Disaster

HUD Publishes PIH COVID-19 Waivers

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

Earlier today, HUD Public and Indian Housing (PIH) published a list of statutory and regulatory waivers to assist PHAs in dealing with the COVID-19 event. The notice is titled “COVID-19 Statutory and Regulatory Waivers for the Public Housing, Housing Choice Voucher, Indian Housing Block Grant and Indian Community Development Block Grant programs, Suspension of Public Housing Assessment System and Section Eight Management Assessment Program” (Notice PIH 2020-05).

The staff at NAHRO are in the process of reading through the notice and will post additional information in the near future.

The notice can be found here.

Social Security Recipients Do Not Need to File a Tax Return to Receive COVID-19 Relief Payments

~ Georgi Banna ~ Leave a comment

NAHRO has reviewed a press release from the U.S. Department of Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that announces Social Security beneficiaries will automatically receive their Economic Impact Payments. This announcement will allow many seniors and low-income individuals, that have not filed a tax return, to receive their Economic Impact Payment without requesting it. There was a previous concern that Social Security recipients, that did not file a tax return in 2018 or 2019, would have to file a special simple tax return to receive their Economic Impact Payment.

NAHRO is maintaining a coronavirus resource page at www.nahro.org/coronavirus. The Treasury Department and IRS press release is reprinted below and is available at home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm967.

Social Security Recipients Will Automatically Receive Economic Impact Payments

April 1, 2020

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service today announced that Social Security beneficiaries who are not typically required to file tax returns will not need to file an abbreviated tax return to receive an Economic Impact Payment. Instead, payments will be automatically deposited into their bank accounts.

“We want to ensure that our senior citizens, individuals with disabilities, and low-income Americans receive Economic Impact Payments quickly and without undue burden,” said Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. “Social Security recipients who are not typically required to file a tax return need to take no action, and will receive their payment directly to their bank account.”

The IRS will use the information on the Form SSA-1099 and Form RRB-1099 to generate $1,200 Economic Impact Payments to Social Security recipients who did not file tax returns in 2018 or 2019. Recipients will receive these payments as a direct deposit or by paper check, just as they would normally receive their benefits.

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HUD PIH to Host COVID-19 Webinar on 4/3/2020 at 3:30 pm ET

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) is hosting a conference call at 3:30 pm ET on Friday, April 3rd for its stakeholders. The goal of the call is for HUD staff to discuss how PHAs can best serve their residents. In attendance will be Assistant Secretary Kurtz, PIH Deputy Assistant Secretaries, and representatives from NAHRO, CLPHA, and PHADA. The call will be limited to 3,000 participants.

Call-in information:
Step 1: Dial into the conference.
Dial-in: 1-877-369-5243 or 1-617-668-3633
Access Code: 0861651##
If the automated recording indicates the conference is full, please use overflow information:
Dial-in: 1-877-369-5243 or 1-617-668-3633 Access Code: 0912198#
Step 2: Join the conference on your computer.
Entry Link: https://ems8.intellor.com/login/823901

A Microsoft Outlook calendar invitation can be found here.

HUD PIH Posts Updated FAQ for PHAs

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

The Department’s Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) has posted an updated Frequently-Asked-Questions (FAQ) for PHAs on PIH’s COVID-19 Resources page. It is also linked to in NAHRO’s coronavirus page.

The updated FAQ (dated 3/30/2020) can be found here.

HCV Two-Year Tool Updated

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

A HUD official emailed me to let me know that the Housing Choice Voucher Two-Year Tool has been updated. For 2020, the HAP proration is 99.4% and the admin. fee is prorated at approximately 81%. The tool now begins with a dialogue box titled “Pandemic Considerations” which urges PHAs to think about program attrition; ability to issue vouchers and lease-up vouchers; and the effect on unit cost. It also gives information on household earned income to keep in mind.

Other changes include the following:

  • Utilization Report
    • When you open the Utilization Report, you will no longer see all of the data populate. All the data is still there, but you will just see the “Input PHA” section.
    • In the coming weeks, there will be a small button in the utilization report for a Continuum of Care template.
  • Two-Year Tool
    • There’s a mainstream specific two-year tool now.
    • The tool can now handle scenarios where newly leased vouchers would be at a significantly different per unit cost (press Ctrl + n).
    • More detail on the potential offset and various assorted categories has been provided (press Ctrl + o).

The Two-Year Tool can be found here.

HUD to Host Additional COVID-19 Planning and Response Webinars for Homeless Assistance Providers – Fridays at 2:30 pm ET

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

The Department’s Office of Special Needs Assistance Programs (SNAPS) will host regular “office hours” webinars for homeless assistance providers to discuss COVID-19 planning and response on Fridays from 2:30 pm to 4 pm ET. The next session will be this Friday, March 27, 2020.

Federal agencies in attendance will include the following:

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC);
  • U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD);
  • U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA);
  • National Healthcare for the Homeless Council (HCH); and
  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

Potential participants should join the webinar 15 minutes before it begins. The webinar can be joined here.

USICH/HUD Webinar on Isolation and Quarantine Recording and Slides Available

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

The USICH/HUD webinar titled “COVID-19 Planning and Response: Isolation and Quarantine: Lessons Learned from King County” can be found below.

Slides from the webinar can be found here.

Both the slides and the video can be found here.

USICH/HUD Webinar on Isolation and Quarantine

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment
Webinar logo

The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness will host a webinar titled “COVID-19 Planning and Response: Isolation and Quarantine: Lessons Learned from Seattle and King County.” It will occur on March 24, 2020 at 1:30 pm ET.

The following entities will present:

  • U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness;
  • U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development;
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and
  • Seattle and King County COVID-19 Response.

Registration can be found here.

New PIH COVID-19 FAQ and other COVID-19 related guidance

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

Over the past few days, the following guidance has been published:

HUD’s COVID-19 page can be found here.

All of this information and additional information can be found at NAHRO’s Coronavirus page. It is accessible to non-members and members and can be found here.

USICH Publishes “Planning and Preparing for COVID-19 (Coronavirus)” page

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness has published a page titled “Planning and Preparing for COVID-19 (Coronavirus).” The page provides both recommendations and further resources on preparing for potential COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreaks and their impact on people experiencing homelessness. The page will be updated regularly.

The page can be found here.