New CoC Interim Rule Will Increase Mobility for Homeless Individuals and Families

~ Jenny Hsu

On June 14, 2016, HUD published the interim rule “Continuum of Care Program-Increasing Mobility Options for Homeless Individuals and Families with Tenant-Based Rental Assistance,” which will apply two amendments to the Continuum of Care (CoC) program regulations. The first amendment will permit program participants to retain their tenant-based rental assistance (TBRA) if the individual or family moves outside of their CoC’s geographical area. The second amendment will exempt CoC recipients and subrecipients from complying with all non-statutory program regulations when a program participant moves in order to flee domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking. HUD has elected to forego an advance notice for public comment because “a delay would be contrary to the public interest.” The interim rule becomes effective on July 15, 2016, but public comment will be accepted until August 15, 2016.

HUD is seeking comments from providers on the impact of exempting CoC recipients and subrecipients from non-statutory requirements when a program participant moves outside the CoC area to flee an imminent threat/violence and when participants request to move outside the area in order to access better opportunities and resources, and to support mobility. Comments are accepted online at: https://federalregister.gov/a/2016-13684.

HUD to Conduct Webcast on Small Area FMRs

~ Tushar Gurjal

HUD will conduct a webcast on its new proposed rule titled “Establishing a More Effective Fair Market Rent (FMR) System; Using Small Area Fair Market Rents in Housing Choice Voucher Program Instead of the Current 50th Percentile FMRs.” The briefing will take place on Thursday, June 30 2016, from 11 am to 12:30 pm EST. Previously, NAHRO has voiced concerns about the impact of SAFMRs on tenants, some of whom will have lower payment standards; on landlord participation rates; and on the administrative costs, among other concerns.

To register for the event, please click here.

NAHRO’s prior coverage of this rule can be found here. (Members only.)

AFH Submission Timeline Decision Tree Chart

~ Tushar Gurjal

Several members have requested a chart showing the timelines for Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH) submissions under the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule. Here is a decision tree chart that we came up with that we hope will simplify the process of figuring out the appropriate date an AFH is due. Please let us know if you have suggestions for how this chart can be improved or if you feel it is unclear.

S. 3083 Introduced in Senate – Take Action Now!

~ Georgi Banna

Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs committee members Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), along with Senators Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), and Christopher Coons (D-Del.) took a big step this week by introducing S. 3083, which is companion legislation to the House-passed H.R. 3700.  Substantially, the bills are the same.

This is a huge victory, but our work is just beginning in the Senate – contact your Senators today to urge them to take action immediately on S. 3083 – send a letter to your senators and tweet at them (your Senators’ Twitter handles can be found on their websites).

Sample tweets:

  • TY @RoyBlunt @SenatorTimScott @ChrisCoons @SenatorMenendez for #S3083 – I will help you pass this critical legislation @NAHRONational
  • #PHAs hit hard by budget cuts, over regulation – S 3083 protects residents, helps #PHAs serve comm better- @SENATOR pass #S3083
  • House passed #HR3700 unanimously 4 months ago. @SENATOR please act on #S3083

NAHRO has supported many of the reforms within the bill since it was originally drafted in the House; NAHRO President Steve Merritt testified at a hearing on H.R. 3700 in October 2015 and NAHRO has been working with a coalition of housing stakeholders pushing for the passage of the bill. In April, NAHRO joined the coalition on a letter to Senators urging the quick passage of the legislation.

Specifically, NAHRO supports these provisions of HOTMA (H.R. 3700 and S. 3083):

  • Capital Replacement Reserves – Using NAHRO language also included in the Senate FY16  and FY17 Appropriations Acts, HOTMA would allow PHAs to voluntarily establish Capital Fund replacement reserves.
  • Subsidy Flexibility – HOTMA would allow for PHAs to transfer 20 percent of their Operating Funds to their Capital Fund, language NAHRO has advocated for strongly over many years.
  • Income Review Safe Harbors – HOTMA would allow PHAs to use other federal data to determine income including TANF, Medicaid, and SNAP.
  • Project-Based Voucher Program – PHAs would be able to calculate project-based vouchers (PBVs) based on authorized units instead of voucher funding. Additionally, those PHAs that have units targeting homeless individuals and families, veterans, elderly households, disabled households, or units in areas where vouchers are difficult to use, would be permitted to project-base up to 30 percent of those targeted units. In other instances, PHA project-based voucher (PBV) assistance may not exceed 25 percent of the units in a project or 25 units, whichever is greater. In areas where vouchers are difficult to use and in census tracts with a poverty rate of equal to or less than 20 percent, PHAs may provide project-based voucher assistance for up to 40 percent of the units in a project. HOTMA allows PBV contracts and extensions of up to 20 years; allows PHAs to permit site-specific waiting lists managed by owners; and clarifies that PHAs may project-base HUD-VASH and Family Unification Project (FUP) vouchers.
  • Extended Family Unification Vouchers – HOTMA would increase the age of eligibility for FUP vouchers from 21 to 24 and make youth who will leave foster care within 90 days and are homeless or at risk of homelessness eligible. S. 3083 contains provisions that would also expand FUP vouchers by allowing eligible youth “who have attained 16 or 17 years” and who have left foster care to remain in the program for up to 36 months.
  • PHAs and LRAs as ESG Subrecipients – HOTMA includes statutory language, supported by NAHRO, that would permit any state or local government receiving Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) allocations to distribute all or a portion of its grant funds to PHAs and local redevelopment authorities (alongside private nonprofit organizations).
  • Special Assistant for Veterans Affairs and an Annual Supplemental Report – HOTMA would create a new position of Special Assistant for Veterans Affairs that reports directly to the Secretary of HUD and would be responsible for, among other things, ensuring veterans have access to housing programs and homeless assistance, coordinating veteran-related programs at HUD, and serving as a liaison between HUD, the VA, and the USICH, and officials of state, local, regional, and nongovernmental organizations. HOTMA would also require HUD to collaborate on and submit to Congress an annual supplemental report on veteran homelessness.

H.R. 3700 Introduced in Senate – Take Action Now!

~ Georgi Banna

Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development Chairman Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Ranking Member Robert Menendez (D-N.J), Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), and Sen. Christopher Coons (D-Del.) introduced companion legislation to the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act (H.R. 3700) in the Senate today. The Senate bill number is S. 3083.

“NAHRO commends Chairman Tim Scott and Ranking Member Robert Menendez, with Sen. Roy Blunt and Sen. Christopher Coons, on the introduction of the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act in the Senate. This common-sense legislation will help public housing authorities across the country do their jobs more efficiently and better serve their residents. NAHRO was honored to have the opportunity to testify at the House Financial Services Committee last fall about this bill and I am thankful to the senators for their commitment to moving it forward,” said John Bohm, Acting NAHRO CEO.

This is a huge victory, but our work is just beginning in the Senate. Send a letter to your senators today urging them to take immediate action on the Senate bill.

For more information, see NAHRO’s coverage of the introduction of H.R. 3700 and the revised version that was approved unanimously by the House in February.

HUD Publishes Names of Members of MTW Advisory Committee

~ Tushar Gurjal

On Wednesday, June 22, HUD published the names of the members of the MTW Advisory Committee. In its FY 2016 Appropriations bill, Congress directed HUD to expand MTW to include a hundred additional public housing agencies (PHAs) over the next seven years. Congress also called on HUD to establish a federal research advisory committee. The research advisory committee is responsible for advising HUD on specific policy proposals and methods of research and evaluation for MTW.

HUD has appointed the following people to the advisory committee:

  • Josh Meehan – Keene Housing;
  • Austin Simms – Lexington-Fayette Urban County Housing Authority;
  • Chris Lamberty – Lincoln Housing Authority;
  • Adrianne Todman – District of Columbia Housing Authority;
  • David Nisivoccia – San Antonio Housing Authority;
  • Janny Castillo – Former Resident of the Oakland Housing Authority;
  • Cindy Fernandez – Former Resident of the Housing Authority of Tulare County;
  • Asia Coney – Resident of the Philadelphia Housing Authority;
  • Larry Orr, Ph.D. –  Johns Hopkins University;
  • Heather Schwartz, Ph.D. – RAND Corporation;
  • Mark Joseph, Ph.D. – Case Western Reserve University;
  • Stefanie DeLuca, Ph.D. – Johns Hopkins University;
  • Jill Khadduri, Ph.D. – Abt Associates;
  • Marianne Nazzaro – HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing; and
  • Todd Richardson – HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research.

HUD has also published an anticipated timeline for the expansion.

Early Summer 2016

Publish a summary of submitted comments on www.hud.gov/mtw.

Summer 2016

Begin the calls with the advisory committee, with an in-person meeting in Washington, DC in late-summer.

Fall 2016

Publish the notice to select the initial cohort of MTW agencies, with up to four months to submit applications.

Spring/Summer 2017

Select initial cohort of new MTW public housing authorities.

 Additional Resources:

Read the full HUD Press Release here.

Read NAHRO’s coverage of the FY 2016 appropriations bill and the included MTW expansion here.

NAHRO Submits Comments on HUD’s UPCS-V Demonstration

~ Tushar Gurjal

On Friday, June 17, NAHRO submitted to HUD its comment letter on HUD’s UPCS-V Demonstration. NAHRO encourages all interested parties to provide their comments to HUD and comments may be submitted until July 5, 2016. NAHRO’s comments are split into four primary sections. They discuss concerns about the costs of transitioning to the UPCS-V protocol; concerns about the UPCS-V Demonstration; concerns about the protocol itself; and feedback on specific inquiries about the protocol. NAHRO hopes that HUD will carefully consider these comments as it moves forward with the UPCS-V Demonstration.

Members can read NAHRO’s full comments here.

NAHRO Submits Amicus Curiae Brief to the U.S. Supreme Court

~ Georgi Banna

On June 1, 2016, NAHRO partnering with Housing and Development Law Institute (HDLI), Public Housing Authorities Directors Association (PHADA), Council of Large Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA), and Housing Authority Risk Retention Group, Inc. (HARRG) submitted an Amicus Curiae brief in support of the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles’s (HACLA) request for their appeal to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.

HACLA reduced its Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Payment Standards and provided a flyer to all voucher holders at the time of the resident’s annual recertification. The flyer stated the effective date and that the new payment standards would not apply until the resident’s “next regular reexamination.” HACLA also held public meetings and sent a “four-week notice” to residents before the payment standard was applied. Two residents filed suit against HACLA claiming HACLA’s failure to provide understandable information about the payment standard change and its one-year application date violated the residents’ constitutional procedural due process rights and various state laws. HACLA prevailed at the trial court level. The residents appealed, and the case was sent back to the trial court. HACLA prevailed again, and the resident appealed again. At this time, the appeal court (U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit) ruled in favor of the residents with specific directions for the residents to prevail at the trial court.

Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) around the nation should have certainty about what constitutes notice when changing HCV payment standards, which the current regulation provides. NAHRO will continue to follow the progress of this case (Nozzi v. HACLA) and would like to hear from other PHAs that may be in the same situation.

Click here for NAHRO’s June 15, 2016 Monitor which contains additional analysis on Nozzi v. HACLA (members only).

House THUD Bill, Update/Public Housing Analysis

~ Eric Oberdorfer

As we noted in our last blog, the House Appropriations Committee approved its Transportation and HUD (T-HUD) bill after debate on several housing- and transportation-related amendments, though only a manager’s amendment making technical changes to the bill was ultimately approved. The House T-HUD bill received a robust $48.2 billion allocation, which is $1.7 billion higher than the Senate allocation. However, statements from leadership toward the end of last week were non-committal on the future of House appropriations. These statements came after the House failed to pass a final vote on its Energy and Water bill due to a controversial amendment. It is unclear at this point whether the House will attempt to take up either the Energy and Water bill again or any other appropriations bills. This would be unfortunate, as the entire THUD appropriations process would come to a halt once again due to an unrelated, non-spending issue.

NAHRO has released a comprehensive summary of the House bill as it relates to Public Housing programs. It covers the Public Housing Operating Fund, the Capital Fund, the Rental Assistance Demonstration program, Choice Neighborhoods Initiative, Family Self-Sufficiency, Executive Compensation, and other proposals and initiatives.

Click here for NAHRO’s in-depth analysis of Public Housing Programs (members only).

Click here for NAHRO’s in-depth analysis of Community Development Programs (members only).

 

FY 2017 House Appropriations Bill In-Depth: Community Development Programs

~ Jenny Hsu

On March 25, the House Appropriations Committee unanimously passed its FY 2017 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (T-HUD) spending bill after debate on several housing- and transportation-related amendments, though only a manager’s amendment making technical changes to the bill was ultimately approved. The House bill received a robust $48.2 billion allocation, which is $1.7 billion higher than the Senate allocation, but due to differences in accounting tactics, the Senate bill provides higher funding levels for most housing and community and development programs compared to the House bill. The Senate approved its T-HUD bill on March 19 with an 89-8 vote.

NAHRO’s policy team has provided a comprehensive summary of the House bill as it relates to HUD’s Community Planning and Development programs, including the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME), Homeless Assistance Grants, and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA). NAHRO will also publish comprehensive coverage of the House bill’s treatment of Public Housing and Section 8 Programs in the coming days.

Access NAHRO’s analysis here (members only).