HUD’s Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes recently released a Lead Safe Housing Rule Toolkit. The toolkit includes sample forms, checklists, and flowcharts for HUD’s Lead Safe Housing Rule to help practitioners understand and comply with federal lead rules. The toolkit provides information on lead rule basics, project-based assistance, rehabilitation assistance, acquisition, leasing, support services and operations, tenant-based rental assistance, lead hazard reduction, and responding to a child with an elevated blood lead level. The toolkit can be found here.

On November 16, HUD published Notice PIH-2021-30, titled “Revision of Application Process for the Small-Rural Frozen Rolling Base Program.” The Notice simplifies and updates the procedure for PHAs to elect to participate in the Small Rural-Frozen Rolling Base (SR-FRB) program. The program allows PHAs that qualify as small and rural to freeze their three-year rolling base consumption level for utility costs for a period of up to 20 years. SR-FRB elections/change requests must be made no later than December 6 for FY 2022. Elections and changes will be made through the OpFund Web Portal. HUD will notify eligible PHAs via email when the module becomes open and available. 2022 will be the first year PHAs that elected to participate in the program in 2021 will be able to remove a project from participation in the SR-FRB.

The notice can be found here.

On November 12, HUD integrated its Section 3 Business Registry into the Section 3 Opportunity Portal. The Opportunity Portal helps HUD grantees and Section 3 businesses meet their Section 3 obligations for employment and contracting. Certain changes have been made to the registry. Businesses registered since July 31, 2021 will be found in the Opportunity Portal via “Search Businesses,” businesses can now use the Opportunity Portal to log in and view their businesses as an Employer profile, employers can create, edit, and remove job/contract opportunities, employers can view their businesses and make edits to their business registry profiles, and if an Opportunity Portal user is both an employer and a sole proprietor worker, they will need to make two separate profiles using two different email addresses, one profile as “worker” and one as “employer.”

Currently registered Section 3 businesses should sign into the Opportunity Portal, select “employer” upon account set up, select “My Section 3 Portal” followed by “My Businesses.” If your registered businesses is not listed under “My Businesses,” please contact us at Sec3biz@hud.gov.

On November 16, HUD will publish a notice of proposed information collection in the Federal Register that would change the reporting requirements for public housing agency executive compensation information from annually to once every three years. PHAs will still be required to be in compliance with annual compensation restrictions imposed by Congress, however PHAs will not need to report on compensation annually.

Comments are due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. The notice can be found here.

On November 15, HUD re-opened a public comment period on the information collection requirements for the “Streamlining Implementation of Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act Changes to the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Program.” The information collection is related to the FSS proposed rule released in September 2020. HUD is not soliciting comment on any issues related to the proposed rule outside of information collection requirements.

HUD’s proposed information collection would require that all entities that operate an FSS program would have to update their Action Plans one time after the new rule becomes effective, and that PHAs would need to complete a monitoring self-review checklist for program compliance and reporting once every five years.

The federal register notice can be found here.

Congress is on the brink of passing historic housing legislation that currently includes $150 billion for housing programs. But negotiations are ongoing, and the housing funding could be at risk. NAHRO needs you to speak out immediately to support this historic legislation and to ensure that the housing provisions are preserved. 

We cannot miss this once-in-a-generation opportunity to invest in housing infrastructure and address the affordable housing crisis. NAHRO must send a strong, unified message of support to Congress on the housing provisions in the Build Back Better Act. 

There are several ways to advocate NOW: 

• Send an advocacy letter to Congress and the White House 
• Call your legislators  tomorrow, during our Friday, Oct. 29 Call-In Day 
• Join us for a “Lunch and Learn” session tomorrow, on Oct. 29, at 12 p.m. ET 

The new framework was reduced from a total of $3.5 trillion to $1.75 trillion. Even though the topline was halved, public housing, vouchers, and community development are still in the bill. This is a direct result of your advocacy. Specifically, the framework currently contains $150 billion for housing, including: 

Public Housing Investments: $65 billion 

Housing Choice Vouchers: $24 billion

Project-Based Rental Assistance: $1 billion 

HOME Investment Partnerships Program: $10 billion 

Community Development Block Grant program: $3 billion 

National Housing Trust Fund: $15 billion 

Section 811: $450 million 

Section 202: $450 million  

We will not have this opportunity again. Speak up now to secure $150 billion for housing! 

On September 27, HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development published a new memorandum, effective as of September 30, that updates and revises the memorandum, Revision, Extension and Update of April 2020 Memorandum Availability of Waivers and Suspensions of the HOME Program Requirements in Response to COVID-19 Pandemic, issued on December 4, 2020. The new memo extends certain statutory suspensions and regulatory waivers for the HOME Program that were issued to enable HOME Participating Jurisdictions (PJs) affected by the COVID-19 pandemic to use HOME funds to address immediate housing needs and to help prevent spread of the virus. Prior, all waivers were set to expire on September 30, 2021.

Specifically, the memo revises the matching contribution waiver to include FY 22. The memo also revises the maximum per unit subsidy limit waivers to restrict its applicability to projects that are currently underway or projects to which HOME funds will be committed on or before March 31, 2022. The memo also extends the waiver to perform onsite inspections of HOME-assisted rental housing and annual re-inspections of units assisted with HOME TBRA to December 31, 2021 and extends the timeframe to physically inspect units that would have been subject to on-going inspections during the waiver period from 120 days from September 31, 2021 to 180 days from December 31, 2021. Finally the Insular Areas waiver is revised to clarify the timing of the required written notification and the project completion day.

On September 13, HUD issued Notice PIH 2021-27 (HA) titled “Updates to Flat Rent Submission Requirements.” The Notice supersedes and replaces previous guidance on flat rents, clarifies HUD’s interpretation of the statutory amendment related to flat rents, and updates flat rent exception and extension requirements, including review criteria for HUD Form 5880. The Notice applies to PHAs that operate a Public Housing program and families residing in, or applying to, the Public Housing program. MTW agencies continue to have the flexibility to establish alternative requirements to flat rent requirements.

Previous Appropriations Act established that PHAs are allowed to establish flat rents that are set at no less than the lower of 80 percent of the applicable Fair Market rent (FMR) or 80 percent of such other applicable FMR established by the Secretary that more accurately reflects local market conditions based on an applicable market area that is geographically smaller than the applicable market area (such as the applicable Small Area Fair Market Rent (SAFMR) or unadjusted rent). For areas where HUD has not determined a SAFMR or an unadjusted rent, PHAs must set rents at no less than 80 percent of the FMR or apply for an exception flat rent.

To apply for an exception flat rent, PHAs must provide a market analysis that demonstrates specific market conditions. PHAs have 90 days after the effective date of their fiscal year to submit an exception request. If a PHA submits an incomplete flat rent exception request or incomplete supporting market analysis, HUD will provide the PHA two opportunities to cure deficiencies before disapproving the request. The PHA may extend the exception flat rent so long as the market study accompanying the previously approved request is no more than two years old, the market conditions remain unchanged, and the PHA submits the extension within 90 days after the effective date of the final FMRs are published by HUD.

On September 1, the White House released a Fact Sheet on the Biden Administration’s efforts to increase the affordable housing supply by creating, preserving, and selling nearly 100,000 additional affordable homes to homeowners and non-profits. The Administration is working with federal agencies to boost the supply of quality, affordable rental units, boost the supply of manufactured housing and 2-4 unit properties, make more single-family homes available to individuals, families, and non-profit organizations, and work with state and local governments to boost housing supply.

In order to boost the supply of quality, affordable rental units, the Administration plans to relaunch the Federal Financing Bank and HUD Risk Sharing Program, increase Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Investment cap by $700 million, and strongly encourage the development of affordable housing under the next Capital Magnet Fund NOFA.

The Administration will also make financing allow Fannie Mae to accept loan delivery for manufactured housing and revise certain mortgage eligibility requirements for 2-4 unit properties.

The Administration will work to make more single-family homes available to individuals, families, and non-profit organizations – rather than large investors. The Administration will do this by prioritizing homeownership in the sale of FHA-insured properties by providing guidelines over the next year that include an exclusive listing period for governmental entities, non-profits, and owner occupant buyers for Second Chance sales. The Administration will also promote the sale of distressed HUD properties to non-profits by increasing the amount of FHA-insured mortgage notes offered to non-profit and community organizations. HUD and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will also expand the exclusivity period for Real Estate Owned (REO) sales, and will improve outreach to non-profits for REO sales.

Lastly, the Administration will work with state and local governments to boost housing supply by leveraging federal funding to spur state and local action, and exploring federal levers to partner with states and local governments to reduce exclusionary zoning.

The fact sheet can be found here.

On August 26, HUD announced awards for nearly $95 million to 28 state and local government agencies to protect children and families from lead-based paint and other home health hazards. The grants are through the Lead Based Paint Hazard Reduction (LBPHR) Grant Program. The grants also include more than $12 million from HUD’s Healthy Homes Supplemental funding. A list of the grantees can be found here.