Facts: Several residents sued a PHA for discrimination and asked the court to certify them as a group. The residents claimed that, on March 1, 2013, the PHA made major changes to its administration of the Section 8 program as a result of federal budget cuts. These changes...
Facts: Under federal law, a participant in the Housing Choice Voucher program is required to permit the local PHA to inspect his or her unit. The PHA is periodically required to randomly select units from a list of units that had annual inspections performed within the previous...
The Fair Housing Act prohibits harassment in housing and housing-related transactions because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, and familial status. Yet for many women, their landlords are a source of fear and harassment, demanding sexual favors in lieu of or along with...
As part of President Obama’s efforts to promote rehabilitation and reintegration for the formerly incarcerated, HUD and the Department of Justice recently announced $1.7 million for public housing authorities to aid eligible public housing residents who are under the age of 24 to expunge...
On Oct. 30, Congress passed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015. President Obama signed the bill into law a day before the government would have been in default without the agreements. The legislation provides a two-year framework to relieve federal programs from the bulk of sequester spending...
On Oct. 22, the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing entitled, “The Future of Housing in America: 50 Years of HUD and its Impact on Federal Housing Policy,” to review the effectiveness of HUD programs since the Department was established half a century ago.
HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing recently issued Notice PIH-2015-17, which provides guidance to public housing agencies (PHAs) on the use and reporting of administrative fee reserves for the Housing Choice Voucher program. The new notice responds to Office of the Inspector General...
Facts: A Section 8 resident sued the local PHA and its employees for allegedly violating her constitutional rights. From March 2008 until January 2013, she entered into a lease agreement for an apartment. The PHA, through a housing inspector, conducted an annual inspection of...
Facts: On March 4, 2013, a local PHA sent a notice of termination of Housing Choice Voucher benefits to a resident. The letter indicated that her benefits were being terminated because she had failed to report in writing within 30 days of an increase in household income or new...
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) recently released an updated version of its paper, Research Shows Housing Vouchers Reduce Hardship and Provide Platform for Long-Term Gains Among Children. According to the paper, vouchers and other rental assistance lifted 2.8 million people...
HUD launched a new ethics program that will support whistleblower, ombudsman, and hotline initiatives. Part of HUD’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG), the Integrity & Compliance Program (ICP) aims to create a “principled organizational culture,” Inspector General David...
Facts: For nearly a decade, Westchester County, N.Y., has been engaged in litigation with HUD over whether the county has adequately analyzed—in its applications for HUD funds—impediments to fair housing within the county’s jurisdictions.
