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To keep up with housing payments during the pandemic, renters have had to tap a wide range of financial resources, reports Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS)  in “Making the Rent: Household Spending Strategies During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” The report examines how households have managed their finances and rental payments in response to income loss during the pandemic. Researchers pulled data from U.S.

In early January, a tragic rowhouse fire broke out and killed 12 people, including nine children. The rowhouse was one of the Philadelphia Housing Authority’s “scattered site” properties. These are units throughout the city that are owned and managed by the authority but are not part of larger public housing complexes.

November 2021 was a record-breaking month for providing Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) assistance, according to a recent announcement from the Treasury Department. State and local governments provided assistance to approximately 665,000 renters and owners. And the $2.9 billion in ERA expenditures from both ERA1 and ERA2 funds in November 2021 represents the largest amount of assistance paid to eligible households and the largest number of payments made in any month s...

The Treasury Department recently released new federal emergency rental assistance (ERA) data. The data shows that several large states and cities have exhausted their ERA allocations. Also, according to the latest data, states and local governments distributed more than $2.8 billion in ERA funds to more than 521,000 renters in October. Since being introduced, the program has seen more than $2.8 billion in funds distributed to over 2.5 million people.

We've previously covered HUD’s announcement that it’s opening a new application period for owners to apply for more than $180 million in supplemental operating funds to support expenses for protecting residents and staff from COVID-19 (HUD Notice H 2021-05).

HUD recently signed a Conciliation Agreement/Voluntary Compliance Agreement with owners of a HUD-subsidized community in Fairhope, Ala. The agreement resolves allegations and a HUD investigation into whether the owners’ policy prohibiting visitors under the age of 12 due to COVID-19 was discriminatory.

A resident, who had been providing childcare for her grandchildren, was allegedly told that she could no longer do so because it violated the owners’ po...

HUD recently announced that it has approved a Conciliation/Voluntary Compliance Agreement between the Housing Authority of Maricopa County, in Mesa, Ariz., and one of its residents who has a mental health disability. Under the agreement, the housing authority will pay $10,000 to the tenant and provide fair housing training for its employees who work with the public. The housing authority will also vacate the tenant’s eviction and waive the $3,516 eviction judgment...

HUD recently published Notice CPD-21-10, Requirements for the Use of Funds in the HOME-American Rescue Plan Program. The notice establishes rules for granting the $5 billion provided under the American Rescue Plan Act through the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME). HOME provides formula grants to states and localities that communities use, often in partnership with local nonprofit groups, to fund a wide range of activities including building, buying, and/or reh...

HUD’s Office of Multifamily Housing recently updated its Questions & Answers document for COVID-19 to include information about the latest CDC eviction moratorium extension that was issued on Aug. 3 and intended to run until Oct. 3 for counties with heightened levels of community transmission.

The bottom line: HUD updated the Q&A with one question: "What are the penalties for a landlord, owner of a residential property, or other...

On Tuesday, Aug. 10, the Senate passed a bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure bill to improve and modernize the nation’s roads and bridges. Included in the plan are funds for broadband infrastructure. The plan allocates $65 billion to “bridge America’s digital divide and build a 21st century infrastructure that will meet our country’s needs not only today, but for years to come.”