NMA Blog

Recently on HUD Exchange, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) posted several new resources to aid in the implementation of the Small Area Fair Market Rents (SAFMR) final rule. Chief among these resources is a new guidebook, which provides guidance and practical examples for PHAs implementing SAFMRs. Topics covered in the guidebook include the policy background of SAFMRs, how SAFMRs will affect payment standards, and administrative and programmatic impacts of the rule.

HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) recently issued Notice PIH 2018-01 providing guidance on recent changes in fair market rent (FMR), payment standard, and rent reasonable requirements set forth in the Small Area FMR (SAFMR) final rule. As you know, in August of last year HUD exercised its authority to suspend SAFMRs for 23 out of the 24 designated areas that would have gone into effect on October 1, 2017. However, in late December, the U.S. District Court for the District of Colombia entered a preliminary injunction voiding that suspension, meaning that the mandatory use of SAFMRs is now in effect for all 24 areas (listed in Appendix A of the notice). PHAs must now complete the SAFMR implementation as quickly as possible—no later than April 1, 2018. The notice is meant to help with that task, allowing PHAs to better understand their options under the final rule.

In a letter to PHAs dated August 11, HUD announced that it has suspended the mandatory use of small area fair market rents (SAFMRs) for a period of two years. The suspension applies to 23 of the 24 metropolitan areas which had been selected to use SAFMRs beginning on October 1, 2017. The requirement has been suspended for two years, until October 1, 2019.

Last week via email, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced to the public the online publication of revised program instructions for the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) in Notice PIH 2012-32/Notice H 2017-03, REV-3. The revised notice, which fills 242 pages, includes the following key revisions for the first component (from the email):

Yesterday the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published in the Federal Register a final rule on the use of small area fair market rents (SAFMRs) in the housing choice voucher (HCV) program.

The rule, which is intended to help reduce the number of assisted families that reside in areas of high poverty concentration, requires the use of SAFMRs in certain metropolitan areas if the area meets a specific set of criteria. It changes the geography used to calculate FMRs in certain areas from a metropolitan area-wide approach to the zip code level, expanding the options of families to live in lower poverty neighborhoods.