In the News

HUD Releases Final FY 2015 Fair Market Rents

October 17, 2014    
On Oct. 3, HUD issued the final 2015 Fair Market Rents (FMRs). FMRs are used by HUD to set rents for the Housing Choice Voucher program and the Project-Based Voucher program. Project-based housing assistance payment (HAP) contracts also refer to FMRs for eligibility purposes in the Option 1...
In the News

HUD Issues New 2014 Operating Cost Adjustment Factors

October 17, 2014    
On Oct. 2, HUD published new Operating Cost Adjustment Factors (OCAFs), which will be effective for project-based assistance contracts for eligible multifamily housing projects having an anniversary date on or after Feb. 11, 2015. OCAFs are annual factors used to adjust Section 8 rents renewed...
In the News

Submit Comments on Draft Fair Housing Assessment Tool

October 17, 2014    
On Sep. 26, HUD published a proposed version of an Assessment Tool designed to assist HUD recipients in their “affirmatively furthering fair housing” (AFFH) obligations by facilitating the analysis of barriers to fair housing choice and setting goals to address them. The new tool would...
In the News

HUD Clarifies Review Process for Sites’ Fair Housing Marketing Plans

October 17, 2014    
On Sept. 22, HUD's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multifamily Housing, Ben Metcalf, issued a memo that clarifies the review and approval of a multifamily property owner’s Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing Plan (AFHMP). This memo supersedes a May 2014 memo from the Office of Asset...
Recent Court Rulings

Resident Omitted Self-Employment Income at Recertification

October 17, 2014    
Facts: As a participant in the voucher program, a resident attended a recertification meeting in November 2010. In her recertification application, she stated that she didn’t receive income from self-employment, and listed Social Security payments as the sole source of income for herself and...
Recent Court Rulings

Owner Must File Eviction Case on New Grounds

October 17, 2014    
Facts: On June 1, 2012, a PHA executed a housing assistance payments (HAP) contract with an owner, and the owner entered into a Section 8 lease with a resident. The rent under the contract was $1,250; the PHA provided assistance of $1,216 per month, making the resident’s rent $34 per month.
Recent Court Rulings

Owner Not Liable for Former Employee’s Retaliation Claims

October 17, 2014    
Facts: A site manager claimed that her former employer retaliated against her for opposing unlawful housing discrimination and unlawful employment discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. She claimed that she was harassed and ultimately terminated by the owner...
The Trainer

The Trainer — November 2014

October 17, 2014    
Implementing LEP Rules; Charging Extra Fees In this month’s feature, we discussed how HUD requires recipients of federal financial assistance to take reasonable steps to ensure that people with limited English proficiency (LEP) have meaningful access to all federally funded programs. These...
Feature

Healthy Food Access: Improve Resident Health, Save Site Money

September 27, 2014    
By Carolyn E. Zezima, Esq.
Recent Court Rulings

PHA Not Liable for Resident's Dog Bite Injuries

September 27, 2014    
Facts: A resident sued the local PHA for injuries she suffered when another resident’s dog bit her. The other resident had acquired the dog, a pit bull, in late 2009. The suing resident described the dog as aggressive and vicious, barking at her ferociously, and jumping on the chain-link...