“To provide protection for survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence, and sex trafficking under the Fair Housing Act.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section states congressional findings on the prevalence and impacts of domestic violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking, dating violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence, including that such violence affects more than 10 million people annually, costs employers up to $8.3 billion yearly and survivors lifetime costs averaging more than $122,000 each (for 25 million survivors), and heightens survivors' risks of homelessness, housing insecurity, eviction, and further victimization.
This section establishes "survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, or severe forms of trafficking in persons" (including those perceived as such) as a protected class under the Fair Housing Act (FHA, 42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.), prohibiting discrimination in the sale, rental, financing, brokerage, and other real estate-related activities based on that status. It defines related terms in new FHA section 802(p)-(t)—drawing from the Violence Against Women Act for "domestic violence" (including dating violence, stalking, and threats) and "sexual assault" (including threats), and from the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (22 U.S.C. 7102) for "severe forms of trafficking in persons" and "coercion"—and permits federal, state, or local programs to assist such survivors with housing (new FHA section 807(c)). The section further amends FHA section 808(e)(6) to include survivor status among exempt activities; strengthens FHA-related intimidation prohibitions under 42 U.S.C. 3631 to cover coercion and survivor status; cross-references the new definitions; and preserves survivors' ability to pursue other FHA discrimination claims (e.g., sex stereotyping or disparate impact on women).