Eviction Helpline Act

This Act may be cited as the “Eviction Helpline Act”.

(a) Hotline.— The Secretary shall, not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, establish a hotline to provide assistance with regard to eviction-related matters to tenants of covered federally assisted rental dwelling units.

(b) Authorization of appropriations.— There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2026 and each fiscal year thereafter.

(a) For purposes of this Act:

(1) Assistance.— The term assistance means any grant, loan, subsidy, contract, cooperative agreement, or other form of financial assistance, but such term does not include the insurance or guarantee of a loan, mortgage, or pool of loans or mortgages.

(2) Covered federally assisted rental dwelling unit.— The term covered federally assisted rental dwelling unit means a residential dwelling unit that—

(A) is made available for rental; and

(B)

(i) for which assistance is provided, or that is part of a housing project for which assistance is provided, under any program administered by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, including—

(I) the public housing program under the United States Housing Act of 1937 21 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.);

(II) the program for rental assistance under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f);

(III) the HOME Investment Partnerships program under title II of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12721 et seq.);

(IV) title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11360 et seq.);

(V) the Housing Trust Fund program under section 1338 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 4568);

(VI) the program for supportive housing for the elderly under section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q);

(VII) the program for supportive housing for persons with disabilities under section 811 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013);

(VIII) the AIDS Housing Opportunities program under subtitle D of title VIII of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12901 et seq.);

(IX) the program for Native American housing under the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4101 et seq.); and

(X) the program for housing assistance for Native Hawaiians under title VIII of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 7 (25 U.S.C. 4221 et seq.); or

(ii) is a property, or is on or in a property, that has a federally backed mortgage loan or federally backed multifamily mortgage loan, as 11 such terms are defined in section 4024(a) of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9058(a)).

(3) Secretary.— The term Secretary means Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.