On October 20, NAHRO submitted comments on HUD’s PHA Assessment of Fair Housing Tool. This was in response to a 30 Day Solicitation of Comment on the Tool. NAHRO had previously submitted comments (members only) on the tool in May.

NAHRO’s comment letter was divided into three parts that focused on NAHRO’s broad concerns about the implementation of the tool, specific issues with the tool itself, and a list of recommendations to improve the tool.

NAHRO’s comment letter can be found here (members only).

On October 24, HUD will publish a Notice in the Federal Register announcing that they are extending the deadline to submit an Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH) for small community development agencies. These include: consolidated plan program participants that received a Community Development Block Grant of $500,000 or less in Fiscal Year (FY) 2015, or in the case of a HOME consortium, whose members collectively received a CDBG grant of $500,000 or less, from the program year that begins on or after January 1, 2018, to the program year that begins on or after January 1, 2019 for which a new consolidated plan is due, the same date that qualified public housing agencies (PHAs) are to submit their AFHs.

NAHRO learned that HUD created a streamlined version of the AFH tool for these groups to help limit the administrative burden caused by completing the longer and more intensive AFH Tool for Local Governments. NAHRO recommended HUD work to streamline the AFH Tools and is pleased that HUD created a separate insert for smaller community development groups.

NAHRO’s comments on the AFH Tool for Local Governments can be found here  (members only).

NAHRO’s joint comments on the AFH Tool for Local Governments with NCDA can be found here (members only).

On October 24, HUD will issue in the Federal Register the initial implementation guidance for the Housing Opportunities Through Modernization Act (HOTMA). HOTMA was signed into law by President Obama on July 29 after being passed unanimously by Congress. HOMTA provides updates and improvements to multiple HUD programs. HUD’s initial implementation guidance informs the public of which statutory provisions are effective immediately and which will require further action by HUD.

The initial implementation guidance includes information on provisions that went into effect immediately upon enactment of the law, provisions which will require either guidance or rulemaking, provisions that require new regulations, and provisions that require HUD to provide PHAs with more information before implementation.

NAHRO’s in-depth summary of HOTMA can be located here (members only).

On October 4, HUD announced its proposed Utility Benchmarking Initiative. The initiative would require PHAs to benchmark water and energy in their portfolios of public and assisted, as well as newly-insured, multifamily housing. Benchmarking allows property owners to compare a building’s utility consumption pattern against similar buildings and helps owners measure and manage energy and water consumption across building portfolios. The proposal was first announced in the President’s Climate Action Plan. Under the initiative, certain providers of HUD-assisted or public housing will be required to collect and report on their water and energy use. This will allow PHAs to make informed decisions, reduce operating costs and improve building performance over time. The proposal will establish procedures for PHAs to input utility and energy data into the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s free, web-based ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager®. HUD also posted a 60-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Energy Benchmarking of Public Housing in the Federal Register. PHAs would benchmark their utilities every three-years.

On October 3, HUD PIH Issued Notice PIH-2016-14 (HA) titled, “Guidance on the Public Housing Agency (PHA) salary restriction in HUD’s annual appropriations.” Congress prohibits PHAs from using any Tenant-Based Voucher, Operating Fund, or Capital Fund dollars to pay any amount of salary above the base rate of pay for level IV of the Executive Schedule. To fulfill its obligations under HUD’s annual appropriations, each PHA must compute the amount of impacted salary and bonus for each covered individual during the PHA’s fiscal year. If any covered individual has a salary and bonus that exceeds the annual rate of basic pay for a position at level IV of the Executive Schedule, the PHA must ensure that the amount in excess is not paid from Section 8 or Section 9 funds. Covered individuals include the “chief executive officer” as well as “any other official or employee” of the PHA with an annual salary (including any bonus) greater than the then prevailing salary for level IV of the Executive Schedule.

PHAs should calculate excess salary and bonuses reasonably and should document the calculation so that, if audited, the PHA can explain how each covered individual’s salary and bonus exceeding level IV of the Executive Schedule for that fiscal year were funded and prove to the auditor that there was no improper use of the applicable Section 8 or Section 9 monies to fund excess PHA salary and bonus payments.

For more information on this requirement, see NAHRO’s coverage of the FY16 Omnibus (members only).

On September 30, HUD REAC released their Operating Fund Subsidy Eligibility for November, 2016. The Explanation of Obligations can be found on HUD’s Financial Management Division (FMD) website.

On September 28, HUD published an FAQ  on Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing on the HUD Exchange.

FAQ topics addressed include:

• AFFH and the AFFH Rule;
• The AFFH Data and Mapping Tool;
• The Assessment of Fair Housing;
• Community Participation Requirements; and
• Implementing the AFFH Rule.

For more information on AFFH, see NAHRO’s AFFH Resource Center (members only).

Today, HUD published a 30-day notice for public comment on the proposed Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) Assessment Tool for States and Insular Areas (or “State and Insular Area Tool”). This proposed tool will be the vehicle by which States and Insular Areas receiving Community Planning and Development (CPD) formula funding from HUD will prepare and submit their Assessments of Fair Housing, as required by the AFFH final rule. The proposed tool would also be used for AFHs conducted through joint or regional collaborations (with local governments and/or public housing authorities [PHAs]) where the State is the lead entity.

HUD’s revised State and Insular Area Tool contains numerous updates compared to the previous version, including a streamlined analysis (called “insert”) that may be used by small program participants that are seeking to collaborate with a State to submit an AFH.

Small program participants are either:

• Qualified PHAs (QPHAs – PHAs with 550 or less total public housing and Section 8 units); or
• local governments that received a CDBG grant of $500,000 or less in the most recent fiscal year prior to the due date for the joint or regional AFH; or
• HOME consortium whose members collectively received less than $500,000 in CDBG funds or received no CDBG funding in the most recent fiscal year prior to the due date for the joint or regional AFH.

Beyond the insert, the revised tool contain changes that are largely clarifying – making questions in the tool more applicable to States. Among HUD’s specific requests for comments (which begin on Page 105 of the notice), the Department is seeking feedback on the following issues that are relevant to QPHAs and small local governments:

1. Will the Small Program Participant insert facilitate collaboration among States and smaller local governments, and will the insert allow a small program participant to conduct a robust fair housing analysis and set meaningful fair housing goals?
2. How can the QPHA insert be improved so that the QPHA may conduct a robust fair housing analysis and set meaningful fair housing goals when collaborating with a State?
3. How can HUD better clarify the responsibilities for QPHAs that choose to participate in collaborations with States?
4. Are there ways that HUD can improve the clarity of the questions and instructions for States and QPHAs when collaborating on an AFH?
5. How can the QPHA insert, which covers the QPHA’s service area, be improved to facilitate a meaningful fair housing analysis for QPHAs, including those that are in rural areas?
6. What additional guidance can HUD provide to QPHAs to better assist them in establishing meaningful fair housing goals?

The revised State and Insular Area Tool is available for review on the HUD Exchange website. Comments on the revised State and Insular Area Tool are due by October 28, 2016.

HUD has also announced that the public comment process for this tool will be extended to include two distinct stages with separate public notices. The first is the notice described in this blog post, and the second forthcoming notice will focus on the AFFH Data and Mapping Tool (AFFH-T) for States and Insular Areas.

Note: The State and Insular Area Tool is one of four separate AFH assessment tools that HUD has committed to issuing for program participants. The four tools are currently in various stages of development. Learn more by visiting the NAHRO AFFH resource page (members only)