34 U.S.C. § 12495 — Right to report crime and emergencies from one’s home

(a) Definition In this section, the term “covered governmental entity” means any municipal, county, or State government that receives funding under section 5306 of title 42 . (b) Right to report (1) In general Landlords, homeowners, tenants, residents, occupants, and guests of, and applicants for, housing— (A) must have the right to seek law enforcement^* or emergency assistance on their own behalf or on behalf of another person in need of assistance; and (B) must not be penalized based on their requests for assistance or based on criminal activity of which they are a victim or otherwise not at fault under statutes, ordinances, regulations, or policies adopted or enforced by covered governmental entities. (2) Prohibited penalties Penalties that are prohibited under paragraph (1) include— (A) actual or threatened assessment of monetary or criminal penalties, fines, or fees; (B) actual or threatened eviction; (C) actual or threatened refusal to rent or renew tenancy; (D) actual or threatened refusal to issue an occupancy permit or landlord permit; and (E) actual or threatened closure of the property, or designation of the property as a nuisance or a similarly negative designation. (c) Reporting Consistent with the process described in section 5304(b) of title 42 , covered governmental entities must— (1) report any of their laws or policies, or, as applicable, the laws or policies adopted by subgrantees, that impose penalties on landlords, homeowners, tenants, residents, occupants, guests, or housing applicants based on requests for law enforcement or emergency assistance or based on criminal activity that occurred at a property; and (2) certify that they are in compliance with the protections under this part or describe the steps the covered governmental entities will take within 180 days to come into compliance, or to ensure compliance among subgrantees. (d) Implementation The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the Attorney General must implement and enforce this subpart consistent with, and in a manner that provides, the same rights and remedies as those provided for in title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 ( 42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.). (e) Subgrantees For those covered governmental entities that distribute funds to subgrantees, compliance with subsection (c)(1) includes inquiring about the existence of laws and policies adopted by subgrantees that impose penalties on landlords, homeowners, tenants, residents, occupants, guests, or housing applicants based on requests for law enforcement or emergency assistance or based on criminal activity that occurred at a property.