Department of Housing and Urban Development News Briefs - November 2021

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released its Worst Case Housing Needs report, which delivers national data detailing issue facing very low-income renting families. The report found that 7.7 million renter households had worst-case housing needs in 2019, with 62 affordable housing units per 100 very low-income renters. The data was collected before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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HUD published in the Oct. 4 Federal Register a notice establishing the operating cost adjustment factors (OCAFs) for 2022 for Section 8 project-based assistance contracts renewed under Section 515 or Section 524 of the Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act of 1997. The OCAFs are applicable to eligible projects having an anniversary date of Feb. 11, 2022, or later. The national OCAF rate is 3.1% and the state percentages range from 1.8% in Hawaii to 3.5% in California.

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HUD’s Office of Multifamily Housing published Notice H 2021-05 Sept. 16, opening the application period for supplemental funding due to the COVID-19 pandemic for properties receiving assistance as part of the Section 8, Section 202 or Section 811 programs. The notice expands the window for payment requests for expenses incurred to seven months from four. The timeframe concluded Oct. 31, 2021. A minimum expected funding level is available per property at $2,500 and up to $25,000 for standard requests. Forms are due Nov. 19.

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HUD issued a notice Sept. 13 updating flat rent submission requirements. Notice PIH 2021-27 clarifies HUD’s interpretation of how public housing authorities that operate a public housing program establish flat rents, setting them as no less than the lower of 80% of the applicable fair market rent (FMR) or 80% of such other applicable FMRs established in a smaller geographical region than the applicable market area. The rate is no less than 80% of the FMR in areas HUD has not determined a Small Area FMR or unadjusted rent. The notice also details flat-rent exception and extension requirements. Exception requests are due 90 days after the effective date of their fiscal year.

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HUD published notice Sept. 10 in the Federal Register establishing a process by which units under Section 8 housing assistance payment contract originally executed under the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program can be replaced if they are unavailable for occupancy due to a natural disaster or other causes. The notice supplements the RAD-enabled transfer of units to a new site by providing a mechanism for public housing authorities to enter a RAD interim agreement and new RAD project-based voucher housing assistance payment (HAP) contract when a direct transfer of the HAP contract is not possible.

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HUD appointed Sept. 13 Adrienne Babbitt as its field office director for the Las Vegas area HUD Office. Babbitt has worked in Las Vegas since 2014 to oversee a transitional housing program that included service-delivery and residential assistance to veterans who have experienced homelessness. Before that, Babbitt spent four years as a supportive case manager in upstate New York and previously served in the U.S. Army.