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In an effort to preserve and improve critically needed affordable housing for low-income seniors, HUD recently announced a significant expansion of its Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) to facilitate capital investment in senior housing developments assisted through HUD's Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Project Rental Assistance Contracts (PRAC).

HUD is seeking assisted housing owners and management agents interested in receiving technical assistance (TA) to support their establishment of a Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program in one or more of the properties they own or manage. The TA will help owners/agents get ready to successfully execute the program by working through the steps of program start-up, launch, and initial operation.

HUD’s Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) has expanded the number of inspection items open for feedback from five items to 65 items before REAC fully implements HUD’s National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate (NSPIRE) model demonstration. This is part of HUD’s efforts to change the 20-year-old REAC physical inspection system to better reflect the physical condition of privately owned, HUD-subsidized housing. HUD is seeking PHAs and owners of private HUD-assisted multifamily properties to volunteer for its REAC pilot project.

HUD recently announced a new Foster Youth to Independence (FYI) Initiative that will offer housing vouchers to local public housing authorities to prevent or end homelessness among young adults under the age of 25 who are leaving, or have recently left, the foster care system without a home to go to.

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently cleared HUD’s proposed changes to the disparate impact regulations. The update to HUD’s 2013 disparate impact rule would require plaintiffs to meet a five-step threshold to prove unintentional discrimination, replacing the current three-step “burden-shifting” approach.

President Trump recently signed a budget deal that increases federal spending and lifts the nation’s borrowing limit. The new law suspends the debt ceiling through July 2021, removing the threat of a default during the 2020 elections, and raises domestic and military spending by more than $320 billion compared to existing law over the next two fiscal years.

The Senate recently confirmed Hunter Kurtz to be HUD Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing (PIH) and Seth Appleton to be HUD Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research (PD&R). Prior to the Senate confirmations, neither PIH nor PD&R had assistant secretaries during the Trump administration.

President Trump recently signed an Executive Order to establish the White House Council on Eliminating Barriers to Affordable Housing Development. The council is headed by HUD Secretary Ben Carson and consists of members across eight federal agencies. They will engage with state, local, and tribal leaders across the country to identify and remove the government regulations that impede the production of affordable homes. To curtail burdensome regulations, the council will be tasked with accomplishing the following items by January 2021:

Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) recently released its annual report, “The State of the Nation’s Housing 2019.” The report examines the state of the housing market in 2018, finding that, while the housing market improved in many respects over the previous year, including household growth and formations, the continued production shortfall has led to an increasing number of low- and moderate-income families who lack access to affordable housing options.

HUD is offering $150 million in grants to provide affordable housing to approximately 18,000 non-elderly persons living with disabilities. HUD anticipates awarding 300 grants ranging from $20,000 up to $3 million to eligible public housing agencies. HUD’s Mainstream Housing Choice Voucher Program provides funding to public housing agencies to assist non-elderly persons with disabilities. Agencies are encouraged to partner with health and human services organizations to provide participants with supportive services.