News

Washington, D.C. – After months of fighting for the residents of the Eureka Garden Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-funded complex in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) is one step closer to reforming HUD’s inspection process. Today, the Senate passed a bill (HR 2577) which includes three of Rubio’s amendments to improve the agency’s oversight of housing projects.
 
“After my visit last Friday at Eureka Garden, I’m happy to report that we were able to get three amendments passed this week in the Senate on the HUD bill to help tenants that are facing circumstances like what they have in Eureka Garden,” Rubio said in a video statement. “There’s still more work to be done. We have to keep organizations like Global Ministries Foundation, that are slumlords, from getting ahold of more properties. We have to make sure that Eureka Garden is also fixed, but I’m happy that we were able to make progress this week – just a week after we visited Eureka Garden in Jacksonville.”
 
View Rubio’s remarks here.
 
For TV stations interested in airing a broadcast quality version of Rubio’s statement, a video for download is available here.
 
Below are the amendments that passed today as part of HR 2577:
 
Rubio Amendment #3918: To shorten required response time for contract violations.
 

• Shortens the time given to a property owner to respond to a contract violation from 30 days to 15 days.

• Shortens the time the HUD Secretary has to prepare a Compliance, Disposition and Enforcement Plan from 60 days to 30 days. 

 
Rubio Amendment #3926: To determine the state of Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) assessments.

• Requires HUD and the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct and publish reports determining the state of REAC assessments.

• The HUD report will include a nationwide review of REAC scores.

• The GAO report will include areas in which the REAC inspection process should be reformed and improved.

Rubio Amendment #4050: To make temporary relocation assistance available for tenants in situations like Eureka Garden.

• Makes Tenant Protection Vouchers (TPV) available for tenants living in dwelling units in which the owner has been declared in default of a project-based subsidy contract due to imminent health and safety risk to residents.

• The current system does not allow TPV’s to be available if the property is under review. Making relocation assistance available when there are clear risks to the residents’ health is a big step to making sure that if these situations arise, residents are not harmed.