In the News

HUD Reaches Settlement with Pennsylvania Housing Authority

May 19, 2015    
HUD recently announced a conciliation agreement with the Housing Authority of the City of Hazleton, Pa., settling allegations the housing authority discriminated against Hispanic households. The agreement resolves claims that the housing authority violated the housing rights of Spanish-speaking...
In the News

House Financial Services Committee Member Introduces Public Housing Bill

May 19, 2015    
On May 1, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, introduced H.R. 2231, the “Public Housing Tenant Protections and Reinvestment Act of 2015.” The bill would authorize full funding of the public housing program and seeks to provide additional...
Recent Court Rulings

Resident's Crime Didn't Violate Rental Agreement

May 19, 2015    
Facts: A resident appealed an eviction by the local PHA. From 2009 until 2011, the resident served as the president of the site’s tenant association. In July 2010, he received a check for $1,400 from the PHA to be used for resident participation activities as required by HUD. In 2011, the...
Recent Court Rulings

Owner May Be Liable for Third Party's Harassing Conduct

May 19, 2015    
Facts: After 18 months of living at a site, a Section 8 African-American resident heard his next-door neighbor call him a racial slur. The resident was shocked and fearful, but didn’t respond. This was the start of a series of threatening encounters with his next-door neighbor. After one...
Recent Court Rulings

Class Action Lawsuit for Mold Injuries Can Continue Against PHA

May 19, 2015    
Facts: Two residents filed for a class action lawsuit on behalf of themselves and others similarly situated, for damages related to their alleged exposure to mold while living in housing developments operated by the local PHA. Originally, the residents sought to define the potential class as all...
The Trainer

The Trainer — June 2015

May 19, 2015    
Certifying Households that Share Custody of Children; Charging Residents for Damage Repairs In this month’s feature, we discussed how to certify households whose members include children who are part of a joint custody arrangement. That is, the children live part of the time with the...
Feature

Perform Interim Recertification After Five Household-Reported Changes

April 17, 2015    
Occasionally, you may need to perform an interim recertification for a household. This means that you must recalculate the household’s income and assistance before the household’s scheduled recertification date based on a change in the household’s situation. For example, when a...
Maintenance

Keep Detailed Maintenance Records to Defend Against or Avoid Toxic Mold Lawsuits

April 17, 2015    
Toxic mold lawsuits against site owners and managers have been making news. Most recently, a group of residents filed a class action lawsuit against the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), the nation’s largest public housing agency, for apartment conditions that constitute “an...
In the News

Study: PHAs Underfunded When Administering HCV Program

April 17, 2015    
HUD recently released its Housing Choice Voucher Administrative Fee Study. Congress directed HUD to gather comprehensive and detailed data on the administrative costs associated with operating the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program. The HCV program is administered by approximately 2,300 local,...
In the News

Davis-Bacon Wage Requirements for Project-Based Vouchers

April 17, 2015    
The Davis–Bacon Act of 1931 is a U.S. federal law that sets the requirement for paying the local prevailing wages on public works projects for laborers and mechanics. It applies to “contractors and subcontractors performing on federally funded or assisted contracts in excess of $2,000...