Severe weather is in the forecast. Is your site prepared? Increasingly frequent and severe weather events pose a growing threat to federally assisted housing and its residents. Extreme weather events can lead to flooding, power loss, property damage, transportation disruptions, interrupted access to critical resources, and even loss of life.
Your common areas play a major role in your site’s success. They’re the first part of the site that applicants see and they’re the “neighborhood” in which all your residents live. But your residents may cause problems in your common areas, deliberately or not. They may leave their garbage out, store personal property there, or act inappropriately. Besides being an eyesore and a nuisance, these things can leave you open to liability and inspection problems.
E-bikes, e-scooters, e-mopeds, and other small electric mobility devices have experienced a surge in popularity. These devices use a small electric motor to increase their range and reduce the effort it takes to reach a destination. For example, e-bikes look and behave like traditional bicycles with the addition of an electric motor and battery for extra power when pedaling. This extra boost allows the rider to traverse hills and travel further distances with greater ease than with a traditional bicycle.
Most residents are good about reporting maintenance problems. Some owners and managers may say that they’re too good. But there are residents who don’t report maintenance problems. Perhaps these residents are too busy or don’t want members of your maintenance staff in their units. But residents’ failure to report maintenance problems could result in severe damage to your site and harm to residents.
Doing so may improve medical professionals’ responsiveness.The Fair Housing Act (FHA) prohibits housing providers from discriminating against people with disabilities, including refusing to make reasonable accommodations in policies or practices when such accommodations may be necessary to provide persons with disabilities an equal opportunity to use or enjoy their home. In most circumstances, a refusal to make such a change or exception, known as a reasonable accommodation, is unlawful.
REAC inspections resume June 1 with more advance notice and safety protocols. On April 23, HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge announced that HUD will substantially increase housing inspections for public housing and multifamily housing beginning on June 1. She noted that HUD’s inspections are important for identifying unsafe conditions and supporting HUD’s work with housing providers to mitigate them. It has been over a year since HUD suspended most in-person housing inspections by the Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
On March 11, 2021, President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 into law. The $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, which passed in the U.S. Senate by a narrow 50-49 vote on March 6 and in the U.S. House of Representatives by a 220-211 vote on March 10, signifies the Biden administration's first legislative achievement with the Democratic majority in Congress to expand federal assistance to the American public.
