NMA Blog

Today in the Federal Register, HUD published three notices concerning its suspension of implementation of the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) final rule. Draft versions of the notices were posted on May 18 with an accompanying press release.

The notices include:

• Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing: Withdrawal of the Assessment Tool for Local Governments
• Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH): Responsibility To Conduct Analysis of Impediments
• Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing: Withdrawal of Notice Extending the Deadline for Submission of Assessment of Fair Housing for Consolidated Plan Participants

In January, HUD announced the extension of the deadline for submission of an assessment of fair housing (AFH) by local government consolidated plan program participants until at least 2020. Earlier this month, the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) announced that it filed a fair housing complaint against HUD over suspension of implementation of the AFFH rule.

In today’s first notice, HUD announces that it is withdrawing its January AFH suspension notice. In the second notice, HUD announces its withdrawal of the local government assessment tool “because it is inadequate to accomplish its purpose of guiding program participants to produce meaningful AFHs.” The third notice states that without the assessment tool there can be no AFH, and by extension the AFFH rule and its other components cannot be implemented. Any local government that has not yet submitted an AFH that has been accepted by HUD must instead conduct an analysis of impediments (AI), which was required prior to 2015.

For more information, see the AFFH page on HUD Exchange.

While serving as executive director of a Minnesota housing authority, Nan McKay started one of the nation’s first Section 8 programs. She has previously written for the NMA blog on the topic of executive management and high performance as well as stories from her fifty years in the housing industry.

With three decades of experience in welfare and public housing, Annie Stevenson shares her expertise in many ways at NMA, serving as a trainer to thousands of housing authority staff every year; as a technical researcher who analyzes and deciphers new HUD regulations; and as a technical writer, contributing to NMA Master Books, seminars, and model policies as well as writing the popular daily PIH Alert. Nan and Annie will be presenting the following session at The Housing Conference.

Regulatory Knowledge for Smart Management

Legislative Update with Nan McKay

Presenters:
Nan McKay, President, NMA
Annie Stevenson, Senior Trainer and Technical Writer, NMA

Learn “the latest and greatest” from technical expert Annie Stevenson and get the overall legislative perspective from Nan McKay. This is always one of our most popular sessions; don’t miss it! Nan and Annie will fill us in on the most important changes of 2017, plus a forecast of what’s ahead for 2018.

Nan, Annie, and many other incredible presenters will be available for limited free one-hour Q&A sessions at the The Housing Conference this month in Boston, MA. Registered participants can sign up on a first-come, first-served basis now. Register online or email sales@nanmckay.com for more information.

Today in the Federal Register, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published a final rule amending HUD’s civil monetary penalty (CMP) regulations.

The rule makes final an interim rule published in June of last year, which included a new methodology for calculating civil money penalties, starting with a “catch up” adjustment correcting previous inaccuracies.

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.

Late yesterday HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) issued Notice PIH 2017-03, “HUD Guidance on Instituting and Enforcing Smoke-Free Public Housing Policies.” The notice follows December’s publication of the smoke-free final rule.

Subjects discussed in the guidance notice include implementation, PHA flexibility, and PHA policy options concerning use of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) and designated smoking areas (DSAs). The notice also includes instructions for revisions to public housing leases and PHA plans.

The notice also encourages PHAs to adopt graduated enforcement mechanisms for violations of smoke-free policies. PHAs may not evict for a single incident of smoking.

On the subject of reasonable accommodations, the notice includes suggestions for smoke-free policies for residents with disabilities. Such measures could include offering the resident a transfer to a unit near an exit, to a unit on the ground floor, or to a unit in another development where DSAs are provided. However, a PHA may not permit continued smoking in restricted areas.

The notice concludes by encouraging PHAs to engage residents early in the development of smoke-free policies. Best practices have indicated that resident engagement in policy development, implementation, and enforcement are less likely to result in evictions.

Got questions about the smoke-free rule? Don’t miss Nan’s legislative update at the The Housing Conference this August in Boston, where she’ll discuss acts of Congress, regulation changes, and what’s ahead for 2017. Register now for the best rates!