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HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 6.3.4.1 Late Fees

One of the most common extra charges that tenants face is the late fee. Lease agreements often contain late fee provisions requiring the tenant to pay a given amount for the tardy payment of rent. Late fees usually take the form of either a flat charge (regardless of the length of the delinquency) or a specific amount for each day that the rent is overdue.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 6.3.4.4 Legal Fees and Costs

Some PHAs and project owners routinely charge tenants attorneys’ fees or other legal costs resulting from the commencement of legal action (usually an eviction) against the tenant.171 Federal regulations expressly prohibit lease provisions that require the tenant to pay legal fees or costs incurred by the project owner or PHA in an action to enforce the lease regardless of the ultimate outcome of the action.172 This prohibition has been interpreted by one HUD Area Office to preclude the char

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 6.3.4.6 Application Fees

HUD’s policy regarding application fees is clear: except in the case of a cooperative,

[a]n owner must not charge applicants for costs associated with accepting and processing applications, screening applicants or verifying income and eligibility. Hence, owners must not require applicants to pay application fees, credit report charges, charges for home visits, charges to obtain a police report(s) or other costs associated with the above functions.203

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 6.3.5 Under-the-Table Payments

Some Section 8 Voucher landlords have illegally demanded and received “under-the-table payments” from participants. These landlords may demand extra money in the form of rent in violation of the federal and state laws.227 Other landlords demand extra payments for “amenities,” such as use of a garage228 or laundry facilities, when these items are already covered under the Section 8 lease and the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) contract.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 7.2.1 Overview

When families in subsidized housing separate into two or more households, questions often arise as to which family members will keep the subsidized unit or Voucher. Families break up for a variety of reasons, including divorce, separation and domestic violence. In some instances, the PHA or owner may be able to accommodate the breakup by offering another unit or Voucher to the family members who seek to leave the original household.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 7.2.2 Vouchers

For the Voucher program, PHAs must address in the Administrative Plan the allocation of the Voucher if a family breaks up.2 Thus, advocates representing voucher holders in family breakup cases should examine the Administrative Plan to ensure that the PHA is observing its own policies in allocating the Voucher.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 7.2.3 Public Housing and Multifamily Programs

For public housing and multifamily housing programs, there is no requirement that PHAs or subsidized owners adopt policies for allocating a unit if a family breaks up, though PHAs and owners have discretion to adopt a policy. For public housing, advocates should examine the PHA’s Admissions and Continued Occupancy Policy to determine whether the agency has a family breakup policy. For multifamily housing, advocates should examine the owner’s tenant selection plan and house rules.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 7.3.1 Introduction

Families living in public housing or HUD-assisted multifamily housing may need to transfer to another unit for a variety of reasons, including unit conditions, safety concerns, changes in family size or to accommodate tenants with disabilities. Additionally, in some situations, PHAs and HUD-subsidized owners may require families to transfer to another unit. While HUD has issued some guidance on transfers, PHAs and owners generally have significant discretion in responding to tenants’ transfer requests.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 7.3.2 Local Transfer Policies

PHAs and owners of HUD-assisted multifamily developments must have policies that address transfers.6 Some of the issues that transfer policies should address include acceptable reasons for transfers, waiting lists for transfers, which party will bear the cost of the transfer, eligibility requirements for transfers, whether certain categories of transfers will be prioritized and whether transfers of existing residents will take precedence over new admissions.7 Policies also should address which categorie

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 7.3.3 Transfers Initiated by the PHA or Owner

In some instances, a PHA or subsidized owner may require residents to transfer to another unit. For public housing, a PHA’s lease must state which types of transfers are mandatory.14 Public housing residents who wish to dispute a mandatory transfer can use the PHA’s grievance procedure.15 HUD has stated that PHAs may require public housing residents to move to another unit for a variety of reasons,16 including:

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 7.3.4 Transfers Initiated by the Resident

Residents of public housing and HUD-assisted multifamily developments who need to move to another unit may request a transfer from the PHA or subsidized owner. This section discusses several categories of resident-initiated transfers. For public housing, the procedure for requesting a transfer should be set forth in the PHA’s Admissions and Continued Occupancy Policy. For HUD-assisted housing, the procedure should be included in the owner’s tenant selection plan.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 7.3.5 Conditions that May Accompany Transfers

In some instances, PHAs and owners may impose conditions on residents before processing a transfer. A common question is whether the housing provider or tenant is responsible for paying the costs associated with transfers, such as moving costs. PHAs must bear the reasonable costs of mandatory transfers that the PHA initiates, with the exception of transfers required due to changes in family composition.32 HUD states that if the resident initiates the transfer request, the resident typically must bear the costs associated with the transfer.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 7.3.6 Litigation

Most of the litigation challenging denials of transfers has been filed in the public housing context and has been brought under civil rights laws. Examples of PHA actions that have been challenged include failures to provide reasonable accommodations for tenants with disabilities35 and to protect victims of domestic violence from continued abuse.36

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 7.4.1 Introduction

The hallmark of the Voucher program is the ability of families to select a unit and to move from one unit to another while continuing to receive rental assistance. HUD generally refers to the process of relocating with a Voucher as a “move with continued tenant-based assistance.”39 Moves with continued assistance can occur both inside and outside the jurisdiction of the PHA that issued the family’s Voucher, also known as the initial PHA. The term “portability” refers to a specific type of move with continued assistance.