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On Oct. 28, the House passed by voice vote the Vulnerable Veterans Housing Reform Act of 2013, H.R. 1742. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., prevents Veterans Affairs Department aid and attendance payments from being counted as income when considering eligibility for housing grants from HUD.
“The men and women who have worn the uniform shouldn’t be sleeping on the streets,” said Heck of HR 1742. Currently, HUD includes these benefits as income when determining housing assistance eligibility.
On Nov. 4, HUD’s Office of Multifamily Housing Programs published a Notice in the Federal Register to solicit comments about a proposal for the Small Multifamily Building Risk Share Initiative that will help facilitate financing of small multifamily buildings.
According to a report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), rental assistance helped 339,000 veterans afford housing in March 2013, the most recent period for which data are available.
On Sept. 27, 2013, HUD released a “Contingency Plan for Possible Lapse in Appropriations” if Congress failed to approve funding for the federal government past Sept. 30. Nearly two weeks later, as this issue is being published, Congress still hasn’t been able to pass a bill to fund the government beyond Sept. 30, and this has resulted in a government shutdown. It’s unclear how long the shutdown will last or the full effects it will have on housing, but here are some of the major effects the shutdown will have on HUD and other federal housing programs.
For sites that receive less than $500,000 in combined federal financial assistance, HUD recently issued Notice 2013-23 that revises the financial reporting requirements for small multifamily housing developments. Specifically, the notice eliminates the audit requirements for small entities (defined as receiving less than $500,000 in combined federal awards) regardless of existing regulatory agreement requirements. Owners of these projects will be permitted to submit owner-certified financial statements.
On Aug. 22, 2013, HUD announced it had posted Change 4 to HUD Handbook 4350.3 REV-1, “Occupancy Requirements of Subsidized Multifamily Housing Programs.” This represents the first formal change to the Handbook since July 2009. Aspects of Change 4 have appeared since 2009 in the form of HUD notices. In fact, every chapter of the HUD Handbook 4350.3, REV-1 other than Chapter 2 has been affected by Change 4.
HUD published a Final Rule in the Federal Register on July 24 to amend the Home Investment Partnerships (HOME) program regulations. The proposed rule had been issued in December 2011. The HOME program provides grant funding through formula allocation to states and local governments to strengthen public-private partnerships and increase the supply of affordable housing for low-income households. State and local government agencies that administer HOME programs, or participating jurisdictions (PJs), are required to match a portion of federal funds with non-federal resources.
On Aug. 5, HUD issued proposed fair market rents (FMRs) for fiscal year (FY) 2014. HUD is required by law to publish FMRs periodically, but not less than annually, adjusted to be effective on Oct. 1 of each year. Comments are due by Sept. 4, 2013. The notice can be found at https://federalregister.gov/a/2013-18792.
HUD recently announced that it would hold a competition to attract talent and projects to help strengthen communities battered by Hurricane Sandy. The competition, Rebuild by Design, is part of the nearly $51 billion Sandy aid package approved by Congress in January.
The governors of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut have identified $82 billion in storm-related damages. Hurricane Sandy killed more than 100 people, destroyed thousands of homes and businesses, crippled mass transit, set off fuel shortages, and paralyzed power grids.
HUD has recently selected a public housing authority located in Middletown, Ohio, for an on-site three-day Civil Rights Compliance Review. HUD, the Office of Fair and Equal Opportunity, and Columbus Fair Housing Center chose the Middletown Public Housing Agency for the review and will focus on the agency’s Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program. Among other things, the review will determine if the city is complying with the nondiscrimination requirements of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and implementing regulations of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
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