H.R. 7188

119 HR 7188 IH: Military Occupancy Living Defense Act
 U.S. House of Representatives
 2026-01-21
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 I
 119th CONGRESS  2d Session
 H. R. 7188
 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 January 21, 2026
  Mr. Panetta  (for himself,  Mr. Moylan , and  Mr. Bilirakis ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the  Committee on Armed Services
 A BILL
To improve housing and environmental health and safety protections for members of the Armed Forces and their families residing in military family housing, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   Military Occupancy Living Defense Act   or the   MOLD Act  .
2.
Findings
Congress finds the following:
(1)
The Secretary of Defense should establish and implement a uniform code of basic housing standards for safety, comfort, and habitability for privatized military housing, which meets or exceeds requirements informed by a nationally recognized, consensus-based, model property maintenance code.
(2)
Thousands of military families living in privatized military housing have been exposed to hazardous environmental conditions, including widespread mold contamination, due to negligent maintenance practices and inadequate government oversight.
(3)
Military families frequently shoulder the financial burden of environmental hazards, often paying out-of-pocket for temporary relocation, the loss of personal property, medical expenses, and long-term health evaluations and treatments.
(4)
Unsafe housing conditions undermine military readiness by forcing members of the Armed Forces to divert time and attention from their duties to manage health and housing emergencies, jeopardizing mission performance, morale, and unit cohesion.
(5)
The lack of consistent, independent audits, inspections, and performance assessments of privatized military housing has enabled poor contractor accountability, resulting in ongoing maintenance failures and tenant harm.
(6)
The use of non-disclosure agreements by providers of privatized military housing to silence tenants reporting unsafe conditions obstructs transparency, suppresses awareness of systemic failures, and impedes efforts to hold contractors accountable.
(7)
Available data from medical reports, tenant surveys, and documentation by the Department of Defense strongly suggest that prolonged exposure to mold in privatized military housing is linked to higher rates of respiratory illness, neurological symptoms, and developmental issues in children, underscoring the urgent need for comprehensive environmental health protections.
(8)
As of the date of the enactment of this Act, the TRICARE program (as defined in section 1072 of title 10, United States Code) does not cover mold-related medical expenses, including diagnostic testing for mycotoxin exposure or long-term treatment for illnesses caused or exacerbated by mold, leaving military families without adequate support for housing-related health conditions.
(9)
Approximately 700,000 members of the Armed Forces and their families reside in privatized military housing operated by 14 companies across 78 developments in the United States.
(10)
Several providers of privatized military housing have been implicated in fraud schemes in recent years, including one company that pled guilty in 2021 to defrauding the Department of Defense by falsifying maintenance records, and another that reached a $500,000 Federal settlement in 2022, without admitting guilt, for similar misconduct.
3.
Development and implementation of minimum health and safety standards for military family housing
(a)
Standards
(1)
Initial guidance
(A)
In general
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall issue interim guidance for acceptable levels of relative humidity, ventilation, dampness, and water intrusion to be applied at all covered housing.
(B)
Effect
Interim guidance issued under subparagraph (A) shall remain in effect until final standards are published under paragraph (2).
(2)
Final standards
Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall issue final standards for acceptable levels of relative humidity, ventilation, dampness, and water intrusion to be applied at all covered housing, which shall include—
(A)
acceptable levels of relative humidity indoors;
(B)
required ventilation and moisture control measures;
(C)
environmental inspection and testing methods; and
(D)
the standard of care for mold remediation adopted under subsection (g).
(3)
Reporting and availability of testing
The final standards established under paragraph (2) shall require results of environmental inspection and testing methods under subparagraph (C) of such paragraph to be reported to the Secretary of Defense and made available to tenants of affected housing units not later than 10 days after sample collection.
(b)
Certification of compliance
Not less frequently than annually, each housing office of the Department shall certify to Congress that the housing office is in compliance with health and safety standards for covered housing required under this section.
(c)
Establishment of independent inspection protocol for privatized military housing
(1)
In general
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall ensure that each installation of the Department of Defense conducts, using independent certified third-party inspectors, mold and environmental health inspections for all covered housing that is privatized military housing—
(A)
upon every tenant turnover of a housing unit;
(B)
upon receipt of any tenant complaint regarding safety and habitability of a housing unit; and
(C)
following any remediation effort, structural repair, or response to an identified environmental hazard at a housing unit.
(2)
Elements of inspections
Inspections conducted under paragraph (1) shall include, at a minimum—
(A)
evaluation of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, plumbing, electrical systems, and structural integrity;
(B)
inspection for signs of water intrusion, dampness, humidity, visible or non-visible mold, microbial growth, and other indoor air quality concerns;
(C)
review of current and past work order records and completion timelines; and
(D)
review of contractor compliance with privatized military housing contract requirements and housing regulations of the Department of Defense.
(3)
Recording and maintenance of records
All findings of inspections conducted under paragraph (1) shall be—
(A)
recorded in a standardized Federal Government inspection record;
(B)
certified by the inspector with a clear  pass  or  fail  status;
(C)
maintained in an accessible, historical housing record for each housing unit; and
(D)
made available to the relevant installation commander and military housing office.
(4)
Documentation and submission of results
The commander of each installation of the Department shall—
(A)
document results of inspections conducted under paragraph (1); and
(B)
submit the results of such inspections to—
(i)
the Secretary;
(ii)
the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Defense; and
(iii)
the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
(5)
Access and transparency
Inspection reports certified under paragraph (3)(B) and housing history records required under paragraph (3)(C) shall be—
(A)
provided in full to current tenants of the inspected unit;
(B)
made available upon request to any incoming tenants; and
(C)
maintained in a secure portal accessible to staff of the relevant military housing office, the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and military family advocacy personnel.
(6)
Remediation or tenant relocation
In the case of a housing unit failing inspection conducted under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall ensure that the unit is remediated or the tenants of such unit are relocated not later than 30 days after such failed inspection, if such tenants wish to be relocated.
(d)
Complaint and response mechanism
(1)
Hotline and website
The Secretary shall modify the Defense Housing Feedback System, or successor system, to ensure that such system contains a tenant complaint hotline and website that is available 24 hours per day, seven days per week for reporting humidity, water damage, or other hazards in covered housing.
(2)
Website information
The website required under paragraph (1) shall contain information on the complaints made under paragraph (1), disaggregated by installation and with any personally identifying information redacted.
(3)
Response
Each housing office for an installation of the Department shall—
(A)
respond to complaints of tenants of covered housing not later than five business days after the complaint;
(B)
track progress of such response until resolution; and
(C)
provide to tenants written confirmation of inspection findings and actions taken.
(e)
Requirements for privatized military housing
(1)
Health and safety standards for military housing
The Secretary of each military department shall ensure that all housing project agreements and renewals for privatized military housing under the jurisdiction of the Secretary concerned entered into on or after the date of the enactment of this Act are compliant with the appropriate environmental health and safety standards established by the Department of Defense.
(2)
Future contract agreements and renewals
For all housing project agreements and renewals for privatized military housing entered into on or after the date of the enactment of this Act, and to the extent practicable for agreements in place as of such date of enactment, not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall incorporate enforceable provisions related to environmental hazard response, inspection, and tenant relocation protections which shall include—
(A)
enforceable environmental health and safety clauses; and
(B)
requirements that providers of privatized military housing bear full financial responsibility for—
(i)
required third-party inspections;
(ii)
maintenance;
(iii)
mold remediation;
(iv)
all relocation expenses for military families forced to vacate uninhabitable units;
(v)
property loss; and
(vi)
refunding any amounts paid through a basic allowance for housing under section 403 of title 37, United States Code, for military families forced to vacate uninhabitable units.
(f)
Certification requirements for mold assessment and remediation
The Secretary shall ensure that all maintenance personnel, contracted mold assessors, indoor environmental professionals, and mold remediators responsible for assessing or remediating mold and water damage in covered housing shall possess and maintain current certifications issued by a nationally recognized, third-party, nonprofit certifying body, which may include the following:
(1)
The Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification.
(2)
The National Organization of Remediators and Microbial Inspectors.
(3)
The American Council for Accredited Certification.
(g)
Standard of care for mold remediation
All mold remediation activities conducted in covered housing shall comply with the American National Standards Institute and Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification S520 Standard for Professional Mold Remediation, Fourth Edition, or any subsequent edition published by the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification or successor organization.
(h)
Issuance of guidance
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall—
(1)
issue guidance with respect to the implementation of this section; and
(2)
provide written notification to all providers of privatized military housing regarding the requirements of this section.
(i)
Quarterly reporting requirement
(1)
Designation of Chief Housing Officer
The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment shall serve as Chief Housing Officer and shall receive, review, and compile reports from military housing offices across all installations of the Department of Defense.
(2)
Military housing office reporting
Not less frequently than quarterly, each chief of a military housing office shall submit to the Chief Housing Officer designated under paragraph (1) a report that includes, at a minimum—
(A)
the number and type of tenant complaints received;
(B)
an assessment of work order volume and average completion time;
(C)
an identification of instances of unresolved or recurring maintenance issues;
(D)
an identification of environmental hazard notifications and the status of the remediation of such hazards;
(E)
a summary of compliance by contractors with requirements of the Department and any violations of those requirements;
(F)
any reports of retaliation, discrimination, displacement, or housing-related medical concerns (with personal information redacted if requested); and
(G)
a summary of command-level awareness or action on housing issues.
(3)
Compilation and congressional submission
(A)
In general
The Chief Housing Officer shall—
(i)
compile the reports received under paragraph (2);
(ii)
submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives such compiled reports not less frequently than quarterly and not less frequently than annually for the quarter or year covered by the report, as the case may be; and
(iii)
provide to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives briefings regarding each report submitted under clause (ii).
(B)
Briefings
Briefings required under subparagraph (A)(iii) shall include trend analysis, contractor performance insights, and risk flags based on installation-level conditions.
(4)
Data transparency and retention
(A)
Format
The Secretary shall ensure that all reporting required under this subsection follows a standardized Federal format.
(B)
Retention of information
The Secretary shall ensure that all raw data, logs, and supporting documentation for reports required under this subsection are retained for a period of not less than five years.
(C)
Availability of data sets
The Secretary may make available to tenant ombudsmen or Federal housing liaison offices data sets used to prepare reports under this subsection with personally identifiable information redacted.
(5)
Enforcement
In the case of a landlord (as defined in section 2871 of title 10, United States Code) or other private sector entity that fails to comply with any requirement established to comply with this subsection, the Secretary may—
(A)
notify command leadership of the relevant installation of the Department;
(B)
conduct an audit or performance review; and
(C)
in the case of systemic failure to comply with any such requirement, suspend eligibility of such landlord or entity for housing-related bonuses.
(j)
Public reporting requirements
Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives and publish on a publicly available website of the Department of Defense, with respect to covered housing—
(1)
the number of mold complaints received, disaggregated by installation of the Department;
(2)
the results of inspections under this section and compliance rates;
(3)
remediation timelines and costs; and
(4)
the number of relocations made.
(k)
Sense of Congress on health risks associated with mold
It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Defense, in collaboration with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, should evaluate the health impacts of mold exposure in military housing and consider appropriate medical responses and coverage under existing health care systems.
(l)
Definitions
In this section:
(1)
Acceptable levels of relative humidity
The term  acceptable levels of relative humidity , with respect to an area, means an area with humidity levels that are less than 50 percent.
(2)
Covered housing
The term  covered housing  means any military family housing owned, leased, or managed by the Department of Defense, including privatized military housing.
(3)
Environmental inspection and testing methods
The term  environmental inspection and testing methods  means detailed visual inspection substantiated by mold testing measures that include air sampling, tape lifts, swabs, and carpet samples, and official laboratory analysis of such samples.
(4)
Mold
The term  mold  means any form of multi-cellular fungi found in water-damaged indoor environments and building materials, including, cladosporium, penicillium, alternaria, aspergillus, fusarium, chaetomium, trichoderma, memnoniella, mucor, stachybotrys chartarum, streptomyces, and epicoccumoften.
(5)
Privatized military housing
The term  privatized military housing  means military housing under subchapter IV of  chapter 169  of title 10, United States Code.