HUD has released it’s Housing Trust Fund (HTF) allocations for FY 2020. Allocations for FY 2020 total $322,564,267. Funds are distributed to states via formula, with larger states receiving more funding. All states receive at least $3 million. Larger states, such as California, New York, Texas, and Florida received $50.8 million, $29 million, $16.5 million, and $14.4 million respectively. Housing Trust Fund dollars can be used to increase and preserve the supply of rental housing for extremely low-income families with incomes between 0 and 30 percent of area median income (AMI) and very low-income families with incomes between 30 and 50 percent of AMI, including homeless families. HTF dollars can also be used for increasing homeownership for extremely low-income and very low-income families.

A full list of state awards can be found here.

Last week HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) issued two memorandums; one of the availability of waivers and suspensions of the HOME Program requirements in response to COVID-19 pandemic and the other on suspensions and waivers to facilitate use of HOME-Assisted Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) and short-term assistance response to COVID-19 pandemic. These memos can be found on the HUD Exchange.

The memo on waivers and suspensions of HOME Program requirements in response to COVID-19 provides guidance and the necessary statutory suspensions and regulatory waivers to allow HOME participating jurisdictions (PJs) to address immediate housing needs and help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. A PJ that intends to implement the HOME statutory suspensions and/or regulatory waivers must send written notification via email to the CPD Division in its local field office. Waivers and suspensions include those available only to major disaster areas and those that are available to all PJs.

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HUD’s office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) has released it’s program formula allocations for FY 2020 and the CARES Act supplement funding. HUD has posted two spreadsheets. The first includes all CPD formula grant programs, including CDBG, CDBG Housing Recovery Program (RHP), HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME), Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA), Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG). The second spreadsheet lists all CARES Act Grants.

The spreadsheets can be found here.

HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) recently released a memorandum highlighting the availability of certain regulatory requirements associated with the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program, Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) program, and the Continuum of Care (CoC). HUD’s memo also announces a simplified notification process to use waiver flexibility to expedite the delivery of assistance. Waivers must be used to assist affected CPD program beneficiaries and program eligible households to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to mitigate against the economic impact caused by COVID-19. To use the waivers, recipients must notify in writing, either through mail or e-mail, to the CPD Director of the HUD Field Office serving its jurisdiction no less than two days before the recipient anticipates using the waiver flexibility.

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Tomorrow, April 1, HUD will announce certain FY 19 funding awards in the Federal Register. Awards include Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) renewal grants, Lead Hazard Reduction Grants, Choice Neighborhood Planning Grants among others.

Recipients of these awards can be located in the appendix of HUD’s announcement.

On March 25, HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) released a Q&A on using CDBG funds for staff costs and unused and partially utilized space.

Staff costs of CDBG program administration can be used for staff that are on leave due to the closure of the grantees or sub-recipient’s offices in response to COVID-19. These costs can be covered so long as the costs meet program administration requirements related to carrying out eligible activities, the cost of fringe benefits, and costs of other benefits so long as it is allowed under established written leave policies, costs are equitably allocated to all related activities, and the account basis selected for costing each type of leave is consistently followed.

CDBG funds can also be used to cover the cost of unused and partially utilized space related to COVID-19 as well. Although not usually permitted, exceptions exist when the space is unused due to unforeseen consequences, such as COVID-19.

For more COVID-19 related information, see NAHRO’s coronavirus resource page.

On March 23, HUD emailed PHAs with Public Housing programs to remind them that they should review their CY 2020 preliminary Operating Fund (OpFund) Grant eligibility and submit requests for corrections by email to their Field Office on or before April 3, 2020. PHAs can review their preliminary eligibility in the Operating Fund (OpFund) Web Portal in the PHA Form 52723/52722 Module. If you do not have access to the OpFund Portal please follow the guidance found here.

HUD has sent letters to PHAs announcing their 2020 Capital Fund Grant awards. In order to receive their grant awards, PHAs are required to  submit an ACC Amendment to HUD. Accepting this amendment does not make any changes to a PHA’s existing ACC. The 2020 ACC Amendment for the Capital Fund Grant awards does not incorporate any changes and is the same version of the amendment PHAs signed in 2017.

In a key victory that NAHRO fought more than a year to achieve, the FY 2020 Appropriations Act included an industry-drafted legislative pause to HUD’s attempt to change the ACC contract. The Act prohibited HUD from requiring or enforcing any changes to the terms and conditions of the ACC as a requisite for PHAs to receive funding unless the changes are mutually agreed upon by HUD and the PHA.

On February 28, HUD published Notice PIH-2020-03 titled “Public Housing Operating Fund (OpFund) Grant Eligibility Calculations and Processing for Calendar Year (CY) 2020.” The Notice provides PHAs with instructions for calculating OpFund grants for CY 2020 and establishes submission deadlines.

There are a few changes and additions included in the notice compared to CY 2019. This includes mixed finance modernization, EnVision Center participation, MTW alternative operating subsidy agencies’ submission of form HUD-52723 for CY2020 OpFund grant eligibility, and the General Depository Agreement (GDA) (form HUD-51999).

The Notice explains in detail how OpFund eligibility is calculated, the submission process, and data HUD requires to calculate OpFund grants.

HUD has released more than $655 million in Indian Housing Block Grants (IHBG) to Native American tribes in 38 states. The IHBG program is a formula grant enabled by the Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act of  1996 (NAHASDA). The grant provides Federally recognized Indian tribes or their tribally designated housing entity (TDHE) and a limited number of state recognized tribes funds for a range of affordable housing activities on Indian reservations and Indian areas.

In HUD’s press release, HUD Secretary Ben Carson noted that “[t]hese grant funds will allow local leaders to build stronger and vibrant communities that drive more economic development.” Assistant Secretary for Public Housing R. Hunter Kurtz noted that “HUD is committed to helping Native Americans thrive and…build stable communities.”

HUD’s press release can be found here, and the final allocation summaries are posted on the Office of Native American Programs (ONAP) Codetalk website.