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HUD Issues New Certification Requirements for Housing Counselors

~ Jenny Hsu ~ Leave a comment

On December 14, HUD issued a final rule titled “Housing Counseling Certification” that codifies statutory requirements that housing counseling required under or provided in connection with all HUD programs will be provided by HUD-Certified Housing Counselors. In order to become certified, housing counselors must pass a standardized written examination and work for a HUD-approved housing counseling agency (HCA). The goal of these new requirements is to improve the knowledge and effectiveness of housing counselors that serve HUD-assisted renters, prospective homebuyers, or existing homeowners.

The final compliance date for the certification requirement is three years after the date the certification examination becomes available. HUD will publish a separate Federal Register notice to announce the start of the testing and certification process. However, some of the provisions of the final rule will become effective on January 13, 2017, including:

  • Requirement for agencies that provide homeownership counseling,
  • Requirement related to distribution of home inspection materials,
  • Provision for agencies found to have misused housing counseling program grant funds, and
  • Prohibition against distribution of funds to organizations convicted of violating election laws.

Access HUD’s resource page on the final rule here.

It is important to note that this new rule now covers not only participants in HUD’s Housing Counseling Program but also participants in other HUD programs including HOME Investment Partnerships, Community Development Block Grant, Public and Indian Housing, and FHA Single Family. Covered stakeholders will have three years from the date the certification examination becomes available to comply with the housing counselor certification requirement. A resource sheet for other HUD programs covered under this final rule is available here.

Additional coverage of the final rule will be available in the forthcoming edition of the NAHRO Monitor (members only).

New Mapping Tool Shows What HUD Investments Your Community Receives

~ Jenny Hsu ~ Leave a comment

On December 6, HUD launched the Community Assessment Reporting Tool (CART) – a new online and mobile-friendly tool that offers the public real-time information on HUD investments across a community. This interactive reference and mapping tool uses geospatial technology to show a variety of  property- and grant level detail by city, state, county, metropolitan area, or congressional district levels. According to HUD, CART cuts down the time that it typically takes to generate this information from several days to minutes.

CART includes information on many of HUD’s major programs, including:

  • Community Planning and Development Competitive and Formula Grants
  • Rental Assistance through HUD’s Multifamily programs, Housing Choice Vouchers and Public Housing properties
  • Housing Counseling
  • Signature programs – Promise Zones, Strong Cities Strong Communities and Rental Assistance Demonstration.
  • Census demographic information

CART also allows users to build custom community maps using thematic layers (i.e., voucher concentration, poverty rate) and property layers (i.e., location of public housing buildings, CDBG and HOME activities).Access CART online at: egis.hud.gov/cart

New HUD Rule Makes Changes to HOME Commitment Requirement

~ Jenny Hsu ~ Leave a comment

Today, HUD issued an interim final rule for the HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program that makes changes to how the Department will determine participating jurisdictions’ (PJs) compliance with the statutory 24-month commitment requirement.

Starting with Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 HOME grants, HUD will begin determining compliance using a grant-specific accounting method. In order to prevent PJs from losing appropriated funds when they expend program income, this rule also establishes a new method of administering program income.

Beginning in 2013, HUD has provided frequent discussions and training on the transition from the cumulative method to grant-specific method of accounting for its formula grant programs. With the exception of the new requirements related to program income, this rule does not establish new and unfamiliar requirements for PJs. Thus, HUD has elected to omit the advanced public notice and comment process. This interim final rule becomes effective on January 3, 2017

HUD is still accepting public comments on the rule however, and requests comments on the best way to treat program income to avoid loss of appropriated HOME funds. Public comments are due by January 31, 2017.

NAHRO staff will provide with a section-by-section analysis of this rule in the forthcoming edition of the NAHRO Monitor (members only).

[Note: This article previously reported  erroneous effective and comment due dates that were included in HUD’s final rule. HUD has since issued a technical correction and this article has been updated to reflect the correct dates.] 

NAHRO Provides Recommendations to the HUD 2017 Transition Team

~ Georgi Banna ~ Leave a comment

Today NAHRO provided members of President-elect Trump’s HUD transition team with the NAHRO Transition 2017 recommendations. All recommendations and positions in this document have been previously approved by our standing committees and the NAHRO Board of Governors. We also intend to make ourselves available to the new transition team and supply them with any and all information and assistance they may require from us to make the transition at HUD under the Trump Administration as smooth as possible.

The transition recommendations can be used as you reach out to your local HUD officials, your elected officials who will be seated in the new Congress, the media and your own state and local officials in a united effort to move a responsible and responsive housing agenda forward at HUD and on Capitol Hill. In addition to this document, the association will also be producing the NAHRO 2017 Regulatory and Legislative Agenda, which will be drafted over the coming weeks with input from NAHRO membership and leadership and will be available at the NAHRO 2017 Washington Conference.

NAHRO’s Transition 2017 recommendations for HUD may be viewed here.

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).

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 Publishes Integrity Bulletins for CPD Formula Grantees

~ Jenny Hsu ~ Leave a comment

The HUD Offices of the Inspector General (OIG) and Community Planning and Development (CPD) have developed Integrity Bulletins that cover topics representing issues that CPD formula grantees often struggle with: procurement and contracting; sub-recipient oversight; conflicts of interest; internal controls; documentation and reporting; and financial management.

The four Integrity Bulletins available include: