[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5298 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5298
To authorize the Attorney General to make grants to States and
localities to provide the right to counsel in civil actions related to
eviction, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 4, 2019
Ms. DeLauro (for herself, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Evans, Ms. Norton, Mr.
Payne, Mr. Blumenauer, and Ms. Jackson Lee) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Attorney General to make grants to States and
localities to provide the right to counsel in civil actions related to
eviction, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Eviction Prevention Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR STATES AND UNITS OF GENERAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT TO
PROVIDE ACCESS TO COUNSEL IN CIVIL ACTIONS RELATED TO
EVICTION.
(a) Authorization.--The Attorney General is authorized to make
grants to States and units of general local government to provide
eligible individuals access to counsel in civil actions related to
eviction.
(b) Use of Funds.--A State or unit of general local government that
receives a grant under this section shall use such funds to hire
attorneys in positions that are dedicated solely to providing counsel
described in subsection (a).
(c) Application.--A State or unit of general local government
seeking an application under this section shall submit an application
to the Attorney General at such time, in such manner, and containing
such information as the Attorney General may reasonably require,
including--
(1) the rate of eviction for that State or unit of general
local government;
(2) during the previous year, the number of individuals
subject to eviction in that State or unit of general local
government who were not represented by an attorney in eviction
proceedings;
(3) a plan for how the State or unit of general local
government will use amounts from a grant under this section to
increase access to counsel; and
(4) the status with respect of the right to counsel in
civil actions related to eviction in the State or unit of
general local government and, if the State or unit of general
local government does not have in effect laws providing a right
to counsel, such evidence as the Attorney General may require
that is sufficient to demonstrate that substantial progress has
been made to enact laws providing such a right.
(d) Amount of Grant.--Subject to the availability of
appropriations, a grant under this section shall be in an amount that
is not less than $1,000,000, and which amount is determined based on--
(1) the rate of eviction in the applicant State or unit of
general local government, compared to the national average rate
of eviction, as determined by the rates of eviction included
with each application under subsection (c);
(2) the plan submitted by the applicant State or unit of
general local government in accordance with subsection (c)(3);
(3) the status of right to counsel in applicant State or
unit of general local government; and
(4) during the previous year, the number of individuals
subject to eviction in the applicant State or unit of general
local government who were not represented by an attorney in
eviction proceedings.
(e) Definitions.--In this section, the following definitions shall
apply:
(1) Access to counsel.--The term ``access to counsel''
means full representation by an attorney.
(2) Eligible individual.--The term ``eligible individual''
means an individual whose income is less than 125 percent of
the Federal poverty level.
(3) State.--The term ``State'' means the States of the
United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,
Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and any other
territory or possession of the United States.
(4) Unit of general local government.--The term ``unit of
general local government'' means any city, town, township,
county, parish, village, or other general purpose political
subdivision of a State.
(5) Rate of eviction.--The term ``rate of eviction'' means
the number of judgments of eviction entered in that
jurisdiction per capita during the previous fiscal year.
(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this section $125,000,000 for each of fiscal
years 2021 through 2025.
SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR COLLECTION OF EVICTION DATA.
(a) Authorization.--The Attorney General is authorized to make
grants to States and units of local government to collect and provide
to the Attorney General eviction data described in subsection (b).
(b) Eviction Data Described.--The eviction data described in this
subsection is the eviction data for the applicable jurisdiction during
the most recent 3 years, which shall include the 3-year eviction filing
rate, number of eviction filings at a given property, the name of the
current owner, the name of the lead plaintiff, the race of the lead
plaintiff and defendant, the type of property (single-family
residential, two-family residential, or multi-family residential),
whether the unit's rent was assisted or subsidized, the number of
units, the nature of the eviction, the reason for eviction (including
nonpayment of rent and breach of lease), the number of days the tenant
is given to vacate, the status of representation of the lead plaintiff
and defendant, the outcome of the eviction (including whether the
tenant remains in possession, whether an order of eviction is
officially placed on the record, whether the landlord is ordered to
make repairs, and whether the landlord or tenant are ordered to pay any
amount of money to the other), the date of any rescission of such
eviction, and if an eviction was ordered, how many days from such order
until termination of the lease.
(c) Publication of Data.--The Attorney General shall make the
information reported under subsection (a) publicly available online.
(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025.
SEC. 4. GAO STUDY.
Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this
Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a study
and submit a report to Congress on evictions in the United States,
including an analysis of ways in which the legal system fails to
provide sufficient protections from eviction for tenants, the rate of
representation of tenants and landlords, the effect of full
representation on default rates, case outcomes, and eviction dockets as
compared to cases where the tenant lacks representation or has pro se
assistance, and the potential cost savings from providing
representation.
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