Text of US HB 3086 (2025)

I 119TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3086 To restore the fair housing mission of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 29, 2025 Ms. WATERS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic- tion of the committee concerned A BILL To restore the fair housing mission of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, 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 ‘‘Restoring Fair Hous- 4 ing Protections Eliminated by Trump Act of 2025’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 The Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 May 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3086.IH H3086 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3086 IH (1) The current Administration has taken sev- 1 eral steps that seriously undermine the American 2 people’s fair housing protections. 3 (2) On February 10, 2025, the Secretary of 4 Housing and Urban Development announced that he 5 would halt all current and future enforcement of the 6 Departments’s Equal Access Rule that protect per- 7 sons who are experiencing homelessness from dis- 8 crimination on the basis of sexual orientation and 9 gender identity while residing in shelters and while 10 receiving homeless services. 11 (3) On February 11, 2025, Secretary Scott 12 Turner stated in an interview regarding the halting 13 of Equal Access Rule enforcement that, ‘‘We want 14 to uphold, first, what the bible says—that there’s 15 male and female’’ and also stated that Department 16 of Housing and Urban Development and the Office 17 of Management and Budget ‘‘are going after 18 AFFH’’. 19 (4) On February 12, 2025, the Secretary of 20 Housing and Urban Development submitted an in- 21 terim final rule about affirmatively furthering fair 22 housing to the Office of Management and Budget 23 for review. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 May 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3086.IH H3086 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3086 IH (5) On February 12, 2025, the Secretary of 1 Housing and Urban Development submitted a pro- 2 posed Equal Access Rule to the Office of Manage- 3 ment and Budget for review. 4 (6) On February 14, 2025, Bloomberg Law re- 5 ported that the Trump Administration plans to 6 eliminate 50 percent of the staff at the Department 7 of Housing and Urban Development. 8 (7) On February 26, 2025, ProPublica reported 9 that the United States DOGE Service (commonly re- 10 ferred to as the ‘‘Department of Government Effi- 11 ciency’’ or ‘‘DOGE’’) was given access to confiden- 12 tial fair housing discrimination complaints. 13 (8) On February 26, 2025, the Secretary of 14 Housing and Urban Development announced the re- 15 scission of the rule to affirmatively further fair hous- 16 ing and announced the Department will now rely on 17 localities to self-certify that they comply with the 18 law, even if the locality has not shown to the De- 19 partment that it has affirmatively furthered fair 20 housing, through an interim final rule issued on 21 March 3, 2025, entitled ‘‘Affirmatively Furthering 22 Fair Housing Revisions’’. 23 (9) On February 25, 2025, the Secretary of 24 Housing and Urban Development, at the direction of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 May 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3086.IH H3086 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3086 IH the United States DOGE Service (commonly re- 1 ferred to as the ‘‘Department of Government Effi- 2 ciency’’ or ‘‘DOGE’’), canceled 78 Fair Housing Ini- 3 tiatives Program grants that private nonprofit fair 4 housing organizations use to investigate and root out 5 illegal housing discrimination. 6 (10) On March 13, 2025, Fair Housing Initia- 7 tives Program grantees filed a class action lawsuit in 8 a United States District Court. 9 (11) On March 25, 2025, the United States 10 District Court in the District of Massachusetts 11 granted a temporary restraining order directing the 12 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to re- 13 instate the 78 Fair Housing Initiatives Program 14 grants. 15 SEC. 3. MISSION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND 16 URBAN DEVELOPMENT. 17 Section 2 of the Department of Housing and Urban 18 Development Act (42 U.S.C. 3531) is amended— 19 (1) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘; MIS- 20 SION OF DEPARTMENT’’ after ‘‘PURPOSE’’; 21 (2) by inserting ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—’’ after ‘‘SEC. 22 2.’’; and 23 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub- 24 section: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 May 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3086.IH H3086 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3086 IH ‘‘(b) MISSION OF DEPARTMENT.—The mission of the 1 Department of Housing and Urban Development shall be 2 to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and 3 quality affordable homes for all. The Department shall 4 work to strengthen the housing market to bolster the econ- 5 omy and protect consumers, meet the need for quality af- 6 fordable rental homes, utilize housing as a platform for 7 improving quality of life, build inclusive and sustainable 8 communities free from discrimination, and transform the 9 way the Department does business.’’. 10 SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION OF AFFIRMATIVELY FUR- 11 THERING FAIR HOUSING REGULATION. 12 The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 13 shall, not later than 90 days after the date of the enact- 14 ment of this section— 15 (1) repeal the interim final rule issued on 16 March 3, 2025, entitled ‘‘Affirmatively Furthering 17 Fair Housing Revisions’’; and 18 (2) issue a rule that defines ‘‘affirmatively fur- 19 ther fair housing’’ as taking meaningful actions, in 20 addition to combating discrimination, that overcome 21 patterns of segregation and foster inclusive commu- 22 nities free from barriers that restrict access to op- 23 portunity based on protected characteristics. Specifi- 24 cally, affirmatively furthering fair housing means 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 May 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3086.IH H3086 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 3086 IH taking meaningful actions that, taken together, ad- 1 dress significant disparities in housing needs and in 2 access to opportunity, replacing segregated living 3 patterns with truly integrated and balanced living 4 patterns, transforming racially or ethnically con- 5 centrated areas of poverty into areas of opportunity, 6 and fostering and maintaining compliance with civil 7 rights and fair housing laws. The duty to affirma- 8 tively further fair housing extends to all of a pro- 9 gram participant’s activities and programs relating 10 to housing and urban development. 11 SEC. 5. REVIEW OF ONLINE COMPLAINTS OF VIOLATIONS 12 OF FAIR HOUSING ACT. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 14 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Hous- 15 ing and Urban Development shall submit to the Congress 16 a report which contains— 17 (1) a review of the complaints filed with the 18 Secretary under section 810 of the Fair Housing 19 Act (42 U.S.C. 3610) during the 5 year period pre- 20 ceding the date of the enactment of this Act that al- 21 leged a discriminatory housing practice involving a 22 digital platform or artificial intelligence, including 23 any artificial intelligence used for— 24 (A) advertisement delivery and targeting; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 May 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3086.IH H3086 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 3086 IH (B) tenant screening; 1 (C) automated mortgage underwriting; 2 (D) dynamic pricing of real estate; and 3 (E) real estate listings; and 4 (2) an analysis of trends and risks related to— 5 (A) discrimination that occurs in connec- 6 tion with the use of digital platforms to rent or 7 purchase housing; 8 (B) the sufficiency of the Fair Housing 9 Act to remedy discrimination during the rental 10 or purchase of housing through digital plat- 11 forms; and 12 (C) steps the Secretary plans to take to 13 address such discrimination. 14 (b) ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE DEFINED.—In this 15 section, term ‘‘artificial intelligence’’ has the meaning 16 given the term in section 238(g) of the John S. McCain 17 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 18 (Public Law 115–232). 19 SEC. 6. PUBLICLY AVAILABLE DATABASE FOR FAIR HOUS- 20 ING COMPLAINTS. 21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Housing and 22 Urban Development shall develop, and update on a quar- 23 terly basis, a database that is publicly available on a 24 website of the Department of Housing and Urban Devel- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 May 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3086.IH H3086 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 3086 IH opment, which includes, subject to applicable confiden- 1 tiality constraints, the following: 2 (1) The total number of complaints alleging vio- 3 lations of the Fair Housing Act that were received 4 by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop- 5 ment, disaggregated with respect to both number 6 and percentage, by each protected class established 7 under such Act. 8 (2) The number and percentage of the total 9 number of complaints that allege violations of the 10 Violence Against Women Act. 11 (3) The number and percentage of the total 12 number of complaints referred to in paragraphs (1) 13 and (2) that— 14 (A) were made by persons experiencing 15 homelessness; 16 (B) were made by tenants; and 17 (C) were made by persons who have ap- 18 plied for covered housing, disaggregated by 19 each specific type of covered housing for which 20 such person applied. 21 (4) For each State, the number and percentage 22 of the total number of complaints referred to in 23 paragraphs (1) and (2) that were made by residents 24 of such State. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 May 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3086.IH H3086 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 3086 IH (5) The number and percentage of the total 1 number complaints referred to in paragraphs (1) 2 and (2) that alleged that the complainant was retali- 3 ated against after reporting the alleged violation 4 and, of such number, the number and percentage 5 that alleged that the complainant was evicted for 6 any retaliatory reason. 7 (6) The status of the complaints referred to in 8 paragraphs (1) and (2), including a detailed descrip- 9 tion of the resolutions and remedies provided and, 10 for complaints that were administratively closed, of 11 the reasons for such closures. 12 (7) The number and percentage of the total 13 number of complaints referred to in paragraph (1) 14 that were received by— 15 (A) State agencies assisted under the Fair 16 Housing Assistance Program authorized under 17 section 810 of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 18 3610); and 19 (B) local agencies assisted under the Fair 20 Housing Initiatives Program authorized under 21 section 817 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 3616). 22 (8) The number and percentage of the total 23 number of complaints referred to in paragraph (1) 24 that ended in a reasonable cause charge by the Sec- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 May 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3086.IH H3086 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 3086 IH retary of Housing and Urban Development or were 1 referred to the Attorney General by the Secretary of 2 Housing and Urban Development. 3 (9) The number and percentage of the total 4 number of complaints referred to in paragraph (1) 5 received by the Attorney General that were not re- 6 ferred to the Attorney General by the Secretary of 7 Housing and Urban Development. 8 (b) COVERED HOUSING.—In this section, the term 9 ‘‘covered housing’’— 10 (1) with respect to a complaint alleging a viola- 11 tion of the Fair Housing Act, means— 12 (A) housing assisted under the program 13 for supportive housing for the elderly under sec- 14 tion 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 15 U.S.C. 1701q), including the direct loans pro- 16 gram under such section 202 as in effect before 17 the enactment of the Cranston-Gonzalez Na- 18 tional Affordable Housing Act (Public Law 19 101–625; November 28, 1990); 20 (B) housing assisted under the program 21 for supportive housing for persons with disabil- 22 ities under section 811 of the Cranston-Gon- 23 zalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 24 U.S.C. 8013); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 May 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3086.IH H3086 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 3086 IH (C) housing assisted under the program 1 for housing opportunities for people with AIDS/ 2 HIV under subtitle D of title VIII of the Cran- 3 ston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act 4 (42 U.S.C. 12901 et seq.); 5 (D) housing assisted under any of the pro- 6 grams under subtitles B through D of title IV 7 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance 8 Act (42 U.S.C. 11371 et seq.); 9 (E) housing assisted under the HOME In- 10 vestments Partnerships program under subtitle 11 A of title II of the Cranston-Gonzalez National 12 Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12741 et 13 seq.); 14 (F) housing assisted under the rent supple- 15 ment program under section 101 of the Hous- 16 ing and Urban Development Act of 1965 (12 17 U.S.C. 1701s); 18 (G) housing financed by a loan or mort- 19 gage that is insured under section 203 of the 20 National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1709); 21 (H) housing financed by a loan or mort- 22 gage that is— 23 (i) secured by a first or subordinate 24 lien on a residential real property, includ- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 May 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3086.IH H3086 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 3086 IH ing any such secured loan, the proceeds of 1 which are used to prepay or pay off an ex- 2 isting loan secured by the same property; 3 and 4 (ii) purchased or securitized by the 5 Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation 6 or the Federal National Mortgage Associa- 7 tion; 8 (I) housing insured, assisted, or held by 9 the Secretary or a State or State agency under 10 the multifamily rental assistance program 11 under section 236 of the National Housing Act 12 (12 U.S.C. 1715z–1); 13 (J) public housing assisted under title I of 14 the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 15 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.); 16 (K) a dwelling unit assisted under the 17 Housing Choice Voucher program for rental as- 18 sistance under section 8(o) of the United States 19 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)); 20 (L) housing assisted with project-based 21 rental assistance provided under section 8 of 22 the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 23 U.S.C. 1437f); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 May 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3086.IH H3086 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 13 •HR 3086 IH (M) housing assisted with funds from the 1 Housing Trust Fund as established under sec- 2 tion 1338 of the Federal Housing Enterprises 3 Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 4 (12 U.S.C. 4568); 5 (N) housing assisted under any of the 6 rural housing assistance programs under sec- 7 tion 514, 515, 516, 533, 538, or 542 of the 8 Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1484, 1485, 9 1486, 1490m, 1490p–2, 1490r); 10 (O) any housing project for which equity is 11 provided through any low-income housing tax 12 credit pursuant to section 42 of the Internal 13 Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 42); 14 (P) housing assisted under the Comprehen- 15 sive Service Programs for Homeless Veterans 16 program under subchapter II of chapter 20 of 17 title 38, United States Code (38 U.S.C. 2011 et 18 seq.); 19 (Q) housing and facilities assisted under 20 the grant program for homeless veterans with 21 special needs under section 2061 of title 38, 22 United States Code; 23 (R) permanent housing for which assist- 24 ance is provided under the program for finan- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 May 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3086.IH H3086 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 14 •HR 3086 IH cial assistance for supportive services for very 1 low-income veteran families in permanent hous- 2 ing under section 2044 of title 38, United 3 States Code; 4 (S) any other housing assisted by any 5 housing program administered by the Secretary 6 of Veterans Affairs; 7 (T) housing assisted by the Community 8 Development Financial Institutions Fund estab- 9 lished under the Community Development 10 Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994 11 (12 U.S.C. 4701 et seq.); 12 (U) housing assisted under the Neighbor- 13 hood Reinvestment Corporation Act (42 U.S.C. 14 8101 et seq.); 15 (V) housing assisted under title I of the 16 Housing and Community Development Act of 17 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.), including hous- 18 ing assisted with amounts provided during a 19 disaster as described in such Act; 20 (W) transitional or short-term housing as- 21 sisted under the grant program under chapter 22 11 of subtitle B of Violent Crime Control and 23 Law Enforcement Act of 1994; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 May 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3086.IH H3086 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 15 •HR 3086 IH (X) housing assisted under such other 1 Federal housing programs as identified for the 2 purposes of this section; and 3 (Y) Federally subsidized dwelling units 4 that provide affordable housing to low-income 5 persons by means of restricted rents or rental 6 assistance, as identified for the purposes of this 7 section; and 8 (2) with respect to a complaint alleging a viola- 9 tion of the Violence Against Women Act, means a 10 covered housing program (as that term is defined in 11 section 41411 of such Act (34 U.S.C. 12491)). 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 May 07, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3086.IH H3086 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB