Housing

HUD Posts EHV Fact Sheets

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD or the Department) has posted several short documents that explain different aspects of the Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV) program. The Department is calling this collection of documents the EHV roadmap. Each roadmap is designed to help housing agencies and partnering entities to understand a different aspect of the EHV program.

A list of each available EHV roadmap can be found below:

  • EHV 101 – this roadmap provides an overview of the EHV program and identifies certain key resources;
  • Administrative Fees – this roadmap describes the different types of administrative fees used in the EHV program and their eligible uses;
  • Waivers and Alternative Requirements – this roadmap describes the waivers and alternative requirements available to entities administering the EHV program;
  • Referral Process – this roadmap describes important parts of the EHV referral process;
  • Advancing Equity (not yet available) – this roadmap describes how the EHV program can focus on equitable outcomes;
  • Partnerships – this roadmap provides information on the mandatory partnership requirements in the EHV program and provides best practices for building those partnerships;
  • Serving Survivors – this roadmap provides resources for serving survivors of domestic violence with the EHV program;
  • Considerations for Rural Communities – this roadmap provides information on serving rural communities along with certain best practices; and
  • Pairing Services – this roadmap provides information on funding and best practices for pairing services with the EHV program.

Additionally, the Department is highlighting its “EHV How to Guide for PHAs” which provides a wealth of information on how to operate a successful EHV program.

All of the available roadmaps can be found here.

New Guidance on “Designated Housing” and “Accessible Designation” Unit Categories in IMS/PIC

~ Tushar Gurjal ~ Leave a comment

On Feb. 18, HUD issued a notice titled “Guidance on Unit Designation Categories and Accessible Designation Categories in IMS/PIC” (Notice PIH-2022-03 (HA)). This notice instructs PHAs to properly classify their units in IMS/PIC. In particular, units that may have been set aside as “Designated Housing,” for elderly families, disabled families, or units for both elderly and disabled families after approved by HUD through a Designated Housing Plan (DHP), should be properly classified. Additionally, units that are classified with an “Accessible Designation,” for people with a mobility or sensory impairment or to contain some accessible features, should also be properly classified. PHAs should review their portfolios and make changes within 30 days of the publication of this notice.

Designated Housing

The Sept. 2010 IMS/PIC system release implemented three significant changes to the unit designation categories. First, units titled “Family Unit, Elderly Unit, Family and Disabled, and Elderly and Disabled” were placed in the “General Occupancy” category. Second, “Mixed Elderly and Disabled Not HUD Officially Designated” was created as a new unit designation category. Third, “Merged Units” were reported in the unit designation detail.

Housing agencies must review their portfolios and make changes within 30 days of the publication of the notice. Any issues or corrections must be worked out by March 31, 2022. The Department will publish data highlighting discrepancies between counts of designated units in IMS/PIC and those approved in Designated Housing Plans. That information will be available here.

Accessible Designation

The Sept. 2010 IMS/PIC system release implemented the accessible designation categories. Housing agencies must ensure that units are properly categorized according to the definitions in the notice. The notice provides definitions for the following units: mobility impairment; hearing/visual impairment; partially accessible; and not accessible.

Housing agencies must review their portfolios and make changes within 30 days of the publication of the notice. Any issues or corrections must be worked out by March 31, 2022. Additionally, accessible designations require the PHA to obtain HUD user approval to a change in IMS/PIC. Finally, PHAs must continue to maintain the accuracy of accessible designation categories moving forward.

The notice provides instructions for making the necessary changes to both “Designated Housing” units and units with an “Accessible Designation” in IMS/PIC.

The full notice can be found here.

2012 Offset Litigation Update

~ Georgi Banna ~ 2 Comments

This update is for the plaintiffs of the 2017 judgment on the 2012 public housing offset litigation (the first round of litigation.)

The Department of Justice (DOJ) sent a request to the Judgment Fund for the payment of damages on December 21, 2017, for all but 23 of the plaintiffs. The reason a payment request was not sent for the other 23 is that the plaintiff’s attorneys did not have the banking information when they originally sent the information for the other plaintiffs to DOJ. The attorneys now have the banking information for 18 of the 23 and will send it to DOJ in the near future. If you are one of the five remaining plaintiffs that have not submitted your banking information, submit your banking information as soon as possible to the plaintiff’s attorneys.

Assuming there aren’t any problems with the information that DOJ sent to the Judgment Fund, the awardee plaintiffs should receive the damages to which you are entitled in a few weeks. Please note that the Judgment Fund will not notify you when it wires your payments to you. Therefore, you will have to monitor the bank account into which you requested that the funds be wired to determine when you receive your payment.

HUD Releases 2018 QCTs and DDAs for the LIHTC Program

~ Jenny Hsu ~ Leave a comment

On September 11, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published a Notice in the Federal Register designating its statutorily mandated list of qualified census tracts (QCTs) and difficult development areas (DDAs) for the purposes of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program. Under LIHTC, projects located in QCTs and DDAs are eligible to receive up to a 30 percent basis boost while receiving Housing Credits. The 2018 QCTs and DDAs will be effective for LIHTCs allocated after December 31, 2017, and for bond-financed  properties where the tax-exempt bonds are issued and the building is placed in service after December 31, 2017.

HUD publishes QCT and DDA designations annually. While this Notice provides specific details on the methodology in determining 2018 QCTs and DDAs, the full listings and other historical data can be accessed at: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/qct.html.

HUD Guidance on HOPWA Permanent Supportive Housing Grant Renewal

~ Jenny Hsu ~ Leave a comment

Last week, HUD published a Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) notice (CPD-17-02) that announces renewal application requirements and procedural guidance for eligible grantees with expiring HOPWA Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) competitive grants.

Eligible renewal applicants are grantees with grants set to expire between June 1, 2017 and May 31, 2018. These grantees must demonstrate that the remaining balance on the current HOPWA PSH grant would be insufficient to fund activities beyond May 31, 2018. The notice lists 33 grantees that are eligible for renewal in FY 2017.

HUD expects to renew all eligible expiring HOPWA PSH competitive grants initially funded by appropriated funds from FY 2010 or earlier. If it turns out that appropriations for FY 2017 do not provide adequate funding for the renewals needed, HUD will contact all applicants.

The deadline to submit an application is March 31, 2017.

Upcoming NAHRO e-Briefing on HUD Year in Review

~ Georgi Banna ~ Leave a comment

 

On February 7, 2017, img_0015NAHRO will present, Moving Forward: A Review of 2016 Regulation and
Legislation, part of NAHRO’s Housing Rules!! series.

The NAHRO Policy team will discuss
many areas that HUD and Congress addressed during 2016 and NAHRO reviewed in detail
in NAHRO’s Regulatory and Legislative Year in Review – 2016, which will provide a solid regulatory and legislative foundation as we work with the new Administration and new Congress to keep our affordable housing agenda moving forward.

Registration information for this e-Briefing and other professional development offerings is available through the NAHRO Professional Development calendar.

NAHRO Releases Regulatory and Legislative Year in Review – 2016

~ Georgi Banna ~ Leave a comment

In 2016, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was very busy setting forth new rules and regulations and providing updated notices and guidances on many of the HUD administered affordable housing programs. The year has also been marked by many legislative victories and a few challenges.

img_0015NAHRO has drafted and compiled this Regulatory and Legislative Year in Review – 2016 to provide a primer of the topics on the forefront of the affordable housing industry. It can also provide you, your public housing agencies (PHAs) and local redevelopment agencies (LRAs) and your stakeholders with current information on many of the programs used and administered by HUD and the affordable housing community.

The full Regulatory and Legislative Year in Review – 2016, along with the individual topic one-pagers, is available on the NAHRO website. For the most up-to-date versions and information visit the NAHRO website and the NAHRO blog.

NAHRO Policy and Congressional teams are also conducting two e-Briefings through NAHRO Professional Development. The first is This Just in from Washington on January 31, 2017, where NAHRO’s Congressional team will give you an update on FY2017 appropriations, preview FY2018, outline potential legislative action on HCD programs, and discuss ways in which you can be the most effective advocate in this rapidly changing political climate. The second is part of the Housing Rules! Series, Moving Forward: A Review of 2016 Regulation and Legislation on February 7, 2017, where NAHRO’s Policy team will discuss many areas that HUD and Congress addressed during 2016 and NAHRO reviewed in detail in NAHRO’s Regulatory and Legislative Year in Review – 2016, which will provide a solid regulatory and legislative foundation as we work with the new Administration and new Congress to keep our affordable housing agenda moving forward. Registration information for both of these e-Briefings is available through the NAHRO Professional Development calendar.

Regulatory Freeze Memo Issued

~ Georgi Banna ~ Leave a comment

On January 20, the Trump Administration issued a “Regulatory Freeze Pending Review” memo that applies to all Federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This memo is similar to memos issued by previous administrations as they come into office, and NAHRO had expected this regulatory freeze.

Generally, the regulatory freeze requires agencies to withdraw any regulations that have not yet been published in the Federal Register and to extend the effective date by 60 days of any regulations that have not become effective as of January 20, 2017. The Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) can issue exceptions to the regulatory freeze in emergency situations and to address urgent health, safety, financial, or national security issues.

The regulatory review not only applies to regulations but also any “guidance document.” A “guidance document” is any substantive action or an agency statement that states a policy on a statutory, regulatory, or technical issue that is normally published in the Federal Register.

NAHRO will continue to monitor the effects of the regulatory freeze and has reached out to HUD staff on how this regulatory freeze will affect specific regulations. As more information becomes, available NAHRO will share it with our members through The NAHRO Blog and the Monitor.

For any specific questions or concerns, please contact Georgi Banna, NAHRO’s Director of Policy and Program Development, at gbanna@nahro.org. As always for the most up-to-date information of the affordable housing and community development regulations and legislation, follow The NAHRO Blog and check the NAHRO website.

Court Rules in Favor of Plaintiffs in Operating Reserves Litigation

~ Georgi Banna ~ Leave a comment

PHADA and NAHRO are pleased to announce that on January 18th the U.S. Court of Federal Claims found in favor of nearly 350 public housing authorities that brought a lawsuit against the federal government challenging HUD’s reduction of their FY 2012 operating fund subsidies based on the amount of Plaintiffs’ so-called “excess” operating reserves. The President’s FY 2012 budget proposal included an Operating Fund request of just $3,961,850 which was $1 billion short of the amount needed to pay the aggregate estimated operating subsidy eligibility amount. HUD devised an “allocation adjustment” based on the level of savings agencies had accumulated in their operating fund reserves. As proposed, this allocation adjustment would have offset the aggregate amount of operating fund subsidies to which PHAs were entitled in 2012 by the amount of the PHAs’ “excess” operating reserves up to $1 billion. At the Department’s behest, Congress approved the plan, changing the aggregate amount of reserves that could be used as an offset to $750 million.

With PHADA and NAHRO as the lead Plaintiffs, a lawsuit was filed on January 3, 2013. Collaborating with PHADA and NAHRO, Coan & Lyons, a Washington, DC law firm, prepared the case based on the claim that HUD’s offset breached the Annual Contributions Contract (ACC of the PHA Plaintiffs in 2012 when “rather than reducing their subsidy payments by a uniform percentage (pro-rata basis), it first offset each PHA’s payment by a figure that varied from one PHA to another – the amount of its excess operating reserves.”

Judge Elaine D. Kaplan stated in her decision that HUD “breached its [contractual] obligations under the ACCs when it applied the [excess] operating [reserves] offset in response to the 2012 Appropriations Act, rather than the pro rata reduction prescribed by” HUD’s regulations. As noted by Judge Kaplan, the plaintiffs requested compensatory damages of almost $136 million.

The Court has ordered the attorneys to file a status report by February 17, suggesting how the Court should proceed. Carl Coan, III, Plaintiffs’ lead attorney, believes that the next logical step will be to calculate the exact damages to which the Plaintiffs are entitled and submit them to the Court for approval. Assuming the parties can agree on the amount of damages, the Court will enter a final judgment and order awarding Plaintiffs their damages.

Tim Kaiser, PHADA Executive Director said, “We appreciate the Court’s decision. We tried to dissuade HUD from implementing this unfair and damaging plan as soon as we heard about it. HUD decided to go ahead and it left us with no alternative but to organize a legal action to enforce the existing contract between HUD and its many PHA partners.”

John Bohm, Acting Chief Executive Officer of NAHRO stated “NAHRO applauds the Court’s ruling on this matter. This responsible decision addresses the critical concerns raised by housing authorities across the country, and we hope that it will serve as a benchmark for future decision-making on these matters.”

The Court’s ruling may be accessed here.

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For any specific questions or concerns, please contact Georgi Banna, NAHRO’s Director of Policy and Program Development, at gbanna@nahro.org. As always for the most up-to-date information of the affordable housing and community development regulations and legislation, follow The NAHRO Blog and check the NAHRO website.

Book-Rich Environment Initiative Launched

~ Georgi Banna ~ Leave a comment

On January 5th; HUD, Dept. of Education, and President Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper Task Force along with the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading (GLR), the National Book Foundation (NBF) and the Urban Libraries Council (ULC) launched the Book-Rich Environment Initiative at Washington, D.C.’s Southwest Public Library. HUD Secretary Julian Castro, Dept. of Education Secretary John King, and My Brother’s Keeper Task Force Chair Broderick Johnson along with Adrianne Todman, Executive Director of the District of Columbia Housing Authority spoke about the importance of education as the key to opening the door to future opportunities.2017-01-05_10-50-17_052

The Book-Rich Environment Initiative has three major components – Book Distribution, Partnership Building, and Library Engagement. Book Distribution will launch in Spring 2017 with local events that will introduce children and families to their local library, summer learning and literacy, and preparing to go back to school and success in the next grade level. Partnership building will focus on creating strong local partnerships between HUD-assisted housing providers; such as PHAs; with their local library, local and national non-profits and foundation, and the children and family served by these organizations. Library engagement between PHAs, the children and families living in HUD-assisted properties, and the local library is essential to keeping children engaged in reading. Engagement strategies include mobile libraries in public housing buildings, summer learning opportunities and registering children and families for library cards.

NAHRO attended the Book-Rich Environment Initiative launch and continues to partner with the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading and HUD on promoting and improving the education outcomes of children living in HUD-assisted properties.

More information on the Book-Rich Environment Initiative can be found, here, in HUD’s press release.