Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Fair Local Adjustment for Tenant Rents Act of 2014”.
Fair Local Adjustment for Tenant Rents Act of 2014
A BILL
To reform and update the flat rent structure for public housing.
Sec. 2 Public housing flat rents
In general— Clause (i) of section 3(a)(2)(B) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(a)(2)(B)(i)) is amended to read as follows:
“(i) Flat rents
“(I) In general—Each public housing agency shall establish, for each dwelling unit in public housing owned or operated by the agency, a flat rental amount for the dwelling unit, which shall—
“(aa) be based on the rental value of the unit, as determined by the public housing agency, but may not be an amount that is less than 80 percent of the applicable fair market rental established under section 8(c) of this Act; or
“(bb) be established using another factor as determined by the Secretary.
“(II) Exceptions—A public housing agency may request that the Secretary may establish a flat rent for a dwelling in an amount that is less than the minimum amount established pursuant to subclause (I) for the unit, if the public housing agency demonstrates that such minimum amount is not an accurate measure of the rental value for the unit.
“(III) Rent increases—If a new flat rental amount established pursuant to this clause for a dwelling unit would increase the existing rental payment of any family residing in public housing as of implementation of such flat rent by more than 35 percent, the new flat rental amount shall be phased in as necessary to ensure that the family’s existing rental payment does not increase by more than 35 percent annually.”
Implementation— The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall implement section 3(a)(2)(B)(i) of the United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended by subsection (a) of this section, not later than the expiration of the 6-month period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.
Sec. 3 Minimum rents for public housing and section 8 rental assistance programs
Subparagraph (A) of section 3(a)(3) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(a)(3)(A)) is amended, in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking “more than” and inserting “less than”.