Sec. 2. Testing for discrimination
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The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall conduct a nationwide program of testing to— detect and document differences in the treatment of persons seeking to rent or purchase housing or obtain or refinance a home mortgage loan, and measure patterns of adverse treatment because of the race, color, religion, sex, familial status, disability status, or national origin of a renter, home buyer, or borrower; and measure the prevalence of such discriminatory practices across the housing and mortgage lending markets as a whole.
The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall enter into agreements with qualified fair housing enforcement organizations, as such organizations are defined under subsection
(h)of section 561 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987 ( 42 U.S.C. 3616a(h) ), for the purpose of conducting the testing required under subsection (a). The Secretary shall— submit to the Congress an evaluation by the Secretary of the effectiveness of the program under this section; and issue regulations that require each application for the program under this section to contain— a description of the assisted activities proposed to be undertaken by the applicant; a description of the experience of the applicant in formulating or carrying out programs to carry out the activities described in subsection (a); and a description of proposed procedures to be used by the applicant for evaluating the results of the activities proposed to be carried out under the program. The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall report to Congress— on a biennial basis, the aggregate outcomes of testing required under subsection
(a)along with any recommendations or proposals for legislative or administrative action to address any issues raised by such testing; and on an annual basis, a detailed summary of the messages received by the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity of the Department through its 24-hour toll-free telephone hotline, through electronic mail, and through its website. The Secretary may submit the reports required under paragraph
(1)of this subsection as part of the reports prepared in accordance with paragraphs
(2)and
(6)of section 808(e) of the Fair Housing Act ( 42 U.S.C. 3608(e) ) and section 561(j) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987 (42 U.S.C. 3616a(j)). The results of any testing required under subsection
(a)may be used as the basis for the Secretary, or any Federal agency authorized to bring such an enforcement action, or any State or local government or agency, public or private nonprofit organization or institution, or other public or private entity that the Secretary has entered into a contract or cooperative agreement with under section 561 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987 (42 U.S.C. 3616a) to commence, undertake, or pursue any investigation or enforcement action to remedy any discriminatory housing practice (as such term is defined in section 802 of the Fair Housing Act ( 42 U.S.C. 3602 )) uncovered as a result of such testing. As used in this section: The term disability status has the same meaning given the term handicap in section 802 of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 ( 42 U.S.C. 3602 ). The term familial status has the same meaning given that term in section 802 of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3602). Nothing in this section may be construed to amend, alter, or affect any provision of criminal law or the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.). Not later than the expiration of the 180-day period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall issue regulations that establish minimum standards for the training of testers of organizations conducting testing required under subsection (a). Such regulations shall serve as the basis of an evaluation of such testers, which shall be developed by the Secretary, and such regulations shall be issued after notice and an opportunity for public comment in accordance with the procedure under section 553 of title 5, United States Code, applicable to substantive rules (notwithstanding subsections (a)(2), (b)(B), and (d)(3) of such section). There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the provisions of this section $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2014 through 2018.
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