Enforcement

(a) In general Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing of the Department of Housing and Urban Development shall, in coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury, establish a protocol for the enforcement of paragraph (23) of section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(23)), as added by section 3 of this Act, and paragraph (10) of section 42(g) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as added by section 4 of this Act, that— (1) reflects or integrates the existing enforcement protocol for tenants protected under section 202 of the Housing and Community Development Amendments Act of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 1715z–1b), where possible; (2) creates a mechanism for administrative complaints to be filed, cataloged, and investigated regarding public housing agencies, State housing credit agencies, owners, landlords, management, and their representatives’ alleged violation of their obligation not to interfere with the right of tenants to establish and operate a legitimate tenant organization, which shall— (A) provide families a remedy when the agency determines a violation of the obligation not to interfere with the right of tenants to establish and operate a legitimate tenant organization; (B) include an independent investigation of tenant and advocate allegations of abuse; (C) keep tenants informed about the progression of any complaint; and (D) provide confidentiality if necessary, including in cases where alleged abuse is extreme and targeted; (3) prohibits withholding the tenant-based assistance under such section 8(o) or the denial of the right to occupy an assisted unit or a rent-restricted unit, or any other right or privilege required to be provided as a condition of the tenant-based assistance or the project being treated as a qualified low-income housing project until such complaint is closed; and (4) if relevant, appropriately refers complaints related to potential violation of fair housing laws to the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. (b) Establishment of private right of action Tenants may file an action at law or in equity, in Federal or State court, including for injunctive relief, to enforce the various provisions of this Act. (c) Report The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall submit to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives a quarterly report on the enforcement of this section that— (1) provides all data at both the property-level and jurisdiction-level; and (2) includes— (A) the volume of outstanding complaints; (B) the average response time to an initial complaint; (C) the average time it takes to close a complaint; and (D) information about the type of issues reported by tenants that necessitated enforcement action.