Author: Tushar Gurjal

HUD to Publish Lead-Free Final Rule and additional AFH Tools

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

Tomorrow, January 13, 2017, HUD will publish in the Federal Register the lead-free final rule and additional Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH) tools. The final rule titled “Requirements for Notification, Evaluation and Reduction of Lead-Based Paint Hazards in Federally Owned Residential Property and Housing Receiving Federal Assistance; Response to Elevated Blood Lead Levels” adopts a revised definition of “elevated blood lead level” (EBLL) in children under the age of 6 to track the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance. The rule will become effective 30 days after publication and compliance will be required by 6 months after publication. NAHRO will provide additional coverage of the final rule in the next few days.

The Department also released two additional AFH tools:

  1. A Revised Local Government Tool: This tool is meant for use by CDBG, HOME, ESG or HOPWA recipients. One of the major changes to the tool is an insert for use by PHAs with 1,250 of fewer units that choose to collaborate with their local governments. NAHRO is pleased that HUD increased number of PHAs that can use this insert, making collaboration easier.
  2. A Final PHA Tool: The notice states that this tool has been approved, but “the Notice does not trigger the obligation of PHAs to conduct and submit an AFH . . . as HUD has not yet provided PHAs with the data they will need.” Again, one of the major changes from the proposed tool includes increasing the threshold for the Qualified PHA insert to 1,250 units.

NAHRO will continue to look through these tools and will provide additional coverage to our members in the coming days.

The Lead-Free final rule can be found here.

The Local Government AFH Tool can be found here.

The PHA AFH Tool can be found here.

HUD Publishes UPCS-V 2.0 Protocol

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

HUD has published the 2.0 version of the UPCS-V protocol. This new version revises the previous 1.5 version with some substantive changes as to what constitutes a deficiency as well as grammar edits, formatting edits, and language clarifications. In addition to the protocol itself, HUD has also published a “UPCS-V Protocol Change Tracker” which documents all the changes from the 1.5 version of the protocol to the 2.0 version of the protocol.

The UPCS-V 2.0 Protocol can be found here.

The UPCS-V Protocol Change Tracker can be found here.

HUD Secretary-Designate Carson to Have Confirmation Hearing on 1/12/17

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

The United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs  will hold a confirmation hearing for HUD Secretary-Designate Carson at 10 am ET on Thursday, January 12, 2017. The hearing will be held at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Room 538.

The confirmation hearing will be webcast live on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs hearing website.

NAHRO will cover this hearing and other HUD-related transition events in the coming weeks.

 

HUD OIG Publishes Semiannual Report to Congress

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

HUD’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) has published it’s Semiannual Report to Congress for the second half of fiscal year 2016. These reports are “intended to keep the Secretary and the Congress fully informed of significant findings, progress the Agency has made and recommendations for improvement.”

The report can be found here.

HUD Publishes FY 2017 Section 8 Annual Adjustment Factors

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

Today, December 20, 2016, HUD published in the Federal Register a notice titled “Section 8 Housing Assistance Program–Annual Adjustment Factors, Fiscal Year 2017.” The notice announces the FY 2017 Annual Adjustment Factors (AAFs) for adjustment of contract rents on the anniversary of certain assistance contracts. The Housing Choice Voucher program does not use AAFs, and a separate notice is published announcing the renewal funding inflation factors (RFIFs) for that program. There are three categories of Section 8 programs that use the AAFs.

Category 1: The Section 8 New Construction, Substantial Rehabilitation, and Moderate Rehabilitation programs.

Category 2: The Section 8 Loan Management (LM) and Property Disposition (PD) programs.

Category 3: The Section 8 Project-Based Certificate (PBC) program.

Each Section 8 program uses AAFs differently, and the specific application of the AAFs is determined by the law, the HAP contract, and the program regulations and requirements.

The full notice can be found here.

HUD Posts Recording of October UPCS-V Conference Call

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

HUD has posted a recording of the UPCS-V conference call with UPCS-V Demonstration participants that took place on October 31, 2016 on HUD’s Oversight and Evaluation Division (OED) web page.

The recording of the conference call can be found here.

HUD Releases Final Smoke-Free Rule

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

Earlier today, Wednesday, November 30, HUD released a press release for its final rule on smoke-free public housing. Secretary Castro announced the final rule in Boston, Massachusetts at a gathering that included NAHRO National President Stephen Merritt.

The smoke-free final rule will require PHAs to implement smoke-free policies over the next 18 months. The final rule “prohibits lit tobacco products (cigarettes, cigars, or pipes) in all living units, indoor common areas, administrative offices and all outdoor areas within 25 feet of housing and administrative office buildings.”

The rule makes two changes from the proposed rule. First, waterpipes (i.e., “hookahs”) are included in the list of products that may not be used in restricted areas. Second, HUD has changed the term “lit tobacco products” to “prohibited tobacco products.”

HUD’s full press release can be found here.

The text of the final rule can be found here.

Five HOTMA Self-Implementing Provisions

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

On September 26, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Lourdes Castro Ramirez sent an e-mail to PHA executive directors identifying the self-implementing provisions of the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016 (HOTMA). All the other Housing Choice Voucher or Public Housing provisions will require HUD promulgated notices or regulations.

Five HOTMA Self-Implementing Provisions

  1. Reasonable Accommodation Payment Standards – PHAs may establish, without HUD approval, a payment standard of up to 120 percent of the Fair Market Rent (FMR) as a reasonable accommodation for a person with a disability. The Streamlining Rule already provided this flexibility.
  2. Establishment of Fair Market Rent –
    1. HUD may publish FMRs directly to their website, skipping the Federal Register, but must publish a notice in the Federal Register that they are published. Changes how interested stakeholders comment on FMRs and requests that HUD reevaluate the FMRs in a jurisdiction before those rents become effective.
    2. PHAs will no longer be required to reduce payment standards as a result of a FMR reduction for families continuing to reside in a unit under a housing assistance payment (HAP) contract at the time of the FMR reduction. The regulation at 24 CFR 982.505(c)(3) requiring the new decreased payment standard be applied to program participant families at their second regular reexamination is no longer applicable. PHAs must “adopt policies in their Administrative Plans that further explain this provision.” HUD will issue additional guidance in the future.
  3. Family Unification Program (FUP) for Children Aging out of Foster Care –
    1. FUP-eligible youth may receive FUP assistance up to 36 months. Applies to current as well as new FUP-assisted youth.
    2. Expands eligibility requirements for FUP-eligible youth. Expanded eligibility applies to the following:
      1. Youth aged  18 to 24 that are homeless or at risk of being homeless, and
      2. for those that left foster care at age 16 or older, or those that are within 90 days of leaving foster care.
    3. “At risk of being homeless” is defined at 24 CFR 576.2.
  4. Preference for U.S. Citizens or Nationals in Guam – Only applies to Guam. Establishes a preference for U.S. Citizens or Nationals in receiving financial assistance.
  5. Exception to PHA Resident Board Member Requirement – provides an exception for certain jurisdictions from resident board member requirements. Provision has been in effect through multiple appropriations acts.

SAFMR Demonstration Evaluation and Section 8 Eligibility of Students Guidance

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

Tomorrow, HUD will publish in the Federal Register two notices dealing with the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program. The first is a proposed information collection highlighting a series of interviews for landlords and tenants in areas served by the five PHAs that participated in the Small Area Fair Marker Rents (SAFMR) Demonstration. The second is guidance for the rule that excludes certain individuals enrolled in an institution of higher education from receiving Section 8 funds.

  • Small Area Fair Market Rent Demonstration – HUD is evaluating the SAFMR demonstration. To assist in this evaluation, HUD is looking at how “voucher holders and landlords perceive the shift from traditional area-wide FMRs to SAFMRs.” HUD will interview 70 tenants and 35 landlords in the areas served by the five PHAs in the SAFMR demonstration.
  • Eligibility of Independent Students for Assisted Housing Under Section 8 of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937; Additional Supplementary Guidance – Prior appropriations acts stated that if a college student “is under the age of 24, is not a veteran, is unmarried and does not have dependent child” or is ineligible or has at least one parent that is ineligible for assistance, then no Section 8 assistance can be provided for that student. This notice updates the list of items that PHAs, owners, and managers “are required to verify when determining whether a student’s income alone should be used to determine Section 8 eligibility.” The notice also reduces “barriers for vulnerable youth to receive assistance and continue their education.”

The SAFMR Demonstration pre-publication notice can be found here.

The Eligibility of Independent Students for Section 8 Assistance Guidance pre-publication notice can be found here.

HUD to Release Long-Term Outcomes of Family Options Study

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

On October 25, HUD will release the long-term outcomes of the Family Options Study. The study was a “multi-site random assignment experiment designed to study the impact of various housing and services interventions for homeless families.” Homeless families across the nation in twelve communities were assigned one of four possible interventions:

  1. subsidy only;
  2. project-based transitional housing;
  3. community-based rapid re-housing; or
  4. usual care.

Families were tracked for a minimum of 37 months and metrics on housing stability, family preservation, adult well-being, and self-sufficiency were collected.

HUD will be announcing the long term results of the interventions on October 25. The event can be attended in person at the Brooke-Mondale Auditorium at HUD Headquarters or via webcast.

Register for the event here.