If you ever need a rent comparability study (RCS)—for a Section 8 contract renewal, for example, or to help substantiate an annual rent increase request—you don't want to simply take what the appraiser gives you and hand it off to your contract administrator or local HUD office...
When it comes to marketing your site, HUD has one key expectation: that you will do what you said you were going to do when you completed your Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing Plan (AFHMP), Form HUD-935.2A. HUD calls the AFHMP “the owner's blueprint for marketing activity.”
You can hope you never need the services of a collection agency, but it's likely that you will. Suppose a resident skips out without paying the share of his rent above his subsidy. You are entitled to pursue the resident within legal means to collect past-due debts. That's when a good...
When new residents move in to your site, you should take steps to assure that they understand their responsibilities as outlined in their lease and house rules. While HUD does not require you to do this, HUD strongly encourages you to—and it is a good site management practice.
Under the federal Fair Housing Act and HUD guidelines, you must make every effort to provide “reasonable accommodations” at your site for residents with disabilities. For example, if a resident with limited mobility requests a ground-floor unit, HUD expects that you would try to...
From time to time, you may be asked by a resident to approve the addition of a “live-in aide” to his household. Reasons for the aide vary. The resident may have a disability and need help with day-to-day living. An elderly resident may need an aide for assistance and companionship to...
You are required by HUD to have at least one smoke detector in every unit at your site. It's more than good common sense to take this safety step; smoke detectors can save lives.
Having the required smoke detectors in place also could save you down the road in a legal battle—but...
If you ever have to evict a resident, you need to keep in mind that the resident has certain rights. Among them is the right to meet with you to discuss your rationale for the eviction. Essentially, during this meeting, the resident has the right to present his or her case to convince you not to...
In 2007, HUD issued final guidance on helping those with limited English proficiency (LEP) gain access to federally funded services and programs. The guidance called for HUD-assisted housing entities to implement a plan that includes translating “vital” written materials and...
HUD has established “Privacy Principles” in which the agency outlines its obligation to protect privacy and safeguard the information that individual citizens entrust to it (see HUD's Privacy Principles on p. 7). This obligation is, HUD says, a fundamental part of its mission to...
