Dos & Don'ts, Q & A, Recent Court Rulings, HUD Audits, In the News

HUD Posts FAQs about Increased Rent Payments for RAD Projects in Opportunity Zones

November 22, 2019    

Congress created the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) in fiscal year 2012 to test whether public housing agencies (PHAs) could leverage Section 8 rental assistance contracts to raise private debt and equity to make public housing capital improvements and thereby preserve low-income housing...

Senate Passes FY20 Spending Package with Increases for Affordable Housing

November 22, 2019    

By a vote of 84-9, the Senate recently approved its fiscal year 2020 (FY20) HUD appropriations bill. The House passed its HUD FY20 appropriations bill in June. And now, with the passage of the Senate bill, the two bills must be reconciled before a final spending bill to ensure continued funding...

HUD Announces $1.5M Settlement with Bridgeport Housing

November 22, 2019    

HUD recently announced that the Department of Justice negotiated a settlement with the Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport (HACB) settling allegations that HACB discriminated against persons with disabilities by failing to provide accessible units and ignoring their requests for...

HUD Awards $1.5M to PHAs for Young People Aging Out of Foster Care

November 22, 2019    

HUD recently awarded $1.5 million to nearly a dozen housing authorities to assist young people aging out of foster care and who are at risk of experiencing homelessness. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) estimates that more than 20,000 young people age out of foster care...

Dealing with Proof of Identity and Second Last Names

November 20, 2019    

Q Some of our applicants, especially those from Puerto Rico, have a second last name on their birth certificate that isn’t on their Social Security card. How should this scenario be...

Owner May Be Liable for Breach of Contract

October 29, 2019    

Facts: A former Section 8 resident sued the local PHA and an owner for alleged housing discrimination and breach of contract. The resident claimed that after making written promises to transfer the resident to a new unit free of dangerous inhalants, the owner refused to deliver...

PHA Can Terminate Benefits for False Statements

October 29, 2019    

Facts: A resident was terminated from the Section 8 program after the PHA investigated her marital status. The resulting report concluded that she was married and didn’t provide true and correct information about her...

HUD Launches Webpages on the Preservation of Multifamily Housing

October 29, 2019    

HUD’s Office of Multifamily Housing Programs (MFHP) recently announced the launch of three webpages to support multifamily owners with the operation and preservation of their sites. The goal of these new resources is to provide stakeholders with current and accessible information and the...

HUD Marks National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week

October 29, 2019    

Each year, National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week is a call to bring together individuals, organizations, industry, and state, tribal, and local governments to increase lead poisoning prevention awareness in an effort to reduce childhood exposure to lead. Approximately 3.6 million families have...

HUD Releases RAD Evaluation

October 29, 2019    

In 2012, HUD embarked upon a new program to address the capital needs of severely distressed public housing. HUD recently released the results of an evaluation of the Department’s Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD). The report found significant evidence that RAD is stimulating billions...

Management Company Didn’t Always Maintain Proper Documentation

October 1, 2019    

HUD’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) audited PK Management, LLC, based on: (1) media coverage of poor physical conditions associated with an apartment complex in Virginia that it managed; and (2) issues identified in a prior audit of the company in Birmingham, Ala. The audit objective...

Management Agent Didn't Always Comply with Section 8 HAP Program Requirements

October 1, 2019    

HUD’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) audited the Lake View Towers Apartments’ Section 8 housing assistance payments program. HUD made housing assistance payments for the project under the Section 8 contract, which covered 395 of the 500 units. During the audit period, HUD provided...