Sec. 3031. Dispute resolution process for landlord-tenant disputes regarding privatized military housing and requests to withhold payments
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Subchapter IV of chapter 169 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new sections: The Secretary of Defense shall implement a standardized formal dispute resolution process on each military installation with housing units under this subchapter to ensure the prompt and fair resolution of landlord-tenant disputes concerning maintenance and repairs, damage claims, rental payments, move-out charges, and such other issues relating to such housing units as the Secretary determines appropriate.
Each landlord shall establish a process through which a tenant of a housing unit under this subchapter may submit a dispute directly to the landlord through an online or other form. Not later than 24 hours after receiving a dispute submittal from a tenant under paragraph (1), the landlord shall— notify the tenant that the submittal has been received; and transmit a copy of such submittal to the housing management office of the installation in which the housing unit is located.
Not later than seven days after receiving a dispute submittal from a tenant under paragraph (1), the landlord shall— submit to the tenant a decision regarding the dispute; and transmit a copy of such decision to the housing management office. For purposes of conducting an assessment necessary to make a decision under subparagraph
(A)with respect to a housing unit, the landlord may access the housing unit at a time and for a duration mutually agreed upon by the landlord and the tenant. The tenant may request that an employee of the housing management office be present when the landlord accesses the housing unit of the tenant under clause (i). Not later than 30 days after a tenant receives a decision by a landlord under subsection (b)(3), the tenant may appeal that decision for review under subsection
(d)by the commander of the military installation at which the housing unit is located. Any appeal submitted under paragraph
(1)shall be submitted— on a standardized form; and to an address designated by the commander for such purpose. The Secretary shall ensure that, in preparing an appeal to the commander under this subsection, a tenant shall have access to advice and assistance from a military housing advocate employed by the military department concerned or a military legal assistance attorney under section 1044 of this title. The commander of each military installation with housing units under this subchapter shall establish a military privatized housing dispute resolution appeals process— to review and decide appeals by tenants under subsection
(c)relating to such housing units; and to review and decide requests to withhold payments under section 2891a of this title Before making any decision with respect to an appeal or a request under the process established under paragraph
(1)with respect to a housing unit, the commander shall certify that the commander has solicited recommendations or information relating to such appeal or request from the following: The chief of the housing management office of the installation. A representative of the landlord for the housing unit. The tenant filing the appeal or request. A qualified judge advocate of the military department concerned. The civil engineer for the installation. The commander shall make a decision with respect to an appeal or a request under the process established under paragraph
(1)not later than 30 days after the appeal or request has been made. A commander may take longer than the 30-day period set forth under subparagraph
(A)to make a decision described in such subparagraph in limited circumstances as determined by the Secretary of Defense, but in no case shall such a decision be made more than 60 days after the appeal or request has been made. Decisions by a commander under this subsection shall be final. Nothing in this section or any other provision of law shall be construed to prohibit a tenant of a housing unit under this subchapter from pursuing a claim against a landlord in any adjudicative body with jurisdiction over the housing unit or the claim. A member of the armed forces or family member of a member of the armed forces who is a tenant of a housing unit under this subchapter may submit to the commander of the installation of the Department of Defense at which the member is stationed a request to withhold all or part of any basic allowance for housing payable to the member (including for any dependents of the member in the member's household) under section 403 of title 37, or all or part of any pay of a tenant subject to allotment as described in section 2882(c) of this title, for lease of the unit during the period in which— the landlord responsible for such housing unit has not met maintenance guidelines and procedures established by the landlord or the Department of Defense, either through contract or otherwise; or such housing unit is uninhabitable according to State and local law for the jurisdiction in which the housing unit is located. Upon the filing of a request by a tenant under subsection (a)— under such procedures as the Secretary of Defense shall establish, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service
(DFAS)or such other appropriate office or offices of the Department of Defense as the Secretary shall specify for purposes of such procedures, shall tentatively grant the request and hold any amounts withheld in escrow with notice to the landlord; and the housing management office of the installation in which the housing unit is located shall, not later than 15 days after the date on which the request was submitted to the commander of the installation, complete an investigation that includes an inspection conducted by housing inspectors that are certified at the State and local level. If the commander agrees with a request by a tenant under subsection
(a)with respect to a housing unit, the housing management office shall notify the landlord responsible for such unit of the issues described in subsection
(a)that require remediation in accordance with the requirements of the Department of Defense or State or local law. In accordance with procedures established under subsection (b)(1)(A) for the withholding of any basic allowance for housing or other allotment pay under this section, if the landlord responsible for the housing unit does not remediate the issues described in subsection
(a)within a reasonable period of time established by the commander of the installation for the remediation of the issues, the amount payable to the landlord for such unit shall be reduced by 10 percent for each period of five days during which the issues are not remediated. Each housing management office of an installation of the Department of Defense shall disclose in writing to each new tenant of a housing unit under this subchapter, upon the signing of the lease for the housing unit, their rights with respect to the housing unit and the procedures under this section for submitting a request to the landlord responsible for the housing unit. The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that each lease entered into with a tenant for a housing unit under this subchapter clearly expresses in a separate addendum the procedures under this section for submitting a request to the landlord responsible for the housing unit. . The table of sections at the beginning of such subchapter is amended by adding at the end the following new items: 2891. Landlord-tenant dispute resolution process. 2891a. Request to withhold payments. . Section 1044(d)(3)(B) of such title is amended by striking and 1565b(a)(1)(A) and inserting 1565b(a)(1)(A), and 2891(c)(3) . Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall establish the dispute resolution process required under section 2891 of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a). Not later than February 1, 2020, the Secretary of Defense shall seek agreement from all landlords to participate in the dispute resolution process required under section 2891 of such title. Not later than March 1, 2020, the Secretary shall submit to the congressional defense committees a list of all landlords who did not agree under paragraph
(1)to participate in the dispute resolution process under section 2891 of such title. The Secretary shall include any lack of agreement under paragraph
(1)as past performance considered under section 2888 of such title with respect to entering into or renewing any future contracts.