Feature

CDC, HHS Temporarily Halt Residential Evictions Nationwide

September 14, 2020    
We answer site owners’ FAQs about the moratorium.   On Sept. 4, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) took unprecedented action when they officially published an order in the Federal Register to halt all residential...
Compliance

How to Comply with New NSPIRE Smoke Detector Standards

September 14, 2020    
Last August, HUD launched a demonstration—that is, a pilot program—to test new approaches for making certain PHAs and private owners provide housing that’s safe and livable and to overhaul HUD’s Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) physical inspection protocol. The change...
Compliance

Prepare for REAC Inspections to Resume

September 14, 2020    
HUD’s Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) recently released a memorandum that details the return-to-operations plan for inspections. The annual REAC inspection is a critical indicator of a federally assisted site's ability to maintain the physical standards established by HUD to ensure...
Dealing with Households

Tell Non-Filing Residents about IRS Economic Impact Payment Tool

September 14, 2020    
Even residents who don’t file tax returns can still receive their economic impact payments. As a result of the hardships presented by the coronavirus, economic impact payments are still being issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). While most people have received their payment...
HUD Audits

HUD Must Ensure Households Have Sufficient Supply of Safe Drinking Water

September 14, 2020    
Catalyst: As part of the fiscal year 2019 audit plan, HUD’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted an audit into HUD’s oversight of lead in the water of multifamily housing units. The objective was to determine whether HUD’s Office of Multifamily Housing Programs had...
Feature

Management & Occupancy Reviews: What to Expect During COVID

August 11, 2020    
Will your MOR be less?     The Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance program is subject to an annual audit and inspection known as a Management and Occupancy Review (MOR). It’s one of the tools HUD uses to monitor a site to ensure that the owner is complying with its HAP...
Income Calculations

How to Treat CARES Act’s Changes to Unemployment Benefits

August 11, 2020    
Since the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was enacted in March, millions of unemployed workers have claimed unemployment benefits that were more generous than they normally would’ve received, including those who would’ve received no benefits at all. The CARES...
Dos & Don'ts

Don't Require COVID-19 Testing as a Condition of Occupancy

August 11, 2020    
According to experts, controlling the spread of the pandemic demands finding the infected and isolating them until they can no longer spread the disease, alongside broader measures like social distancing. With an untold number of asymptomatic carriers, the only option to find out who truly has the...
Dos & Don'ts

Modify House Rules Before Requiring Residents to Wear Masks

August 11, 2020    
Sites receiving project-based Section 8, Section 202, or Section 811 assistance are allowed to require tenants to wear face coverings while at the site and/or treat a tenant’s failure to wear a face covering as a lease violation—as long as modifications to the lease or house rules have...
Dos & Don'ts

Apply Rent Reduction Retroactively After Income Decrease Recertification

August 11, 2020    
If a tenant waits some amount to time to report a decrease in income, after an income recertification, you must then retroactively apply any reduction in rent starting with the first day of the month after the date of the action that caused the decrease in income. So, for example, if a tenant lost...