| 1 | 1 | | I |
|---|
| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
|---|
| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
|---|
| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 2206 |
|---|
| 5 | 5 | | To establish a Housing Stabilization Fund to provide emergency housing |
|---|
| 6 | 6 | | assistance to extremely low-income renters and homeowners, and for |
|---|
| 7 | 7 | | other purposes. |
|---|
| 8 | 8 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
|---|
| 9 | 9 | | MARCH18, 2025 |
|---|
| 10 | 10 | | Mr. L |
|---|
| 11 | 11 | | IEU(for himself, Mr. MULLIN, and Mr. JACKSONof Illinois) introduced |
|---|
| 12 | 12 | | the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services |
|---|
| 13 | 13 | | A BILL |
|---|
| 14 | 14 | | To establish a Housing Stabilization Fund to provide emer- |
|---|
| 15 | 15 | | gency housing assistance to extremely low-income renters |
|---|
| 16 | 16 | | and homeowners, and for other purposes. |
|---|
| 17 | 17 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
|---|
| 18 | 18 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
|---|
| 19 | 19 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
|---|
| 20 | 20 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prevent Homelessness 4 |
|---|
| 21 | 21 | | Act of 2025’’. 5 |
|---|
| 22 | 22 | | SEC. 2. HOUSING STABILIZATION FUND. 6 |
|---|
| 23 | 23 | | (a) E |
|---|
| 24 | 24 | | STABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Housing 7 |
|---|
| 25 | 25 | | and Urban Development, acting through the Office of Spe-8 |
|---|
| 26 | 26 | | cial Needs Assistance Programs of the Office of Commu-9 |
|---|
| 27 | 27 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:17 Mar 31, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2206.IH H2206 |
|---|
| 28 | 28 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 |
|---|
| 29 | 29 | | •HR 2206 IH |
|---|
| 30 | 30 | | nity Planning and Development, shall establish and ad-1 |
|---|
| 31 | 31 | | minister a fund to be known as the Housing Stabilization 2 |
|---|
| 32 | 32 | | Fund. 3 |
|---|
| 33 | 33 | | (b) G |
|---|
| 34 | 34 | | RANTS.—Amounts in the Fund shall be avail-4 |
|---|
| 35 | 35 | | able, to the extent provided in advance in appropriations 5 |
|---|
| 36 | 36 | | Acts, only for making annual grants under this section, 6 |
|---|
| 37 | 37 | | in the amount determined pursuant to subsection (f), to 7 |
|---|
| 38 | 38 | | continua of care to provide short-term assistance under 8 |
|---|
| 39 | 39 | | emergency housing assistance programs that the Secretary 9 |
|---|
| 40 | 40 | | determines, pursuant to applications under subsection (e), 10 |
|---|
| 41 | 41 | | meet the requirements of subsection (c). 11 |
|---|
| 42 | 42 | | (c) E |
|---|
| 43 | 43 | | MERGENCYHOUSINGASSISTANCEPROGRAM 12 |
|---|
| 44 | 44 | | R |
|---|
| 45 | 45 | | EQUIREMENTS.—An emergency housing assistance pro-13 |
|---|
| 46 | 46 | | gram shall be considered to meet the requirements of this 14 |
|---|
| 47 | 47 | | subsection only if the program— 15 |
|---|
| 48 | 48 | | (1) is carried out by a continuum of care or 16 |
|---|
| 49 | 49 | | other agency, organization, or entity selected by a 17 |
|---|
| 50 | 50 | | continuum of care; 18 |
|---|
| 51 | 51 | | (2) operates within the geographical area served 19 |
|---|
| 52 | 52 | | by the continuum of care; 20 |
|---|
| 53 | 53 | | (3) provides financial assistance only on behalf 21 |
|---|
| 54 | 54 | | of extremely low-income families and very low-in-22 |
|---|
| 55 | 55 | | come families who— 23 |
|---|
| 56 | 56 | | (A) are unable to meet housing-related ob-24 |
|---|
| 57 | 57 | | ligations (as described in subsection (d) of this 25 |
|---|
| 58 | 58 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:17 Mar 31, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2206.IH H2206 |
|---|
| 59 | 59 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3 |
|---|
| 60 | 60 | | •HR 2206 IH |
|---|
| 61 | 61 | | section) due to a financial hardship, which shall 1 |
|---|
| 62 | 62 | | include the situations described in clause (i) of 2 |
|---|
| 63 | 63 | | section 3(a)(3)(B) of the United States Hous-3 |
|---|
| 64 | 64 | | ing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(a)(3)(B)(i)), 4 |
|---|
| 65 | 65 | | a family or health crisis, unexpected expenses, 5 |
|---|
| 66 | 66 | | unsafe or unhealthy living conditions, and such 6 |
|---|
| 67 | 67 | | other situations as the Secretary may provide; 7 |
|---|
| 68 | 68 | | and 8 |
|---|
| 69 | 69 | | (B) provide evidence of such inability to 9 |
|---|
| 70 | 70 | | meet housing related obligations, which may in-10 |
|---|
| 71 | 71 | | clude past-due utilities or rent notices, eviction 11 |
|---|
| 72 | 72 | | notices, and such other evidence as the Sec-12 |
|---|
| 73 | 73 | | retary may provide, except that a continuum of 13 |
|---|
| 74 | 74 | | care may, in consultation with the Secretary, 14 |
|---|
| 75 | 75 | | provide for additional manners of identifying in-15 |
|---|
| 76 | 76 | | ability to meet housing related obligations in 16 |
|---|
| 77 | 77 | | situations in which such notices are not avail-17 |
|---|
| 78 | 78 | | able; 18 |
|---|
| 79 | 79 | | (4) provides for coordination with any local 19 |
|---|
| 80 | 80 | | homeless prioritization criteria, including the Coordi-20 |
|---|
| 81 | 81 | | nated Entry System or any other evidence-based 21 |
|---|
| 82 | 82 | | analytic targeting tool, applicable within the area in 22 |
|---|
| 83 | 83 | | which the program will be carried out, in accordance 23 |
|---|
| 84 | 84 | | with such requirements as the Secretary shall pro-24 |
|---|
| 85 | 85 | | vide; and 25 |
|---|
| 86 | 86 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:17 Mar 31, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2206.IH H2206 |
|---|
| 87 | 87 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4 |
|---|
| 88 | 88 | | •HR 2206 IH |
|---|
| 89 | 89 | | (5) meets such other requirements as the Sec-1 |
|---|
| 90 | 90 | | retary may establish. 2 |
|---|
| 91 | 91 | | (d) E |
|---|
| 92 | 92 | | LIGIBLEFINANCIALASSISTANCE.—Amounts 3 |
|---|
| 93 | 93 | | from grants under this section for an emergency housing 4 |
|---|
| 94 | 94 | | assistance program shall be used to provide financial as-5 |
|---|
| 95 | 95 | | sistance only to meet housing-related obligations, includ-6 |
|---|
| 96 | 96 | | ing— 7 |
|---|
| 97 | 97 | | (1) prospective rent due, except that such as-8 |
|---|
| 98 | 98 | | sistance may not— 9 |
|---|
| 99 | 99 | | (A) be provided for a family for more than 10 |
|---|
| 100 | 100 | | 8 months (whether consecutive or not) within 11 |
|---|
| 101 | 101 | | the preceding 12 months; or 12 |
|---|
| 102 | 102 | | (B) exceed on a monthly basis the amount 13 |
|---|
| 103 | 103 | | that the Secretary determines is reasonable in 14 |
|---|
| 104 | 104 | | comparison with rents charged for comparable 15 |
|---|
| 105 | 105 | | dwelling units located in the same area in the 16 |
|---|
| 106 | 106 | | private, unassisted local market; 17 |
|---|
| 107 | 107 | | (2) rental arrears, with payments based on ac-18 |
|---|
| 108 | 108 | | tual rent amount due; 19 |
|---|
| 109 | 109 | | (3) mortgage payments due, including amounts 20 |
|---|
| 110 | 110 | | past due, except that such assistance may not be 21 |
|---|
| 111 | 111 | | provided for a household for more than 8 months 22 |
|---|
| 112 | 112 | | (whether consecutive or not) within the preceding 12 23 |
|---|
| 113 | 113 | | months and may not exceed on a monthly basis such 24 |
|---|
| 114 | 114 | | amount as the Secretary shall determine; 25 |
|---|
| 115 | 115 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:17 Mar 31, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2206.IH H2206 |
|---|
| 116 | 116 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 5 |
|---|
| 117 | 117 | | •HR 2206 IH |
|---|
| 118 | 118 | | (4) utility payments due, including amounts 1 |
|---|
| 119 | 119 | | past due; 2 |
|---|
| 120 | 120 | | (5) housing repairs necessary to make the 3 |
|---|
| 121 | 121 | | premises habitable, including installing insulation, 4 |
|---|
| 122 | 122 | | window repair, door repair, roof repair, and other re-5 |
|---|
| 123 | 123 | | pairs; 6 |
|---|
| 124 | 124 | | (6) costs of obtaining services for behavioral, 7 |
|---|
| 125 | 125 | | emotional, and mental health issues, domestic vio-8 |
|---|
| 126 | 126 | | lence issues, child welfare issues, employment coun-9 |
|---|
| 127 | 127 | | seling, substance abuse treatment, or other services; 10 |
|---|
| 128 | 128 | | (7) costs of obtaining housing counseling or ad-11 |
|---|
| 129 | 129 | | vice, including outreach, mediation, and case man-12 |
|---|
| 130 | 130 | | agement; 13 |
|---|
| 131 | 131 | | (8) costs of obtaining legal assistance relating 14 |
|---|
| 132 | 132 | | to eviction, foreclosure, and other issues relating to 15 |
|---|
| 133 | 133 | | a family retaining its housing; 16 |
|---|
| 134 | 134 | | (9) security deposit payments due; and 17 |
|---|
| 135 | 135 | | (10) other short-term costs the payment of 18 |
|---|
| 136 | 136 | | which increase housing stability for an extremely 19 |
|---|
| 137 | 137 | | low-income family or a very low-income family, in-20 |
|---|
| 138 | 138 | | cluding costs for gas, groceries, automotive repair, 21 |
|---|
| 139 | 139 | | public transportation, furniture, application fees, re-22 |
|---|
| 140 | 140 | | unification services, and such other costs as the Sec-23 |
|---|
| 141 | 141 | | retary may provide. 24 |
|---|
| 142 | 142 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:17 Mar 31, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2206.IH H2206 |
|---|
| 143 | 143 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 6 |
|---|
| 144 | 144 | | •HR 2206 IH |
|---|
| 145 | 145 | | (e) APPLICATIONS.—The Secretary shall require, for 1 |
|---|
| 146 | 146 | | a continuum of care to receive a grant under this section 2 |
|---|
| 147 | 147 | | for a fiscal year, that the continuum of care submit to 3 |
|---|
| 148 | 148 | | the Secretary, and the Secretary approve, an application 4 |
|---|
| 149 | 149 | | containing such information as the Secretary considers 5 |
|---|
| 150 | 150 | | necessary to ensure that grant amounts are used in ac-6 |
|---|
| 151 | 151 | | cordance with this section. 7 |
|---|
| 152 | 152 | | (f) A |
|---|
| 153 | 153 | | MOUNT OFGRANTS.— 8 |
|---|
| 154 | 154 | | (1) A |
|---|
| 155 | 155 | | LLOCATION.— 9 |
|---|
| 156 | 156 | | (A) F |
|---|
| 157 | 157 | | ISCAL YEAR 2027.—For fiscal year 10 |
|---|
| 158 | 158 | | 2027, any amounts made available from the 11 |
|---|
| 159 | 159 | | Fund for grants under this section shall be allo-12 |
|---|
| 160 | 160 | | cated for grants to continua of care according 13 |
|---|
| 161 | 161 | | to the formula established pursuant to para-14 |
|---|
| 162 | 162 | | graph (2). 15 |
|---|
| 163 | 163 | | (B) S |
|---|
| 164 | 164 | | UCCEEDING FISCAL YEARS .—For 16 |
|---|
| 165 | 165 | | each fiscal year thereafter, of any amounts 17 |
|---|
| 166 | 166 | | made available from the Fund for grants under 18 |
|---|
| 167 | 167 | | this section— 19 |
|---|
| 168 | 168 | | (i) 80 percent shall be allocated for 20 |
|---|
| 169 | 169 | | grants to continua of care according to the 21 |
|---|
| 170 | 170 | | formula established pursuant to paragraph 22 |
|---|
| 171 | 171 | | (2); and 23 |
|---|
| 172 | 172 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:17 Mar 31, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2206.IH H2206 |
|---|
| 173 | 173 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 7 |
|---|
| 174 | 174 | | •HR 2206 IH |
|---|
| 175 | 175 | | (ii) 20 percent shall be allocated for 1 |
|---|
| 176 | 176 | | grants to continua of care according to a 2 |
|---|
| 177 | 177 | | competition pursuant to paragraph (3). 3 |
|---|
| 178 | 178 | | (2) F |
|---|
| 179 | 179 | | ORMULA.— 4 |
|---|
| 180 | 180 | | (A) I |
|---|
| 181 | 181 | | N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, by 5 |
|---|
| 182 | 182 | | regulation, establish a formula for use to allo-6 |
|---|
| 183 | 183 | | cate amounts in the Fund for grants for a fiscal 7 |
|---|
| 184 | 184 | | year, in accordance with paragraph (1), for 8 |
|---|
| 185 | 185 | | continua of care whose applications for such 9 |
|---|
| 186 | 186 | | year for such assistance have been approved 10 |
|---|
| 187 | 187 | | pursuant to subsection (e). 11 |
|---|
| 188 | 188 | | (B) F |
|---|
| 189 | 189 | | ACTORS.—The formula required by 12 |
|---|
| 190 | 190 | | subparagraph (A) shall be designed to take into 13 |
|---|
| 191 | 191 | | consideration, for the area served by a con-14 |
|---|
| 192 | 192 | | tinuum of care— 15 |
|---|
| 193 | 193 | | (i) the extent of the population that 16 |
|---|
| 194 | 194 | | are extremely low-income families, includ-17 |
|---|
| 195 | 195 | | ing the homeless population that is 18 |
|---|
| 196 | 196 | | unsheltered, who are severely cost-bur-19 |
|---|
| 197 | 197 | | dened by housing-related costs, including 20 |
|---|
| 198 | 198 | | obligations described in subsection (d); 21 |
|---|
| 199 | 199 | | (ii) the extent of the population that 22 |
|---|
| 200 | 200 | | are very low-income families; and 23 |
|---|
| 201 | 201 | | (iii) such other factors as the Sec-24 |
|---|
| 202 | 202 | | retary may provide. 25 |
|---|
| 203 | 203 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:17 Mar 31, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2206.IH H2206 |
|---|
| 204 | 204 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 8 |
|---|
| 205 | 205 | | •HR 2206 IH |
|---|
| 206 | 206 | | The Secretary shall determine data to be used 1 |
|---|
| 207 | 207 | | for the factors considered under the formula 2 |
|---|
| 208 | 208 | | based on the most recently conducted Point-In- 3 |
|---|
| 209 | 209 | | Time Homeless Count administered by the Sec-4 |
|---|
| 210 | 210 | | retary. 5 |
|---|
| 211 | 211 | | (3) C |
|---|
| 212 | 212 | | OMPETITION.—The Secretary shall, by 6 |
|---|
| 213 | 213 | | regulation, establish a competition for use to allocate 7 |
|---|
| 214 | 214 | | amounts in the Fund for grants for a fiscal year for 8 |
|---|
| 215 | 215 | | continua of care pursuant to paragraph (1)(B)(ii), 9 |
|---|
| 216 | 216 | | which shall be based on measurable criteria that— 10 |
|---|
| 217 | 217 | | (A) to the greatest extent possible, are re-11 |
|---|
| 218 | 218 | | quired to be collected and reported to the De-12 |
|---|
| 219 | 219 | | partment of Housing and Urban Development 13 |
|---|
| 220 | 220 | | or any other Federal agency under other provi-14 |
|---|
| 221 | 221 | | sions of law already in effect or otherwise do 15 |
|---|
| 222 | 222 | | not impose new burdens on continua of care; 16 |
|---|
| 223 | 223 | | (B) provide for targeting of assistance 17 |
|---|
| 224 | 224 | | made available under an emergency housing as-18 |
|---|
| 225 | 225 | | sistance program to households having the low-19 |
|---|
| 226 | 226 | | est incomes; 20 |
|---|
| 227 | 227 | | (C) encourage the leveraging of other non- 21 |
|---|
| 228 | 228 | | Federal funds for providing assistance under an 22 |
|---|
| 229 | 229 | | emergency housing assistance program; 23 |
|---|
| 230 | 230 | | (D) encourage emergency housing assist-24 |
|---|
| 231 | 231 | | ance programs assisted with grants under this 25 |
|---|
| 232 | 232 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:17 Mar 31, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2206.IH H2206 |
|---|
| 233 | 233 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 9 |
|---|
| 234 | 234 | | •HR 2206 IH |
|---|
| 235 | 235 | | section to provide preventive assistance to avoid 1 |
|---|
| 236 | 236 | | homelessness; and 2 |
|---|
| 237 | 237 | | (E) encourage problem-solving and diver-3 |
|---|
| 238 | 238 | | sion methods, including the applicant’s capacity 4 |
|---|
| 239 | 239 | | and interest in providing innovative delivery of 5 |
|---|
| 240 | 240 | | housing stability interventions and connecting 6 |
|---|
| 241 | 241 | | households to other public benefits that pro-7 |
|---|
| 242 | 242 | | mote housing stability. 8 |
|---|
| 243 | 243 | | (g) D |
|---|
| 244 | 244 | | EFINITIONS.—For purposes of this Act, the fol-9 |
|---|
| 245 | 245 | | lowing definitions shall apply: 10 |
|---|
| 246 | 246 | | (1) C |
|---|
| 247 | 247 | | ONTINUUM OF CARE .—The term ‘‘con-11 |
|---|
| 248 | 248 | | tinuum of care’’ means a collaborative applicant es-12 |
|---|
| 249 | 249 | | tablished and operating for a geographic area for 13 |
|---|
| 250 | 250 | | purposes of the Continuum of Care Program under 14 |
|---|
| 251 | 251 | | subtitle C of title IV of the McKinney-Vento Home-15 |
|---|
| 252 | 252 | | less Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11381 et seq.). 16 |
|---|
| 253 | 253 | | (2) E |
|---|
| 254 | 254 | | XTREMELY LOW -INCOME FAMILY; VERY 17 |
|---|
| 255 | 255 | | LOW-INCOME FAMILY.—The terms ‘‘extremely low- 18 |
|---|
| 256 | 256 | | income family’’ and ‘‘very low-income family’’ have 19 |
|---|
| 257 | 257 | | the meanings given such terms in section 3(b) of the 20 |
|---|
| 258 | 258 | | United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 21 |
|---|
| 259 | 259 | | 1437a(b)). 22 |
|---|
| 260 | 260 | | (3) F |
|---|
| 261 | 261 | | UND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the 23 |
|---|
| 262 | 262 | | Housing Stabilization Fund established under sub-24 |
|---|
| 263 | 263 | | section (a). 25 |
|---|
| 264 | 264 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:17 Mar 31, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2206.IH H2206 |
|---|
| 265 | 265 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 10 |
|---|
| 266 | 266 | | •HR 2206 IH |
|---|
| 267 | 267 | | (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 1 |
|---|
| 268 | 268 | | the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 2 |
|---|
| 269 | 269 | | (h) A |
|---|
| 270 | 270 | | UTHORIZATION OFAPPROPRIATIONS.—There is 3 |
|---|
| 271 | 271 | | authorized to be appropriated for the Fund $100,000,000 4 |
|---|
| 272 | 272 | | for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2031. 5 |
|---|
| 273 | 273 | | Æ |
|---|
| 274 | 274 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:17 Mar 31, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2206.IH H2206 |
|---|
| 275 | 275 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS |
|---|