Free eviction hotline for low-income renters in federal housing
H.R. 5889 — Eviction Helpline Act · Filed by Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) · 2 cosponsors · Introduced Oct 31, 2025 · Reported out
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What it does
This bill directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to establish a free telephone hotline within one year to help tenants in federally assisted rental housing understand their eviction rights and access assistance. The hotline would serve tenants in public housing, Section 8 rental assistance, homeless housing, elderly and disability housing, Native American housing, and properties with federal mortgage backing. Congress authorizes whatever funding is needed to operate it.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is the creation of a federally funded information and assistance hotline for tenants facing eviction in federally assisted housing. It is a straightforward public service measure with no deregulation, subsidy carve-out, or private benefit.
What the text implies
- Hotline effectiveness depends entirely on appropriations; authorization language does not guarantee funding will be provided in practice.
- Definition of 'covered federally assisted rental dwelling unit' is broad and includes properties with federally backed mortgages, potentially reaching millions of units beyond traditional public housing.
- No mandate for specific hotline hours, staffing levels, language access, or service standards—implementation details left to HUD discretion.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Tenants in federally assisted housing—typically low-income renters with few resources—gain free access to eviction information and assistance, reducing information asymmetry and improving their ability to defend housing rights. The hotline is a pure public service with no offsetting cost to citizens.
Named in the bill
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Housing Act of 1937, Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act, McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, Housing and Community Development Act of 1992, Housing Act of 1959, Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996, CARES Act
Where it stands
2 cosponsors: 2 Democrats.
- Oct 31, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Oct 31, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Financial Services · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services”
- Sep 16, 2026 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
- Sep 16, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 47 - 2”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (2,658 characters) on Jun 8, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Free eviction hotline for low-income renters in federal housing” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr5889 Report an error
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