,i  #aafth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #ehhd  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,february #ac1       
#bjbj,mr4 ,clyburn 7for himself1 ,mr4   
,price of ,north ,carolina1 ,ms4 ,clarke
 of ,new ,york1 ,mr4 ,khanna1 and ,mrs4 
,hayes7 introduced the following bill2  
which was referred to the ,committee on 
,financial ,services  ,a ,,bill  ,to    
establish a grant program to provide    
legal assistance to eligible tenants at 
risk of or subject to eviction1 and for 
other purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this 
,act may be cited as the ,legal         
,assistance to ,prevent ,evictions ,act 
of #bjbj4  #b4 ,evictions assistance    
grant program  7a7 ,in general ,the     
,secretary of ,housing and ,urban       
,development shall establish a          
competitive grant program to provide    
grants to eligible recipients to provide
 legal assistance 7including assistance 
related to pretrial activities1 trial   
activities1 post-trial activities1 and  
alternative dispute resolution7 at no   

cost to eligible tenants at risk of or  
subject to eviction4  7b7 ,application  
,to be eligible to receive a grant under
 this section1 an applicant shall submit
 an application to the ,secretary at    
such time1 in such manner1 and          
containing such information as the      
,secretary may reasonably require1      
including evidence of the experience of 
the applicant providing legal assistance
 in residential eviction matters4  7c7  
,point system for preference factors ,in
 awarding grants under this section1 the
 ,secretary shall-- 7#a7 establish a    
system that awards points to applicants 
in accordance with the preference       
factors described in subsection 7d72 and
  7#b7 give priority to applicants with 
the greatest number of points under the 
system4  7d7 ,preference factors ,the   
preference factors for which an         
applicant shall be awarded points under 
the system established pursuant to      
subsection 7c77#a7 are as follows3 7#a7 
,eviction rate preference ,if the       

applicant will use grant funds awarded  
under this section to provide services  
in census tracts with high rates of     
eviction4 ,in making such               
determinations1 the ,secretary shall use
 data determined by the ,secretary to be
 the best available1 or if no           
appropriate data is available1 shall    
make reasonable inferences to determine 
the rate of eviction in a census tract4 
,the ,secretary may not require         
applicants to provide data on the rates 
of eviction in the census tract in which
 the applicant intends to provide       
services or award more points to        
applicants who provide such data than to
 applicants who do not4  7#b7 ,capacity 
preference ,if the ,secretary determines
 that the applicant has a greater       
capacity to produce more favorable      
outcomes regarding eviction for eligible
 tenants4 ,in making such               
determinations1 the ,secretary may      
consider the applicant's-- 7,a7 past    
experience in producing favorable       

outcomes for households facing eviction2
  7,b7 proposed use of grant funds to   
increase staff resources to provide     
legal assistance2  7,c7 demonstrated    
past effective use of resources to      
provide legal assistance2  7,d7 ability 
to provide services to eligible tenants 
with limited ,english proficiency2 and  
7,e7 ability to effectively communicate 
with eligible tenants with disabilities4
  7#c7 ,preference for government       
entities that promote tenant rights     
,with respect to any applicant that is a
 governmental entity1 if the applicant  
has in effect laws or regulations that  
promote tenant rights4 ,in making such  
determinations1 the ,secretary-- 7,a7   
shall consider laws or regulations      
establishing a tenant's right to-- 7i7  
counsel in evictions cases2  7ii7       
withhold rent if a landlord fails to    
provide essential services to ensure    
habitability of the premises2  7iii7    
deduct appliance repair costs from rent 
owed2  7iv7 notice of failure to pay    

rent or other lease violation with the  
right to cure2  7v7 a maximum security  
deposit equal to one month's rent2 and  
7vi7 the expeditious return of any      
security deposit after terminating a    
lease2 and  7,b7 may consider1 with     
lesser weight given than the weight     
given to those rights described in      
subsection 7,a71 laws or regulations    
establishing a tenant's right to-- 7i7  
advance notice of rent increases2  7ii7 
advance notice of landlord entry to the 
property2 or  7iii7 adequate time to    
recover abandoned property after        
eviction4  ,points awarded under this   
paragraph shall not result in an        
applicant governmental entity being     
awarded a grant that1 in the absence of 
this paragraph1 would have been awarded 
to either an applicant nonprofit entity 
or an applicant governmental entity     
lacking the legal authority to enact    
laws or regulations described in this   
paragraph because such entity is subject
 to legal restrictions enacted by       

another governmental entity4  7e7 ,rural
 equity ,in awarding grants under this  
section1 the ,secretary-- 7#a7 shall1 to
 the extent practicable1 ensure that the
 proportion of eligible tenants living  
in rural areas who will receive legal   
assistance with grant funds awarded     
under this section is not less than the 
overall proportion of eligible tenants  
who live in rural areas2 and  7#b7 may  
consider geographic diversity and an    
applicant's capacity to serve eligible  
tenants living in rural areas4  7f7     
,supplement1 not supplant ,grant funds  
received under this ,act shall be used  
to supplement and not supplant other    
funds used by the grantee to provide the
 legal assistance described in          
subsection 7a74  7g7 ,report ,for each  
year that an eligible recipient receives
 grant funds under this section1 such   
eligible recipient shall submit to the  
,secretary a report which maintains     
attorney-client confidentiality and     
which excludes personally identifiable  

information about eligible tenants4     
,such report shall contain-- 7#a7 the   
total number of eligible tenants that   
were provided legal assistance using    
such funds2  7#b7 the estimated number  
of evictions avoided1 delayed1 or       
resolved with other outcomes 7such as   
negotiated settlements7 that are more   
favorable to the eligible tenant than   
the outcomes that would have been       
expected in the absence of counsel1 and 
a brief description of the circumstances
 of each case2  7#c7 the number of      
eligible tenants that received legal    
assistance that reside in a dwelling    
unit for which any subsidy or assistance
 for occupancy in the dwelling unit is  
provided under a program administered by
 ,federal1 ,state1 or local authorities2
 and  7#d7 demographic information about
 eligible tenants that received legal   
assistance1 including race1 national    
origin1 sex1 disability status1         
household income1 household size1       
household familial status1 age of the   

head of household1 and whether tenants  
live in an urban area1 suburban area1 or
 rural area4  7h7 ,definitions  7#a7    
,eligible recipient ,the term eligible  
recipient means any nonprofit or        
governmental entity that has experience 
providing no-cost legal assistance to   
low-income individuals4  7#b7 ,eligible 
tenant ,the term eligible tenant means  
an individual who has an annual         
household income of-- 7,a7 not more than
 #ace percent of the ,federal poverty   
guidelines issued by the ,secretary of  
,health and ,human ,services2 or  7,b7  
less than #ccc percent of average fair  
market rent in the county of the        
individual-- 7i7 in the case of a       
household comprised of one individual1  
for an efficiency2 and  7ii7 in the case
 of a household comprised of more than  
one individual1 for a residence in which
 the number of bedrooms would not       
require-- 7,i7 more than two members of 
the household to share a bedroom2       
7,,ii7 children of different genders to 

share a bedroom with one another2 or    
7,,iii7 a household member with a       
disability requiring medical equipment  
to share a bedroom4  7#c7 ,rural area   
,the term rural area means a census     
tract that is-- 7,a7 outside of a       
metropolitan statistical area1 as       
designated by the ,office of ,management
 and ,budget2 or  7,b7 within a         
metropolitan statistical area1 as       
designated by the ,office of ,management
 and ,budget1 that is outside of the    
metropolitan statistical area's         
urbanized areas as designated by the    
rural-urban commuting area code #a 7as  
determined by the ,secretary of         
,agriculture71 and outside of tracts    
with a housing density of over #fd      
housing units per square mile located in
 the rural-urban commuting area code #b 
7as determined by the ,secretary of     
,agriculture74  7#d7 ,secretary ,the    
term ,secretary means the ,secretary of 
,housing and ,urban ,development4  7#e7 
,suburban area ,the term suburban area  

means a census tract with a population  
density of less than #b1ejj inhabitants 
per square mile that is not a rural     
area4  7#f7 ,urban area ,the term urban 
area means a census tract with a        
population density of at least #b1ejj   
inhabitants per square mile4