On September 20, HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing Issued HUD Notice PIH-2016-13 entitled Guidance on Property and Casualty Insurance Issues. The Notice provides guidance on the procedures, restrictions, reporting requirements and eligible uses related to casualties for Operating or Capital Funds. The Notice also modifies existing guidance on the eligibility of units that have been subject to a casualty for continued Operating Funds.

The Notice specifies that costs of repairing or rebuilding public housing projects due to damage or destruction caused by casualties, emergencies or natural disasters are eligible Capital Fund expenses. Costs may eventually be covered with insurance proceeds or, if approved by HUD, in a separate grant from the annual appropriations set-aside funds for emergency and natural disasters. PHAs are not required to repay the Capital Fund unless  the proceeds cover the same work funded by an Emergency or Disaster grant.

PHAs are also allowed to use Operating Funds for emergency work due to unforeseeable and unpreventable emergencies that include damage to the physical structure of a PHA’s housing stock. PHAs must reimburse their operating account for any expenses that were initially covered with Operating Funds. PHAs must use insurance or disaster proceeds to reimburse their operating account up to the amount received.

The Notice further discusses steps PHAs must take in the event of rebuilding or demolishing damaged properties from unforeseeable and unpreventable emergencies.

HUD has released its list of PHAS High Performers for Federal Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 Capital Fund calculations. For the Department’s preparations for calculating the Capital Fund formula for FY 2017, the Department is using the FY 2015 PHAS designations to determine which PHAs are on the High Performer bonus for the 2017 formula calculations. PHAs should validate whether they are on the High Performer list by reviewing the Capital Fund Calculation spreadsheet (available on the Office of Capital Improvements website).

PHAs that believe there is an error in the calculation of their PHAS score for FY 2015 must email an explanation of the error to the Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) at PHAS@hud.gov no later than October 31.

On September 15, HUD released a Press Release noting that the Office of General Council issued new guidance on the application of the Fair Housing Act to a housing provider’s consideration of a person’s limited ability to read, write, speak or understand English. The guidance “specifically addresses how the disparate treatment and discriminatory effects methods of proof apply in Fair Housing Act cases in which a housing provider bases an adverse housing action – such as a refusal to rent or renew a lease – on an individual’s limited ability to read, write, speak or understand English.”

The guidance notes that:

• Using a person’s LEP to intentionally discriminating against someone because of race, national origin, or another protected characteristic is considered in violation of the Fair Housing Act.
• Intentional discrimination may involve imposing restrictions, targeting individuals for unfair or illegal housing-related services, or failing to comply with the requirement to provide housing-related language assistance services to LEP persons.
• Housing providers may also be in violation of the Fair Housing Act if the provider’s policy has an unjustified discriminatory effect, even when the provider had no intent to discriminate.
• Three steps are used to analyze claims that a housing provider’s use of LEP results in an unjustified discriminatory effect: assessing the discriminatory effect; evaluating whether the challenged policy or practice is necessary to achieve a substantial, legitimate, nondiscriminatory interest; and evaluating whether there is a less discriminatory alternative.

On September 15, HUD sent out an email reminding recipients of HUD funds that FY 2009 grant funds are expiring at the end of this month. Grantees must submit drawdown approvals for these funds by September 16, 2016. The email also notes that “[f]or other funds not approaching expiration, grantees can continue to enter draw down requests to September 28th and the draw will be processed before HUD’s accounting system closes. If a disbursement is received by the Line of Credit Control System (LOCCS) (directly, or via IDIS or DRGR) after September 28th, the request will not be processed until HUD’s accounting system is reopened. HUD’s accounting system is expected to reopen in early October.”

This week HUD’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report that found HUD did not always accurately verify Operating Fund calculations. Although the report found HUD did not always verify the calculation of Operating Fund subsidies, it did note that HUD recaptured the funds once it determined that excess subsidies were provided to PHAs. According to the OIG, more than $12 million in operating funds disbursed to PHAs was not adequately supported, and $116,218 was ineligible.

The report recommends that HUD officials:

• determine whether any of the overpayment of $3.6 million was ineligible and recover the ineligible payments;
• recapture from PHAs the $116,218 ineligibly disbursed for the units that exceeded the limit;
•   obtain documentation of the utility expense level amounts and verify the accuracy of the computation of $9 million of Operating Fund subsidies and recapture ineligible amounts;
• enhance controls to ensure that verification procedures for Operating Fund calculations are followed by field office staff;
• continue implementing the reconciliation software application to provide greater assurance that operating fund subsidies are accurately calculated based on correct data, and;
• strengthen controls over record keeping.

Housing America Month is a celebration of affordable housing each October where housing and community development agencies in the U.S. host events to highlight their work. NAHRO encourages all PHAs and community development organizations to host events that showcase the important work that you do. Next month, tweet your events and stories about the impact that affordable housing has for Americans across the country to #WHAAT and #HousingAmericaMonth.

NAHRO wants to hear your stories! If there is anything you would like to share regarding Housing America Month, please e-mail Carmen Smith, NAHRO’s Public Affairs Coordinator and Assistant Editor, at csmith@nahro.org.

Housing America is a campaign that raises national awareness of the need for and importance of safe, quality, affordable housing through education, advocacy, and empowerment. Housing America celebrates education, advocacy, and empowerment.

On August 29, the Housing Assistance Council (HAC) published a Rural Policy Note on maturing USDA Rural Rental Housing Loans (Section 515). The policy note analyzed data on USDA’s multifamily loan portfolio as of the end of March 2016. The policy notes that once USDA Section 515 loans are paid in full, owners are under no obligation to maintain the properties as affordable housing. USDA’s Rural Housing program may soon see a significant decline in affordable rental units and properties as numerous existing Section 515 loans reach their maturity in the coming decades.

According to the policy note, “an average of 74 properties (1,788 units) per year will leave the program over the next 12 years (2016 – 2027). In 2028, the number properties exiting the program is expected to increase significantly with an average loss of 556 properties (16,364 units) per year through 2032. For the following eight years after 2032, the numbers of properties exiting the program increases for an average loss of roughly 22,600 units per year, peaking in 2040.”

According to HAC, as of March 2016, “there were about 13,830 Section 515 properties with over 416,000 rental units … [and n]early two-thirds of the households in these properties receive USDA Rental Assistance. The average tenant household has an income of about $13,600.” The loss of these units will have significant impacts to rural affordable housing.

NAHRO’s position on adequately funding all USDA Rural Development programs can be found here (members only).

HUD is hosting the MTW Expansion Research Advisory Committee for their 2 day, in-person meeting on Thursday and Friday, September 1 and 2. The in-person meeting will be held on Thursday, September 1, 2016 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and Friday, September 2, 2016 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (EDT) at HUD Headquarters, 451 7th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20410. The meeting is open to the public and is accessible to individuals with disabilities.

The public is invited to attend both days of the meeting in-person or by phone. Registration will be open from August 22 – August 26. Register here.

The agenda for the meetings can found here.

On Aug 19, NAHRO submitted comments to HUD regarding their 30-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection on Executive Compensation Information and HUD Form 52725. The letter states that although NAHRO understands HUD’s statutory requirement to collect information on executive compensation, we remain concerned about the usefulness and relevance of this data collection and its implications regarding the value and merit of operating a PHA, an increasingly difficult and understaffed job. HUD Form 52725 erases meaningful differences among executive roles at varying PHAs, and assumes organizational and governance structures of PHAs are the same across the country.

In this time of budget cuts and ever-increasing regulatory and funding uncertainty, NAHRO is particularly disappointed that the Department continues to devote its oversight resources to efforts such as this that have little or no value rather than focusing on pursuing meaningful regulatory reform that will streamline the delivery of housing and services to low-income Americans.

NAHRO’s letter is available here (members only).