Sec. 2. Congressional findings
500 words·~2 min read·
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The Congress finds that— the United States is in the midst of a housing crisis, as the homeownership rate has declined to 63.5 percent, a 30-year low, while rental demand has increased and pushed vacancy rates down to 7 percent; the current average rental asking price is $870, up 23 percent since the end of the recession 6 years ago; families and individuals that pay more than 30 percent of their income for housing are considered cost-burdened and have difficultly affording other necessities like food, clothing, transportation, and medical care; over half of all renters, approximately 20.8 million households, are cost-burdened; over 80 percent of low-income households, those with incomes of under $15,000 per year, are severely cost-burdened; the current rental environment makes rental assistance under the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program of the Department of Housing and Urban Development vital to finding affordable housing for many families; the Section 8 program helps approximately 2.2 million low-income families, the elderly, and the disabled afford respectable housing in the private market; the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program assists our Nation’s most economically vulnerable families—the average annual gross income of a family assisted under the program is only $13,568; many of the individuals and families assisted by the Section 8 Program would be at risk of homelessness without the program; the Section 8 program caps the rental cost for eligible families and individuals at 30 percent of their incomes, which frees up their limited resources to pay for life’s other necessities; although families and individuals assisted under the program are free to choose any available housing in their community, that has not prevented landlords from discriminating against low-income tenants; as a result, the Section 8 program has only a 60-percent success rate in assisting voucher-holders find affordable housing; given the strong connection between the classes currently protected under the Fair Housing Act, including race, gender, those with disabilities, familial status, and economic status, establishing a ban on income discrimination would further the goals of the Fair Housing Act and better protect these families and individuals; for many years, landlords have relied on the Section 8 housing program to provide affordable housing to tenants in low-income areas, but as more urban areas have undergone rapid revitalization, property values have risen dramatically; as a result of rising property values, there have been serious allegations that landlords are intentionally allowing their federally subsidized units to deteriorate in an effort to drive voucher-users out and convert units to higher, market-rate apartments; in addition, landlords are failing to meet the housing quality standards of the Department of Housing and Urban Development and improperly demanding rent in excess of 30 percent of voucher-holders’ incomes; and therefore, it is necessary to ban discrimination against source of income, discourage intentional acts to disqualify dwelling units from Federal housing programs, and encourage proper maintenance of multifamily house in order to revive the Section 8 rental assistance program, affirmatively further fair housing policies, and address our national housing affordability crisis.