NMA Blog

Our technical writers and subject matter experts have just completed a special mid-year revision to both our Model Administrative Plan and Model ACOP. These revisions incorporate extensive policy changes brought about by Notice PIH 2017-08, Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA) guidance  published this past May, along with additional revisions due to January’s Lead-Based Paint Final Rule.

If you are a subscriber to our Model Admin Plan or Model ACOP revision services, you should have received the files. If you are a subscriber and did not receive an email with the revision files, please send your current information via email to Marné Cales including:

1. Your agency name and mailing address.
2. Name, phone number, and email address of the contact person for the revision service. If your agency has multiple revisions and would like different people to receive revisions, please identify which person should receive each revision.

NMA Model Administrative Plan and Guide 

2017: The bulk of the changes for the second revision for 2017 of the NMA Model Administrative Plan and Guide are due to the issuance of Notice PIH 2017-08, which provided guidance on the implementation of the VAWA 2013 final rule. This affected multiple chapters and required extensive revisions throughout the plan. In addition, the Model Administrative Plan has also been brought current with all recent HUD requirements and guidance, including the following:

• Changes with respect to the alternative requirements set forth in FR Notice 12/29/14, which prohibited denial of assistance or termination for failure to comply with the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) contract of participation
• Additional changes with respect to the Lead-Based Paint final rule, particularly as it relates to housing quality standards (HQS)
• Updates to the policies and procedures regarding hearings and rehearings to clarify and more closely match regulations
• Other clarifications and corrections to bring the content current with HUD regulations and guidance

NMA Model Admissions and Continued Occupancy Policy (ACOP) and Guide 

2017: The bulk of the changes for the second revision for 2017 of the NMA Model Admissions and Continued Occupancy Policy (ACOP) and Guide are due to the issuance of Notice PIH 2017-08, which provided guidance on the implementation of the VAWA 2013 final rule. This affected multiple chapters and required extensive revisions throughout the plan. In addition, the Model ACOP also contains multiple clarifications and corrections to bring the content current with HUD regulations and guidance.

Questions about your revision services subscriptions? Contact Laurie Durrett in our accounting department and she'll be happy to assist you.

NMA revision services provide a yearly update to your NMA Master Books and model policies with explanations and guidance regarding the most current HUD rules and regulations. To stay updated on the latest program information, try a free 30-day trial subscription to the PIH Alert. Email sales@nanmckay.com to get started.

HUD has posted Notice PIH 2017-08, Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 Guidance. The 52-page notice is dated May 19. While the guidance does not contain any major changes from the VAWA 2013 final rule, it includes a number of useful examples and scenarios to assist PHAs in implementation of the rule. The notice is applicable to the public housing and HCV programs, including the project-based voucher (PBV) and moderate rehabilitation programs.

Here are a few examples of guidance from the notice:

• A list of adverse screening factors which might be the direct result of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking
• A detailed description of the certification and documentation process
• A summary of policy requirements and a 5-page appendix detailing necessary PHA policies and procedures
• Instructions for customizing the notice of occupancy rights
• A ten-page section on requirements for emergency transfer plans
• A clarification of the VAWA 2013 provision for establishing eligibility following bifurcation of a lease. This provision applies only to mixed families in which the victim has not contended eligible immigration status
• A six-page model owner notification. Use of an owner notification letter is optional, as PHAs may instead rely on VAWA information included in the HAP contract.

In a related development, HUD has released translated versions of the four forms and model notices published in December 2016 for VAWA 2013 implementation. Each of the forms has been translated into 11 languages (Armenian, Cambodian, Creole, Japanese, Korean, Lao, Mandarin, Russian, Spanish, Thai, and Vietnamese).

The translated documents include (links to English versions):

• HUD-5380, Notice of Occupancy Rights under the Violence Against Women Act
• HUD-5381, Model Emergency Transfer Plan for Victims of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, or Stalking
• HUD-5382, Certification of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, or Stalking, and Alternate Documentation (replaces form HUD-50066)
• HUD-5383, Emergency Transfer Request for Certain Victims of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, or Stalking

You’ll find links to all of the translated documents on this page at HUDCLIPS.

This morning in the Federal Register, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published a final rule implementing the requirements set forth in the Violence against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA 2013). VAWA 2013 expanded protections to HUD programs beyond public housing and Section 8 tenant-based and project-based programs, while also enhancing protections and options for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.

Today's 102-page VAWA final rule covers the expanded protections in VAWA 2013 to HUD programs beyond the previously covered public housing and Section 8 tenant and project-based vouchers, and enhances protections and options for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. In brief, the major provisions of the rule include:

• Specifying “sexual assault” as a crime covered by VAWA in HUD-covered programs.
• Establishing a definition for affiliated individual based on the statutory definition and that is usable and workable for HUD-covered programs.
• Applying VAWA protections to all covered HUD programs as well as the Housing Trust Fund, which was not statutorily listed as a covered program.
• Ensuring that existing tenants, as well as new tenants, of all HUD-covered programs receive notification of their rights under VAWA and HUD’s VAWA regulations.
• Establishing reasonable time periods during which a tenant who is a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking may establish eligibility to remain in housing, where the tenant’s household is divided due to a VAWA crime, and where the tenant was not the member of the household that previously established eligibility for assistance.
• Establishing that housing providers may, but are not required to, request certain documentation from tenants seeking emergency transfers under VAWA.
• Providing for a six-month transition period to complete an emergency transfer plan and provide emergency transfers, when requested, under the plan.
• Revising and establishing new program-specific regulations for implementing VAWA protections in a manner that is workable for each HUD-covered program.

In addition to addressing the major provisions above, the VAWA final rule also includes as appendices a Notice of Occupancy Rights under the Violence against Women Act (Notice of Occupancy Rights) that certain housing providers must give to tenants and applicants to ensure they are aware of their rights under VAWA and implementing regulations, a model Emergency Transfer Plan that may be used by housing providers to develop their own emergency transfer plans, a model Emergency Transfer Request form that housing providers could provide to tenants requesting an emergency transfer under these regulations, and a new certification form for documenting incidents of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking that must be used by housing providers. As stated in the final rule, these appendices will not appear in the Code of Federal Regulations.

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