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President Obama and HUD Secretary Julián Castro recently announced ConnectHome, an initiative to extend affordable broadband access to families living in HUD-assisted housing. Through ConnectHome, Internet Service Providers, nonprofits, and the private sector will offer broadband access, technical training, digital literacy programs, and devices for residents in assisted housing units in 28 communities across the nation.

After three days of debate, the House recently passed the fiscal year 2016 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development funding bill (H.R. 2577) with a final recorded vote of 216-210. The bill adheres to strict spending caps imposed by sequestration. However, the Office of Management and Budget has warned that President Obama will veto the bill because of the low funding level.

Senators Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) recently introduced S. 1530, a bill that would renew the Moving to Work (MTW) agreements for 11 of the 39 MTW public housing agencies (PHAs) for 10 years, and prohibit HUD from making any significant change to the financial terms of the covered agreement.

HUD Secretary Julián Castro recently testified before the House Committee on Financial Services during a hearing titled, “The Future of Housing in America: Oversight of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.” This was the second oversight hearing the Committee has held in the session. Increased scrutiny of HUD programs continues to be expected as the Department marks its 50th anniversary this September...

Q: You have to verify the immigration status of applicants who declare that they’re eligible noncitizens, unless they’re over 62 years old. True or false?

A: True. But you must verify that these applicants are at least 62 years old [Handbook 4350.3, par. 3-12(B)(3) and exh. 3-5].

HUD and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently issued a Notice of Final Determination that establishes minimum energy standards that newly constructed housing units must meet to be eligible for insurance through various HUD and USDA programs. The two agencies have adopted the 2009 edition of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) for single-family homes and the 2007 edition of the American Society of ...

In an effort to address emergency, safety, and security needs, HUD recently awarded grants to 29 public housing authorities to help fight crime and drug activities at their sites. The grants originated from HUD's Capital Fund Emergency Safety and Security Program. This program supports public housing authorities as they address safety and security threats that pose a risk to the health and safety of public housing resid...

The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is the largest public housing authority in North America. In spite of many problems, it is still considered to be the most successful big-city public housing authority in the country. Whereas most large public housing authorities in the United States have demolished their high-rise projects and in most cases replaced them with lower scale housing, New York's continue to be ful...

A former manager and a consultant of the Massachusetts-based Chelsea Housing Authority have been found guilty of conspiring to defraud the government by rigging biennial federal inspections of apartments to make sure the housing agency received a high performance rating. The convictions are the latest from the 2011 scandal that mired the Chelsea Housing Authority and forced the former board to resign.

HUD recently announced the recipients of approximately $34 million in Housing Counseling program grants for fiscal year (FY) 2015. The awards given out this year represent the second phase of HUD’s two-year Comprehensive Housing Counseling Grant Program Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA), which was published in March 2014, and covered FYs 2014 and 2015. The funding will go to 270 different housing counseling agenci...