Overview of HR 1227, the Gulf Coast Hurricane Housing Recovery Act of 2007
May 15, 2007
On March 21, the House passed, by a vote of 301-125, the Gulf Coast Hurricane Recovery Act of 2007. The bill was introduced on February 28 by Representatives Barney Frank (D-MA), Chair of the House Financial Services Committee, and Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chair of the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity.
An overview of the bill, as passed by the House, follows.
Title I - Community Development Block Grants
The bill would:
• Make $1.175 billion of previously allocated, unexpended, funds from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Hazard Mitigation Grants available to the Louisiana Recovery Authority's (LRA) Road Home Program. The provision would prohibit FEMA from restricting the use of FEMA funds based on Road Home Program features which provide a penalty for families that move out of state, and which exempts seniors from this penalty.
• Of these redirected funds, $15 million would be made available to the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA) to create a pilot program. The pilot program would allow NORA to acquire individual parcels of land in New Orleans to aggregate, assemble and sell for the purpose of redevelopment by private entities. The GAO would report on the pilot program 2 years after the bill's enactment.
• Require the State of Louisiana to submit monthly reports to the House Committees on Financial Services and Transportation and Infrastructure, and the Senate Committees on Banking and Homeland Security, on the implementation, status and effectiveness of the Road Home Program. Monthly reports must include: the number of applications submitted; the number of households served; the average grant amount received by households; the number of personnel working on the program; and actions taken to improve the program.
• Direct the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to issue quarterly reports on funds expended by the State of Louisiana.
• Require Louisiana, Texas, Alabama and Mississippi to submit quarterly reports to relevant Congressional Committees on the state's use of disaster CDBG funds. The reports must analyze the implementation, status and effectiveness of the programs.
• No longer require that the LRA subtract a household's payments from hazard insurance, flood insurance or FEMA when calculating the benefit to be received through the Road Home program. The procedures preventing duplication of benefits would be eliminated.
• Allow for any disaster related Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to be used by a State or locality as a matching requirement, share or contribution for any other program.
• Authorize the appropriation, from existing unobligated FEMA funds, for the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to reimburse cities and counties that previously used CDBG funds to provide rental assistance to households displaced by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Wilma or Dennis.
Title II - Public Housing
The bill would:
• Require the HUD Secretary to provide for the conducting of a survey to determine, of households that lived in public housing operated by the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) prior to August 28, 2005, which and how many intend to return to such housing. They will be asked whether and when they wish to return, considering the following options:
• Returning to live in a repaired public housing or comparable unit in New Orleans; or
• Continuing to receive mobile rental housing assistance from the Federal Government.
The HUD Secretary must provide for the participation of HANO resident advisory boards, and other public housing tenants, in the designing and conducting of the survey, and must submit a report on the survey's findings, 60 days after the enactment of the legislation, to the House Committee on Financial Services and the Senate Banking Committee.
• Require that, by August 1, 2007, HANO make available for occupancy the greater of: 3000 units, or the number of households who have indicated in the survey that they intend to return to HANO public housing.
• Require that reopened HANO units first be made available to previous tenants. These tenants must be provided relocation assistance. Households must be given preference for occupancy in the following locations, in this order:
• A public housing unit in the same public housing project occupied before the hurricanes, if available;
• A public housing unit in the same census tract of the household's previous public housing development;
• A public housing unit in a census tract adjacent to the census tract of the household's previous public housing development.
• Require that HANO, and any public housing agency (PHA) in areas declared a disaster or an emergency as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, not demolish or dispose of any public housing until a plan for the replacement of such units is approved by HUD. The HUD Secretary may not approve any such plan unless: the plan is developed with the participation of public housing residents; the PHA convenes a public hearing regarding the demolition or disposition plan; and there is no net loss of units available and affordable to former public housing tenants.
• Require that, not later than 15 days after the bill's enactment, the HUD Secretary submit a report to the House Financial Services and Senate Banking Committees identifying all public housing projects in Katrina or Rita affected areas for which plans exist to transfer ownership.
• Prohibit the transfer of ownership, for 2 years after the bill's enactment, of any public housing units located in areas for which an emergency or disaster was declared as a result of Hurricanes Katrina or Rita, unless the transferee enters into binding commitments to maintain eligibility for occupancy and standards for tenant contributions toward rent.
• Require that all PHAs in areas declared a disaster or an emergency as a result of Hurricanes Katrina or Rita provide tenants displaced by the hurricanes a right to return as units become available for occupancy.
• Authorize the appropriation of public housing capital funds for the repair and rehabilitation of HANO public housing, and for community and supportive services for residents of HANO public housing
• Direct all PHAs in areas declared a disaster or an emergency as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to provide relocation assistance to former residents.
• Direct the HUD Secretary to submit quarterly reports on public housing in the affected areas to the House Financial Services and Senate Banking Committees, resident advisory boards and other residents of HANO public housing and the City of New Orleans.
• Prohibit PHAs from displacing tenants from habitable public housing units, unless the PHA provides a suitable and comparable unit in the same community.
Title III - Disaster Voucher Program and Project Based Rental Assistance
The bill would:
• Authorize such sums as necessary to extend the Disaster Voucher Program (DVP) through January 1, 2008.
• Provide households receiving DVPs with additional funds to cover utility costs.
• Require the HUD Secretary to make a good faith effort to identify and assist all previously HUD-assisted households that aren't yet receiving Disaster Vouchers.
• At the expiration of the DVP, provide for "disappearing" Section 8 vouchers to households formerly served by DVP and still in need of housing assistance. The vouchers would be provided for as long as the household remains eligible, and be subject to appropriations.
• Require the HUD Secretary to make appropriate adjustments to ensure that the Section 8 voucher funding formula included in the FY07 joint funding resolution does not negatively affect any PHA impacted by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma.
• Prohibit project-based housing assistance payments contracts from expiration or termination due to damage from Katrina or Rita. Contracts may not expire until at least three months after damaged units are repaired or replaced.
• Require the HUD Secretary to review and approve all feasible proposals by multifamily project owners that provide for the rehabilitation of the project or the transfer of the contract to another multifamily project.
• Authorize tenant protection vouchers for: assisted housing units (whether previously vacant or occupied) in multifamily projects not approved for reuse, and public housing units (whether previously vacant or occupied) that will not be put back into use as a result of Hurricane Katrina or Rita.
• Authorize the appropriation for 4,500 project-based vouchers to be used for the provision of permanent supportive housing units in areas impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Up to 3,000 of these vouchers would be available to the State of Louisiana, upon request.
• Require the GAO to conduct a study of households that received federal housing assistance in connection with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to determine how many households were wrongfully or erroneously terminated. The report is due before Congress not later than June 1, 2007 and must include an estimate of the number of wrongfully terminated households would be eligible for the Section 8 voucher program.
Title IV - Damages Arising from FEMA Actions
The bill would:
• Authorize the use of already-appropriated FEMA dollars to reimburse landlords that participated in FEMA's 403 program for any losses when FEMA no longer honored its 12-month commitment to the landlords.
Title V - FHA Single Family Housing
For FHA-insured single family housing where hazard insurance or flood insurance was not provided, through no fault of the mortgagee or servicer, the bill would:
• Prohibit HUD from denying conveyance of property title to the HUD Secretary;
• Allow HUD to pay full insurance benefits, regardless of the conveyance title, when such property was destroyed, condemned or otherwise not available for conveyance of title.
Title VI - Fair Housing Enforcement
The bill would:
• Authorize the appropriations of $5,000,000 in each of fiscal years 2008 and 2009 for fair housing enforcement initiatives, education and outreach.
Title VII - Improved Distribution of Federal Disaster Funds
The bill would:
• Direct the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a study, within 6 months of the bill's enactment, of the distribution of federal funds to Gulf Coast states. The study would identify and analyze, among other things: the agencies used to disburse the funds; the means by and extent to which disaster recovery information is shared among various State and Federal agencies; the program requirements that create impediments to the distribution of funds that can be eliminated or streamlined; and underwriting requirements for Small Business Administration (SBA) disaster loans and the impacts of such requirements on low and moderate income households.
Title VIII - Commending Americans for their Rebuilding Efforts
The bill would:
• Recognize and commend individuals and organizations, such as Jewish Family Services, Lutheran Disaster Response and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, that contributed to the hurricane relief effort.
Title IX - Protection of Households Receiving FEMA Housing Assistance
The bill would:
• Extend the deadline for FEMA housing assistance, for all households affected by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita or Wilma, through December 31, 2007.
• Upon termination of the FEMA rental housing assistance program, transfer all income eligible households remaining on the program to the Section 8 voucher program. Households would continue to receive Section 8 voucher assistance for as long as they remain eligible. Upon termination of a household's Section 8 voucher, the voucher would not be reissued.
• Require that HUD offer, to each income eligible household living in a FEMA trailer or mobile home, the option of receiving a Section 8 voucher in lieu of FEMA's direct housing assistance. Households would continue to receive Section 8 voucher assistance for as long as they remain eligible. Upon termination of a household's Section 8 voucher, the voucher would not be reissued.
