Federal Regulation

HUD Releases Small Area FMR Final Rule

~ Eric Oberdorfer ~ Leave a comment

HUD will release the Small Area Fair Market Rents in Housing Choice Voucher Program Values for Selection Criteria and Metropolitan Areas Subject to Small Area Fair Market Rents Final Rule in the Federal Register tomorrow (November 16). HUD will also release a Notice in the Federal Register that would set the selection values for Small Area FMRs (SAFMRs). Subsequent SAFRMs will be specified through the Federal Register notice providing the public the opportunity to comment as new SAFMR designations are made. More information on HUD’s proposed rule (released June 2), can be found here (members only), and NAHRO’s comments can be found here (members only). NAHRO will hold a webinar on the final rule on Monday, December 19. Save the date and stay tuned for additional information.

In additional to other changes, the final rule includes additional criteria by which SAFMRs will be set. The final rule adds the vacancy rate of an area as a criterion and excludes metropolitan areas with a certain ACS vacancy rate from being designated a SAFMR area. The final rule also adds a threshold for the voucher concentration ratio to better target communities where voucher concentration is most severe.

As a result of the additional criteria, 7 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) have been exempted from complying with the SAFMR final rule that were included in the proposed rule. These MSAs are:

  • Nassau County-Suffolk County
  • New York, NY
  • Oakland-Hayward-Berkeley, CA
  • Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA
  • San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
  • Tacoma-Lakewood, WA
  • Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA

NAHRO will provide a detailed analysis of the final rule in the coming days. The final rule will go into effect 60 days after its publication date. 

HUD to Hold COCC Listening Session in Los Angeles

~ Georgi Banna ~ Leave a comment

NAHRO encourages all PHAs, especially those on the West Coast, to attend the HUD COCC (Central Office Cost Center) listening session on December 7, 2016 in Los Angeles, CA. Previous COCC listening sessions have been held in Alabama, Michigan and the District of Columbia. NAHRO has participated in a HUD COCC listening session and HUD shared substantive information in addition to listening to the concerns and questions of PHAs. These listening session are not part of the formal rulemaking process and is an opportunity to have a discussion with HUD on the COCC and the fee system.

PHAs interested in attending the COCC listening session in Los Angeles on December 7, 2016 will need to register at the following website: http://www.hud.gov/emarc/index.cfm?fuseaction=emar.registerEvent&eventId=2944&update=N.

Below is the Los Angeles COCC Listening Session information and agenda that was received from HUD.

In consideration of those PHAs that are located on or closer to the West Coast, HUD has decided to offer an additional COCC Listening Session in Los Angeles, CA on Wednesday, December 7, 2016.  Registration information for the Los Angeles, CA session is provided below.   

Background: In response to an OIG audit report, HUD is considering changes to the amount and types of fees a PHA’s Central Office Cost Center (COCC) can charge and the eligible uses of these funds by the COCC.  These changes could significantly impact the more than 600 PHAs that operate under asset management using the COCC model.  To more fully understand the impact of such changes when developing possible new rules, procedures, and guidance on the COCC, HUD has chosen to hold listening sessions in several cities, including Los Angeles, CA.

We welcome your PHA’s participation.

Detailed information on the COCC listening session and registration information is provided below.  Note: The listening session is in person only; there is no audio or video broadcasting of the sessions.

D.J. Lavoy,

Deputy Assistant Secretary

PIH-Real Estate Assessment Center

Who Should Attend? The target audience for this listening session is Executive Directors, Chief Financial Officers, and Public Housing Directors of PHAs that operate under asset management using a COCC.  PHAs also are encouraged to share this information with their fee accountants and auditors.  HUD will be sending a separate email to invite fee accountants, auditors, and financial consultants to the listening session.

Listening Session Registration. Registration is limited to no more than two (2) participants from the same PHA or organization.  To register for the Los Angeles session, please click on the link below.

http://www.hud.gov/emarc/index.cfm?fuseaction=emar.registerEvent&eventId=2944&update=N

The event will be held at HUD’s Los Angeles, CA Field Office.  Take the elevator directly to the 4th floor to Room 4054.

Los Angeles Federal Building

300 North Los Angeles Street, Suite 4054

Los Angeles, CA 90012

Note: Attendees will be asked to go through a metal detector and place their personal items through an x-ray machine.  With this in mind, please give yourself an extra 15 to 20 minutes to go through security and consider what you bring with you.

COCC Listening Session Agenda. A draft agenda for the COCC listening session is provided below.

COCC Listening Session – Draft Agenda
# Topic Time
1 Onsite Registration 8:30 – 9:00
2 Welcome and Background 9:00 – 9:30
3 Reasonableness of Fees and Fee Type 9:30 – 10:15
4 Re-federalization of Fees 10:15 – 10:45
5 Break 10:45 – 11:00
6 Eligible Uses of Fee Income 11:00 – 12:00
7 Lunch 12:00 – 1:00
8 Accounting and Reporting 1:00 – 2:15
9 Break 2:15 – 2:30
10 Transition Items 2:30 – 3:30
11 Next Steps / Closing 3:45 – 4:00

Lodging/Parking Information. For attendees who may need overnight accommodations or parking, this information is provided at the link below.  This hotel list is provided for your convenience.  HUD does not endorse or recommend any hotel.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1BC9D4S6JWMcmEwYWhOYjd6eGM/view?usp=sharing

HUD Extends AFH Submission Deadline for Small Local Governments

~ Jenny Hsu ~ Leave a comment

On October 24, HUD published a notice in the Federal Register announcing the extension of the initial Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH) submission deadlines for small consolidated plan program participants that received a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) of $500,000 or less in Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 or in a subsequent FY; or in the case of a HOME consortium, whose members collectively received a CDBG grant of $500,000 or less.

Previously, HUD established the first AFH due date for small consolidated plan program participants to be 270 days (approximately 9 months) before the program year for which a new 3-5 year Consolidated Plan is due, starting on or after January 1, 2018. HUD is now extending the initial due date to 270 days before the program year which a new 3-5 year Consolidated Plan is due, starting on or after January 1, 2019 – the same date that qualified public housing agencies (QPHAs – PHAs with a combined unit total of 550 or less) are required to submit their AFHs.

Learn more about HUD’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) Final Rule and subsequent AFH requirements for states, local governments, and PHAs by accessing NAHRO’s AFFH Resource Page (members only).

NAHRO Presents at HUD on the Lead Safe Housing Proposed Rule

~ Georgi Banna ~ Leave a comment

On October 6, NAHRO participated in a HUD organized convening on the proposed Lead Safe Housing Rule. NAHRO’s Director of Policy and Program Development, Georgi Banna, along with the National Center for Healthy Housing’s Chief Scientist, Dr. David E. Jacobs and the Green and Healthy Homes Initiative’s Executive Director, Ruth Ann Norton were on a panel moderated by HUD-PIH’s Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Lourdes Castro Ramirez that discussed the need to combat lead poisoning in children and the role of housing in that battle.ghhi-lead-2016-10-06_16-49-58_000

A video of the Lead Safe Housing Rule Convening has been posted on HUD’s YouTube Channel. Clicking Georgi Banna will begin at NAHRO’s statement.

Comments on HUD’s proposed Lead Safe Housing Rule are due to HUD on Monday, October 31, 2016. NAHRO submitted its comments this week. More information on the HUD’s Lead Safe Housing Rule and NAHRO thoughts and comments on it can be found in the current edition of the NAHRO Monitor.

HUD Finalizes Rule to Expand Housing Protections for Survivors of Violence

~ Jenny Hsu ~ Leave a comment

On October 24, HUD announced the impending publication of a final rule that will expand the housing protections for victims of  domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking (hereinafter known as “victim”) regardless of sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or age. The final rule will fully codify the provisions of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA 2013) into HUD’s regulations.

At its core, VAWA 2013 prohibits housing providers from denying or terminating housing assistance on the basis that an applicant or tenant is a victim. HUD’s final rule expands the universe of HUD rental assistance programs subject to the VAWA 2013 statute beyond Public Housing and Section 8 programs to also include:

  • Housing Trust Fund (HTF) – a program originally not listed under VAWA 2013;
  • HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) program;
  • Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) program;
  • HUD’s McKinney-Vento Homeless programs;
  • Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities;
  • Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly;
  • Section 221(d)(3) Below Market Interest Rate (BMIR) Program
  • Section 236 Rental Program

These programs, along with properties assisted through the USDA Rural Housing programs and the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, are collectively referred to as “covered housing programs.”

Overall, HUD’s final rule:

  • Codifies the core protections under VAWA 2013 across HUD’s covered programs by ensuring survivors are not denied assistance as an applicant, or evicted or have assistance terminated due to the individual’s victim status, or for being affiliated with a victim.
  • Provides a model emergency transfer plan for housing providers and explains how housing providers must address their tenants’ requests for emergency transfers.
  • Offers protections against the adverse effects of abuse that can often have negative economic and criminal consequences on a survivor. For example, a perpetrator may take out credit cards in a survivor’s name, ruining their credit history. Covered housing providers may  not deny tenancy or occupancy rights based solely on adverse factors that are a direct result of being a survivor.
  • Makes clear that under most circumstances, a survivor need only to self-certify in order to exercise their rights under VAWA, there by “ensuring third party documentation does not cause a barrier in a survivor expressing their rights and receiving the protections needed to keep themselves safe.”

HUD’s final rule is currently pending publication in the Federal Register. Once published, the rule’s regulations will become effective after 30 days.

An in-depth analysis of the final rule can be found in the October 30, 2016 edition of the NAHRO Monitor (members only).

 

UPCS-V Update Call to be Hosted by HUD

~ Georgi Banna ~ Leave a comment

On October 31st from 2pm to 4pm eastern time, HUD will host a UPCS-V quarterly update call. During the call, two broad topics will be discussed:

  1. The UPCS-V Test Plan – looking at the potential burdens and barriers to UPCS-V implementation.
  2. Immediate Next Steps – How UPCS-V demonstration PHAs can use UPCS-V as their inspection of record.

The conference call may be connected to at: http://ems7.intellor.com/login/707781, up to 10 minutes prior to the conference start time, 2pm eastern time on October 31, 2016. Feel free to contact HUD UPCS-V staff at OED@hud.gov with any questions, thoughts or suggestions.

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.

HUD Finalizes Rule on Equal Access for Transgender People in CPD Programs

~ Jenny Hsu ~ Leave a comment

On September 21, 2016, HUD will publish a final rule titled “Equal Access in Accordance with an Individual’s Gender Identity in Community Planning and Development Programs” in the Federal Register. The final rule, which builds upon HUD’s February 2012 Equal Access Rule, will add a new section to HUD’s general program regulations (24 CFR Part 5) requiring HUD CPD program recipients and subrecipients to provide transgender persons and other persons who do not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth with access to program benefits, services and accommodations in accordance with their gender identity.

The final rule will also amend HUD’s definition of “gender identity” so that it more clearly reflects the difference between actual and perceived gender identity and eliminate the current prohibition on inquiries related to sexual orientation or gender identity. Additionally, the final rule makes a technical amendment to the definition of “sexual orientation” to conform with the Office of Personnel Management’s current definition.

Elsewhere in the Federal Register, HUD will be requesting public comment on a proposed document entitled “Equal Access Regardless of Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, or Marital Status” for owners or operators of CPD-funded shelters, housing, facilities, and other buildings to post on bulletin boards and in other public spaces where information is typically made available.

A link to the proposed document, as well as deeper analysis of the final rule, will be forthcoming for NAHRO members.

 

 

PHA AFH Tool updated by HUD

~ Georgi Banna ~ Leave a comment

An updated Public Housing Authority (PHA) Analysis of Fair Housing (AFH) Tool that takes into account public comments HUD received has been posted for public inspection. HUD continues to state that they are committed to issuing an additional AFH Tool specifically for Qualified-PHAs (QPHA.) To that end, the PHA AFH Tool is intended to be used by non-QPHAs and QPHAs that are collaborating with non-QPHAs.

HUD has made a number of updates to the PHA AFH Tool. The NAHRO Policy Team will continue to review and provide additional analysis of this notice. Below is a brief list of the PHA AFH Tool updates:

  1. QPHA Insert – This insert is to be used by QPHAs that collaborate with non-QPHAs and covers the required analysis of the QPHA’s service area.
  2. Contributing Factors – HUD added and made small changes to the descriptions of contributing factors.
  3. Disparities in Access to Opportunities – The number of questions has been reduced and references to PHA waiting lists have been removed.
  4. Disability and Access – Two additional question have been added to the tool that relate to interaction of PHAs and individuals with disabilities.
  5. Instructions – Various sections of the instructions have been updated to provide clarity.
  6. Fair Housing Analysis of Rental Housing – This section only applies to PHAs that administer a Housing Choice Voucher program and not to PHAs that are Public Housing only.
  7. Enhancements for PHAs in the Data and Mapping Tool – Specific maps and date related to PHAs are planned along with enhancing the functionality of the maps.

This notice requests comment be submitted within 30 days of issuance. HUD is requesting comment on the notice generally and on 15 specific questions, listed at the end of the notice. NAHRO members should review this notice and provide their comments to HUD. NAHRO will also be providing comment on behalf of our members.

Public inspection of the updated PHA AFH Tool can be done at: https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2016-22594.pdf.

HUD Finalizes Rule to Protect Victims of Harassment

~ Jenny Hsu ~ Leave a comment

HUD has announced that it will publish a final rule titled “Quid Pro Quo and Hostile Environment Harassment and Liability for Discriminatory Housing Practices under the Fair Housing Act” on September 14, 2016. This final rule will formalize the standards for use in investigations and adjudications involving allegations of harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status, or disability. The rule defines and specifies how HUD will evaluate “hostile environment” and “quid pro quo” harassment claims under the Fair Housing Act (FHA), and clarifies the operation of traditional principles of direct and vicarious liability in the FHA context. The final rule will become effective 30 days after it’s publication in the Federal Register.

During the proposed rulemaking stage of this final rule, NAHRO submitted comments to HUD commending the Department’s objective to protect individuals who experience harassment. NAHRO also expressed concerns over some aspects of the proposed rule, particularly the proposed rule’s definition of “direct liability” and the unintended consequences that may arise from that definition. Under the proposed rule, a housing provider and their employees and agencies would be held directly liable when it fails to “fulfill a duty to take prompt action to correct and end a discriminatory housing practice by a third-party.” NAHRO’s comment letter expressed concern over scenarios where the third party is outside the scope of control of the principal.

Along with the final rule, HUD’s Office of General Counsel is issuing Fair Housing Act guidance on local ‘nuisance ordinances’ that may lead to housing discrimination against survivors of domestic violence and other persons in need of emergency services. HUD’s press release on the final rule can be accessed here.

Deeper analysis of the final rule and guidance will be forthcoming for NAHRO members.