Sec. 5. National database of evictions
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/bill/117/s/2182/is/section-5·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish and maintain a database that— is accessible to the Office of Policy Development and Research and the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity of the Department and other employees of the Department as determined necessary by the Secretary; includes the data described in subsection
(b)with respect to court-ordered evictions, administrative evictions, and illegal evictions in the United States; and ensures appropriate security to prevent improper disclosure of that data. The database established under subsection
(a)shall contain the following data: With respect to each court-ordered or administrative eviction case filed on or after the date on which the database is established: Information on the tenant who is the defendant, including— the name of the tenant; the age of the tenant; the race, ethnicity, gender, and disability status of the tenant; the address of the residential property and the type of housing; the number of household members residing in the property, including the number of children; and whether the tenant is a recipient of tenant-based or project-based assistance under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 ( 42 U.S.C. 1437f ). Information on the landlord who filed the court-ordered or administrative eviction case, including— the name of the landlord; the number of rental units owned by the landlord; the name of the attorney or legally permitted representative of the landlord, or an indication that the landlord was self-represented; the rent charged for the unit in question; any amount that the landlord alleges that the tenant owes, including— rent; late fees and penalties; and court fees and attorney’s fees; and any costs incurred by the landlord for engaging in the eviction process, including— court costs, such as filing fees; the cost of legal representation; and the cost to set out a tenant. Procedural data on the court-ordered or administrative eviction case, including— the date, if applicable, on which the tenant was served with a notice to quit; the date of the initial court filing by the landlord; the reason asserted by the landlord for filing for eviction, such as nonpayment or breach of lease; whether the eviction was as a result of the enforcement of a local ordinance impacting eviction; whether the tenant moved out before the initial hearing; and the final outcome of the court-ordered or administrative eviction case, including— the disposition of the case, including whether the initial hearing resulted in a default judgment, dismissal, consent agreement, settlement, or trial; the date of final disposition; any amount owed to the landlord or tenant, if any, and over what time period; whether a judgment was made in favor of the tenant for code violations or warranty of habitability claims; the overall outcome of the case, including whether the tenant paid any amounts to the landlord, whether the tenant stayed in the housing or was evicted from the housing, and whether the judge ordered that the tenant’s future wages be garnished to pay the judgment; and whether the tenant was present when the judgment was rendered and whether the tenant had legal representation and the nature of that representation, including a lawyer, a law student participating in a clinic, or another non-lawyer trained to represent clients in landlord-tenant court, or whether the tenant was a lawyer representing himself or herself; the total court fees incurred by the tenant, separated into categories of fees; whether the landlord had appeared in landlord-tenant court for a court-ordered or administrative eviction matter involving the landlord in the 6 month, 1 year, or 2 year-period preceding the court-ordered or administrative eviction case, and how many were such appearances involving the same tenant; and whether the tenant had appeared in landlord-tenant court for a court-ordered or administrative eviction matter involving the landlord in the 6 month, 1 year, or 2 year-period preceding the court-ordered or administrative eviction case, and how many were such appearances involving the same landlord. Aggregate data on court-ordered or administrative eviction cases filed on or after the date on which the database is established, including— the total number of cases filed, including a breakdown by— the number of cases filed for nonpayment, other breach of lease, both nonpayment and breach of lease, and any other reason; the number of cases filed because of the enforcement of a local ordinance impacting eviction; and the outcome of the dispositive hearing, including default judgment, dismissal, a consent agreement, a trial, and a settlement with or without mediation; the number of tenants and landlords who showed up for the dispositive hearing of a court-ordered or an administrative eviction case; the number and share of tenants and landlords who were represented by counsel, and the number and share of landlords who were represented by counsel when not legally required to be so represented; the average duration of a court-ordered or an administrative eviction case, including the average time from filing to first hearing; the average amount allegedly owed by a tenant, per landlord; the average months of rent allegedly owed by a tenant; the average amount paid by a tenant to resolve the case and stay in the housing; the number of court-ordered or administrative eviction cases resulting in a judgment in favor of the tenant due to code violations or warranty of habitability claims; the number and percentage of court-ordered or administrative eviction cases broken down by age bracket; the number and percentage of court-ordered or administrative eviction cases broken down by race and ethnicity; the number and percentage of court-ordered or administrative eviction cases broken down by gender; the number and percentage of court-ordered or administrative eviction cases broken down by disability status; the number and percentage of court-ordered or administrative eviction cases with a tenant or household with children; the number of tenants evicted from public housing, broken down by each public housing agency; the number of tenants evicted from dwelling units who were receiving tenant-based assistance or project-based assistance under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 ( 42 U.S.C. 1437f ), the supplemental nutrition assistance program under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 ( 7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq. ), or the temporary assistance for needy families under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 601 et seq. ); and the number of court-ordered or administrative eviction or cases where late fees were collected from tenants by landlords, and the average amount of late fees in those cases. Local law enforcement or any other official who executes an eviction shall report to the adjudicating court or administrative forum sufficient data on each executed eviction, such that the court may determine which court-ordered or administrative evictions resulted in a law enforcement officer or other local official removing the tenant. Each court or administrative forum responsible for adjudicating evictions should contact landlords to determine whether tenants who were the subject of a court-ordered or administrative eviction were removed or remained in the property 90 days after the court-ordered or administrative eviction. With respect to each illegal eviction occurring on or after the date on which the database is established, as reported by local governments and nonprofit organizations receiving grants under section 6: The data described in paragraph (1)(A). Information on the landlord, including— the name of the landlord; and any amount that the landlord alleges that the tenant owes, including any penalties. The primary reason or reasons the tenant was evicted. If the tenant was evicted for nonpayment, the amount owed. If the tenant was evicted for nonpayment, the total number of months owed. Whether the tenant was evicted because of the enforcement of a local ordinance impacting eviction. Aggregate data on illegal eviction cases occurring on or after the date on which the database is established, as reported by local governments and nonprofit organizations receiving grants under section 6, including— the average amount owed by a tenant, per landlord; the average months of rent owed by a tenant; the number and percentage of illegal eviction cases broken down by age bracket; the number and percentage of illegal eviction cases with a tenant or household with children; the number and percentage of illegal eviction cases broken down by race and ethnicity; the number and percentage of illegal eviction cases broken down by gender; the number and percentage of illegal eviction cases broken down by sex; the number and percentage of illegal eviction cases broken down by sexual orientation; the number and percentage of illegal eviction cases broken down by disability status; and the number and percentage of illegal eviction cases based on the enforcement of a local ordinance impacting eviction. Not later than March 1 of each year, the Attorney General of each State shall submit to the Secretary data on court-ordered eviction cases that occurred in that State during the preceding calendar year for inclusion in the database established under this section. The Attorney General of the State shall— ensure the accuracy and consistency of the data submitted under paragraph (1); and upon receipt of the data, aggregate the data and report the individual and aggregate data to the Secretary in a timely manner. If the Attorney general of the State fails to submit the data described in paragraph
(1)to the Secretary in a timely manner under subparagraph (A), the clerk of each State or local court that handles landlord-tenant cases may submit the data directly to the Secretary. The Secretary shall promulgate rules and establish guidelines for the submission of data under subsection
(c)and publication of data in the database established under this section, which shall include— a technological solution that provides a single point of entry for data submissions to reduce the burden on clerks of the courts; in consultation with local governments and judges, appropriate safeguards for protecting the privacy of personally identifiable information, including of vulnerable populations, which shall incorporate confidentiality measures to ensure that any personally identifiable information regarding a tenant who is a survivor of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking is not disclosed during the process of data submission and publication; standards for— external researchers to be granted permission to access data in the database, including both aggregate data and, if necessary for the conduct of their research, personally identifiable information, with appropriate safeguards to ensure identities are protected in any publicly released analysis; the establishment of a research data center to support analysis of that data; and using generally accepted statistical principles to validate the data, in consultation with outside participants; methods for collecting data required under subsection
(b)that are not currently collected; establishing definitions for terms related to the eviction process based on how they are legally defined by courts of jurisdiction handling eviction cases; and standards for local officials to identify and designate social services agencies that may access the database to provide targeted social services to those tenants. Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and each year thereafter, the Secretary shall make publicly available a report on the contents of the database established under this section which shall not include personally identifiable information. There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.
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