Official Summaries

Disaster Assistance Fairness Act

This bill makes common interest communities, such as housing cooperatives (co-ops) and condominiums, and manufactured housing communities eligible for the same assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as other homeowners.

Specifically, the bill

• adds definitions of residential common interest community, condominium, housing cooperative, and manufactured housing community to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act;
• requires FEMA to issue rules for the removal of debris or wreckage from real estate owned by a residential common interest community, condominium, co-op, or manufactured housing community resulting from a major disaster and deems such removal to be in the public interest when a state or local government determines in writing that such debris or wreckage constitutes a threat to life, public health or safety, or the economic recovery of such community; and
• provides for the repair of essential common elements of a condominium, co-op, or manufactured housing community damaged by a disaster under FEMA's Individuals and Households Program.

Current Full Text

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 834 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 834

     To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
 Assistance Act to provide assistance for common interest communities, 
condominiums, and housing cooperatives damaged by a major disaster, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 31, 2025

 Mr. Rouzer (for himself, Mr. Torres of New York, Mr. Nadler, and Ms. 
  Pettersen) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
             Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
 Assistance Act to provide assistance for common interest communities, 
condominiums, and housing cooperatives damaged by a major disaster, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Disaster Assistance Fairness Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    Section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
            ``(13) Residential common interest community.--The term 
        `residential common interest community' means any nonprofit 
        mandatory membership organization comprising owners of real 
        estate described in a declaration or created pursuant to a 
        covenant or other applicable law with respect to which a 
        person, by virtue of the person's ownership of a unit, is 
        obligated to pay for a share of real estate taxes, insurance 
        premiums, maintenance, or improvement of, or services or other 
        expenses related to, common elements, other units, or any other 
        real estate other than that unit described in the declaration.
            ``(14) Condominium.--The term `condominium' means a multi-
        unit housing project in which each dwelling unit is separately 
        owned, and the remaining portions of the real estate are 
        designated for common ownership solely by the owners of those 
        units, each owner having an undivided interest in the common 
        elements, and which is represented by a condominium association 
        consisting exclusively of all the unit owners in the project, 
        which is, or will be responsible for the operation, 
        administration, and management of the project.
            ``(15) Housing cooperative.--The term `housing cooperative' 
        means a multi-unit housing entity in which each dwelling unit 
        is subject to separate use and possession by 1 or more 
        cooperative members whose interest in such unit, and in any 
        undivided assets of the cooperative association that are 
        appurtenant to such unit, is evidenced by a membership or share 
        interest in a cooperative association and a lease or other 
        document of title or possession granted by such cooperative as 
        the owner of all cooperative property.
            ``(16) Manufactured housing community.--The term 
        `manufactured housing community' means a residential 
        development or neighborhood specifically designed for the 
        placement of manufactured homes, as that term is defined in 24 
        C.F.R. 3280.02, modular homes, prefabricated homes, or any 
        combination of each.''.

SEC. 3. REMOVAL OF DEBRIS RESULTING FROM A MAJOR DISASTER IN 
              RESIDENTIAL COMMON INTEREST COMMUNITIES.

    Section 407 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency 
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5173) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as subsections 
        (e) and (f); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following:
    ``(d) Rules Relating to Residential Common Interest Communities.--
The President shall issue rules which provide that removal of debris or 
wreckage from real estate owned by a residential common interest 
community, condominium entity, manufactured housing community, or 
housing cooperative resulting from a major disaster is in the public 
interest when a State or local government determines in writing such 
debris or wreckage constitutes a threat to life, to public health or 
safety, or to the economic recovery of the residential common interest 
community.''.

SEC. 4. CONDOMINIUMS, MANUFACTURED HOUSING COMMUNITIES, AND HOUSING 
              COOPERATIVES DAMAGED BY A MAJOR DISASTER.

    Section 408(c)(2)(A) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5174(c)(2)(A)) is amended--
            (1) in clause (i) by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) by redesignating clause (ii) as clause (iii); and
            (3) by adding after clause (i) the following:
                            ``(ii) the repair of essential common 
                        elements of a condominium, manufactured housing 
                        community, or housing cooperative (such as a 
                        roof, exterior wall, heating and cooling 
                        equipment, elevator, stairwell, utility access, 
                        plumbing, and electricity) provided an 
                        individual's or household's pro rata share of 
                        essential common element repair costs are 
                        satisfactorily documented; and''.

SEC. 5. APPLICABILITY.

    The amendments made by this Act shall apply to a major disaster or 
emergency declared by the President under the Robert T. Stafford 
Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) 
on or after the date of enactment of this Act.
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