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).

 

HUD Awards $500 Million in Disaster Recovery Funds; Pledges Expedited Assistance for Southern States

~ Jenny Hsu ~ Leave a comment

Last week, HUD Secretary Julian Castro awarded $500 million in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds to Louisiana, Texas and West Virginia to help recover from severe flooding earlier this year. These recovery funds will help the most impacted counties that experienced the greatest level of damage to their housing stock. CDBG-DR grants can provide support for housing redevelopment, business assistance, and infrastructure repair.

According to HUD’s press release, “[i]n the hardest-hit counties of Louisiana (6 counties), Texas (3 counties), and West Virginia (2 counties), more than 102,000 households experienced some level of damage to their homes including more than 41,000 families who saw the most serious level of damage or destruction and unmet needs.” The following allocations of funds are based on each state’s proportional share of serious unmet housing needs:

Grantee
Amount
State of Louisiana
$437,800,000
State of Texas
$45,200,000
State of West Virginia
$17,000,000
TOTAL
$500,000,000

Also last week, Secretary Castro announced that HUD will expedite assistance to the States of North Carolina, Florida, and Georgia to address the impacts of Hurricane Matthew. The Department will help by: assisting the affected states and local governments in re-allocating existing federal resources toward disaster relief; granting immediate foreclosure relief; making mortgage insurance available; making insurance available for both mortgages and home rehabilitation; offering Section 108 loan guarantee assistance; and providing information to FEMA and the State on housing providers that may have available units in the impacted counties.

HUD OIG Releases Report on Oversight of MTW Legal Costs

~ Eric Oberdorfer ~ Leave a comment

On September 29, HUD’s Office of Inspector General issued a report titled “HUD’s Oversight of Legal Costs at Moving to Work Housing Agencies.” The report found that HUD’s oversight was not adequate to ensure that legal costs spent by MTW agencies were reasonable and necessary.  OIG audited HUD on this topic due to congressional concerns, concerns from a previous external audit, and OIG’s initiative to focus HUD management’s attention on problem areas on which we and others have reported over the years.

According to the report, which audited 3 MTW agencies, payments for outside legal services paid for by the MTW agencies were not always in compliance with applicable requirements. The report claims that $9.2 million of the $16.5 million that the three agencies paid for outside legal services during the period October 2007 to September 2012 could be unsupported. The report notes that MTW agencies typically incur relatively higher costs for legal services than non MTW agencies.

OIG recommends HUD require MTW agencies to include a breakdown of their anticipated and actual costs for legal services in their annual plans and report.

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.

 

 

SAFMR Demonstration Evaluation and Section 8 Eligibility of Students Guidance

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

Tomorrow, HUD will publish in the Federal Register two notices dealing with the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program. The first is a proposed information collection highlighting a series of interviews for landlords and tenants in areas served by the five PHAs that participated in the Small Area Fair Marker Rents (SAFMR) Demonstration. The second is guidance for the rule that excludes certain individuals enrolled in an institution of higher education from receiving Section 8 funds.

  • Small Area Fair Market Rent Demonstration – HUD is evaluating the SAFMR demonstration. To assist in this evaluation, HUD is looking at how “voucher holders and landlords perceive the shift from traditional area-wide FMRs to SAFMRs.” HUD will interview 70 tenants and 35 landlords in the areas served by the five PHAs in the SAFMR demonstration.
  • Eligibility of Independent Students for Assisted Housing Under Section 8 of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937; Additional Supplementary Guidance – Prior appropriations acts stated that if a college student “is under the age of 24, is not a veteran, is unmarried and does not have dependent child” or is ineligible or has at least one parent that is ineligible for assistance, then no Section 8 assistance can be provided for that student. This notice updates the list of items that PHAs, owners, and managers “are required to verify when determining whether a student’s income alone should be used to determine Section 8 eligibility.” The notice also reduces “barriers for vulnerable youth to receive assistance and continue their education.”

The SAFMR Demonstration pre-publication notice can be found here.

The Eligibility of Independent Students for Section 8 Assistance Guidance pre-publication notice can be found here.

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.

 

HUD to Release Long-Term Outcomes of Family Options Study

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

On October 25, HUD will release the long-term outcomes of the Family Options Study. The study was a “multi-site random assignment experiment designed to study the impact of various housing and services interventions for homeless families.” Homeless families across the nation in twelve communities were assigned one of four possible interventions:

  1. subsidy only;
  2. project-based transitional housing;
  3. community-based rapid re-housing; or
  4. usual care.

Families were tracked for a minimum of 37 months and metrics on housing stability, family preservation, adult well-being, and self-sufficiency were collected.

HUD will be announcing the long term results of the interventions on October 25. The event can be attended in person at the Brooke-Mondale Auditorium at HUD Headquarters or via webcast.

Register for the event here.

HUD Webinar on Housing Mobility Resources and Initiatives

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

I received information from a HUD official about a webinar on Housing Mobility Resources and Initiatives on Thursday, September 22. Here’s the information that I received ( I also linked to information on the web about the panelists).

Housing Mobility Resources and Initiatives

To register, please complete the following steps:

  1. Please visit this link. This will expedite the process of joining the webinar on Sept. 22. The email confirmation of registration will include an Outlook calendar item that you can use to get the event on your calendar.
  2. If you have not used WebEx before, we suggest you install the WebEx Event Center ahead of time so you are ready to go when the event starts. You can do so by clicking on this link.
  3. If you haven’t installed the software ahead of time, it will automatically install when you start the webinar.  Installing it ahead of time will allow you to trouble shoot any problems that may arise ahead of time.
  4. On Sept. 22, before the 1 p.m. webinar starts, visit this link to start the webinar.
  5. You have two options for audio.  You can choose to access audio through the computer by selecting that option after starting the webinar or you can dial-in by phone using this conference line:

1-415-655-0002
Access code: 312 179 805.