[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3305 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3305
To establish a grant program to provide legal assistance to eligible
tenants at risk of or subject to eviction, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 13, 2020
Mr. Bennet introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a grant program to provide legal assistance to eligible
tenants at risk of or subject 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 ``Legal Assistance to Prevent
Evictions Act of 2020''.
SEC. 2. EVICTIONS ASSISTANCE GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) Definitions.--In this Act:
(1) Eligible recipient.--The term ``eligible recipient''
means any nonprofit or governmental entity that has experience
providing no-cost legal assistance to low-income individuals.
(2) Eligible tenant.--The term ``eligible tenant'' means an
individual who has an annual household income of--
(A) not more than 135 percent of the Federal
poverty guidelines issued by the Secretary of Health
and Human Services; or
(B) less than 333 percent of the average fair
market rent in the county in which the individual
resides--
(i) in the case of a household comprised of
1 individual, for an efficiency; and
(ii) in the case of a household comprised
of more than 1 individual, for a residence in
which the number of bedrooms would not
require--
(I) more than 2 members of the
household to share a bedroom;
(II) children of different genders
to share a bedroom with one another; or
(III) a household member with a
disability requiring medical equipment
to share a bedroom.
(3) Rural area.--The term ``rural area'' means a census
tract that is--
(A) outside of a metropolitan statistical area, as
designated by the Office of Management and Budget; or
(B)(i) within a metropolitan statistical area, as
designated by the Office of Management and Budget, that
is outside of the urbanized areas of the metropolitan
statistical area as designated by the rural-urban
commuting area code 1, as determined by the Secretary
of Agriculture; and
(ii) outside of tracts with a housing density of
more than 64 housing units per square mile located in
the rural-urban commuting area code 2, as determined by
the Secretary of Agriculture.
(4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Housing and Urban Development.
(5) Suburban area.--The term ``suburban area'' means a
census tract with a population density of less than 2,500
inhabitants per square mile that is not a rural area.
(6) Urban area.--The term ``urban area'' means a census
tract with a population density of not less than 2,500
inhabitants per square mile.
(b) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish a competitive
grant program to provide grants to eligible recipients to provide legal
assistance, including assistance related to pretrial activities, trial
activities, post-trial activities, and alternative dispute resolution,
at no cost to eligible tenants at risk of or subject to eviction.
(c) Application.--To be eligible to receive a grant under this
section, an applicant shall submit an application to the Secretary at
such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the
Secretary may reasonably require, including evidence of the experience
of the applicant providing legal assistance in residential eviction
matters.
(d) Point System for Preference Factors.--In awarding grants under
this section, the Secretary shall--
(1) establish a system that awards points to applicants in
accordance with the preference factors described in subsection
(e); and
(2) give priority to applicants with the greatest number of
points under the system established under paragraph (1).
(e) Preference Factors.--The preference factors for which an
applicant shall be awarded points under the system established pursuant
to subsection (d)(1) are as follows:
(1) Eviction rate preference.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary shall award points
if the applicant will use grant funds awarded under
this section to provide services in census tracts with
high rates of eviction.
(B) Determination.--In making a determination under
subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall use data
determined by the Secretary to be the best available,
or, if no appropriate data is available, shall make
reasonable inferences to determine the rate of eviction
in a census tract.
(C) Limitations.--The Secretary may not--
(i) require applicants to provide data on
the rates of eviction in the census tract in
which the applicant intends to provide
services; or
(ii) award more points to applicants who
provide the data described in clause (i) than
to applicants who do not provide that data.
(2) Capacity preference.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary shall award points
if the Secretary determines that the applicant has a
greater capacity to produce more favorable outcomes
regarding eviction for eligible tenants.
(B) Considerations.--In making a determination
under subparagraph (A), the Secretary may consider the
applicant's--
(i) past experience in producing favorable
outcomes for households facing eviction;
(ii) proposed use of grant funds to
increase staff resources to provide legal
assistance;
(iii) demonstrated past effective use of
resources to provide legal assistance;
(iv) ability to provide services to
eligible tenants with limited English
proficiency; and
(v) ability to effectively communicate with
eligible tenants with disabilities.
(3) Preference for government entities that promote tenant
rights.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary shall award points
to an applicant that is a governmental entity if the
applicant has in effect laws or regulations that
promote tenant rights.
(B) Considerations.--In making a determination
under subparagraph (A), the Secretary--
(i) shall consider laws or regulations
establishing a tenant's right to--
(I) counsel in evictions cases;
(II) withhold rent if a landlord
fails to provide essential services to
ensure habitability of the premises;
(III) deduct appliance repair costs
from rent owed;
(IV) notice of failure to pay rent
or other lease violation with the right
to cure;
(V) a maximum security deposit
equal to 1 month's rent; and
(VI) the expeditious return of any
security deposit after terminating a
lease; and
(ii) may consider, with lesser weight given
than the weight given to those rights described
in clause (i), laws or regulations establishing
a tenant's right to--
(I) advance notice of rent
increases;
(II) advance notice of landlord
entry to the property; or
(III) adequate time to recover
abandoned property after eviction.
(C) Limitation.--Points awarded under this
paragraph shall not result in an applicant governmental
entity being awarded a grant that, in the absence of
this paragraph, would have been awarded to either an
applicant nonprofit entity or an applicant governmental
entity lacking the legal authority to enact laws or
regulations described in this paragraph because the
entity is subject to legal restrictions enacted by
another governmental entity.
(f) Rural Equity.--In awarding grants under this section, the
Secretary--
(1) shall, to the extent practicable, ensure that the
proportion of eligible tenants living in rural areas who will
receive legal assistance with grant funds awarded under this
section is not less than the overall proportion of eligible
tenants who live in rural areas; and
(2) may consider geographic diversity and the capacity of
an applicant to serve eligible tenants living in rural areas.
(g) Supplement, Not Supplant.--Grant funds received under this
section shall be used to supplement and not supplant other funds used
by the grantee to provide the legal assistance described in subsection
(b).
(h) Report.--For each year that an eligible recipient receives
grant funds under this section, the eligible recipient shall submit to
the Secretary a report that--
(1) maintains attorney-client confidentiality and excludes
personally identifiable information about eligible tenants; and
(2) contains--
(A) the total number of eligible tenants that were
provided legal assistance using the grant funds;
(B) the estimated number of evictions avoided,
delayed, or resolved with other outcomes, such as
negotiated settlements, that are more favorable to the
eligible tenant than the outcomes that would have been
expected in the absence of counsel, and a brief
description of the circumstances of each case;
(C) the number of eligible tenants that received
legal assistance that reside in a dwelling unit for
which any subsidy or assistance for occupancy in the
dwelling unit is provided under a program administered
by a Federal, State, or local authority; and
(D) demographic information about eligible tenants
that received legal assistance, including race,
national origin, sex, disability status, household
income, household size, household familial status, age
of the head of household, and whether tenants live in
an urban area, suburban area, or rural area.
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