The Trainer — December 2014
Getting HUD’s OK to House Over-Income Police Officers; Dealing with HCV Applicants
In this month’s feature, we discussed how you may want to house a police or security officer in one of your site’s units if your site is having problems with criminal activity. But before you can rent to over-income police or security officers (and their households), you must request permission from HUD by submitting a written “plan” to your local HUD field office or contract administrator.
In this issue’s Dealing with Households article, we discussed how to handle applicants with Housing Choice vouchers. Before you accept these households, you must understand that households at assisted sites can’t get double assistance. This doesn’t mean you must turn away households who have Housing Choice vouchers. Depending on the type of units you have at your site, some households that apply to your site may be able to use their vouchers, while others may have to give them up.
QUIZ
QUESTION #1
To be eligible to occupy an assisted unit, an over-income police officer may work part or full time. True or false?
a. True.
b. False.
QUESTION #2
You don’t need to put a full-time police officer through the same screening process as other applicants to your site. True or false?
a. True.
b. False.
QUESTION #3
You can rent only 1 percent of the site’s units to over-income police officers. True or false?
a. True.
b. False.
QUESTION #4
If you allow an over-income police officer to live at your site for an attractive rent, you may not also compensate him for performing some policing duties at your site. True or false?
a. True.
b. False.
QUESTION #5
If all of the units at your site have some form of rental assistance, you may not accept a household with a voucher unless it agrees to give up the voucher before moving in. True or false?
a. True.
b. False.
QUESTION #6
If your site is only partially assisted, you may accept households for the unassisted units at your site without requiring them to give up the voucher. True or false?
a. True.
b. False.
QUESTION #7
Although HUD rules don’t specifically bar you from refusing to accept voucher holders into your market-rate and other unassisted units, you may still be required to accept voucher holders in which of the following situations?
a. If HUD previously owned the site you currently own or manage.
b. If your state or local law requires you to accept vouchers.
c. If your site also gets housing tax credits.
d. If you’re opting out of your Section 8 contract.
e. All of the above.
ANSWERS & EXPLANATIONS
QUESTION #1
Correct answer: b
False. To be eligible to occupy an assisted unit, the police or security officer must be a full-time employee—that is, she must work as a police or security officer at least 35 hours per week [HUD Handbook 4350.3, par. 3-8(D)(2)].
QUESTION #2
Correct answer: b
False. The police or security officer must pass the same screening process as other applicants to be admitted to the site [HUD Handbook 4350.3, par. 3-8(D)(4)]. An officer who doesn’t pass a financial or criminal background check, for example, isn’t eligible to live in an assisted unit.
QUESTION #3
Correct answer: a
True. If your site has 100 units, for example, HUD wouldn’t permit you to house more than one police or security officer at your site. Sites containing fewer than 100 units can also house only one officer. Note, however, that HUD grants exceptions to this limit if there are extenuating circumstances. For example, HUD could permit a 100-unit site to rent to additional officer households if needed to address more serious criminal activity at the site [HUD Handbook 4350.3, par. 3-8(D)(6)].
QUESTION #4
Correct answer: b
False. In addition to offering an attractive rent, you may compensate an officer for performing some policing duties at your site. For example, you may make an agreement with the officer to patrol your site for one hour each week for a set fee when he’s off duty. HUD permits this type of arrangement but requires that it be described in the plan you submit to your local field office or contract administrator for approval [HUD Handbook 4350.3, par. 3-8(D)(3)(g)].
QUESTION #5
Correct answer: a
True. If all of your units have some form of rental assistance (Section 8, RAP, Rent Supplement, Section 202/8, Section 202 PAC, Section 202 PRAC, or Section 811 PRAC), HUD says you may not accept a household with a voucher unless it agrees to give up the voucher before moving in.
QUESTION #6
Correct answer: a
True. See HUD Handbook 4350.3, paragraph 3-21 (B)(1).
QUESTION #7
Correct answer: e
All of the above. It’s a good idea to check with your attorney before you make a blanket policy that you won’t accept voucher holders.