HUD recently announced that it’s issuing a proposed rule that would amend its existing regulations regarding the equal participation of faith-based (religious) organizations in HUD programs. The amendments are being undertaken to implement Executive Order (EO) 13559, Fundamental Principles...
HUD recently released a study concluding that housing vouchers are the most effective method for reducing homelessness. In HUD’s Family Options Study: Short-Term Impacts of Housing and Services Interventions for Homeless Families, the agency looked at 2,282 homeless families in emergency...
Facts: A New York county that had been a recipient of Community Development Block Grant and other federal housing funds asked a court to review the final administrative determinations by HUD to withhold those funds from the county for the 2011, 2013, and 2014 fiscal years.
Facts: An owner of a 52-unit site obtained a mortgage from an FHA-approved lender. The mortgage was secured as part of HUD’s Section 236 program. The Section 236 program insures loans to private developers in exchange for their commitment to provide low-income housing. As...
Facts: A Section 8 resident sued a local PHA for terminating her voucher. She claimed that the PHA terminated her voucher without cause and without an opportunity for a hearing, in violation of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
On June 25, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that claims of racial discrimination in housing cases shouldn’t be limited by questions of intent. The court affirmed a Court of Appeals decision in a case in which a nonprofit group sued the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs for...
The Obama administration recently announced a new initiative to increase access to solar energy for all Americans, in particular low- and moderate-income communities. Last year, the United States brought online as much solar energy every three weeks as it did in all of 2008. And since the...
Under newly announced rules, communities around the United States seeking federal housing grants will soon be required to address segregation and inequality in housing. The rules will require towns and cities to study patterns of segregation and how they’re linked to access to jobs, high-...
Facts: In 2008, when a resident filled out a continued occupancy form for a unit, she included her daughter as one of the people who would live in the subsidized unit, and use it as her primary residence, during the next 12 months. In signing the form, the resident certified...
Q A resident who moved into an assisted unit a year and a half ago has not been living there. She pays rent, but she uses the unit only as a storage space and a mail drop. She hasn’t stayed in the unit since her lease began. She...
Recently, the House of Representatives passed an amendment to H.R. 2578, the Fiscal Year 2016 Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Act, authored by Rep. Scott Garrett, R-N.J., that would limit disparate impact prosecutions. The amendment would bar the Department of Justice from using...
