HUD has awarded on $5 million to 22 public housing agencies across the country for Emergency and Security Improvements.  The FY18 omnibus provided $21.5 million for grants to PHAs for emergency capital needs resulting from unforeseen or unpreventable emergencies and natural disasters, excluding presidentially declared emergencies and natural disasters under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Act. This included a set-aside of $5 million reserved for safety and security emergencies. HUD’s Capital Fund Emergency Safety and Security Program supports public housing authorities as they address the safety of public housing residents. These grants may be used to install, repair, or replace capital needs items including security systems/surveillance cameras, fencing, lighting systems, emergency alarm systems, window bars, deadbolt locks and doors.

HUD’s press release can be found here.

On August 8, HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development posted Notice CPD-18-09, “Requirements for HOME Homebuyer Program Policies and Procedures.” The Notice provides guidance to HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) participating jurisdictions (PJs) on requirements for the homebuyer program. Requirements include: homebuyer underwriting standards, responsible legal standards, and standards for refinancing and subordination of HOME loans. PJs must implement these requirements for all homebuyers who receive HOME assistance of purchase a unit developed with HOME funds.

The Notice also includes guidance on the housing counseling requirements for the HOME Homebuyer Program, including the use of HUD-approved counselors and housing counseling agencies.

On July 26, HUD posted a notice in the Federal Register implementing Public Housing income limits as required by the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016 (HOTMA). HOTMA places the threshold for over-income families as those with incomes over 120 percent of area median income (AMI) for the most recent two consecutive years. If a family meets this threshold, public housing authorities (PHAs) have the option of either charging the higher of the fair market rent for the unit or the monthly subsidy (operating and capital fund), or terminating the tenancy within 6 months. Language in HOTMA also provides the Secretary the discretion to establish different income limitations based on local construction costs or unusually high or low incomes, vacancy rates, or rents.

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On June 20, HUD issued the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the FY 18 Continuum of Care (CoC) Program Competition. The FY 18 omnibus provided $2.513 billion to fund the Homeless Assistance Grants account, $130 million above FY 2017 enacted, including at least $2.106 billion for the Continuum of Care (CoC) and Rural Housing Stability Assistance programs. Approximately $2.1 billion is available in this FY 2018 CoC Program Competition NOFA, including up to $50 million available for Domestic Violence Bonus projects. Interested parties can apply as either collaborative applicants or  project applicants.

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On June 19, HUD posted a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for federally recognized Native American tribal governments, city or county townships, county governments, state governments, and special district governments for its Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction program. The purpose of the grant is to help eligible entities undertake “comprehensive programs to identify and control lead-based paint hazards in eligible privately-owned rental or owner-occupied housing populations.” Continue reading →

On Wednesday, June 20, HUD will formally publish their Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking  (ANPR) titled, “Reconsideration of HUD’s Implementation of the Fair Housing Act’s Disparate Impact Standard.” HUD is seeking comment on whether they should reopen the rule based on the Supreme Court’s ruling in the 2015 Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs versus the Inclusive Communities Project, Inc (Inclusive Communities) and public feedback relating to HUD’s regulatory reform efforts. Comments are due 60 days after the ANPR is published on June 20th. HUD announced their plan to reexamine the Disparate Impact Final Rule in a press release on May 10th.

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On April 14, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced the final round of designated Opportunity Zones in 4 additional states. Established by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, Congress created the new community development program that encourages long-term investments in low-income urban and rural communities. The Opportunity Zone Program provides tax incentives for investors to re-invest unrealized capital gains into Opportunity Funds. Opportunity Funds are private sector investment vehicles that invest at least 90 percent of their capital in Opportunity Zones. This new program has the potential to be an important, viable program for housing and community development agencies.

According to the Department of the Treasury, nearly 35 million Americans live in the communities designated as Opportunity Zones, and designated census tracts  had an average poverty rate of over 32 percent.

The final round of submissions were approved for: Florida; Nevada; Pennsylvania; and Utah.

HUD has posted the CPD Funding Matrix and Dashboard Reports, as of May 1, 2018, to the HUD Exchange. These reports provide funding information for cities and states that are recipients of CPD funds, including Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Continuum of Care (CoC), Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG), HOME, Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA), and Housing Trust Fund (HTF). The reports detail the size of the grant recipients have received over the past several years as well as the total amount of funds currently available.

HUD has announced its allocations for the Office of Community Planning and Development’s (CPD) formula programs, including: the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME), Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA), Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG), and the Housing Trust Fund (HTF). Allocations reflect the level of funding approved for your community.  Allocations can be found on HUD’s CPD Formula Allocations for FY 2018 website.

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HUD has posted it’s FY 2018 Continuum of Care (CoC) registration form to e-snaps with a submission deadline of 5:00 PM EDT on May 14, 2018. Collaborative applicants for CoCs that have changes from FY 2017 must complete the registration forms to access the Consolidated Application in the FY 2018 CoC Program Competition. This includes the CoC Application, the CoC Priority Listing, and project applications. If a CoC has no changes, they do not need to complete the registration, as HUD will move the previous year’s CoC registration information forward with no changes.

HUD also plans to release CPD Notice-18-06 “Applying to be a High Performing Community (HPC)” to the FY 2018 CoC Program Competition Funding Availability Page no earlier than May 2, 2018. The Notice will provide information applicants need to complete the 2018 Registration Process.