Author: Tushar Gurjal

HUD Sends HCV Get Ready Letter to PHA Executive Directors

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

On Jan. 5, HUD sent an HCV Get Ready Letter to PHA Executive Directors. The letter informs PHAs “of the status of HCV program funding, projections for calendar year (CY) 2023 renewal funding” and certain other items.

Funding Levels

The Department estimates that the overall funding proration levels for 2023 will be the following:

  • 99% for Housing Assistance Payments (HAP); and
  • 91% for administrative fees.

Housing agencies should anticipate an offset to ensure that there is enough funding for 100% of voucher renewal expenses. The Department calculates the national average inflation factor to be 10.13%, though individual agencies will have their own individual inflation factors. In absolute terms, there has been an increase in HAP and administrative funding, and HUD recommends that PHAs make adjustments to account for this increase.

Additionally, housing agencies should expect timely HAP and administrative fee disbursements for the HCV program and the mainstream voucher program through Feb. 2023. These payments have been obligated as follows:

  • Jan. and Feb. 2023 HAP obligations at 100% proration of estimated CY 2022 eligibility;
  • Jan. and Feb. 2023 administrative fee obligations at 89% of estimated CY 2023 eligibility; and
  • Jan. and Feb. mainstream voucher funding at the same levels for the respective accounts as listed above.

Reporting Deadlines

The deadline to submit CY 2022 costs and leasing adjustments in the Voucher Management System (VMS) is Jan. 27, 2023. All CY 2022 PIC reporting must be submitted by 4 pm on March 31, 2023.

The full 2023 HCV Get Ready Letter may be found here.

Carbon Monoxide Device Requirement for Voucher Units and Multifamily Units in Effect

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

On Dec. 27, HUD sent an email to PHA executive directors reminding them that the requirements for carbon monoxide devices in voucher units and multifamily units are in effect. The requirements went into effect on Dec. 27, 2022. The requirements were first outlined at the beginning of the year, in PIH Notice 2022-01. The email states that the “devices are required in properties with carbon monoxide sources, such as those with fuel-burning appliances or attached garages.” Carbon monoxide devices must be installed according to the standards of the 2018 International Fire Code. Additionally, HUD has created a simple flowchart to help illustrate the instances when an owner may need to install a device.

Resources mentioned in the email include the following:

HUD Publishes 2023 OCAFs

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

The Department published a notice titled “Notice of Certain Operating Cost Adjustment Factors for 2023.” 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.

Methodology Changes

The notice states a temporary methodological change. For 2023, due to high levels of inflation, HUD has calculated an inflation factor for each cost component for a time period exceeding a year and used the most recent data available. In the future, HUD will revert to using one-year time periods to calculate levels of inflation for each cost component. NAHRO applauds HUD for recognizing the high levels of inflation that owners are facing and making this change to ensure that cost factors capture the on-the-ground inflationary trends.

In addition to publishing the cost factors, this notice proposes certain permanent technical changes in how OCAFs are calculated in the future. First, in calculating 2024 OCAFs, HUD will begin to use data pulled from August of each year instead of May of each year in order to work with more up-to-date data. Second, HUD will make a change in calculating the insurance component data source inflation factor for the 2023 OCAFs. HUD has used the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index, Tenants and Household Insurance Index in the past, while moving forward for the 2023 OCAFs and beyond, HUD will use data from the Direct property and casualty insurers-Commercial multiple peril insurance series from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Producer Price Index.

Comments on the methodological changes are due by Dec. 15, 2022.

The full notice with the actual OCAFs by state can be found here.

HUD Posts EHV Fact Sheets

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD or the Department) has posted several short documents that explain different aspects of the Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV) program. The Department is calling this collection of documents the EHV roadmap. Each roadmap is designed to help housing agencies and partnering entities to understand a different aspect of the EHV program.

A list of each available EHV roadmap can be found below:

  • EHV 101 – this roadmap provides an overview of the EHV program and identifies certain key resources;
  • Administrative Fees – this roadmap describes the different types of administrative fees used in the EHV program and their eligible uses;
  • Waivers and Alternative Requirements – this roadmap describes the waivers and alternative requirements available to entities administering the EHV program;
  • Referral Process – this roadmap describes important parts of the EHV referral process;
  • Advancing Equity (not yet available) – this roadmap describes how the EHV program can focus on equitable outcomes;
  • Partnerships – this roadmap provides information on the mandatory partnership requirements in the EHV program and provides best practices for building those partnerships;
  • Serving Survivors – this roadmap provides resources for serving survivors of domestic violence with the EHV program;
  • Considerations for Rural Communities – this roadmap provides information on serving rural communities along with certain best practices; and
  • Pairing Services – this roadmap provides information on funding and best practices for pairing services with the EHV program.

Additionally, the Department is highlighting its “EHV How to Guide for PHAs” which provides a wealth of information on how to operate a successful EHV program.

All of the available roadmaps can be found here.

HUD Publishes Certain VAWA Forms for Public Comment and Requests Additional Information Collections

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD or the Department) has published a copy of certain modified model forms required by the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA), along with requests for additional information collections. The Department has implemented these VAWA legislative provisions through a rule published in 2016. The forms listed below comply with the legislative changes from 2013 and the 2016 implementing rule. In the intervening time, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2022 was also enacted. To the extent that the forms need further updating, they will be updated when the newest implementing rule is promulgated.

The VAWA rule, as currently implemented, covers the following HUD programs:

  • Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly;
  • Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities;
  • Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program;
  • HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) program;
  • Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) program;
  • the Continuum of Care (CoC) program;
  • Multifamily rental housing under section 221(d) of the National Housing Act with a below-market interest rate;
  • Multifamily rental housing under section 236 of the National Housing Act;
  • Public Housing;
  • the Housing Choice Voucher program;
  • the Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy program; and
  • the Housing Trust Fund.

The Department must provide entities participating in the above programs to provide housing (i.e., covered housing providers [CHPs]) with the certain model documents. These model documents have been modified in the following ways:

Continue reading →

HUD Increases Funding Available for Mainstream Vouchers

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

In a recently published notice (PIH 2022-31), HUD announced that it is increasing the funding available for new mainstream vouchers from $40 million to $48 million. The Department is not accepting new applications for the non-competitive allocation of these vouchers.

The short notice announcing the additional funding can be found here.

HUD Extends Two HCV Payment Standard Waivers for 2023

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

On Sept. 26, HUD published a notice titled “Extension of Certain Regulatory Waivers for the Housing Choice Voucher (including Mainstream) Program and Streamlined Review Process” (Notice PIH 2022-30). The notice would extend two waivers that were previously made available for the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program.

The waivers that would be extended are the following:

  • Increase in Payment Standard During HAP [Housing Assistance Payment] Contract Term – this waiver would allow PHAs to increase the payment standard for a family at any time after the effective date of the increase instead of at the next regular reexamination.
  • Voucher Tenancy: New Payment Standard Amount – this waiver would allow PHAs to establish payment standards up to 120% of the FMR, instead of 110%, which is the maximum usually allowed in most scenarios.

Extending a Waiver

If a PHA already is using one of these waivers, it need only extend the waiver. Agencies that are using these waivers may continue to use them, without taking additional steps, until Dec. 31, 2022 and may extend them until Dec. 31, 2023. To extend the waivers, PHAs must email PIH_Expedited_Waivers@hud.gov, while copying their local field office. The notice provides details on the contents of the email to be sent. Waiver extensions may be requested until Dec. 31, 2022.

Requesting a Waiver

Agencies that wish to apply for one or both of the waivers, if they do not currently implement them, or agencies that have not extended their waiver before the deadline, may request the use of the waiver through a streamlined approval process. Requests for waiver usage under this process must be submitted to HUD before the end of Sept. 30, 2023.

Agencies that request a waiver through this process must provide a good cause justification. The good cause justification must include all of the following:

  • Why the PHA needs the waiver;
  • The impact on PHA operations or applicants if the waiver is not provided; and
  • The proposed waiver duration (this should be limited to the time the PHA needs the waiver, but should not exceed Dec. 31, 2023).

Examples of good cause for each of the waivers can be found below:

  • Increase in Payment Standard During HAP Contract Term;
    • Increases in family rent burdens;
    • Potential negative impacts to tenants or the onset of housing instability;
  • Voucher Tenancy: New Payment Standard Amount;
    • Rental Market Fluctuations – The PHA is in an area that HUD has determined has significant rental market fluctuations (a list of those areas is listed at the end of the notice);
    • Utilization Rate – The PHA has a lower than 98% utilization rate for the current year or more than a 5% utilization drop between 2019 and 2021; The utilization rate for this purpose is the higher of the unit utilization rate or the budget utilization rate; and
    • Timely Leasing of Vouchers – the PHA has leased less than 85% of the vouchers that it has issued in the last six months.

A PHA may request a waiver by emailing PIH_Expedited_Waivers@hud.gov, while copying their local field office. The notice provides details on the contents of the email to be sent.

Other Waivers

As always, a PHA may use the regular waiver request process for any additional waiver it may require, but those requests will not be subject to a streamlined approval process.

The full notice may be found here.

HUD Announces PHAs for MTW Asset Building Cohort

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

Earlier today, HUD published a press release announcing that it had selected PHAs for the fourth cohort of the Moving to Work (MTW) program. The MTW program allows PHAs that have received MTW status certain additional flexibilities in how they use their funds and greater freedom in how they operate. The program allows PHAs to innovate in how they provide housing.

The current expansion of the MTW program requires PHAs to commit to research on a particular policy topic. In addition to the regulatory and operational flexibility afforded by the program, PHAs selected in this cohort have committed to research asset building policies. Housing agencies in this cohort will have to pick, implement, and track one of the three following options for asset building policies:

  1. Opt-Out Savings Account Option – PHAs must deposit a certain amount of funds per month into an escrow account on behalf of an assisted household.
  2. Credit Building Option – PHAs must report public housing rent payments to credit bureaus.
  3. PHA-Designed Asset Building Option – PHAs must design their own local asset building program.

Currently, HUD has selected 87 of the 100 agencies, including 16 in this cohort, to which it is statutorily mandated to award an MTW designation. According to HUD, “MTW agencies are now in 40 states and the District of Columbia.”

HUD’s press release on the MTW fourth cohort can be found here.

The Request for Applications for the MTW fourth cohort (Notice PIH 2022-11) can be found here.

NAHRO congratulates all of the selected PHAs that were selected in this cohort. The complete list can be found below.

Continue reading →

HUD Publishes 2023 FMRs

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

On Sept. 1, HUD published in the Federal Register a notice announcing the new Fair Market Rents for 2023. Fair Market Rents (FMRs) are used by the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program to determine the payment standard, which is used to calculate the amount of rental assistance a family in the program may receive in a certain area. Certain other programs also use FMRs. In calculating these FMRs, HUD altered their methodology to use additional private-sector data. The Department previously asked for comment on their new methodology and NAHRO responded with comments.

Housing agencies that are interested in reevaluating their area’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 FMRs must submit a reevaluation request to HUD by Oct. 3, 2022. The requestor must also submit data to HUD more recent than the 2019 American Community Survey (ACS) data used in calculating the FY 2023 FMRs. The Department requires data on “gross rents paid in the FMR area for occupied standard quality rental housing units” and the data “must be sufficient for HUD to calculate a 40th and 50th percentile two-bedroom gross rent.” Requestors may also gather this data through the use of surveys. This data must be submitted by Jan. 6, 2023.

The FMRs are effective on Oct. 1, 2022.

The FY 2023 FMRs along with other FMR-related information can be found here.

The Federal Register notice can be found here.

HUD’s Press Release on the new FMRs can be found here.

HUD Distributes $200 Million in New General-Purpose Vouchers

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

On Aug. 26, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD or the Department) published a new notice detailing how new incremental general-purpose vouchers would be distributed and describing certain other operational provisions of the vouchers. The notice is titled “Allocation and Special Administrative Fee for New Incremental Housing Choice Vouchers” [PIH 2022-29 (HA)]. This $200 million in additional funding for vouchers was appropriated by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022. The notices states that there will be 19,700 new Housing Choice Vouchers (HCVs) distributed to PHAs.

NAHRO thanks its members for educating decisionmakers in DC on the need and importance of new vouchers. In addition, in implementing the vouchers, NAHRO sent a letter to HUD urging the Department not to add additional terms or conditions to the vouchers, which may have made them harder to use. NAHRO is pleased that HUD has listened to NAHRO’s suggestion.

Continue reading →