H.R. 5085: Fair Chance at Housing Act of 2016

114th Congress · introduced 2016-04-27 · Housing and Community Development · Latest: Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2016-04-27 · official record
Who proposed it: Rep. Waters, Maxine [D-CA-43] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Fair Chance at Housing Act of 2016

Plain summary

Fair Chance at Housing Act of 2016 This bill amends the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 to replace the definition of "drug-related criminal activity" with "covered criminal activity" in connection with federally assisted housing, meaning any: criminal activity that threatens the health, safety, or right to peaceful enjoyment of the premises by other tenants, employees, or the housing owner or a public housing agency (PHA); or violent criminal activity off the premises by a tenant or any member of the tenant's household that poses risk of future harm to other tenants, employees, or the PHA or owner. The bill requires a PHA or owner, when screening of applicants for federally assisted housing, to conduct an individualized review of the totality of the circumstances regarding an applicant's criminal background, including disability-related offenses, before denying a housing application. A PHA or owner: may not deny an application based on previous evictions or inconclusive evidence, and must give an applicant household the option to remove a culpable member before denying an application. The bill prohibits suspicionless drug and alcohol testing, and applies requirements similar to those for screening applicants to termination of tenancy and assistance for covered criminal activity. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) shall require annual reports from PHAs and owners on the disposition of applications, especially denials. The United States Housing Act of 1937 is amended, with respect to administrative procedures for a grievance concerning an eviction or termination of tenancy, to eliminate reference to drug-related criminal activity and specify only covered violent criminal activity. A PHA may neither require nor request an applicant for admission to public housing to authorize the PHA to receive information from a drug abuse treatment facility. A PHA may prohibit visitation of a public housing dwelling unit by a non-tenant on the basis of the non-tenant's criminal activity only if it is covered criminal activity, and other criteria are met. The bill revises project-based and voucher assistance requirements for termination of tenancy and selection for section 8 (voucher) rental assistance to reflect only covered criminal activity and eliminate reference to drug-related activity. The Department of Agriculture shall revise regulations for applicant screening and tenancy termination in specified rural housing programs to become substantially similar to HUD regulations for housing assistance programs. The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is amended, with respect to the continuum of care program, to require a grant recipient's plan to describe how the recipient will collaborate with local criminal justice systems and the coordinated entry system to create pathways to housing for those cycling between homelessness and incarceration. The bill authorizes bonuses or other incentives to collaborative applicants and PHAs whose applications propose innovative solutions for providing pathways to housing for formerly incarcerated individuals.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

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What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Fair Chance at Housing Act of 2016

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)

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Alternatives

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Waters, Maxine [D-CA-43] · 26 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Danny K. Davis (D-IL), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (D-GA), Gwen Moore (D-WI), Mike Quigley (D-IL), Marc A. Veasey (D-TX), Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), Al Green (D-TX), Judy Chu (D-CA), Rosa L. DeLauro (D-CT)

Sponsor's campaign money: Rep. Waters, Maxine [D-CA-43] reported raising $1.1 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (3)

Authorization: A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
Rulemaking: The process agencies use to write regulations that carry out laws passed by Congress or a legislature. Usually an agency publishes a proposed rule, takes public comments, then publishes a final rule.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-114hr5085.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/114/hr>

Record fed-us-cong114-hr5085 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong114 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong114