U.S. Rep. John Katko (R-NY) recently proposed a bipartisan bill that would improve access to affordable housing in communities across the nation by increasing landlord participation in the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program.
“Encouraging more landlords to accept Housing Choice Vouchers is a crucial step in providing more affordable housing opportunities to families everywhere,” Rep. Katko said. “I am enthusiastic about the results this bill can deliver for central New York.”
Rep. Katko is the lead original cosponsor of the Choice in Affordable Housing Act of 2022, H.R. 6880, which he introduced on March 1 with bill sponsor U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO).
If enacted, H.R. 6880 would reform the HCV program by providing $500 million in grant funding to Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) that offer a signing bonus to landlords with a unit in an area with less than 20 percent poverty, provide security deposit assistance to tenants that hold vouchers, or retain a dedicated landlord liaison on staff, according to a bill summary provided by Rep. Katko’s staff.
“Declining landlord participation in the HCV program has exacerbated a severe shortage in affordable housing options,” said Rep. Katko. “This legislation makes important reforms to the HCV program that incentivize landlord participation and facilitate valuable connections between local housing organizations and property owners.”
H.R. 6880 also would remove duplicative regulations and enable new landlords to request pre-inspections from a PHA prior to selecting a voucher-holding tenant, the summary says.
Among other provisions, the bill also would use neighborhood-specific data to set fair rents by requiring the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to expand its 2016 rule, which requires the use of Small Area Fair Market Rents to calculate rents in certain metro areas, according to the summary.
The Syracuse Housing Authority and Home HeadQuarters endorsed the bill, which has been referred for consideration to the U.S. House Financial Services Committee.