PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

§12495 Right to Report Crime and Emergencies From One’s Home

Title 34 › Subtitle I — Comprehensive Acts › CHAPTER 121 — VIOLENT CRIME CONTROL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT › SUBCHAPTER III — VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN › Part L — Addressing the Housing Needs of Victims of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking › subpart 2 — housing rights › § 12495

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

People who live in or are connected to housing — landlords, homeowners, tenants, residents, occupants, guests, and people applying for housing — have the right to call for police or emergency help for themselves or someone else. A covered governmental entity (a city, county, or State that gets money under section 5306 of title 42) must not punish people for asking for help or for crimes that happened to them. Forbidden penalties include fines or criminal charges, eviction or threats to evict, refusal to rent or renew, denial of occupancy or landlord permits, and closing or labeling a property as a nuisance. Those covered governments must report any local laws or policies that impose such penalties, and must certify they follow these protections or say what they will do within 180 days to comply. Governments that fund subgrantees must check whether their subgrantees have such policies. The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the Attorney General must enforce these rules in a way that gives the same rights and remedies as title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.).

Title 34, §12495

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(a)Definition

In this section, the term “covered governmental entity” means any municipal, county, or State government that receives funding under section 5306 of title 42.

(b)Right to report

(1)In general

Landlords, homeowners, tenants, residents, occupants, and guests of, and applicants for, housing—

(A)shall have the right to seek law enforcement or emergency assistance on their own behalf or on behalf of another person in need of assistance; and

(B)shall not be penalized based on their requests for assistance or based on criminal activity of which they are a victim or otherwise not at fault under statutes, ordinances, regulations, or policies adopted or enforced by covered governmental entities.

(2)Prohibited penalties

Penalties that are prohibited under paragraph (1) include—

(A)actual or threatened assessment of monetary or criminal penalties, fines, or fees;

(B)actual or threatened eviction;

(C)actual or threatened refusal to rent or renew tenancy;

(D)actual or threatened refusal to issue an occupancy permit or landlord permit; and

(E)actual or threatened closure of the property, or designation of the property as a nuisance or a similarly negative designation.

(c)Reporting

Consistent with the process described in section 5304(b) of title 42, covered governmental entities shall—

(1)report any of their laws or policies, or, as applicable, the laws or policies adopted by subgrantees, that impose penalties on landlords, homeowners, tenants, residents, occupants, guests, or housing applicants based on requests for law enforcement or emergency assistance or based on criminal activity that occurred at a property; and

(2)certify that they are in compliance with the protections under this part or describe the steps the covered governmental entities will take within 180 days to come into compliance, or to ensure compliance among subgrantees.

(d)Implementation

The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the Attorney General shall implement and enforce this subpart consistent with, and in a manner that provides, the same rights and remedies as those provided for in title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.).

(e)Subgrantees

For those covered governmental entities that distribute funds to subgrantees, compliance with subsection (c)(1) includes inquiring about the existence of laws and policies adopted by subgrantees that impose penalties on landlords, homeowners, tenants, residents, occupants, guests, or housing applicants based on requests for law enforcement or emergency assistance or based on criminal activity that occurred at a property.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Civil Rights Act of 1968, referred to in subsec. (d), is Pub. L. 90–284, Apr. 11, 1968, 82 Stat. 73. Title VIII of the Act, known as the Fair Housing Act, is classified principally to subchapter I (§ 3601 et seq.) of chapter 45 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 3601 of Title 42 and Tables. Codification Pub. L. 117–103, div. W, title VI, § 603, which directed the addition of this section to chapter 2 of subtitle N of title IV of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12491 et seq.), was executed by adding this section to chapter 2 of subtitle N of title IV of the Violent Crime Control and Law

Enforcement

Act of 1994 to reflect the probable intent of Congress.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Section not effective until Oct. 1 of the first fiscal year beginning after Mar. 15, 2022, see section 4(a) of div. W of Pub. L. 117–103, set out as a note under section 6851 of Title 15, Commerce and Trade.