Compliance

HUD Holds National Multifamily Conference Call, Issues Q&A Guidance

March 30, 2020    

On March 18, HUD’s Office of Multifamily Housing held a national conference call updating stakeholders on their COVID-19 response and operations. HUD staff who spoke on the conference call included Deputy Assistant Secretary Lamar Seats, Assistant Deputy Assistant Secretary Jeff Little,...

Prepare for REAC's New Quality Assurance Re-Inspection Protocol

February 28, 2020    

In line with its ongoing process of increasing quality control procedures on REAC inspections, HUD recently implemented a new Quality Assurance Inspection (QAI) process, which may be done within five days of the REAC inspection. Generally, within two business days of the contract inspection, a...

HUD's New Guidance on Assistance Animals: What You Need to Know

February 28, 2020    

HUD recently issued new guidelines relating to assistance animals under the Fair Housing Act (FHA). Notice FHEO-2020-01, referred to as the “Assistance Animals Notice,” replaces prior HUD guidelines from 2013 and can be found at...

HUD Addresses Noncompliance with Lead Safe Housing Rule

January 29, 2020    

A few months ago, HUD and its Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a report identifying the top management challenges facing the Department in 2020 and beyond. One of the broad categories identified was ensuring the availability of affordable housing that’s decent, safe, sanitary, and...

New Resident Engagement Initiative Added to NSPIRE Demonstration

January 29, 2020    

HUD is in the process of overhauling its Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) physical inspection protocol. Last year, HUD drastically reduced the notice it would give managers of public and subsidized rental housing before REAC inspections to 14 calendar days. And HUD will eventually replace...

Purging Files at Year-End? Better Review HUD’s Record Retention Rules First

November 22, 2019    

Applicant and tenant file records are important pieces of source documentation that’s used as evidence to support determinations and conclusions in all areas of occupancy. It’s important for a manager to ensure that all tenant application and occupancy files are maintained in...

HUD Proposes Rules to Implement Several HOTMA Provisions

October 1, 2019    

In 2016, President Obama signed into law the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act (HOTMA). HOTMA touched upon a broad range of topics. The housing law was enacted to expand housing providers’ ability to develop housing for extremely low-income households and streamline operational...

Know Your Responsibilities During Presidentially Declared Disaster or HUD-Determined Emergency

July 17, 2019    

Recently, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said that he’s “extremely grateful” that Tropical Depression Barry didn’t cause the devastating floods that had been projected. According to the National Weather Service, Barry was briefly a Category 1 hurricane, but the system...

Guidance Issued on Voluntary & Mandatory Conversions of Public Housing Units

May 9, 2019    

In November 2018, HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) sent a letter to public housing agency (PHA) executive directors notifying them of their intent to reduce HUD’s public housing stock. Because Congress had failed to provide adequate funding for the public housing...

HUD Urges PHAs and Owners to Install CO Detectors

May 9, 2019    

HUD recently issued joint notice PIH 2019-06, H 2019-05, OLHCHH 2019-01, regarding the installation of carbon monoxide (CO) detectors in HUD-assisted housing. Carbon monoxide is a byproduct of fuel-fired combustion appliances such as furnaces and water heaters. If not properly vented, this...

HUD Issues Additional Guidance on Delaying REAC Inspections

April 11, 2019    

The Deputy Assistant Secretary for HUD’s multifamily housing programs recently issued a memorandum entitled “Approving the Delay of a Physical Inspection Beyond the New Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) Inspection Notification Timelines.” It provides guidance on when a field...

Follow Nine Steps to Prevent Unnecessary HAP Delays

March 14, 2019    

If your site has a housing assistance payments (HAP) contract, you may have gotten a late payment from HUD at one time or another. Late assistance payments can cause serious problems at your site. For example, if your site doesn’t have large reserves, it may not be able to make mortgage...