Housing cost monitoring and enforcement within HUD

(a) In general The Secretary shall establish within the Department of Housing and Urban Development the Housing Monitoring and Enforcement Unit (in this section referred to as the Unit). (b) Duties of the unit (1) Primary responsibility The primary responsibility of the Unit shall be to assist the Secretary in protecting the public interest by continuously and comprehensively collecting, monitoring, and analyzing rental housing market data, data for markets for sale of single-family housing, and data on investor-owned, non-owner occupied housing units, in order to— (A) support transparent and competitive market practices; (B) identify any market manipulation, including by collecting and analyzing data on race, gender, and socioeconomic status, any reporting of false information, any use of market power to disadvantage consumers, or any other unfair method of competition; and (C) facilitate enforcement of penalties against persons in violation of relevant statutory prohibitions. (2) Specific duties In order to carry out the responsibility under paragraph (1), the Unit shall assist the Secretary in carrying out the following duties: (A) Receiving, compiling, and analyzing relevant buying and selling activity in order to identify and investigate anomalous market trends and suspicious behavior. (B) Determining whether excessive concentration or exclusive control of housing-related infrastructure may allow or result in anti-competitive behaviors. (C) Obtaining a data-sharing agreement with State and local jurisdictions, housing agencies, and relevant public and private data sources to receive and archive information on housing purchases by institutional investors within a given area.