42 U.S.C. § 13603 — Establishment of criteria for occupancy

submitted 34 years ago by Pub. L. 102-550 to r/title-42-THE-PUBLIC-HEALTH-AND-WELFARE · 842 words · no verdicts yet

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HUD had to set up a task force of owners, tenants, and advocates to review the rules for federally assisted housing tenancy and recommend new occupancy standards. Using that task force's report, HUD's Secretary then had to issue formal regulations covering tenant selection, lease terms, disability accommodations, and civil rights compliance, following public comment.

(a) Task force: (1) Establishment — To help set reasonable occupancy criteria, the Secretary had to create a task force to review all HUD rules, policies, handbooks, and other documents governing residency standards in federally assisted housing, and recommend occupancy criteria. (2) Members — The Secretary had to appoint members representing owners, managers, and tenants of this housing, public housing agencies, owner and tenant advocacy groups, people with disabilities and disabled families, homeless-services organizations, and social service, mental health, and other nonprofit providers serving this housing. (3) Compensation — Task force members did not get paid for serving. (4) Duties — The task force had to (A) review existing standards on occupancy and tenant selection; (B) review existing standards on lease terms and other occupancy rules; (C) decide whether those standards gave owners and managers enough guidance to develop preselection screening, use leases banning behavior that endangers others' health, safety, or peaceful enjoyment, provide reasonable accommodations for disabilities under the Fair Housing Act and section 794 of title 29, and comply with civil rights laws; (D) propose occupancy criteria, tenant behavior standards, disability-accommodation and civil-rights compliance standards, and eviction procedures consistent with sections 1437d and 1437f; and (E) report to Congress and the Secretary as described in paragraph (7). (5) Procedure — The task force had to hold public hearings and take written comments for at least 60 days. (6) Support — HUD had to fully cooperate with the task force and give it staff and office space. (7) Reports — Within 3 months of October 28, 1992, the task force had to give the Secretary and Congress a preliminary report on its initial actions. Within 6 months, it had to give a full report including (A) its findings and (B) recommendations to fix the standards, regulations, and guidance as needed under paragraph (4). (b) Rulemaking: (1) Authority — The Secretary had to issue regulations setting tenant-selection criteria and lease terms for federally assisted housing. (2) Standards — These criteria had to guide owners and managers enough to (A) choose tenants able to follow reasonable lease terms, (B) use leases banning behavior that endangers others' health or safety or their peaceful enjoyment, (C) meet legal requirements for reasonable disability accommodations, and (D) comply with civil rights laws. The criteria had to be consistent with sections 1437d(k) and (l) and 1437f(d)(1), and similar contract and lease rules. The Secretary had to consider the task force's report when setting the criteria. (3) Procedure — Within 90 days of the task force's final report, the Secretary had to propose these regulations for public comment under section 553 of title 5 (with some of that section's usual exceptions not applying), taking comments for at least 60 days. Final regulations were due no later than 60 days after the comment period ended, and they would take effect immediately on issuance.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

(a) Task force

(1) Establishment

To assist the Secretary in establishing reasonable criteria for occupancy in federally assisted housing, the Secretary shall establish a task force to review all rules, policy statements, handbooks, technical assistance memoranda, and other relevant documents issued by the Department of Housing and Urban Development on the standards and obligations governing residency in federally assisted housing and make recommendations to the Secretary for the establishment of such criteria for occupancy.

(2) Members

The Secretary shall appoint members to the task force, which shall include individuals representing the interests of owners, managers, and tenants of federally assisted housing, public housing agencies, owner and tenant advocacy organizations, persons with disabilities and disabled families, organizations assisting homeless individuals, and social service, mental health, and other nonprofit servicer providers who serve federally assisted housing.

(3) Compensation

Members of the task force shall not receive compensation for serving on the task force.

(4) Duties

The task force shall—

(A)

review all existing standards, regulations, and guidelines governing occupancy and tenant selection policies in federally assisted housing;

(B)

review all existing standards, regulations, and guidelines governing lease provisions and other rules of occupancy for federally assisted housing;

(C)

determine whether the standards, regulations, and guidelines reviewed under subparagraphs (A) and (B) provide sufficient guidance to owners and managers of federally assisted housing to—

(i)

develop procedures for preselection inquiries sufficient to determine the capacity of applicants to comply with reasonable lease terms and conditions of occupancy;

(ii)

utilize leases that prohibit behavior which endangers the health or safety of other tenants or violates the rights of other tenants to peaceful enjoyment of the premises;

(iii)

assess the need to provide, and appropriate measures for providing, reasonable accommodations required under the Fair Housing Act [42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.] and section 794 of title 29 for persons with various types of disabilities; and

(iv)

comply with civil rights laws and regulations;

(D)

propose criteria for occupancy in federally assisted housing, standards for the reasonable performance and behavior of tenants of federally assisted housing, compliance standards consistent with the reasonable accommodation of the requirements of the Fair Housing Act [42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.] and section 794 of title 29, standards for compliance with other civil rights laws, and procedures for the eviction of tenants not complying with such standards consistent with sections 1437d and 1437f of this title; and

(E)

report to the Congress and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development pursuant to paragraph (7).

(5) Procedure

In carrying out its duties, the task force shall hold public hearings and receive written comments for a period of not less than 60 days.

(6) Support

The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall cooperate fully with the task force and shall provide support staff and office space to assist the task force in carrying out its duties.

(7) Reports

Not later than 3 months after October 28, 1992, the task force shall submit to the Secretary and the Congress a preliminary report describing its initial actions. Not later than 6 months after October 28, 1992, the task force shall submit a report to the Secretary and the Congress, which shall include—

(A)

a description of its findings; and

(B)

recommendations to revise such standards, regulations, and guidelines to provide accurate and complete guidance to owners and managers of federally assisted housing as determined necessary under paragraph (4).

(b) Rulemaking

(1) Authority

The Secretary shall, by regulation, establish criteria for selection of tenants for occupancy in federally assisted housing and lease provisions for such housing.

(2) Standards

The criteria shall provide sufficient guidance to owners and managers of federally assisted housing to enable them to (A) select tenants capable of complying with reasonable lease terms, (B) utilize leases prohibiting behavior which endangers the health or safety of others or violates the right of other tenants to peaceful enjoyment of the premises, (C) comply with legal requirements to make reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities, and (D) comply with civil rights laws. The criteria shall be consistent with the requirements under subsections (k) and (l) of section 1437d of this title and section 1437f(d)(1) of this title and any similar contract and lease requirements for federally assisted housing. In establishing the criteria, the Secretary shall take into consideration the report of the task force under subsection (a)(7).

(3) Procedure

Not later than 90 days after the submission of the final report under subsection (a)(7), the Secretary shall issue a notice of proposed rulemaking of the regulations under this subsection providing for notice and opportunity for public comment regarding the regulations, pursuant to the provisions of section 553 of title 5 (notwithstanding subsections (a)(2), (b)(B), and (d)(3) of such section). The duration of the period for public comment under such section 553 shall not be less than 60 days. The Secretary shall issue final regulations under this subsection not later than the expiration of the 60-day period beginning upon the conclusion of the comment period, which shall take effect upon issuance.

Source credit: (Pub. L. 102–550, title VI, § 643, Oct. 28, 1992, 106 Stat. 3821.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

1992Enacted · Pub. L. 102-550 · 106 Stat. 3821

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 102-550 on 1992-10-28.

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