as well as all the other response bills that we had.
As I mentioned earlier, Congress acted swiftly back in March to pass
the CARES Act. The CARES Act provided robust financial support to
individuals and small businesses impacted by COVID-19. The CARES Act
also increased funding for HUD, Housing and Urban Development, and its
assisted housing programs by approximately 25 percent over its
appropriated budget.
For renters, the CARES Act provided critical protections through a
Federal moratorium on evictions for residents from Federally assisted
properties. This moratorium, which lasts through the summer, is in
addition to any State or locally enacted eviction moratoria. I know
that in Michigan, in my home State, there has been that moratoria, as
well.
For homeowners, the CARES Act created a new forbearance option for
Federally backed borrowers directly or indirectly impacted by COVID-19
financial hardship.
What does ``forbearance'' mean? Forbearance means you don't have to
pay that month; you can attach those payments at the end. You have a
time out from having to go and pay your mortgage. Borrowers can
automatically claim up to 1 year of payments protection penalty free.
This historic relief has worked. In fact, it was negotiated out in a
bipartisan manner. It has been stable and stabilized and has actually
slightly declined nationwide forbearance rates as well as rent
collections largely consistent with pre-COVID trends. This is proof
that the CARES Act--a bipartisan bill that I think had four or maybe
six total votes against it, some
[[Page H2655]]
from both parties--works. This is proof that bipartisanship and
consensus approach has been the right one in the past, and it ought to
be the right one now.
Of course, we should never accept good enough. As an answer it comes
to providing housing and economic security for our Nation's most
vulnerable families. However, the bill today that we are considering,
like the bill that we considered last month, goes in the opposite
direction. Instead of following the CARES Act model to focus on those
hit hardest by the pandemic, this bill simply plays politics. This bill
dusts off an old Democratic grab bag wish list of policy goals
predating and unrelated to COVID-19 under the guise of relief, all of
which are nonstarters in the Senate, let's be clear.
If we really want to start a real conversation about affordable
housing in this country, let's start with the facts. The fact is that
far too many large, high-cost metropolitan areas' local decisions and
regulations have made the cost of housing in those areas too high for
many hardworking families. We should not be rewarding these high-cost
cities for decades of self-made mistakes with more taxpayer dollars. We
should be looking at ways to support families, not cities and
municipalities and housing authorities, but families to meet those
challenges that this pandemic has forced upon them.
Republicans have and will continue to support targeted and efficient
aid that goes to those who are most in need. We support solutions for
those that have been impacted by the pandemic that are, one,
administered efficiently. That is a key. For you as a taxpayer I would
assume you would want to have that.
Two, targeted to those who need it most. That is the safety net we
are trying to provide.
And, three, include much-needed oversight.
{time} 1430
This bill fails those tests.
Let me give you one example of why this bill fails all parts of that
test. Section 101 of the bill creates a new $100 billion--that is with
a B--``emergency rental assistance'' grant program for individuals or
families ``at risk of homelessness,'' a policy both sides certainly do
and can support.
But the bill takes the policy to the next level, making funding
available to individuals making up to 120 percent not of the poverty
level but of their area median income.
So, what does that mean? That means that an individual living in San
Francisco making $131,000 would qualify for a homelessness grant.
Now, I am just a simple guy from the Midwest in Michigan, but making
$131,000 a year qualifies you for a homelessness grant? Oh, by the way,
what does that get you? $6,012 per month in rental assistance. $6,000 a
month in rental assistance.
This is not help; it is scandalous. And I don't understand how any of
my colleagues could defend that.
Well, additionally, this bill spends more than $119 billion--again,
with a B--in new funding for HUD programs, new funding, yet the bill
fails to include a single meaningful permanent reform to any of the HUD
programs. Moreover, the bill fails to provide any oversight for that
new funding.
To that end, figuring out how HUD will spend a 240 percent increase
in its budget is a critical element to ensuring that any new funding is
helping real families who are in need, who are struggling and not
getting just lost in some bureaucratic shuffle in Washington, D.C., or
at some metropolis's housing authority.
In fact, Chairwoman Waters said it best when talking about the CARES
Act: ``Since taxpayers are footing the bill, all Americans deserve to
examine any and all information related to the administration,
disbursement, and utilization of these funds.''
Boy, I wish I had the ability to put in an amendment to do just that,
but we don't have that opportunity today. So, I agree. I agree with her
on that, and we need to have that transparency.
That is why Republicans stand ready to work together to find
consensus on meaningful reforms and ways to help those households deal
with the challenges of this awful pandemic.
Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to take a look at this. We know it
is a recycled partisan bill. We know that it is not going to go
anywhere in the Senate. We know that it is not going to be signed into
law. Let's have a real conversation about the issues, not just pick
another political football.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Huizenga) had an
opportunity when this bill went through the House. It is over on the
Senate side. If the Republicans want to do more negotiation, they know
they have to take it up over there.
I don't care how we get it, with this bill or with the one over
there.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs.
Carolyn B. Maloney), the senior member of the Financial Services
Committee and chair of the Committee on Oversight and Reform.
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I thank the
gentlewoman for yielding and for her leadership.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 7301, the Emergency
Housing Protections and Relief Act.
Through no fault of their own, New Yorkers and Americans across this
country are struggling to pay their rent or make mortgage payments.
Even worse, people experiencing homelessness and survivors of domestic
violence have seen their limited options for safety and shelter dwindle
due to the pandemic's impact on social services.
The bill is a bold and necessary step toward providing economic and
housing relief for millions of Americans.
It expands the eviction moratorium to protect all renters and the
foreclosure moratorium to protect all homeowners. It creates a $100
billion emergency rental assistance fund and provides nearly $13
billion targeted money for homeless grants, housing choice vouchers for
people experiencing homelessness, and survivors of domestic violence.
Nobody should lose sleep about how they are going to keep a roof over
their head while they are suffering through a pandemic.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to
support this necessary and important bill.
Mr. HUIZENGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Wisconsin (Mr. Steil), a member of the Financial Services Committee.
Mr. STEIL. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Michigan for
yielding.
I rise today in opposition to the act.
The coronavirus pandemic has affected every community in our country.
As this disease hit our shores, our economy has contracted
dramatically. Businesses were forced to close; workers have been
sidelined; and Americans are staying home.
While we recognize the public health benefits of this strategy, the
serious economic harm is very hard to ignore. Families are still
worried about making ends meet, even as States have begun to reopen.
With that in mind, I understand my colleagues' desire to do something
to keep affected families in their homes. I remain committed to just
that, helping families who are directly impacted by the coronavirus to
stay in their homes and to stay in their apartments. But this bill
fails on multiple fronts.
At a time when our national deficits are rising, and our national
debt now exceeds $26 trillion, my colleagues are proposing more than
$194 billion in new spending. More than half of that, $119 billion, is
earmarked for HUD, the Housing and Urban Development Department.
This would triple HUD's 2020 budget. Importantly, it does it without
implementing meaningful reforms to ensure accountability and
transparency.
The new spending comes on top of trillions of dollars in relief
already provided in the form of expanded unemployment benefits and
other types of economic relief.
We have seen legislation come before us in the HEROES Act, a grab bag
of liberal ideas. We now come back to the table with this.
One of those ideas, which I think is important to highlight the
impact that this will have in our community, is a resurrection of
misguided ideas, long-term eviction moratoriums.
Under the Emergency Housing Protections and Relief Act, the CARES
[[Page H2656]]
Act eviction moratorium now would be extended until June 25, 1 year
from the date of enactment. This moratorium would apply to all renters
regardless of whether or not they have been negatively impacted by the
coronavirus.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. HUIZENGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the
gentleman.
Mr. STEIL. Mr. Speaker, this moratorium would apply to all renters,
not just those negatively impacted, through no fault of their own, due
to the coronavirus, not just those living in buildings with mortgages
backed by the Federal Government, but to everyone.
In other words, if enacted, this bill would impose broad and
unprecedented eviction moratoriums that would last for 15 months,
without regard to the impact of the coronavirus.
This would be very challenging for mom-and-pop landlords and very
impactful negatively to our local economies. Property taxes have a
higher priority on rent payments than mortgages, and an extension on
the eviction moratorium, in particular, would hurt local governments
trying to provide critical services that are in need right now.
Especially in these challenging times, we should not pursue policies
that increase stress for cash-strapped cities and towns.
Again, I understand and share our desired goal to keep people in
their homes. This bill just falls flat.
Mr. Speaker, we have a responsibility to do that thoughtfully and in
a targeted manner. Therefore, I urge my colleagues to oppose this
legislation.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind all Members and the
gentleman that Republicans don't care about debt as long as they are
doing the spending; it is only when Democrats are helping Americans,
even in a time of crisis. Remember, it was the President of the United
States, Trump, who said he likes debt. I quote him. He said he likes
debt.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from New York
(Ms. Velazquez), the senior member of the Financial Services Committee
and chair of the Committee on Small Business.
Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 7301. This
important bill extends and expands critical tenant protections and
authorizes key housing assistance that is vital to keeping our
neighbors safely housed during this ongoing pandemic.
Mr. Speaker, I especially want to thank Chair Waters for including
language I wrote that will authorize additional funding for the Public
Housing Operating Fund and the Section 8 program.
The money we are providing today would allow public housing
authorities to continue taking necessary steps to protect residents
from the coronavirus.
Importantly, this bill also extends the eviction and foreclosure
moratoriums we created in the CARES Act for 1 year. Further, it expands
those protections to all renters and homeowners.
The bill helps subsidize monthly housing costs by creating a $100
billion rental assistance fund and a $75 billion homeownership fund,
crucial resources for those struggling with their monthly housing
costs.
Creation of these funds will also ensure that individuals and
families will not face lump-sum obligations and payments when the
moratoriums end.
The urgency of the moment is upon us. We need this bill more than
ever. The eviction moratorium provided for in the CARES Act is set to
expire in late July.
In New York City, tenants' fear of eviction by unscrupulous landlords
is ever-present. It has been predicted we could see a wave of 50,000
evictions in the city if we do not act fast.
Mr. Speaker, I am proud to sponsor the bill. I urge its speedy
adoption.
Mr. HUIZENGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
Tennessee (Mr. John W. Rose), a distinguished member of the Financial
Services Committee.
Mr. JOHN W. ROSE of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Huizenga for
yielding to me.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 7301.
The government shutdown of the economy due to COVID-19 created
significant challenges for both renters and landlords. Folks, including
back home in Tennessee's Sixth District, are having to make difficult
decisions regarding their finances.
The shock the economy received was the largest our generation has
ever seen, and the Federal Government has taken unprecedented action to
remediate the damage done to the economy.
The CARES Act significantly increased funding for existing assisted
housing programs at Housing and Urban Development and suspended
evictions of residents from federally assisted properties for 120 days.
CARES also provided direct relief through economic impact payments,
expanded unemployment insurance, and the paycheck protection program to
keep Americans on their feet and the doors of our Main Street
businesses open. This aid has been successful in many cases in
providing renters with the financial means to keep paying rent
throughout this pandemic.
Any further assistance should be administered efficiently, be
targeted toward those who need it most, and include oversight.
This legislation before us today, however, includes a massive
spending increase that fails to put into place any substantive reforms.
H.R. 7301 contains $119 billion in new HUD spending, tripling HUD's
fiscal year 2020 appropriated budget for old and new programs, yet the
bill does not include one provision holding the agency accountable on
how that new money is spent. Moreover, every single provision included
in H.R. 7301 was already included as part of the partisan HEROES Act
and has no future in the United States Senate.
It is our role to ensure that we are being prudent, and I believe we
need to be smarter. More innovative solutions are needed than the
legislation we are discussing today.
Mr. Speaker, I will vote ``no'' on this legislation again, and I urge
my fellow Members to do the same.
{time} 1445
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Missouri (Mr. Clay), chairman of the Subcommittee on Housing, Community
Development and Insurance.
Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairwoman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 7301.
The COVID-19 global pandemic has resulted in an unprecedented
economic decline that has greatly affected the health and well-being of
the people I represent in St. Louis, Missouri, and millions of other
Americans.
As the Brookings Institution pointed out recently, the United States
housing crisis is not new, because even before the coronavirus
pandemic, 10 to 15 percent of households reported being housing
insecure. With unemployment at all-time levels, the housing crisis is
not just affecting those on the margins.
I want my colleagues to step back and imagine being a Black person in
St. Louis, Los Angeles, or Chicago and having to deal with all of the
problems of a global pandemic on top of the usual unbridled racism that
comes with being Black in America. It is mentally debilitating, but for
Blacks in America, just another day in the office.
I received a letter last week from Legal Services of Eastern
Missouri, which states: ``Thousands of families have gone from
stability to sudden loss of income, which threatens access to basic
needs--food, housing, healthcare--and many who were already living on
the economic margins are now in even more dire circumstances.''
In short, the past 3 months have been a disaster for many Americans.
Just when we see signs of things getting better, new statistics show an
increase in forbearance requests. But today, we can help mitigate the
harmful effects of the pandemic and help millions of Americans keep a
roof over their head by voting for this act.
Mr. HUIZENGA. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Georgia (Mr. David Scott), a senior member of the Financial Services
Committee.
Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I say to ladies and
gentlemen
[[Page H2657]]
on the floor and people all across this Nation: If you listened to my
Republican friends, you would think we are not in a crisis. We are in a
terrible crisis.
Just think, 42 million Americans that had jobs just 14 weeks ago no
longer have those jobs. Their homes are on the verge of being
foreclosed. They need our help.
Yes, the gentleman from Michigan is right. We did pass this bill in
the HEROES Act, but the Republican leader over there says: Let's pause.
This is the wrong time for this Nation to pause. This is a crisis.
And let me tell the gentleman something. It is a crisis in terms of
health, but it is also a crisis in terms of our great economy going
down and the great pillars of our economy: our homeownership, real
estate values, and the security of our banking system. That is what is
at stake here.
So it makes sense for us to move. With 42 million Americans no longer
working, they are not going to be able to pay for their mortgages. They
are not going to be able to keep their water on, the electricity on,
the utilities. They are coming due already.
So I want to say to the gentleman that, when Senator McConnell says
``put a pause on it,'' this Nation stands in horror when we see this
epidemic already creating 42 million jobless people, but now burdening
us with the revival of an additional thrust of this pandemic.
Nothing is more important than showing the American people we care
about them. And we can't tell them to keep in their homes if they don't
have a home, I urge my Republican friends.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I have yielded to the gentleman extra time.
His time has expired.
Parliamentary Inquiry
Mr. HUIZENGA. Mr. Speaker, parliamentary inquiry.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Michigan will state his
parliamentary inquiry.
Mr. HUIZENGA. Mr. Speaker, there was not a granting on the front end
of that. Will that time be counted against the majority's time?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman is correct.
Mr. HUIZENGA. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that.
I just wanted to clarify and make sure that we are all on the same
page.
And I might add that I deeply respect my colleague and friend from
Georgia, and we have worked on some issues.
I will note that HUD has not been able to get the money out the door
to those families that need the help with what they have already been
given, and yet we are trying to put more into that pipeline.
Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Green), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and
Investigations.
Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairwoman Waters. It is
always an honor to serve under her leadership.
I thank the gentlewoman greatly for including H.R. 6760 within this
bill, H.R. 7301. I am grateful because the gentlewoman is imminently
correct when she says that people can't wait. They can't wait because
invidious discrimination still exists, and it is increasing.
The National Fair Housing Alliance surveyed their members, their
organizations, and here is what they found as it relates to the
declared pandemic, declared on March 11, 2020.
They found that 13 percent indicated that there is an increase in
complaints related to sexual harassment, 16 percent related to domestic
violence, an 8 percent increase related to national origin of Asian
Americans and Pacific Islanders.
But here is one that will really capture your attention. With
reference to persons who have disabilities--didn't say that they were
of a specific hue, nothing about their sex--those with disabilities, a
45 percent increase in complaints. They need help. Yes, we can wait,
but they can't, and we have to do something to help them.
That is what this bill does. It affords additional money for
enforcement of laws that already exist with reference to discrimination
in housing.
It also will give people an opportunity to get some additional
education. Some people make mistakes, but we don't know that they are
making mistakes until we give them an opportunity to be educated. So we
will give them the opportunity.
And finally, this: These complaints are increasing in part because of
the incendiary, incitive comments made by the President when he uses
terms related to the virus that relate to people, and there are some
people who take these statements to extremes and they discriminate
against people.
So I am proud to support the legislation. I ask my colleagues to do
so, because the people who are being discriminated against cannot wait.
Mr. HUIZENGA. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire of the remaining time on
both sides.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Michigan has 15 minutes
remaining. The gentlewoman from California has 10\1/2\ minutes
remaining.
Parliamentary Inquiry
Mr. HUIZENGA. Mr. Speaker, parliamentary inquiry.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Michigan will state his
parliamentary inquiry.
Mr. HUIZENGA. Mr. Speaker, may I also inquire as to how much time was
taken off of the last--for the previous speaker?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. One additional minute was charged against
the time of the gentlewoman from California.
Mr. HUIZENGA. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my
time.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Washington (Mr. Heck), a senior member of the Financial Services
Committee and sponsor of the emergency rental assistance title of this
bill.
Mr. HECK. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairwoman Waters. I rise in support
of H.R. 7301, and I thank the chair for including my legislation, the
Emergency Rental Assistance Act, in this bill.
In 2 days, the rent comes due, and as we face historic levels of
unemployment, far too many are going to come up short in their rent
payment. Failure to address the rent crisis will have dire consequences
for millions of Americans and for the housing ecosystem that fortifies
our economy.
Our legislation has 150 House sponsors and the endorsement of almost
700 organizations, and it passed the House as a part of the HEROES Act.
It provides $100 billion in rental assistance through the Emergency
Solutions Grants program. It would change the lives of millions of
tenants across the country who have been hit hard by the COVID-19
crisis.
Over 10 million families pay more than half of their incomes for
rent. As job losses continue and eviction moratoriums expire, that is
not going to improve. We must protect the housing ecosystem.
Residential rent payments are $50 billion each month and represent a
chain of payment between staff, maintenance, and contractors. As
unemployment claims remain at historic highs, we can't afford to lose
those jobs.
This legislation is also for mom-and-pop landlords. Yes, they own
more than half of the 20 million rental properties, and they can't
afford a big rental income loss for a sustained period.
If we do nothing to stop the spike in evictions, in homelessness,
communities of color will be hardest hit. We need to be fighting
systemic racism, not exacerbating it.
So support this legislation. Keep Americans safely in their homes
throughout the pandemic. Save the renters. Save the jobs. Save the
housing ecosystem by voting ``yes'' on this measure.
Mr. HUIZENGA. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my
time.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from
Massachusetts (Ms. Pressley), a member of the Financial Services
Committee.
Ms. PRESSLEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank Madam Chair for her leadership at
such a time as this.
Two months ago, I stood before my colleagues in this Chamber sounding
the alarms that, without immediate relief, millions in our communities
would face housing instability and eviction.
[[Page H2658]]
Today I rise once more to remind us all that, in only 2 days, the
rent is due. In my district, Massachusetts Seventh, 30 percent of
families have missed a rent payment during the pandemic--30 percent.
Our families, in particular Black families, are on the edge of an
eviction tsunami just as the renter protections put in place through
the CARES Act are due to expire next month.
A report released yesterday by City Life/Vida Urbana found that 78
percent of all evictions filed in Boston before evictions were banned
statewide were in census tracts where the majority of residents are
people of color.
This is an issue of racial, economic, and health justice.
Housing is a critical determinant of public health, as evidenced by
the disproportionately high infection rate amongst our neighbors
experiencing homelessness. I am proud that this bill includes my Public
Health Emergency Shelter Act and will provide more than $11 billion in
funding for rapid rehousing and efforts to improve the health and
safety of those experiencing homelessness.
We must support this critical legislation and affirm our commitment
to housing as a human right and housing as a form of justice.
Mr. HUIZENGA. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my
time.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Garcia), a member of the Financial Services Committee.
Mr. GARCIA of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I thank Madam Chair for
yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Emergency Housing Protections
and Relief Act. This bill provides much-needed relief for renters and
homeowners while more than 40 million people have filed for
unemployment insurance and struggle to make ends meet.
My constituents need the help. My district is a working-class,
largely immigrant district, and many people have not qualified for any
relief so far.
{time} 1500
Families just down the street in the barrio where I live and have
lived for 50 years are being forced to choose between paying rent and
putting food on the table or between making the mortgage payment or
buying prescription medicine. Families are staring down the barrel at
yet another first-of-the-month difficult decision: Will my family have
a place to live?
Will we have food to eat?
Where will we go?
These are the very real questions that families are asking
themselves.
Mr. Speaker, we must act with urgency to protect families. This
Emergency Housing Protections and Relief Act is a lifeline for
communities like mine. It prohibits landlords from evicting tenants for
failure to pay rent; it provides $100 billion of assistance to renters
and $75 billion to homeowners to keep everyone in their homes; and it
strengthens the mortgage forbearance protections.
I know what a housing crisis looks like. During the last financial
crisis, I saw my neighbors lose their homes. Without protections in
place, economic recovery will be all but impossible. Congress must act
now and pass H.R. 7301 to support our renters and homeowners.
Mr. HUIZENGA. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my
time.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
Oregon (Ms. Bonamici), who is a member of the Committee on Education
and Labor.
Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Speaker, this week another month's rent or mortgage
is due for millions of Americans who are out of work or barely making
ends meet. Without swift action, many struggling Americans will soon
face eviction or foreclosure.
I rise in strong support of the Emergency Housing Protections and
Relief Act to help desperate families maintain stability by providing
additional financial support and expanding protections that were
included in the bipartisan CARES Act.
A family of five living in Sherwood, Oregon, wrote to me and said:
``It feels cruel to be facing eviction during a pandemic that stripped
our family of its only income.'' It feels cruel, because it is cruel.
And thousands more families will face the same cruel reality unless the
President and Senate join us in acting swiftly.
Today, I led many of my colleagues in calling on HUD Secretary Carson
to immediately extend protections for tenants in federally supported
housing until the comprehensive solution before us today is signed into
law.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairwoman Waters for her leadership, and I urge
all of my colleagues to support this important legislation.
Mr. HUIZENGA. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my
time.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from
Rhode Island (Mr. Cicilline), who is a member of the Committee on the
Judiciary.
Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, during this pandemic millions of
Americans have lost their jobs and are dangerously close to losing
their homes. The relief this Congress provided has kept millions of
Americans housed.
We must continue to act.
Thirty percent of renters are not able to pay their rent in June--one
in three.
We passed the HEROES Act to provide emergency relief for renters and
homeowners who desperately need it, because everyone deserves a safe
home, especially during a pandemic when being in our houses keeps us
safe.
The Senate has chosen not to act on the HEROES Act so we must pass
the Emergency Housing Protections and Relief Act to ensure that
millions of Americans remain in their housing until this pandemic ends
and they are able to go back to work.
At a time of a national crisis, I urge my colleagues to please put
aside their partisan bickering and obstruction and pass the Emergency
Housing Protections and Relief Act.
Mr. HUIZENGA. Mr. Speaker, I do have an inquiry of the majority as to
how many more speakers she may have.
Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining on both sides.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Michigan has 15 minutes
remaining. The gentlewoman from California has 4 minutes remaining.
Mr. HUIZENGA. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 45 seconds to the gentleman from New
York (Mr. Espaillat), who is a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Mr. ESPAILLAT. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairwoman Waters for her
steadfast support of tenants. With close to 130,000 deaths that are
COVID-19 related, 40 million unemployed, these are difficult times.
But now we are facing a housing tsunami as millions of families go to
sleep every night afraid and anxious of where they are going to get
their rent money. The rent is too damn high.
That is why Congressman Chuy Garcia and I introduced the STAY HOME
Act of 2020 that provides billions of dollars of financial support for
renters. This is a good bill that will provide $100 billion for
renters, people who really don't know where they are getting their
money to pay their rent. They want to keep a roof over their head. They
don't want to be homeless. This is a critical time in America, and this
bill will produce the moneys that we need to ensure that people are not
homeless.
Mr. HUIZENGA. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my
time.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to inquire, if I may, how much
time do I have remaining?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from California has 3\1/4\
minutes remaining.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Pelosi), who is the distinguished Speaker of the House
of Representatives.
Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding and for
her exceptional leadership on behalf of America's working families. I
especially salute her now for bringing the Emergency Housing
Protections and Relief Act to the floor. It is urgently needed, and I
rise in support of it because it is, as I said, an urgently needed
lifeline for working families as COVID-19 exacts its devastating impact
on millions of lives and livelihoods across America.
I salute Chairwoman Maxine Waters, who, as the chair of the Financial
Services Committee, is a relentless, persistent, and dissatisfied
[[Page H2659]]
force for good on behalf of America's working families, and she is
especially focused on their financial security, housing being central
to that.
I thank Denny Heck for his leadership on this important legislation
as well.
As we know, Mr. Speaker, there had been an affordable housing crisis
in America long before this pandemic which challenges the conscience of
our country and now has been exacerbated by COVID-19.
Before the crisis, one-quarter of America's 44 million renters paid
over half their income on rent, putting them just one financial
emergency away from eviction and homelessness. For many, COVID-19 is
that one emergency.
Tens of millions of Americans have lost jobs, with rental households
disproportionately affected. We cannot accept a situation in which
millions of families are forced to make the devastating choice between
paying the rent or paying for groceries, prescriptions, and other
essentials, but even before COVID that was the challenge.
That is why earlier today we brought legislation to the floor to
lower the cost of prescription drugs, because it had such an impact on
the financial security of families, and now helping with the rent.
Thirty percent of renters could not make rent in June, exposing them
to the threat of eviction, particularly as eviction bans that Democrats
secured in the CARES Act end. Evictions are devastating, dismantling
financial security, and exposing children and families to situations of
financial instability that harm their health and well-being.
Children who experience evictions are already vulnerable. They are
more likely to live in families earning low incomes, belong to
communities of color which have a disproportionate impact here, and
have more special education needs than children who don't face
eviction.
I say this issue carefully because when I was a girl, my father was
the mayor of Baltimore and my mother as first lady had, as her mission,
affordable housing. She said: How can we teach children love and
respect when we don't even show them that love and respect by giving
them a decent place to live?
I was so proud because when she passed away many years after that,
The Baltimore Sun used that statement in her obituary. But this has
always been important.
When we did our Summit on Children, talking about their health, their
education, and their financial security, health leaders told us that we
must include housing in that because it has such an impact on the
psychological well-being of children. So think of the children when you
think of this, Mr. Speaker.
Again, in May, the House passed the HEROES Act, which secured $100
billion in emergency assistance to help 44 million rental households
remain stably housed, along with another $100 billion for additional
housing support and homelessness prevention initiatives, all of this
under the leadership of Madam Chair Maxine Waters.
Again, she has been fighting this fight for a long time, reaching
down into existing law and statute to find ways to take us forward.
Yet after we passed the HEROES Act, Leader McConnell said that we had
to take a pause--take a pause. The virus is not pausing, the rent
demands are not pausing, and so we cannot pause. While McConnell is
denying these families relief, the House will pass this bill to promote
housing security.
We continue to call on the Senate to pass the HEROES Act to secure
lifesaving housing and homelessness prevention measures which include,
as I said, the $100 billion, the $75 billion, and the $11.5 billion for
assistance to people experiencing homelessness and for homelessness
prevention, building on the $4 billion provided in the CARES Act. We
need more now. It includes:
The freezing of evictions and foreclosures, including expanding the
moratorium in the CARES Act to cover all renters until March 2021.
Rental assistance support for the most vulnerable in urban and rural
areas, including seniors, persons with HIV/AIDS, people with
disabilities, and people living in Tribes.
I am so pleased that Madam Chair put the special rural housing
initiative in here. It includes rural emergency vouchers to support
people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, including those
fleeing domestic violence and assault.
This COVID is a vicious and insidious virus. It is resourceful. It
just is out there, and it attacks people, not only their lives, but
their livelihood, their housing, their psychological well-being, and
everything else. So there are other reasons we should be passing the
HEROES Act, but right now I will stay focused on this.
I thank Madam Chair also for having the provisions that relate to
staving off foreclosures for those who will not be able to pay the
mortgage.
Mr. Speaker, I urge a strong bipartisan vote for the Emergency
Housing Protections and Relief Act to safeguard America's housing and
financial security during this time of crisis.
Mr. Speaker, we are asking people to shelter in place, to shelter at
home, and they should do that. But because of COVID they may be
evicted, but not if Madam Chair Maxine Waters has her way. I urge a
strong bipartisan vote for financial security for America's working
families.
{time} 1515
Mr. HUIZENGA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, let's not be Pollyannaish. The facts are facts. Yes, our
economy, for the first time in ever--certainly, in the modern era--came
to a screeching halt, not because of bad business decisions, not
because of malicious or malfeasance or illegal activities, much like we
saw in the 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 financial crisis that started in
housing.
We don't know exactly where our recovery is going to go. We have
gotten some good signs. But, again, we cannot be overly optimistic
without being prepared. But facts are facts, and here is one fact: In
April, we saw historic declines in new home purchases. I shouldn't say
``new homes.'' These were contracts to purchase homes.
In May, we saw a historic rebound of 44.3 percent. Why did that
happen? Because in April, both buyers and sellers were sidelined by
this pandemic. Why did we see this rebound in May? Because the American
people have optimism, as well. That and basically zero interest rates
from the Fed probably helped, too.
But that is the point. We have been coming together to try to turn
this economy around.
Well, in this bill today, we are told that we can't wait. This bill
can't wait. Yet, what you need to know is, this bill is not ready. And
I will give you a perfect example of this.
Page 71, section 105 of the bill that was debated in the Rules
Committee that had been part of the original HEROES Act, the so-called
HEROES Act, from a month ago, was part of my colleague from Iowa Mrs.
Axne's standalone bill. It actually referenced a rural housing program
as having $25 trillion, not $25 million as it had been intended, but
$25 trillion in that.
Clearly, this bill has been a cut-and-paste job all the way along. It
was rushed when it was the HEROES Act, the so-called HEROES Act,
because that was part of the grab bag that was out there. It was rushed
when my colleague, Mrs. Axne, introduced it. It was rushed now in this
bill.
So, it does beg the question: What else got missed, Mr. Speaker?
Well, here is what else: We are told that the money has run out. We
have run out of the money that we have appropriated. What you need to
know is that all the billions of dollars that were allocated have not
yet been spent.
But, wait, we are told that this was spent already, and it isn't
enough. Well, what you need to know is that they want to create new
programs to spend hundreds of billions of dollars with zero new reforms
or oversight put into this bill. None. That is not responsible.
While you were told that this bill is only going to go to the needy,
the poor, the disenfranchised--after all, this is a homelessness
program--what you need to know is they are going to send $6,000 per
month--$6,000 per month--to someone making $131,000 in the Speaker's
district--$131,000.
That person qualifies for a homelessness program? I can tell you, not
in
[[Page H2660]]
west Michigan. I can tell you, not virtually anywhere else in the
country.
I don't understand how my colleagues, with a straight face, can say
that this is all about homelessness and all about helping those who
have been disadvantaged and have not had a break in life. Well,
$131,000 a year is a pretty darn good break in life, I think.
Mr. Speaker, I wish I had an opportunity to amend this bill. I would
have some amendments. I wish we were doing a modified rule. It would
even allow some of those amendments. Yet, here we are today, no input
from anybody other than what the Speaker's office and the chair's
office had said is going to be in this bill.
We are plowing ahead with a bill that we know will not see the light
of day when it hits the Senate.
By the way, I am a little confused when the chair early on admonished
me and said I should go and negotiate with the Senate about the bill
that had been passed previously.
So, I say this a little tongue in cheek, but anybody who has watched
``Schoolhouse Rock!'' knows the House passes their legislation; the
Senate passes their legislation; and then it comes together, if we are
going to negotiate it out, not in the middle of this process.
Why not negotiate and amend the bill that is before us today, where
it properly should be happening?
Mr. Speaker, at the end of the day, this is a serious, serious issue
for our country. I know this. My family has been in construction and in
housing for now three--going on a fourth--generations. We have seen it.
We have seen the ups and downs. My grandfather, my namesake, started in
the Depression era. My dad continued it through the 1970s, through the
1980s, into the 1990s. Then, I started getting involved. I have lived
through a couple of economic downturns myself, trying to keep a family
company afloat, trying to provide housing and jobs.
Mr. Speaker, here is what we need to do, in my opinion. We need to
negotiate in good faith. This bill is not an attempt to do that today.
I am disappointed in that. I wish we could, but I think, once again, we
are seeing politics triumphing over people. We are seeing political
footballs take the place of real policy issues.
When your objective is nothing but November, guess what? The American
people lose. That is the shame in today's debate.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.'' I know that there
are some people on the other side of the aisle who are a little
uncomfortable with this bill but don't feel they can vote ``no.'' I
wish they had the courage of their convictions. Today, I will be voting
``no'' and encourage my colleagues as well.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I come from a family of 13 children. We were poor. We
lived in inadequate housing. It was cold in the wintertime, and the
pipes froze on the inside of our house. In the summertime, it was too
hot to be in the house. We sat on the stoop through the wee hours of
the morning, trying to stay cool. But it was home.
I worried that we were going to be evicted, but my mother managed to
put together the money, and we never got evicted. But my neighbors and
my friends, I saw evicted. Maybe my friends on the opposite side of the
aisle have never seen this. They don't understand this.
I have my friend from Michigan talking about a family that makes
$131,000 per year. The Members of Congress make $175,000 a year, and we
have Members of Congress who sleep free in this place, don't pay any
rent when they are in Washington, D.C., and you have the audacity to
come here and talk about denying assistance to people who are at the
worst part of their lives to be evicted.
No, I do not yield. This is an emergency. The hospitals are filling
up. Children are hungry. People have lost their jobs.
This is about whether or not people are going to have a place to lay
their heads. This is about whether or not families are going to stay
together. We have hospitals where the ICU rooms are all filled, and
these people may be sick and not have a place to go home to.
So, I am not about to wait. Yes, he mocked us when we said we can't
wait any longer. No, we cannot wait any longer.
Mr. Speaker, this is why I am in the Congress of the United States of
America. This is why I came, for moments like this, to speak for the
least of these, to speak for the poorest families in America, to speak
for families when they need help.
This is an emergency. Our families need help, and I cannot wait. You
should not wait.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 7301,
legislation to provide help to our renters, homeowners, and landlords
who are at risk of becoming homeless. The bill would strengthen and
renew critical protections to ensure that tens of millions of Americans
can keep a roof over their heads. It also makes sure we can continue to
get help to those who are already homeless.
The economic shock created by COVID-19 is still ongoing. Now is not
the time to relax the protections that Congress has put in place. When
this health crisis escalated in March and the House first acted, no one
could imagine the devastation that would befall our communities. Over
120,000 Americans dead, more than 2 million infected. And the confirmed
death and case counts remain on the rise. Our nation has experienced 14
straight weeks of over 1 million unemployment weekly claims and
national unemployment rates that have tripled. Many have lost jobs and
the only thing keeping them in their homes is either a local, state, or
federal moratorium or the kindness of landlords.
We know we are engaged with a deadly foe that preys on the most
vulnerable. Our new normal is not going away and our public policies
need to respond to help the tens of millions of Americans who are now
living on the edge, through no fault of their own.
In my state of Wisconsin, according to media reports, we saw
``eviction filings jumping 42 percent statewide in the first two weeks
of June'' following the end of a statewide moratorium on such actions.
The number of eviction filings will only worsen if we allow the
federal moratorium, currently scheduled to lapse no later than July 25
that affect federally subsidized housing and backed mortgages, to come
to a sharp halt.
The Trump Administration and Senate Majority Leader McConnell may be
content to wait and watch as more and more Americans falter in these
trying economic times, but we must not be so callous.
This bill would extend the eviction moratorium to March 27, 2021. It
would also extend it to help all renters and provide $100 billion for
an emergency rental assistance fund that would help renters cover their
rent and utility bills, including any unpaid bills.
We also help homeowners by banning foreclosures for an additional 6
months and creating a Homeowner Assistance Fund that would help with
mortgage payments, property taxes, property insurance, and other
housing related costs.
The legislation also takes steps to help the homeless, who were
already vulnerable before this pandemic. Strong funding for homeless
assistance grants will help ensure that people experiencing
homelessness are able to follow social distancing guidance and have
access to necessary services to get them into permanent housing.
This bill would also give $1 billion to for new Housing Choice
Vouchers that would be targeted to people experiencing or at risk of
homelessness and survivors of domestic violence. Because homelessness
leads many people to cycle through costly emergency systems and
shortens life expectancy, it is good public policy to put resources
toward keeping people from becoming homeless in the first place and
helping those who are homeless get stable housing.
The middle of a pandemic is not the time to take away lifelines.
Housing is crucially important. Let us act to help keep people homed
and to support those experiencing homelessness.
As I said on this floor nearly four years ago, ``The American people
deserve a Congress and a President who will keep them in their houses
and in their homes.''
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the Judiciary,
Homeland Security, and Budget Committees, I rise in strong and
enthusiastic support of H.R. 7301, the ``Emergency Housing Protections
and Relief Act of 2020,'' which addresses the needs of renters and
homeowners who have been severely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic
through targeted relief measures.
In the month of June alone, 32 percent of renters were unable to
fully pay their rent while 20 percent of renters were unable to make
any rent payment at all.
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, the number of
homeowners in forbearance reached 4.2 million as of June 14, 2020.
[[Page H2661]]
The coronavirus pandemic has created a dire housing crisis that must
be addressed immediately.
As more and more states across the country face a second wave of the
coronavirus outbreak, it is imperative that we extend the eviction
moratorium and other housing protections in an effort to prevent an
increase in homelessness.
Texas is one of those states.
In the state alone, there are nearly 150,000 cases of coronavirus
with over 2,300 deaths.
As the number of cases continue to rise dramatically, we must
encourage tighter restrictions to slow the spread of the disease.
Yet, many people fear that abiding by tighter restrictions means a
continued loss of income, which could then result in an inability to
make a housing payment and consequently cause an eviction.
In fact, in Houston, Texas, eviction proceedings resumed as early as
May 19, 2020.
Without an intervention from the Federal Government, we will soon see
a dramatic spike in evictions and rates of homelessness.
Mr. Speaker, I stand here in support of H.R. 7301 because it not only
protects renters, but it also provides targeted solutions that help
landlords, homeowners, and people experiencing homelessness during this
pandemic.
For example, it extends the eviction moratorium to March 27, 2021,
and expands it to protect all renters.
It also provides low cost loans for landlords through the Federal
Reserve and expands forbearance protections for all landlords.
Under H.R. 7301, $75 billion is invested in a Homeowner Assistance
Fund that provides direct assistance to those who are struggling to pay
their mortgage, property taxes, property insurance, and other housing-
related costs.
The bill also allocates $11.5 billion for homeless assistance grants
that ensure people who experiencing homelessness are able to follow
social distancing guidance and have access to necessary services.
Mr. Speaker, the coronavirus epidemic has irrevocably changed the
world.
It has affected every aspect of our lives, and, right now, it is
affecting millions of Americans who are without an income and are
terrified that they might not have a roof over their heads tomorrow.
And so, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote in
favor of H.R. 7301 and provide much-needed housing protections to those
who have been severely impacted by the pandemic.
Ms. JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in support of H.R.
7301, the Emergency Housing Protections and Relief Act of 2020. This
bill directly addresses the needs of renters and homeowners who have
been severely impacted by this novel corona virus pandemic. As the
provisions of this bill were also included in the Heroes Act which
passed the House last month, I am dedicated to continuing pushing for
these critically needed federal resources to reach our hard-hit
communities.
As founder and co-chair of the Congressional Homelessness Caucus, I
am proud of this effort to ensure that our most vulnerable constituents
and families dealing with housing insecurity during COVID-19 are not
forgotten. It is of utmost urgency that our communities are provided
the resources needed to ensure that no individual faces homelessness
due to the unprecedented societal and economic upheaval caused by this
pandemic, as homelessness will only exacerbate the health-related
dangers of this public health crisis.
Specifically, I am pleased that the three funding requests made by
the Congressional Homelessness Caucus during the stimulus discussions
have also been included in H.R. 7301. This bill will authorize an
additional $11.5 billion in Emergency Solutions Grants for assistance
to the homelessness services providers serving our communities.
Additionally, $1 billion will be directed into emergency housing
vouchers to provide permanent housing for individuals experiencing
homelessness. Finally, this bill includes $100 billion to establish an
Emergency Rental Assistance program to counter any rise in housing
insecurity linked to the economic turmoil of this public health crisis.
The National Alliance to End Homelessness determined that during
COVID-19, individuals experiencing homelessness are twice as likely to
be hospitalized, two to four times as likely to require critical care,
and two to three times as likely to die than the general population. It
is our duty as representatives from each corner of this nation to
prevent mounting housing instability and to care for our most
vulnerable constituents. Therefore, I am proud to support the Emergency
Housing Protections and Relief Act for the advancement of resources
needed to address housing insecurity in our communities during this
public health crisis.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
Pursuant to House Resolution 1017, the previous question is ordered
on the bill.
The question is on the engrossment and third reading of the bill.
The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and was
read the third time.
Motion to Recommit
Mr. HUIZENGA. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is the gentleman opposed to the bill?
Mr. HUIZENGA. I am currently opposed to the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the motion to
recommit.
The Clerk read as follows:
Mr. Huizenga moves to recommit the bill, H.R. 7301, to the
Committee on Financial Services with instructions to report
the same back to the House forthwith with the following
amendment:
In section 101, strike subsection (k).
In section 101(l)(1)(A), strike ``prohibition on
prerequisites,''.
At the end of title II, add the following new section:
SEC. 203. INCLUSION OF HOMELESS CHILDREN.
Section 103(a) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance
Act (42 U.S.C. 11302(a)) is amended--
(1) at the end of paragraph (5)(C), by striking ``and'';
(2) at the end of paragraph (6)(C), by striking the period
and inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(7) beginning upon the date of the enactment of this
paragraph, homeless children and youths (as such term is
defined in section 725 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a(2))), and the families
thereof.''.''.
At the end of the bill, add the following new title:
TITLE III--PROTECTING LOCAL COMMUNITIES AND TAXPAYERS
SEC. 301. YES IN MY BACKYARD DEVELOPMENT LAND USE PLANS.
(a) In General.--Section 104 of the Housing and Community
Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5304) is amended by adding
at the end the following:
``(n) Plan To Track Discriminatory Land Use Policies.--
``(1) In general.--Prior to receipt in any fiscal year of a
grant from the Secretary under subsection (b), (d)(1), or
(d)(2)(B) of section 106, each recipient shall have prepared
and submitted, not less frequently than once during the
preceding 5-year period, in accordance with this subsection
and in such standardized form as the Secretary shall, by
regulation, prescribe, with respect to each land use policy
described in paragraph (2) that is applicable to the
jurisdiction served by the recipient, a description of--
``(A) whether the recipient has already adopted the policy
in the jurisdiction served by the recipient;
``(B) the plan of the recipient to implement the policy in
that jurisdiction; or
``(C) the ways in which adopting the policy will benefit
the jurisdiction.
``(2) Land use policies.--The policies described in this
paragraph are as follows:
``(A) Enacting high-density single-family and multifamily
zoning.
``(B) Expanding by-right multifamily zoned areas.
``(C) Allowing duplexes, triplexes, or fourplexes in areas
zoned primarily for single-family residential homes.
``(D) Allowing manufactured homes in areas zoned primarily
for single-family residential homes.
``(E) Allowing multifamily development in retail, office,
and light manufacturing zones.
``(F) Allowing single-room occupancy development wherever
multifamily housing is allowed.
``(G) Reducing minimum lot size.
``(H) Reducing the impact of historic preservation on
housing production and affordability.
``(I) Increasing the allowable floor area ratio in
multifamily housing areas.
``(J) Creating transit-oriented development zones.
``(K) Streamlining or shortening permitting processes and
timelines, including through one-stop and parallel-process
permitting.
``(L) Eliminating or reducing off-street parking
requirements.
``(M) Ensuring impact and utility investment fees
accurately reflect required infrastructure needs and related
impacts on housing affordability are otherwise mitigated.
``(N) Allowing prefabricated construction.
``(O) Reducing or eliminating minimum unit square footage
requirements.
``(P) Allowing the conversion of office units to
apartments.
``(Q) Allowing the subdivision of single-family homes into
duplexes.
``(R) Allowing accessory dwelling units, including detached
accessory dwelling units, on all lots with single-family
homes.
``(3) Effect of submission.--A submission under this
subsection shall not be binding with respect to the use or
distribution of amounts received under section 106.
``(4) Acceptance or nonacceptance of plan.--The acceptance
or nonacceptance of any plan submitted under this subsection
in which the information required under this subsection is
provided is not an endorsement or approval of the plan,
policies, or methodologies, or lack thereof.''.
[[Page H2662]]
(b) Effective Date.--The requirements under subsection (n)
of section 104 of the Housing and Community Development Act
of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5304), as added by subsection (a), shall--
(1) take effect on the date that is 1 year after the date
of enactment of this Act; and
(2) apply to recipients of a grant under subsection (b),
(d)(1), or (d)(2)(B) of section 106 of the Housing and
Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5306) before,
on, and after such date.
SEC. 302. LIMITATION.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any individual
who is unlawfully present in the United States shall be
ineligible to receive any financial assistance provided under
this Act or any amendment made by this Act.
Mr. HUIZENGA (during the reading). Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous
consent to dispense with the reading of the motion.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Michigan?
There was no objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Michigan is recognized for 5 minutes in support of his motion.
Mr. HUIZENGA. Mr. Speaker, this motion to recommit would remedy some
of the shortfalls in H.R. 7301 and would add some bipartisanship to
this legislation. This motion only strengthens this legislation and
increases the chance of this bill making it through the Senate and
being signed into law.
This amendment would simply add four provisions to the bill, each of
which would reduce bureaucracy and increase oversight of these funds so
that they reach the people who need them swiftly.
First, this amendment would harmonize the definitions of homelessness
between HUD and the Department of Education. For too long, HUD has
failed to think of the children who lack a permanent and stable home,
shifting funding away from this vulnerable population, who, as the
Department of Education acknowledges, is, in practice and in fact,
homeless. Our amendment permanently ends that disparate treatment of
the kids and makes them fully eligible for the substantial increase in
funding at HUD under this bill.
Second, the amendment would include the bipartisan Yes in My Backyard
Act, H.R. 4351, which passed the House by voice vote earlier this year.
This provision would strengthen the oversight in this legislation and
compel high-cost localities to consider the local regulations that have
been put in place that increase housing costs and put increased rent
and homeownership barriers on American families. Getting rid of these
barriers would help cities all over America build more housing and
lower costs for everyone.
Third, this amendment would get rid of the bureaucratic red tape
currently in the bill that prevents some of our most accomplished and
successful housing and addiction treatment service providers from being
eligible to receive funds. Why the majority would want to disqualify
shelters and other housing service providers that make it their mission
to treat individuals who are struggling with alcoholism or drug
addiction makes no sense at all to me.
Finally, this amendment would ensure that these funds would be
directed to where they are needed: to the Nation's taxpayers and their
dependents who are struggling right now. Basic common sense says that
we should not be spending money on those who are unlawfully present in
the United States at a time when millions of Americans and legal
residents are out of work, overmatched with their bills, and fighting
to do more with less.
Combined, these provisions would help make a bad bill better and give
greater accountability and focus to the nearly $200 billion in new,
unpaid-for, untargeted, unaccounted-for spending in this bill.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this motion to recommit,
and I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I claim the time in opposition.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from California is
recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the amendment
offered by my Republican colleague to H.R. 7301.
Mr. Speaker, the amendment before us does nothing to bring relief to
struggling families. The amendment would deny millions of families,
including children, assistance during a crisis because someone in their
family is here without proper documentation. Racism, anti-immigrant
policies hurt children the most.
We are on the precipice of a housing crisis not seen since the Great
Depression, a crisis that threatens to strip countless families of a
home at a time when they are being asked to stay home. The House must
take emergency action to respond and pass emergency legislation.
{time} 1530
Over the weekend, States across the country, including my home of
California, experienced the highest levels of infection since the
pandemic began.
On Sunday, Texas reported more than 5,000 cases for the sixth day in
a row. Shortly after passage of the HEROES Act in May, Texas had 1,791
COVID-19 patients in hospital beds; yesterday, there were 5,500.
In California, hospitalizations have now increased by 32 percent,
while ICUs have gone up 19 percent over the past 14 days.
These trends are similar in Arizona, Georgia, and Florida, and many
of these States are halting their plans to reopen the economy. On
Friday, Texas closed down bars across the State and on Saturday warned
residents in San Antonio and Bexar County that local hospitals were
approaching capacity.
Where exactly are COVID-19 patients expected to isolate when the
hospitals fill up? We are not through with this pandemic, and recent
trends suggest it is getting worse.
Six weeks ago, this Chamber passed the HEROES Act, but the
Republican-led Senate and Trump administration have done nothing to
advance the bill. This is totally unacceptable.
Fully one-third of renters were unable to pay their rent in June, and
at least 4.2 million homeowners are now in forbearance. And we know
evictions are already on the rise.
In North Carolina, 9,000 eviction cases have been filed since this
moratorium expired last week.
In Columbus, Ohio, eviction hearings are taking place in a convention
center to accommodate the number of cases and comply with social
distancing guidelines.
In Tennessee, more than 9,000 eviction cases are pending in one
county alone.
The Michigan State Court Administrative Office estimates 75,000
evictions will be filed when its moratorium ends this month.
I would like to share one story about someone this bill seeks to
help. Deanna Brooks, a Navy veteran from Dallas, Texas, lost her job
because of the pandemic. However, because her former employer was
unresponsive, she had trouble collecting the needed documentation to
collect unemployment or other assistance and was unable to pay rent, so
her landlord filed for her to be evicted.
She has no friends or family she can move in with and has been in and
out of the hospital because she has a heart condition. She said: ``I'm
scared. They'll throw everything I have outside on the street. I have
nowhere to go.''
In Delaware, Rhiannon Clark and her fiance were unable to pay their
rent after Clark, who was a bartender, lost her job and her fiance fell
ill with COVID-19 and couldn't go to work. Eventually, Clark and one of
her two children also came down with the illness. Now her family faces
eviction, even as they recover from COVID-19.
Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday, rent and mortgages are due for millions of
families. These are two stories. They are sad stories. I fear that this
is going to be repeated a million times over if Congress fails to act.
And so here we are, Members of Congress. We are comfortable. We can
afford to pay our rent. We have millionaires in Congress. They can
afford to pay the rent of a whole lot of people if they wanted to. And
they are going to go home to their families. They are going to be safe,
and they are going to be secure. And while they are in Washington, they
don't pay any rent, many of them. They sleep in their offices at night.
And yet they are talking about denying people rent who don't have
another dime.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the previous question is
ordered on the motion to recommit.
[[Page H2663]]
There was no objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to recommit.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the noes appeared to have it.
Mr. HUIZENGA. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to section 3 of House Resolution
965, the yeas and nays are ordered.
Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this question
will be postponed.
____________________