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

Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act of 2009 (HEARTH): A law amending and reauthorizing the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. HEARTH consolidated several of HUD’s homeless assistance programs and amended HUD’s definition of homelessness.

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

Income Deduction: HUD program regulations specify the types and amounts of income and deductions to be included in the calculation of annual and adjusted income. These can include deductions for child care expenses, medical expenses, and senior/disabled/minor tenants.

Income Exclusion: Certain funds received from specific sources from household income that are not counted as income for rent calculation purposes.

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

Lead Safe Housing Rule: A HUD rule that applies to all HUD-assisted and owned housing that prescribes lead-based paint abatement or removal when a development receives financial assistance.

Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Rule: A rule promulgated by HUD and the Environmental Protection Agency that requires the disclosure of known information on lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards before the sale or lease of most housing built before 1978. See 24 C.F.R. pt. 35.

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

Management Improvement and Operating (MIO) Plan: A plan that must be completed by owners of developments that seek HUD financial assistance under the HUD Flexible Subsidy Program (i.e. Operating Assistance and Capital Improvement Loan Program). The plan lists the actions that owners will take to rectify problems and deficiencies identified in the development.

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

National Alliance of HUD Tenants (NAHT): A tenant-controlled alliance of tenant organizations in privately owned, multifamily HUD-assisted housing. The organization promotes the preservation of affordable housing, protection of tenants’ rights, and tenant ownership and control of HUD multifamily housing.

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

Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC): HUD office that is responsible for evaluating the financial and physical condition of all the public and assisted housing developments funded by HUD. It is also responsible for taking action against troubled public and assisted housing developments that fail the financial and physical inspections standards.

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

Schumer Amendment: An amendment to HUD appropriations acts, first introduced by Senator Schumer, that restricts HUD’s authority to terminate project-based assistance contracts when HUD is foreclosing or disposing HUD-owned properties.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): T

Tenant Rental Assistance Certification System (TRACS): A HUD computer system developed to help improve financial controls over assisted housing programs. It maintains a secure database of housing assistance payment information for properties and individuals receiving HUD financial assistance.

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

Uniform Relocation Act (URA): Formally titled the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies for Federal and Federally Assisted Programs, this statute was enacted in 1970. It establishes minimum standards for federally funded projects that involve property acquisition or displacement of people. The intent of the URA is to provide fair and equitable treatment of persons whose real property is acquired or who are displaced in connection with federally funded project.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 1.1.1 How to use this manual

This comprehensive manual provides critical information on the rights of tenants who reside in HUD-subsidized or assisted housing, providing a detailed review of the current law coupled with historical overviews of the various programs. This book is for advocates who represent tenants or HUD-housing applicants, as well as housing providers and managers, affordable housing advocates, policymakers, and scholars.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 1.1.2 HUD Organization

Because of its complexity, a brief description of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) bureaucratic structure will help determine which office or official might be responsible for resolving different kinds of problems.3 In 1965, HUD was created as a cabinet-level agency by the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965. Sitting atop the HUD bureaucracy is its Secretary, who is responsible for administering all HUD programs.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 1.1.4 How to Identify the Program Involved

Because of the variations in the applicable rules, it is important to know whether a client lives in housing subsidized under a federal program and, if so, which program provides the subsidy. Easy cases are when the client knows the exact program or you are familiar with the building where the client lives. Alternatively, the landlord or management personnel at the client’s property may be able to provide this information.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 1.2.1 Conventional Public Housing

The United States Housing Act of 1937 established the conventional public housing program.23 Today, about one million households live in public housing units,24 which are managed by approximately 3,300 public housing authorities (PHAs). Despite income limits ranging up to 80 percent of the AMI, the average income of an average-sized public housing family of 2.1 persons was $14,412 in 2015, which is below the poverty level. More than 10,000 public housing homes are lost each year due to disrepair.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 1.2.3.1 Overview

HUD began experimenting with the concept of public housing homeownership in 1968 when it created the Turnkey III program for building new public housing units for eventual sale to the tenants.54 In 1984, HUD undertook a demonstration program to sell existing public housing projects to their residents.55 In 1988, Congress added a statutory program for the sale of existing units to tenants56 and then replaced that program with the HOPE for public housing h

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 1.2.3.2 The Turnkey III and Section 5(h) Programs

In 1968, HUD administratively created a homeownership program for tenants residing in public housing called the Turnkey III homeownership program,61 followed by Section 5(h) of the revised United States Housing Act, which authorized homeownership programs.62 HUD later issued extensive regulations63 and a Handbook64 on the Turnkey III program, as well as regulations on the Section 5(h) program.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 1.2.3.3 The Public Housing Homeownership Demonstration

In 1984, HUD launched a Public Housing Homeownership Demonstration (PHHD), involving approximately 20 housing authorities and about 2,000 units. HUD created the PHHD to find practical ways to enable public housing tenants to become homeowners through the sale of public housing units. The demonstration was intended to help develop regulatory criteria for implementing the disposition authority contained in Section 5(h) of the Act. Under the demonstration, tenants had to have the cooperation of the PHA and access to appropriate technical assistance.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 1.2.3.4 Section 123

Section 123 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987 authorized a resident management corporation (RMC) with at least 3 years experience in successfully managing a project to purchase one or more multifamily buildings from a PHA for resale to homeowners.73 This provision sunset in February 1991.74 RMCs were permitted to resell only to lower income families residing in or eligible to reside in Public Housing.75

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 1.2.3.5 The HOPE I Program

In 1990, HUD proposed and Congress enacted the HOPE I program to expand homeownership opportunities for low income people.76 The HOPE I program helped low-income people buy public housing units by providing planning and implementation grants to eligible applicants to develop and implement homeownership programs.77 The grantees, which could be PHAs, resident organizations, non-profit organizations, or public bodies, acted as intermediaries between the PHA and the eventual homeowners.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 1.3.1 Overview

Starting around 1960, Congress created a number of direct loan and mortgage insurance programs, providing different levels of affordability for residents. The programs discussed in this section have provided effective interest subsidies and HUD rent restrictions to make rents more affordable.