SECURED Act of 2026

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9708 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9708

 To provide transparency in short-term rental listings, and for other
                               purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 15, 2026

 Mrs. Harshbarger introduced the following bill; which was referred to
                  the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 To provide transparency in short-term rental listings, and for other
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Safety Enforcement for Children and
Users through Rental Evaluation and Disclosure Act of 2026'' or the
``SECURED Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS REGARDING REGISTERED CHILD SEX OFFENDERS AND
              SHORT-TERM RENTALS.

    (a) Requirements.--
            (1) Covered platforms.--A provider of a covered platform--
                    (A) prior to publishing a listing by a property
                owner for a short-term rental on the covered platform,
                shall implement reasonable procedures to request that
                the property owner disclose whether the property owner
                is a registered child sex offender; and
                    (B) if a property owner discloses under
                subparagraph (A) that the property owner is a
                registered child sex offender, shall include a clear
                and conspicuous public disclosure with respect to any
                such listing by the property owner published on the
                covered platform to a prospective guest prior to the
                point of sale that shall include a link to a public sex
                offender registry where such disclosure may be
                independently verified.
            (2) Property owners.--A property owner who is a registered
        child sex offender--
                    (A) shall respond to a request made by a provider
                of a covered platform under paragraph (1)(A); and
                    (B) may not provide materially false information
                with respect to any such request.
    (b) Enforcement.--
            (1) Enforcement by commission.--
                    (A) Unfair or deceptive acts or practices.--A
                violation of subsection (a) shall be treated as a
                violation of a regulation under section 18(a)(1)(B) of
                the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C.
                57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair or deceptive acts or
                practices.
                    (B) Powers of commission.--The Commission shall
                enforce subsection (a) in the same manner, by the same
                means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and
                duties as though all applicable terms and provisions of
                the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.)
                were incorporated into and made a part of this Act, and
                any person who violates such subsection shall be
                subject to the penalties and entitled to the privileges
                and immunities provided in the Federal Trade Commission
                Act.
            (2) Actions by states.--
                    (A) In general.--In any case in which the attorney
                general of a State, or an official or agency of a
                State, has reason to believe that an interest of the
                residents of such State has been or is threatened or
                adversely affected by an act or practice in violation
                of subsection (a), the State, as parens patriae, may
                bring a civil action on behalf of the residents of the
                State in an appropriate district court of the United
                States to--
                            (i) enjoin such act or practice;
                            (ii) enforce compliance with such
                        subsection;
                            (iii) obtain damages, restitution, or other
                        compensation on behalf of residents of the
                        State; or
                            (iv) obtain such other legal and equitable
                        relief as the court may consider to be
                        appropriate.
                    (B) Notice.--Before filing an action under this
                paragraph, the attorney general, official, or agency of
                the State involved shall provide to the Commission a
                written notice of such action and a copy of the
                complaint for such action. If the attorney general,
                official, or agency determines that it is not feasible
                to provide the notice described in this subparagraph
                before the filing of the action, the attorney general,
                official, or agency shall provide written notice of the
                action and a copy of the complaint to the Commission
                immediately upon the filing of the action.
                    (C) Authority of commission.--
                            (i) In general.--On receiving notice under
                        subparagraph (B) of an action under this
                        paragraph, the Commission shall have the
                        right--
                                    (I) to intervene in the action;
                                    (II) upon so intervening, to be
                                heard on all matters arising therein;
                                and
                                    (III) to file petitions for appeal.
                            (ii) Limitation on state action while
                        federal action is pending.--If the Commission
                        or the Attorney General of the United States
                        has instituted a civil action for violation of
                        subsection (a) (referred to in this clause as
                        the ``Federal action''), no State attorney
                        general, official, or agency may bring an
                        action under this paragraph during the pendency
                        of the Federal action against any defendant
                        named in the complaint in the Federal action
                        for any violation of such subsection alleged in
                        such complaint.
    (c) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
        Trade Commission.
            (2) Covered platform.--The term ``covered platform'' means
        a digital platform, website, application, or other similar
        service that facilitates short-term rentals.
            (3) Property owner.--The term ``property owner'' means an
        individual who holds legal title to, or has the right to offer
        for rent, a short-term rental listed on a covered platform,
        whether listed directly or through an agent of the individual.
            (4) Public sex offender registry.--The term ``public sex
        offender registry'' means a government-maintained, publicly
        accessible database of registered sex offenders, including the
        National Sex Offender Public website and any other similar
        registry maintained by a State.
            (5) Registered child sex offender.--The term ``registered
        child sex offender'' means an individual who is required by law
        to register as a sex offender on a public sex offender registry
        if such registration is based on, in whole or in part, a
        conviction for a sexual offense that the individual committed
        against another individual who was under the age of 18 years
        old at the time of such offense.
            (6) Short-term rental.--The term ``short-term rental''
        means any dwelling unit, residence, or other real property that
        a guest or lessee may occupy in exchange for monetary
        compensation for a period of fewer than 9 consecutive months
        for each such guest or lessee.
    (d) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect on the date
that is 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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