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The New York City Commission on Human Rights kicked off the New Year by charging five large landlords and brokerage firms with repeatedly discriminating against prospects based on their lawful source of income, a violation of the city’s Human Rights Law. Together, the landlords and brokerage firms control approximately 20,000 units citywide, according to the commission.

The Senate recently approved a House-passed continuing resolution (CR) to keep the federal government funded through April 28, 2017, and sent it to President Obama’s desk for signature. The CR was approved by a vote of 63 to 36 in the Senate and 326 to 96 in the House.

HUD recently released the Community Assessment Reporting Tool (CART). CART is a reference and mapping tool created to help answer the question, "How is HUD investing in my community?" CART uses geospatial technology to show the wide variety of HUD investments by city, state, county, metropolitan area, or congressional district. It also provides an interactive mapping interface that allows users to explore HUD investments within their community and see property...

To help low-income youth and their families apply for federal student aid for college and other post-secondary educational opportunities, HUD recently awarded approximately $2.5 million to nine public housing authorities (PHAs) to hire "Education Navigators" to guide them through the application process.

HUD recently issued a memorandum to promote the use of homeless preferences at HUD-assisted sites. Multifamily Regional Centers or Satellite Offices may now approve both a special and an add-on management fee to cover eligible staff time expenses incurred by owners when establishing and managing a homeless preference.

HUD recently finalized a new method to establish the Fair Market Rents (FMRs) upon which rental subsidies are based in a manner that would expand neighborhood options for households living in particularly challenging housing markets. This was done to address the limited choices for suitable affordable rental housing for families who depend upon the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program in some metropolitan areas of the country.

HUD recently announced that it’s returning the Housing Authority of the City of Lafayette (HACL), Louisiana, to local control, five years after HUD assumed day-to-day administration of the once-troubled agency. HUD took over operational control of the HACL in March of 2011 for substantial default of the agency’s obligations including financial mismanagement, misuse of funds, and a lack of leadership. 

HUD recently posted the Utility Allowance Adjustment Factors for 2017. HUD permits owners/agents to use the Utility Allowance Factors (UAFs) for projects subject to the requirements found in Housing’s Utility Analysis Notice. Attachment B of the notice is a Sample Release of Tenant Utility Information form. The factors are effective for any project with an anniversary date on or after Feb. 11, 2017.

HUD recently issued a notice in the Federal Register requesting public comments on a proposed requirement for owners of HUD-funded multifamily housing to implement energy benchmarking in their properties, consistent with the President’s Climate Action Plan and other Administration and HUD initiatives to improve energy efficiency in HUD-assisted properties.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a report titled “Elderly Housing: HUD Should Do More to Oversee Efforts to Link Residents to Services.” GAO estimates that roughly half of the 7,229 Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly (Section 202) properties have HUD-funded service coordinators—staff who link residents to supportive services such as transportation assistance or meals. HUD’s data indicate that 38 percent of ...