Author: Tushar Gurjal

The NAHRO Blog Is Now a Part of the NAHRO Website!

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

In order to streamline our communications, we’ve incorporated the NAHRO Blog into the NAHRO website. All past blog posts have been archived in the Direct News section, and all future posts will be made and archived on www.nahro.org.

If you’re already subscribed to the NAHRO Blog updates, no need to do anything — you’ll continue to receive emailed updates every time we post an article or notification. If you prefer to receive immediate updates when we post a new article to the NAHRO website, you can subscribe at the bottom of each article. Please note: while anyone can subscribe to receive updates, some articles will be accessible to members only.

HUD Email Provides Information on Voucher Timelines

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Earlier today, HUD sent its monthly “The HCV Connect” email. The email emphasized the following points:

  • Housing agencies with voucher programs should finalize their 2023 reporting by January 29th;
  • Moving to Work (MTW) agencies should report MTW eligible activities that the agency has dedicated MTW HCV reserves towards in the Voucher Management System (VMS);
  • HUD will begin revoking and reallocating certain Emergency Housing Vouchers (EHVs) soon based on data as of Feb. 15–if a housing agency is on the list for revocation (see PIH Notice 2023-31), it should try to maximize voucher issuance and leasing;
  • Waive 1 of Enterprise Voucher Management Systems (eVMS) PHAs have successfully received their voucher disbursement through the new system–all PHAs are encouraged to review and utilize the PIC Error Dashboards to prepare for the eVMS migration;
  • HUD has published FAQs for Stability Vouchers;
  • If PHAs wish to continue using HQS instead of NSPIRE, they should have notified HUD by Nov. 15, 2023 and all unvented, fuel-burning space heaters should have been removed as of Jan. 1, 2024;
  • HUD hosts voucher utilization webinars every Thursday of every month; upcoming topics include End of Year Reconciliation and Special Purpose Vouchers and Review of HCV Landlord Engagement Resources;
  • Old HUD Utilization webinars can be found here;
  • HUD will hold a small area Fair Market Rent (FMR) virtual convening on Feb. 21, 2024; and
  • Updated 2024 funding estimates have been entered into the two-year tool.

HUD Posts Proposed Changes to Methodology for Calculating Section 8 Income Limits

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On January 9, HUD posted a pre-publication copy of a notice in the Federal Register titled “Changes to the Methodology Used for Calculating Section 8 Income Limits under the United States Housing Act of 1937.” Since Fiscal Year (FY) 2010, in calculating the thresholds for “low-income families” and “very low-income families,” HUD has limited the increase from one year to the next as the higher of either five percent or twice the percentage change in the national median family income. The Department also does not allow income limits to decrease by more than five percent from the previous year. This notice proposes adding an additional requirement that the annual income limits never increase by more than 10 percent per year and also proposes changes to the definition of national median family income.

The Department has identified two rationales for limiting income limit increases and decreases. The first is that the American Community Survey (ACS)–which is used to calculate area median family income estimates–is subject to error and may fluctuate despite the underlying median income staying the same. The second reason is that certain programs, such as the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), use the income limits to determine rent for low-income families and by limiting decreases, HUD helps to ensure that certain properties remain financially viable. Similarly, by limiting increases, HUD helps to ensure that low-income families do not face large rent increases very quickly.

The Department would also like to calculate the national median family income by using “the most recent unadjusted estimates of median family income provided by the Census Bureau via the ACS.” The Department states that “[b]y continuing to remove inflation adjustments from its cap calculation, HUD is keeping the calculation in line with its purpose of capturing trends in median family income data addressing survey volatility rather than volatility introduced by accelerating or decelerating inflation.”

Comments on the proposed changes will be due 30 days after the notice is published.

The full pre-publication copy of the notice, including questions to which HUD is looking for responses, can be found here.

HUD Institutes Cash Management Practices for the EHV program

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On Dec. 19, HUD published a notice titled “Cash Management and Closeout Procedures for the Emergency Housing Vouchers (EHV) Program funds, and Supplemental Information Regarding EHV Contract Renewal Calculation.” The notice establishes cash management procedures for PHAs with EHVs. These vouchers are for households that are homeless; at risk of homelessness; fleeing or attempting to flee domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking or human trafficking; or recent homeless or have a high risk of housing instability.

The Department will distribute EHV funds in accordance with Treasury cash management procedures. It will make monthly or multi-month disbursements based on the most recent month of validated EHV Housing Assistance Payments (HAP). Excess HAP will be held in HUD-held reserve accounts. Undisbursed amounts will likely be offset in the next year. Moving to Work agencies will be subject to these cash management processes.

The full notice can be found here.

HUD Awards $10 Million in Funding for Family Unification Program Vouchers

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On December 19, in a press release sent via email, HUD announced that it was awarding approximately $10 million in funding for new family unification program (FUP) vouchers. These vouchers serve families whose lack of adequate housing is a primary factor in the imminent placement of the family’s child in out-of-home care or youth exiting the foster care system who are homeless or at risk of being homeless.

To administer these vouchers, housing agencies work collaboratively with public child welfare agencies (PCWAs). These PCWAs refer potentially eligible households to the housing agency, which provides the voucher and any other services.

The awards were made to the housing agencies listed below.

 PHA NameVouchers AwardFunding
1.Santa Clara County Housing Authority42$1,175,590
2.Sonoma County Housing Authority53$1,182,229
3.Housing Authority of the County of San Diego49$1,131,976
4.Housing Authority of the City and County of Denver52$862,761
5.Hialeah Housing Authority44$566,650
6.Chicago Housing Authority55$778,477
7.Jefferson Parish Housing Services and Development District46$417,064
8.Mississippi Regional Housing Authority VIII52$376,940
9.Home Forward (Portland, OR)56  $788,081
10.Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation28$354,369
11.Housing Authority of the City of Austin50$772,020
12.Housing Authority of the County of Salt Lake dba Housing Connect50$628,548
13.King County Housing Authority (WA)48$934,197  
 Total Award625  $9,968,902

NAHRO congratulates these agencies on receiving these vouchers.

New Report on the Benefits of Increasing Housing Supply

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A new report titled “Supply Skepticism Revisited” by Vicki Been, Ingrid Gould Ellen, and Katherine O’Regan has been highlighted by the Furman Center in a recent email. The report is structured into four parts. The first part shows evidence that housing is unaffordable and that supply is not meeting demand in many parts of the country; the second part reviews arguments made by skeptics at the efficacy of increasing housing supply to increase affordability; the third part identifies new research that shows the benefits of increasing the housing supply; and the fourth part identifies areas where additional research is needed.

The report presents evidence for the following (see page 44 of the report):

  • Additional housing slows the growth in or decreases rents in an area;
  • In some instances, additional housing may also reduce rents or the rate of growth of rents in surrounding areas;
  • New construction causes “chains of moves” where higher-income households move to new housing freeing up older units for use by other households in different income brackets;
  • While increasing housing supply may increase gentrification, it does not necessarily displace lower income households; and
  • Reducing restrictions in land use usually leads to an increase in the supply of housing, but increases may happen over a longer time horizon and those increases may not be equivalent to the theoretical capacity created as other constraints may hinder development.

The full report can be read here.

Small Area FMR Resources

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On Dec. 6, HUD sent an email with an attached letter that contains links to several resources to implement small area fair market rents (FMRs) to PHA executive directors. The resources mentioned in that letter are the following:

The letter also includes a link to a previously recorded webinar on small area FMR implementation. A link to the above recording on small area FMR implementation and presentation slides can be found here.

The communication also reminds executive directors that PHAs in metro areas that must mandatorily implement small area FMRs will receive $10,000 in supplemental administrative fees.

The HUD small area FMR letter can be found here.

HUD Publishes 2024 OCAFs

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On Nov. 30, HUD published a notice in the Federal Register titled “Notice of Certain Operating Cost Adjustment Factors for 2024.” Operating cost adjustment factors (OCAFs) are annual factors used to adjust certain Section 8 rents. These OCAFs are calculated as “the sum of weighted component cost changes” for certain publicly available cost indices.

Some indices reflect data collected at the state level, while some indices reflect data collected at the national level. The nine cost indicators used in calculating OCAFs are the following:

  • State-level data;
    • Electricity;
    • Fuel Oil;
    • Natural Gas;
  • National-level data;
    • Employee Benefits;
    • Employee Wages;
    • Goods, Supplies, and Equipment;
    • Insurance;
    • Property Taxes; and
    • Water, Sewer, and Trash.

The notice lists the specific data sources for each category of data and alternative sources where a region may not have specific data available.

The full notice with the 2024 OCAFs listed as an appendix can be found here.

New Small Area FMR Guidance

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On November 15, HUD released a notice titled “Small Area Fair Market Rent Implementation Guidance for FY2024 Designated Metropolitan Areas” (Notice PIH 2023-32). The guidance provides certain implementation details for the recent expansion of the mandatory use of Small Area FMRs. The Department has designated 41 new metropolitan areas where PHAs will be required to use Small Area FMRs for the Housing Choice Voucher program. Small Area FMRs will be required in those areas on October 1, 2024, but payment standards based on those small area FMRs will not be required to be updated until January 1, 2025. Housing agencies in those areas may choose to use the small area FMRs for their project-based vouchers.

The notice also provides additional information on the implementation of small area FMRs. First, small area FMR designations are permanent. Second, those PHAs that must mandatorily implement small area FMRs in the new areas will receive $10,000 to cover the administrative costs of transitioning to small area FMRs. These funds will be disbursed automatically, and no PHA will have to apply for them. Third, those PHAs, in the mandatorily designated areas, that wish to begin using small area FMRs immediately may do so under the current “opt-in” procedures. Finally, moving to work (MTW) agencies, in mandatorily designated areas, are required to use small area FMRs, unless they have an alternative payment standards policy in their HUD-approved annual MTW plans.

The full notice can be read here.

HUD Posts New Form 50058 Draft Instruction Manual

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The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD or the Department) has posted additional documents on its Public and Indian Housing (PIH) Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016 (HOTMA) Resources page. These documents have, in the past, included revised HUD-50058 forms for non-Moving To Work (MTW), MTW, and MTW expansion programs. These forms provide information on the families that participate in programs like Public Housing or the Housing Choice Voucher program. These forms include the following:

In addition to these forms, the Department has posted a draft Form HUD-50058 Instruction Booklet. The booklet explains the fields in the forms and the information collected for each of the items. The booklet is important because it begins to document the changes made in the forms due to the changes required by HOTMA.

The draft booklet can be found here.