The Protecting Homeowners from Squatters Act

The Congress finds that—

(1) unlawfully entering a property without the permission of the property owner and residing in that property for consecutive days without the permission of the property owner and without the payment of rent or a rental contract agreed to by the property owner can be defined as squatting and should not confer any special status as a tenant or lawful occupant of the property;

(2) local law enforcement should take actions to expeditiously remove from a property any persons or persons engaging in squatting and should prosecute such actions as prescribed by local law;

(3) Federal Government benefits, including loans, loan guarantees, subsidies, and tax credits, should not be used to reinforce, condone, or otherwise incentivize squatting; and

(4) real estate collateral securing a government or government-sponsored enterprise loan, or subject to a loan guarantee, mortgage insurance or other Federal mortgage support program must be protected from persons engaging in squatting as it creates undue risks for the value of such property.

Section 104 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5304) is amended by adding at the end the following:

The Secretary shall, by regulation—

(A) prohibit the allocation and provision of funds under this title for any unit of general local government that permits squatting or confers special status for rights of tenancy for a person or persons engaging in the practice of squatting; and

(B) provide for—

(i) units of general local government to take corrective actions to remedy the applicability of the prohibition under subparagraph (A) to such unit of general local government; and

(ii) certification by the Secretary upon a determination that such actions taken by a unit of general local government are sufficient for the unit of general local government to receive funds under this title.

The Secretary shall make publicly available for each fiscal year a list of all units of general local government that are prohibited by paragraph (1) from receiving funds under this title and the justification for inclusion in the list of each such unit of general local government.

For purposes of this subsection, the term squatting means the practice of entering a property without the permission of the property owner and residing in that property for 10 or more consecutive days without the permission of the property owner and without the payment of rent or a rental contract agreed to by the property owner.

No Federal support may be provided for any loan that is secured by a first or subordinate lien on residential real property (including individual units of condominiums and cooperatives) and designed principally for the occupancy of from 1- to 4-families if the property securing such loan is located in a unit of general local government that is, at such time, prohibited from receiving funds under title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 by section 104(n)(1)(A) of such Act.

The heads of the covered agencies shall jointly develop, by regulations issued not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, guidelines for such covered agencies to carry out this subsection.

For purposes of this subsection, the following definitions shall apply:

The term covered agency means—

(i) the Department of Housing and Urban Development;

(ii) the Federal Housing Finance Agency;

(iii) the Department of Veterans Affairs; and

(iv) the Department of Agriculture.

The term Federal support means, with respect to a loan—

(i) insurance of the loan by the Federal Housing Administration under title II of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1707 et seq.);

(ii) insurance of the loan under section 255 of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715z–20);

(iii) guarantee of the loan under section 184 or 184A of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 1715z–13a, 1715z–13b);

(iv) guarantee or insurance of the loan by the Department of Veterans Affairs;

(v) guarantee or insurance of the loan by the Department of Agriculture;

(vi) making of the loan by the Department of Agriculture; or

(vii) purchase or securitization of the loan by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation or the Federal National Mortgage Association.

The term squatting means the practice of entering a property without the permission of the property owner and residing in that property for 14 or more consecutive days without the permission of the property owner and without the payment of rent or a rental contract agreed to by the property owner.