On December 23, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ordered HUD to implement the mandatory components of the Small Area FMR rule on January 1, 2018 (preliminarily enjoined HUD’s suspension of mandatory FMRs). Those PHAs that are in one of the twenty-four designated metropolitan areas must implement Small Area FMRs. Previously, HUD had suspended the mandatory implementation of Small Area FMRs citing concerns about  the potential harm Small Area FMRs will have on vulnerable households from a recently published Interim Report on the Small Area FMR Demonstration (which was testing the efficacy of Small Area FMRs), among other reasons.

Moving forward, NAHRO will take a two-pronged approach on this issue. First, NAHRO will work with HUD to help PHAs implement Small Area FMRs as quickly as possible. Second, NAHRO will explore options to grant PHAs greater flexibility in serving vulnerable households with respect to this and other issues.

Additional information on the court’s reasoning can be found by clicking on the link below.

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