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HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 3.2.6 Landlord Access to Tenants’ Residences

Sometimes, the PHA or owner demands access to a tenant’s unit for ostensibly legitimate reasons, but on insufficient notice or for questionable reasons, or may enter the unit with no notice at all. Lease language may govern such landlord access issues, by, for example, limiting the purposes of such entry or specifying how much advance notice is required. Federal regulations, HUD model lease provisions, constitutional law, federal and state statutes, and common law may further limit PHA or owner access.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 3.2.8 Unreasonable or Illegal Lease Clauses

PHAs and subsidized owners sometimes seek to impose unreasonable terms, either as house rules (which are incorporated into tenants’ leases by reference) or as lease terms.214 Congress has prohibited “unreasonable” terms or conditions for both public housing215 and most privately owned subsidized properties.216 But even if lease terms or house rules approved by HUD violate tenants’ statutory or constitutional rights, tenants may still be unabl

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 3.2.9 Leases in Languages Other than English

Many federally subsidized housing applicants are limited English proficient (LEP), meaning that they communicate primarily (or exclusively) in languages other than English. Federally assisted housing providers have an obligation under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and under Executive Order 13166 to provide meaningful language access,257 including the translation of certain important (“vital”) documents.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 3.5.1 HUD’s Model Lease

Owners of multifamily properties subsidized or assisted by HUD are generally required to use one of four form model leases included as appendices to the HUD Multifamily Occupancy Handbook.400 Of these leases, the Model Lease for Subsidized Programs, commonly referred to as the “family model lease,” is the most relevant for the purposes of this manual.401 The family model lease must be used for tenants paying less than the market rent, full contract rent, or 110 percent of the BMIR rent for t

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 3.5.2 Occupancy Agreements for HUD-Subsidized or Assisted Cooperatives

HUD treats cooperatives differently than its subsidized multifamily rental housing projects. Cooperatives may be treated differently under state law as well.439 For cooperatives, HUD has issued a model form occupancy agreement,440 which every cooperative member must execute.441 Apparently, no changes can be made in the form occupancy agreement without HUD approval.442

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 3.6.1 Introduction

HUD regulates leases under the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher and Moderate Rehabilitation programs in a slightly different fashion than under the other public or subsidized housing programs. In these programs, landlords may generally develop their own leases, provided they accept a HUD-developed lease addendum.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 3.6.2 Housing Choice Voucher Leases

For Voucher leases, HUD requires only that the leases be in writing, contain certain minimal information, and include the required tenancy addendum.453 No further approval by the PHA is required, and the PHA’s role in reviewing the lease, if any, is limited to determining compliance with state and local law.454 At least for the Voucher program, HUD rules do not specifically enumerate the eight prohibited lease clauses.455

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 3.6.2a Crime-Free Lease Addendums

An increasing number of municipalities require or encourage landlords to use lease addendums that bar criminal activity by a tenant, household member, guest, or other third party.479 Most of these addendums define “criminal activity” broadly, meaning that any alleged violation of federal, state, or local law, no matter how minor, could provide the basis for an eviction.480 These provisions usually app

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 12.1 Introduction

The loss of any affordable housing units creates serious consequences for low-income families because the supply of federally subsidized low-income housing falls far short of the high demand. These consequences are especially troublesome when the threatened units are occupied, which can result in the displacement of current residents. Despite these consequences, thousands of affordable homes nationwide are demolished, sold, foreclosed upon, converted to market-rate use, or otherwise removed from the federally subsidized affordable housing stock every year.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 12.2.2.3.4 Other Demolition and Disposition Application Requirements

PHA Plan Authorization. Section 18 states that a PHA must certify that it has specifically authorized the demolition or disposition in the PHA plan and certify that the actions contemplated in the PHA plan comply with Section 18.53 The certification must specify that the descriptions in the PHA plan and the application are identical and otherwise comply with both Section 18 and the regulations.54 In addition to this certification, HUD requires PHAs to submit wit

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 12.2.3.1 Overview

For almost 20 years, public housing units have also been lost through public housing redevelopment programs. The first such program was the HOPE VI program under Section 24 of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937,148 amended in its entirety by the QHWRA,149 which authorizes HUD to provide assistance to PHAs for the demolition or revitalization of “severely distressed” public housing.