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Floods are the most common and costly natural disaster in the United States, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Between 1980 and 2013, the United States suffered more than $260 billion in flood-related damages. These significant losses translate to a large volume of flood insurance claims. In 2005, for example, Hurricane Katrina resulted in claim payments of $16.3 billion from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), ranking as the most exp...

Preventing lead poisoning in children who will be born in 2018 would provide an estimated $84 billion in long-term benefits, according to a recent report from the Health Impact Project, a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts. The savings would come from reduced spending on health care costs, special education, juvenile justice, and other social services.

It may be tempting to take shortcuts when keeping records of rehabilitation and repair costs, rather than fully documenting the need for and reasonableness of these costs. But taking shortcuts could backfire, especially if you get audited.

Under HUD rules, you must be able to show that all costs, including those for repair and rehabilitation, are “reasonable, necessary, and properly accounted for” by site management. HUD auditors check for detailed rec...

Following the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA) Guidance issued by HUD’s office of Public and Indian Housing in May, HUD’s Office of Multifamily Housing Programs recently issued its own guidance (Notice 2017-05) to owners and management agents of HUD-assisted multifamily housing regarding the final rule implementing VAWA. This guidance includes a summary of major changes to the multifamily housing programs, and the identified changes ...

As a result of President Trump signing a new HUD appropriations bill in early May, the rules that govern what happens when a site fails its REAC inspection have changed. The appropriations bill included Section 223, which details changes to the required provisions for properties that score 59 or lower on an inspection. The changes underscore the growing scrutiny on physical inspection compliance at HUD assets.

HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing recently issued Notice PIH-2017-08, which provides guidance on complying with the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA 2013). The notice is directed to PHAs and owners of private housing who accept Housing Choice Vouchers.

An applicant or household member may claim to get no income from any source. In these situations, it’s important to be skeptical. HUD management reviewers and auditors scrutinize these claims to keep HUD from overpaying assistance to household members. If it turns out that a household member made a mistake or even lied to you about having no income—and you did nothing to verify the claim—HUD could require your site to reimburse the agency for the exces...

HUD recently published Notice PIH-2017-03, which provides guidance to public housing agencies (PHAs) regarding the implementation and enforcement of smoke-free policies as required by HUD’s final rule prohibiting smoking in public housing. The effective date of the rule is Feb. 3, 2017, and PHAs will have 18 months to implement their smoke-free policies.

HUD recently issued a Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) notice relating to noncitizen self-petitioner procedures under VAWA. This notice applies to public housing, Housing Choice Voucher assistance (including project-based vouchers), and Section 8 Mod Rehab.

HUD’s final rule implementing the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (VAWA) of 2013 was published in November 2016. The final rule details the requirements for HUD-covered programs and became effective on Dec. 16, 2016.

VAWA 2013 maintains protections for public housing, Section 8 vouchers, and project-based Section 8, and also expands the housing protections from VAWA 2005 to include the following programs (which includes HUD’s Homeless Assist...