To direct the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the Director of the Bureau of the Census to conduct a study and submit a report about how Federal agencies identify and record cases of housing loss in the United States, and for other purposes.

H.R. 3988 would require the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Director of the U.S. Census to jointly conduct a study on how federal agencies identify and record housing loss in the United States, with interagency consultation (CFPB, FHFA, and the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs at the Department of Commerce). The bill mandates a report within 6 months of enactment that maps out the types of housing loss since January 1, 2022, identifies the most common types, inventories data sets used to track housing loss, and assesses data characteristics such as update frequency, sharing policies, granularity, regional coverage, and accuracy. It also requires recommendations for improving data collection and recording (including potential new or consolidated data sets) and identifies any resources or legislative authorities needed to implement those recommendations. The term “housing loss” is defined to include eviction (court-ordered and informal), foreclosures (mortgage- or tax-related), and displacement due to natural disasters.