§2891 — Title 10 Armed Forces | U.S. Code

§2891 Requirements Relating to Contracts for Provision of Housing Units

Title 10 › Subtitle Subtitle A— General Military Law › Part IV— SERVICE, SUPPLY, AND PROPERTY › Chapter 169— MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AND MILITARY FAMILY HOUSING › Subchapter V— OVERSIGHT OF LANDLORDS AND PROTECTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES FOR TENANTS OF PRIVATIZED MILITARY HOUSING › § 2891

Last updated Apr 18, 2026|Official source

Summary

Applies to housing contracts made under section 2872 and related military housing authorities. Landlords must bar any employee who commits work-order fraud from doing contract work. If a commander rules for a tenant in the formal dispute process, that decision can be used when deciding to pay or withhold a landlord’s incentive fees. If unsafe or unsanitary housing causes a tenant to need medical care, the landlord must repay the Department of Defense for that care, but only after a military medical professional says the housing caused the condition and the Director of the Defense Health Agency approves the medical documentation. The Director must publish standard procedures for those medical determinations within 180 days of enactment. Landlords must pay reasonable costs if a tenant must move because of health or environmental hazards that are not the tenant’s fault and are confirmed by the installation housing office. That includes permanent moves and temporary moves; temporary moves must cover reasonable relocation and actual living costs, including per diem. Landlords must keep their maintenance systems up to date, provide an online tenant portal and mobile app that let tenants upload photos, message maintenance, and rate service, and give real-time system access to DoD officials. A work order can only be closed after at least three recorded attempts to notify the resident by the resident portal, text message, email, and telephone. If the resident does not respond after three attempts, the landlord may close the ticket only after telling the housing office and receiving no written objection. These housing units are treated as military family housing for applying section 804 of the Fair Housing Act and title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Secretary must prepare any legal paperwork needed to carry out these rules.

Title 10, §2891

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The requirements of this section condition contracts entered into using the authorities provided to the Secretary concerned under section 2872 of this title and other authorities provided under subchapter IV of this chapter and this subchapter.

(b)A landlord providing a housing unit shall prohibit any employee of the landlord who commits work-order fraud under the contract from doing any work under the contract.

(c)Any decision the commander renders in favor of the tenant in the formal dispute resolution process established pursuant to section 2894 of this title will be taken into consideration in determining whether to pay or withhold all or part of any incentive fees for which a landlord may otherwise be eligible under the contract.

(d)(1)If the Secretary concerned finds that a landlord fails to maintain safe and sanitary conditions for a housing unit under the contract and that, subject to paragraph (2), these conditions result in a tenant of the housing unit receiving medical evaluations and treatment, the landlord shall be responsible for reimbursing the Department of Defense for any costs incurred by the Department to provide the medical evaluations and treatment to the tenant, whether such evaluations and treatment are provided in a military medical treatment facility or through the TRICARE provider network.

(2)Before the Secretary concerned may submit a claim under paragraph (1) to a landlord for reimbursement of Department medical evaluation and treatment costs—

(A)a military medical professional must determine that the tenant’s medical conditions were caused by unsafe and unsanitary conditions of the housing unit; and

(B)the documentation of the medical evaluation showing causation must be sent to the Director of the Defense Health Agency for review and approval.

(3)Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Director of the Defense Health Agency shall develop and publish uniform processes and procedures to be used by medical providers in military medical treatment facilities to make determinations regarding whether environmental hazards within housing units serve as causative factors for medical conditions being evaluated and treated in military medical treatment facilities or through the TRICARE provider network.

(e)(1)A landlord providing a housing unit shall pay reasonable relocation costs associated with the permanent relocation of a tenant from the housing unit to a different housing unit due to health or environmental hazards—

(A)present in the housing unit being vacated through no fault of the tenant; and

(B)confirmed by the housing management office of the installation for which the housing unit is provided as making the unit uninhabitable or unable to be remediated safely while the tenant occupies the housing unit.

(2)The landlord shall pay reasonable relocation costs and actual costs of living, including per diem, associated with the temporary relocation of a tenant to a different housing unit due to health or environmental hazards—

(A)present in the housing unit being vacated through no fault of the tenant; and

(B)confirmed by the housing management office of the installation as making the unit uninhabitable or unable to be remediated safely while the tenant occupies the housing unit.

(f)(1)A landlord providing a housing unit shall ensure that the maintenance work order system of the landlord (hardware and software) is up to date, including—

(A)by providing a reliable mechanism through which a tenant may submit work order requests through an Internet portal and mobile application, which shall incorporate the ability to upload photos, communicate with maintenance personnel, and rate individual service calls;

(B)by allowing real-time access to such system by officials of the Department at the installation, major subordinate command, and service-wide levels; and

(C)except as provided in paragraph (2), by allowing the work order or maintenance ticket to be closed only after the landlord makes not fewer than three documented attempts to notify the resident of work completion through means that include—

(i)the resident Internet portal for the housing unit;

(ii)text messaging;

(iii)email; and

(iv)telephone.

(2)If a resident does not respond to a landlord after three attempts of the landlord to notify the resident of work completion pursuant to paragraph (1)(C), the landlord may close the work order or maintenance ticket only if—

(A)the landlord submits to the head of the applicable housing management office notice that the landlord intends to close the work order or maintenance ticket; and

(B)the head of the applicable housing management office does not object, in writing, to the closure.

(g)For purposes of this subchapter and subchapter IV of this chapter, housing units shall be considered as military family housing for purposes of application of Department of Defense policy implementing section 804 of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3604) and title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12181 et seq.).

(h)The Secretary concerned shall create such legal documents as may be necessary to carry out this section.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The date of enactment of this section, referred to in subsec. (d)(3), is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 116–92, which was approved Dec. 20, 2019. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, referred to in subsec. (g), is Pub. L. 101–336, July 26, 1990, 104 Stat. 327. Title III of the Act is classified generally to subchapter III (§ 12181 et seq.) of chapter 126 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 12101 of Title 42 and Tables.

Prior Provisions

A prior section 2891, added Pub. L. 100–456, div. A, title III, § 342(a)(1), Sept. 29, 1988, 102 Stat. 1959; amended Pub. L. 102–484, div. A, title III, § 372, Oct. 23, 1992, 106 Stat. 2384, required Secretary of Defense to submit to Congress for each of fiscal years 1992, 1993, and 1994, a report regarding security and control of Department of Defense supplies, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 104–106, div. A, title X, § 1061(b)(1), Feb. 10, 1996, 110 Stat. 442.

Amendments

2025—Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 119–60, § 2824(1), (2), inserted par. (1) designation before “A landlord providing” and redesignated former pars. (1) to (3) as subpars. (A) to (C), respectively. Subsec. (f)(1)(C). Pub. L. 119–60, § 2824(3), added subpar. (C) and struck out former subpar. (C), as so redesignated, which read as follows: “by allowing the work order or maintenance ticket to be closed only once the tenant and the head of the housing management office of the installation sign off.” Subsec. (f)(2). Pub. L. 119–60, § 2824(4), added par. (2). 2021—Subsec. (e)(1). Pub. L. 116–283, § 2811(c)(1)(A), inserted “unit” after “different housing” in introductory provisions. Subsec. (e)(1)(B). Pub. L. 116–283, § 2811(c)(1)(B), inserted “the” before “tenant”. Subsec. (e)(2)(B). Pub. L. 116–283, § 2811(c)(2), inserted “the” before “tenant”. Subsecs. (g), (h). Pub. L. 117–81 added subsec. (g) and redesignated former subsec. (g) as (h).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2019 Amendment Pub. L. 116–92, div. B, title XXX, § 3013(b), Dec. 20, 2019, 133 Stat. 1923, provided that: “The requirements set forth in section 2891 of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall apply to appropriate legal documents entered into or renewed on or after the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 20, 2019] between the Secretary of a military department and a landlord regarding privatized military housing.” [For definitions of “landlord” and “privatized military housing” as used in section 3013(b) of Pub. L. 116–92, set out above, see section 3001(a) of Pub. L. 116–92, set out as a note under section 2821 of this title.] Retroactive Landlord Agreements Pub. L. 116–92, div. B, title XXX, § 3013(c), Dec. 20, 2019, 133 Stat. 1923, provided that: “(1) In general.—Not later than

February 1, 2020, the Secretary of Defense shall seek agreement from all landlords to accept the application of the requirements set forth in section 2891 of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), to appropriate legal documents entered into or renewed before the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 20, 2019] between the Secretary of a military department and a landlord regarding privatized military housing [sic] “(2) Submittal of list to congress.—Not later than

March 1, 2020, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees [Committees on Armed Services and Appropriations of the Senate and the House of Representatives] a list of any landlords that did not agree under paragraph (1) to accept the requirements set forth in section 2891 of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a). “(3) Consideration of lack of agreement in future contracts.—The Secretary of Defense and the Secretaries of the military departments shall include any lack of agreement under paragraph (1) as past performance considered under section 2891b of title 10, United States Code, as added by section 3015, with respect to entering into or renewing any future contracts regarding privatized military housing.” [For definitions of “landlord” and “privatized military housing” as used in section 3013(c) of Pub. L. 116–92, set out above, see section 3001(a) of Pub. L. 116–92, set out as a note under section 2821 of this title.]