I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 426
To make available necessary disaster assistance for families affected by major
disasters, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY15, 2025
Mr. E
SPAILLAT(for himself and Mrs. KIM) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc-
ture, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to
be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
A BILL
To make available necessary disaster assistance for families
affected by major disasters, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Housing Survivors of 4
Major Disasters Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6
In this Act: 7
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(1) FEMA.—The term ‘‘FEMA’’ means the 1
Federal Emergency Management Agency. 2
(2) A
DMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-3
trator’’ means the Administrator of FEMA. 4
SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR AND USE OF DISASTER ASSIST-5
ANCE. 6
(a) E
VIDENCE.— 7
(1) C
ONSIDERATION.—Where an individual or 8
household does not have documented ownership 9
rights in their predisaster primary residence, in 10
making a determination to provide assistance pursu-11
ant to paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 408(c) of 12
the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer-13
gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5174(c)), the Presi-14
dent shall consider an individual or household claim 15
to having constructive ownership where evidence 16
supports that it is more likely than not the indi-17
vidual or household has such ownership. 18
(2) F
ORMS OF EVIDENCE .—In determining 19
whether it is more likely than not that an individual 20
or household has constructive ownership under para-21
graph (1), the Administrator shall consider all evi-22
dence provided by an individual or household, includ-23
ing a digital or physical copy of the following: 24
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•HR 426 IH
(A) The deed or title for the applicable 1
property. 2
(B) A mortgage payment booklet or an-3
other mortgage document. 4
(C) Property title of mobile home certifi-5
cate of title. 6
(D) A real estate property tax receipt. 7
(E) A will and testament with the name 8
and address of the individual that conveys the 9
individual is the owner. 10
(F) In a State that does not require a will 11
and testament for the transfer of immovable 12
property, a death certificate and birth certifi-13
cate that establishes an automatic transfer of 14
legal ownership. 15
(G) Homeowners insurance documentation. 16
(H) Home Purchase Contracts, including, 17
but not limited to, Bill of Sale, Bond for Title, 18
Land Installment Contracts. 19
(I) Receipts of major repairs or mainte-20
nance dated within five years prior to the dis-21
aster. 22
(J) Court Documents. 23
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(K) Letter prepared after the disaster 1
from a mobile home park owner or manager or 2
public office that meets FEMA requirements. 3
(L) Notice of Federal benefits. 4
(M) Student loan documentation. 5
(N) Any other documentation, certification, 6
identification, or proof of occupancy or owner-7
ship not included on this list that can reason-8
ably link the individual requesting assistance to 9
the applicable property, as determined by the 10
President. 11
(3) D
ECLARATIVE STATEMENT .— 12
(A) I
N GENERAL.—Where evidence of con-13
structive ownership is not sufficient, the Admin-14
istrator may require the individual or household 15
to provide a declarative statement, signed under 16
penalty of perjury, that describes why the indi-17
vidual or household is the constructive owner of 18
the property. 19
(B) P
ROHIBITION OF NOTARIZATION .—The 20
Administrator may not require notarization of a 21
declarative statement submitted under this 22
paragraph. 23
(b) D
EFINITION OFCONSTRUCTIVEOWNERSHIP.— 24
In this section, the term ‘‘constructive ownership’’ means 25
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•HR 426 IH
that an individual’s or household’s residence is owner-oc-1
cupied, as determined by the Administrator, the purposes 2
of section 408 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 3
and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5174). 4
(c) A
PPLICABILITY.—This section shall apply to 5
funds appropriated on or after the date of enactment of 6
this Act. 7
SEC. 4. REPAIR AND REBUILDING. 8
(a) H
OUSINGASSISTANCE.—Section 408(b)(1) of the 9
Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist-10
ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5174(b)(1)) is amended— 11
(1) by striking ‘‘rendered uninhabitable’’ and 12
inserting ‘‘damaged by a major disaster’’; and 13
(2) by striking ‘‘uninhabitable, as a result of 14
damage caused by a major disaster’’ and inserting 15
‘‘damaged by a major disaster’’. 16
(b) T
YPES OF HOUSINGASSISTANCE.—Section 17
408(c)(4) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 18
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5174) is amended 19
by striking ‘‘in cases in which’’ and all that follows 20
through the end of the paragraph and inserting ‘‘if the 21
President determines such assistance is a cost effective al-22
ternative to other housing solutions, including the costs 23
associated with temporary housing provided under this 24
section.’’. 25
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(c) PROVISION OFGRANTS ASPILOTPROGRAM.— 1
Section 408(f)(3)(J) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster 2
Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 3
5174(f)(3)(J)) is amended— 4
(1) in clause (ii) by striking ‘‘Not later than 2 5
years after the date of enactment of this paragraph, 6
the Administrator’’ and inserting ‘‘The Adminis-7
trator’’; and 8
(2) in clause (iii)— 9
(A) by striking ‘‘2 years after the date of 10
enactment of this paragraph or’’; and 11
(B) by striking ‘‘, whichever occurs soon-12
er’’. 13
(d) A
PPLICABILITY.—This section and the amend-14
ments made by this section shall only apply to— 15
(1) applications received on or after the date of 16
enactment of this Act; and 17
(2) amounts appropriated on or after the date 18
of enactment of this Act. 19
SEC. 5. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 20
The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 21
complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 22
shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 23
titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 24
Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 25
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by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro-1
vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 2
vote on passage. 3
Æ
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