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Recently, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said that he’s “extremely grateful” that Tropical Depression Barry didn’t cause the devastating floods that had been projected. According to the National Weather Service, Barry was briefly a Category 1 hurricane, but the system weakened to a tropical storm and eventually became a tropical depression as a result of weakening winds. Still, after reaching land, the National Weather Service warned of ongoing dangers posed by storm surges and the possibility of tornadoes in areas including parts of Louisiana and Mississippi.
In November 2018, HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) sent a letter to public housing agency (PHA) executive directors notifying them of their intent to reduce HUD’s public housing stock. Because Congress had failed to provide adequate funding for the public housing capital fund for many years, there was an approximate $50 billion backlog at that time in capital improvement needs. HUD cited that backlog as the need to provide PHAs with “additional flexibilities” so that they can “reposition” public housing.
HUD recently issued joint notice PIH 2019-06, H 2019-05, OLHCHH 2019-01, regarding the installation of carbon monoxide (CO) detectors in HUD-assisted housing. Carbon monoxide is a byproduct of fuel-fired combustion appliances such as furnaces and water heaters. If not properly vented, this undetectable gas can be dangerous and even deadly.
The Deputy Assistant Secretary for HUD’s multifamily housing programs recently issued a memorandum entitled “Approving the Delay of a Physical Inspection Beyond the New Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) Inspection Notification Timelines.” It provides guidance on when a field office may approve an owner’s request to delay an inspection outside the new inspection notification timelines provided in Notice PIH-2019(HA) H-2019-04.
If your site has a housing assistance payments (HAP) contract, you may have gotten a late payment from HUD at one time or another. Late assistance payments can cause serious problems at your site. For example, if your site doesn’t have large reserves, it may not be able to make mortgage payments or cover other operating and maintenance costs.
HUD occupancy regulations require all households living at Section 8 sites to pay a monthly rent of at least $25, unless the household qualifies for an exemption [HUD Handbook 4350.3, par. 5-26(D)]. This minimum rent doesn’t apply to Section 202 PAC, Section 202 PRAC, Section 811 PRAC, RAP, Rent Supplement, Section 221(d)(3) BMIR, or Section 236 programs.
Here are four tips to keep in mind when applying HUD’s minimum rent requirements to households at your site.
HUD recently posted the Utility Allowance Adjustment Factors (UAFs) for 2019. HUD permits owners to use the UAFs to adjust baseline utility allowances prepared in accordance with Housing Notice 2015-04. The factors are effective for any site with an anniversary date on or after Feb. 11, 2019. The UAFs can be found at www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-11-23/pdf/2018-25440.pdf.
HUD recently released RHIIP Listserv #416, which explains that, due to technical difficulties, the New Hires, Employment, and Unemployment information in the Enterprise Income Verification (EIV) system won’t be updated in November 2018 and in December 2018.
HUD recently released HUD Notice 2018-10, which provides best practice guidance for determining under what circumstances guest suites are permissible in multifamily housing. This best practice guidance is effective immediately for all new and existing FHA-insured and HUD-held multifamily rental and cooperative projects with a HUD Regulatory Agreement containing the Section 513 prohibition and will be considered for incorporation into the next versions of the MAP Guide and HUD Handbook 4350.1
HUD recently released PIH Notice 2018-19, “Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016 (HOTMA) – Implementation of Minimum Heating Standards in Public Housing Properties.” It provides implementation guidance related to the minimum heating requirements within public housing dwelling units as required by Section 111 of the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016 (HOTMA).