An email from the folks at the Technical Assistance Collaborative (TAC) informed me that HUD has updated their Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document on the Mainstream Voucher Program. It was updated on March 22, 2019. This document is essential reading for all those who have Mainstream Vouchers.
The Mainstream Voucher FAQ can be found here.
HUD will fund $10 million in Emergency Safety and Security capital grants in FY 2019. Interested PHAs should apply to HUD by 5 PM ET, June 5, 2019. HUD Notice PIH-2016-03 provides guidance to PHAs seeking Emergency Capital Needs for safety and security reasons. Grants are made available to address safety and security emergencies that pose an increased threat to the health and safety of PHA residents on a first come, first serve basis until the set-aside funding is exhausted. PHAs must describe and explain how they have experienced an increased threat to the health and safety of their public housing residents in order to be considered for this funding. Examples of eligible uses include: security systems and cameras, fencing, lighting systems, emergency alarm systems, window bars, deadbolts, and doors. Funding cannot be used for patrol cars, salaries for PHA staff including security staff, security contracts or payment to local law enforcement for additional security, or transferring safety and security funding to the Operating budget.
Intersted PHA’s must apply by 5 PM ET, June 5, 2019. More information can be found here.
HUD has announced they will be hosting two webinars next week related to the MTW expansion. The first webinar will be on March 26th from 3-4 PM ET and targeted toward agencies eligible for Cohort 2 of the MTW Expansion. Cohort 2, which will evaluate rent reform policy interventions, is open for agencies with 1,001 – 27,000 combined voucher and public housing units. The second webinar, on March 28 from 3-4PM ET, will be targeted toward agencies eligible for Cohort 1 of the MTW Expansion. Cohort 1 is open to agencies with 1,000 or less combined units and will evaluate the overall impact of MTW.
Earlier today, HUD’s Financial Management Division sent an email responding to questions received from PHAs regarding HUD’s calendar year (CY) 2019 administrative fee rates. The email notes that the CY 2019 administrative fee rates are effective retroactively to January 1st, 2019. The Department will also publish two additional documents:
Until those documents are published, HUD recommends that program administrators use 80% as the estimated administrative fee proration and that they continue to consider using the CY 2018 Portability Administrative Fee Rate Description.
These documents can be found at HUD’s Office of Housing Choice Vouchers, which can be accessed here.
Last week, HUD sent a letter to Executive Directors confirming that the micro-purchase threshold and the simplified acquisition threshold have been increased. The new thresholds are as follows:
There was initially uncertainty about the use of these thresholds since the summer of 2018, when the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published a notice implementing increases to the thresholds for all grant recipients. This letter clarifies that the increased thresholds apply to PHAs.
OMB’s original notice can be found here.
HUD’s letter confirming the new thresholds can be found here.
HUD’s Office of Housing Choice Vouchers has posted the calendar year (CY) 2019 administrative fee rates. They can be found here.
On March 14, HUD released two Notices relating to the Moving to Work (MTW) Demonstration. The first Notice, PIH 0219-03, extends the deadline for PHAs to apply to the first cohort of the expansion from January 11, 2019 to May 13, 2019. The second Notice, PIH 2019-04, is a request for Letters of Interest for the second cohort of the Moving to Work expansion.
In the first Notice, HUD notes the Department is extending the deadline for the first cohort due to the government shutdown which prohibited HUD from providing assistance and feedback to agencies interested in applying. The first cohort will study overall MTW flexibility and will be comprised of approximately 30 PHAs that are high performers and administer 1,000 or fewer aggregate authorized combined Housing Choice Vouchers and public housing units.
The second Notice highlights the application process for agencies interested in applying to the second cohort of the Moving to Work demonstration, focusing on rent reform. The second cohort is open only to PHAs with 1,001 or more aggregate Public Housing units and Housing Choice Vouchers. Applications are due June 12.
(3/14/19 Edit – the official notice has been published in the Federal Register and can be found here.)
Tomorrow, HUD will publish in the Federal Register revised Fair Market Rents (FMRs) for certain jurisdictions, though a pre-publication copy is currently available. In addition to listing the new FMRs, the notice also responds to comments made to the initial Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 FMRs (See NAHRO’s comment letter here).
According to the notice, “[s]everal commenters suggested that HUD should provide additional funding to PHAs who undertake local area surveys.” (While Congress has the power to decide how to allocate money and how much to spend towards individual programs, HUD may request certain levels of funding for particular programs or tasks through its budget request.) The Department responded by stating that “HUD reminds PHAs that paying for local area rent surveys is an eligible expense to be paid from on-going administrative fees or their administrative fee reserve account.”
|
FMR by Number of Bedrooms in Unit |
|||||
| 2019 Fair Market Rent Area |
0 BR |
1 BR |
2 BR |
3 BR |
4 BR |
| Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH HMFA |
$1,608 |
$1,801 |
$2,194 |
$2,749 |
$2,966 |
| Burlington-South Burlington, VT MSA |
$992 |
$1,202 |
$1,544 |
$2,008 |
$2,087 |
| Coos County, OR. |
$538 |
$684 |
$837 |
$1,210 |
$1,394 |
| Curry County, OR |
$629 |
$777 |
$979 |
$1,416 |
$1,574 |
| Douglas County, OR. |
$657 |
$773 |
$1,023 |
$1,479 |
$1,796 |
| Oakland-Fremont, CA HMFA |
$1,409 |
$1,706 |
$2,126 |
$2,925 |
$3,587 |
| Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA MSA |
$1,131 |
$1,234 |
$1,441 |
$2,084 |
$2,531 |
| San Diego-Carlsbad, CA MSA |
$1,422 |
$1,590 |
$2,068 |
$2,962 |
$3,632 |
| San Francisco, CA HMFA |
$2,069 |
$2,561 |
$3,170 |
$4,153 |
$4,392 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA |
$1,952 |
$2,316 |
$2,839 |
$3,829 |
$4,394 |
The pre-publication copy of the notice can be found here.
HUD has announced that PHAs must use HUD’s Operating Fund (OpFund) Web Portal to access the CY 2019 Excel Tools for Forms HUD-57223 and HUD-52722 to determine PHA operating subsidies. These forms will only be made available to PHAs on the OpFund Web Portal, the department’s evolving web-based platform. HUD publicly released the Portal’s first PHA driven module – the PHA Form 52723/52722 Reporting Module – last year. The module allows PHAs, including PHA fee accountants and IT providers, access to their data to:
HUD will publish the CY 2019 Excel Tools for the Forms HUD-57223 and HUD-52722 on or before March 19, 2019 and PHAs must submit their Tools to their Field Office by April 9, 2019. If you don’t have access to the OpFund Web Portal, contact your Authority’s WASS coordinator. Your WASS coordinator can provide you and your staff with access. Once in the Portal, users must create and validate their user profile in order to navigate the Portal. You can find the user profile guide and WASS role assignment guide at the URL: https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/public_indian_housing/programs/ph/am/webportal
If you need additional assistance, contact REAC – Technical Assistance Center (TAC) by calling 1-888-245-4860 Option #4 or by email to REAC_TAC@hud.gov.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) Winter 2019 issue of Evidence Matters focuses on landlords and their role in the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program. The issue has three articles which provide insight into different aspects of landlord behavior and landlord retention. The first article offers an overview of the HCV program; provides a description of the nation’s rental units and its landlords; provides a broad overview of recent research on landlords; provides an overview of research on the impacts of low landlord participation; and offers strategies to increase landlord participation. The second article, again, discusses research on landlords and voucher acceptance. The third article discusses strategies that two PHAs are using to incentivize landlord participation.
The NAHRO Blog: Legislative & Policy Updates from Washington, DC 