ADVANCE NOTICE TO TENANTS OF EXPIRATION, TERMINATION, OR OWNER NONRENEWAL OF ASSISTANCE CONTRACT.

SEC. 549. ADVANCE NOTICE TO TENANTS OF EXPIRATION, TERMINATION, OR OWNER NONRENEWAL OF ASSISTANCE CONTRACT. (a) Permanent Applicability of Notice and Endless Lease Provisions.— (1) Notice.— Section 8(c) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(c)) is amended— (A) by striking paragraphs (8) and (10); and (B) in paragraph (9), by striking the first sentence and inserting the following new sentence: “Not less than one year before terminating any contract under which assistance payments are received under this section, other than a contract for tenant-based assistance under this section, an owner shall provide written notice to the Secretary and the tenants involved of the proposed termination, specifying the reasons for the termination with sufficient detail to enable the Secretary to evaluate whether the termination is lawful and whether there are additional actions that can be taken by the Secretary to avoid the termination.”. (2) Endless Lease.— Section 8(d)(1)(B) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(d)(1)(B)) is amended— (A) in clause (ii) by striking “(ii)” and all that follows through ”the owner” and inserting “(ii) during the term of the lease, the owner”; and (B) in clause (iii), by striking “(iii)” and all that follows through “any criminal activity” the first place it appears and inserting “(iii) during the term of the lease, any criminal activity”. (3) Permanent effectiveness of amendments.— The amendments under this subsection are made on, and shall apply beginning upon, the date of the enactment of this Act, and shall apply thereafter, notwithstanding section 203 of the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996 (42 U.S.C. 1437f note) or any other provision of law (including the expiration of the applicability of such section 203 or any repeal of such section 203). (b) Exemption of Tenant-Based Assistance From Contract Provisions.— Paragraph (9) of section 8(c) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(c)(9)), as amended by subsection (a)(1) of this section, is further amended— (1) by striking “(9)” and inserting “(8)(A)”; and 112 STAT. 2608 (2) by striking the third sentence and all that follows and inserting the following: “(B) In the case of owner who has requested that the Secretary renew the contract, the owner’s notice under subparagraph (A) to the tenants shall include statements that— “(i) the owner currently has a contract with the Department of Housing and Urban Development that pays the Government’s share of the tenant’s rent and the date on which the contract will expire; “(ii) the owner intends to renew the contract for another year; “(iii) renewal of the contract may depend upon the Congress making funds available for such renewal; “(iv) the owner is required by law to notify tenants of the possibility that the contract may not be renewed if Congress does not provide funding for such renewals; “(v) in the event of nonrenewal, the Department of Housing and Urban Development will provide tenant-based rental assistance to all eligible residents, enabling them to choose the place they wish to rent; and “(vi) the notice itself does not indicate an intent to terminate the contract by either the owner or the Department of Housing and Urban Development, provided there is Congressional approval of funding availability. “(C) Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this paragraph, if the owner agrees to a 5-year contract renewal offered by the Secretary, payments under which shall be subject to the availability of appropriations for any year, the owner shall provide a written notice to the Secretary and the tenants not less than 180 days before the termination of such contract. In the event the owner does not provide the 180-day notice required in the immediately preceding sentence, the owner may not evict the tenants or increase the tenants’ rent payment until such time as the owner has provided the 180-day notice and such period has elapsed. The Secretary may allow the owner to renew the terminating contract for a period of time sufficient to give tenants 180 days of advance notice under such terms and conditions as the Secretary may require. “(D) Any notice under this paragraph shall also comply with any additional requirements established by the Secretary. “(E) For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘termination’ means the expiration of the assistance contract or an owner’s refusal to renew the assistance contract, and such term shall include termination of the contract for business reasons.”. (c) Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act of 1997.— Section 514(d) of the Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act of 1997 (42 U.S.C. 1437f note) is amended by inserting at the end the following new sentences: ‘In addition, if after giving the notice required in the first sentence, an owner determines to terminate a contract, an owner shall provide an additional written notice with respect to the termination, in a form prescribed by the Secretary, not less than 120 days prior to the termination. In the event the owner does not provide the 120-day notice required in the preceding sentence, the owner may not evict the tenants or increase the tenants’ rent payment until such time as the owner has provided the 120-day notice and such period has elapsed. The Secretary may allow the 112 STAT. 2609owner to renew the terminating contract for a period of time sufficient to give tenants 120 days of advance notice in accordance with section 524 of this Act.”.