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HUD requires that you verify all information given to you by applicants and residents that affects your assessment of their eligibility for housing and level of assistance. The owner is responsible for determining if a verification documentation is adequate and credible.

At some point in time, you’re likely to need a rent comparability study (RCS) that looks at rents charged at comparable market-rate sites in your area. For example, as a requirement for renewal, most owners with expiring Section 8 project-based contracts must submit a RCS at initial renewal to demonstrate that current rents are at or below comparable “market” rents. Beginning with the date of the initial renewal of the expiring Section 8 project-based ...

Hurricane Harvey, which first came ashore on Aug. 25 as the most powerful hurricane to hit Texas in 50 years, has displaced more than 1 million people and damaged nearly 200,000 homes in a path of destruction stretching for more than 300 miles. Low-income and vulnerable communities located in the area’s floodplains have been particularly hard hit. The affected region has many subsidized housing complexes and public housing developments within the hurricane’s...

In July 2016, HUD posted a new Resident Rights and Responsibilities brochure on its website. This brochure tells households about their rights and responsibilities as residents of assisted housing. You must give the brochure to the household head whenever a new household signs its first lease with you, and each year at annual recertification.

Federally assisted sites are covered by accessibility requirements for design and construction under either the Fair Housing Act (FHA) or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. As a site owner or manager, you must make sure that your site complies with these requirements. Because HUD and the Department of Justice (DOJ) treat compliance with these requirements seriously, you need to follow suit. The penalties for violating these requirements are stiff, including ...

If you work for a PHA or own a property that’s required by HUD to undergo physical property inspections with the Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC), it’s important to keep your property safe and sanitary. Doing so will maintain and increase federal funds for your site and reduce the frequency of future REAC inspections.

As an assisted site owner or manager, you must collect security deposits from all households when they move in. These security deposits protect you from losing money when residents damage your units or fail to pay rent. However, handling security deposits incorrectly can cost you.

In HUD-assisted programs there is no asset limit for participation. However, the definition of “annual income” includes net income from family assets. And net family assets include monies held in savings and checking accounts in the United States or abroad. As a site owner or manager, you must ask the resident you are renting to whether he has a bank account (such as a savings account, checking account, money market account) or a certificate of deposit (CD) ...

By Carolyn E. Zezima, Esq.

Controlling pests is an essential aspect of maintaining your site in a safe and healthy condition as well as complying with HUD physical inspection standards. Pest infestations create significant health risks for people and can result in a pretty big deduction from your REAC inspection score for a health and safety violation. For example, cockroaches and rodents are considered major public health risks to staff and residents, pa...

Federal fair housing law bans discrimination against people on the basis of disability. And mobility impairment is a disability under the law. So if you or your staff treat mobility-impaired applicants and residents in a discriminatory manner, you’re violating the law.