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HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 8.2.5 Written Comments

Residents and advocates may submit written comments on the Plan by the deadline provided by the PHA (usually the day of or shortly before the public hearing). Commenting is a good opportunity for residents to critique the Plan and provide specific language that should be included in the Plan. Often, a PHA will respond to such public comments.95 If the PHA is not responsive to important public comments, these comments should be labeled as a challenge to an element in the PHA Plan and sent to HUD.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 8.2.6 Public Hearing

The PHA must hold a public hearing to accept comments on its proposed plans. The PHA must notify the public of the hearing date and time and indicate that the proposed PHA Plan, including all required attachments and documents relating to the Plan, is available for review.98 The hearing must be at a location and, presumably, a time that is convenient to the residents and program participants.99

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 8.2.8 Amending the PHA Plan

The regulations require PHA Plans to define what constitutes a “significant” amendment to the Plan.120 HUD deems certain changes to the PHA Plan to be “significant” amendments.121 One court failed to dismiss a complaint alleging that adding credit worthiness as screening criteria is a significant amendment.122 Another court denied a PHA’s motion to dismiss, finding that changes to minimum rent, occupancy standards, and payment standard polici

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 8.3 Section 8 Administrative Plan and Public Housing ACOP

In addition to reviewing the Annual and Five-Year Plans, residents and advocates should examine the PHA’s Section 8 Administrative Plan and public housing Admission and Continued Occupancy Policy (ACOP). These two documents respectively govern the PHA’s day-to-day operation of the Section 8 Voucher and public housing programs. The Administrative Plan sets forth the policies that the PHA uses in its Section 8 program,130 while the ACOP sets forth the policies that are used in the public housing program.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 8.4 Annual MTW Plan and Report

Moving To Work (MTW) public housing authorities have different reporting requirements than non-MTW agencies.135 A PHA’s Annual Plan is replaced by the Annual MTW Plan. MTW PHAs have an agreement with HUD that outlines the general terms of participation in the demonstration program (the Standard Agreement).136 Attachment B of the Standard Agreement with HUD, Form MTW 50900, lists the required elements for the Annual MTW Plan.137

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 3.2.2.1 Overview

Some PHAs and owners of HUD-assisted properties have attempted to restrict the kinds and numbers of guests that a tenant may have or to prohibit certain non-residents from being present. These policies include management requirements for prior approval of, or other restrictions on, overnight guests, and policies prohibiting tenants from having certain individuals as guests or invitees.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 9.2.2 Resident Notice and Comment

What is Notice and Comment? The notice-and-comment process requires PHAs to provide public housing residents notice of a PHA’s contemplated action and an opportunity for the residents to comment on the proposed action. However, depending on the type of action considered by the PHA, the form of the notice and comment can vary. For example, some rules require a specific notice period and others specifically mandate the PHA to consider the comments.11

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 9.2.3 Resident Councils

PHAs should encourage the formation of resident councils by informing tenants of the benefits of having resident organizations. The benefits of having a duly-elected resident council include the role that resident councils play in selecting members to the Resident Advisory Board (RAB), the possibility that the PHA will make a unit available for tenant participation activities, and the role that resident organizations have in deciding how to use the funds collected from allocating $25 per occupied unit per year.25

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 9.2.4 Funding and In-Kind Support for Resident Participation

The Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act provides that an eligible use of operating subsidy funds for public housing includes the cost of tenant management and tenant participation in management and policy making.67 PHAs that receive operating subsidies are required to expend, at a minimum, $25 per occupied unit each year for resident participation activities.68 HUD makes these funds available to PHAs as an add-on expense to the federal operating subsidies.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 9.5.2 Resident Notice and Comment

When the Requirements Apply. The notice-and-comment regulation applies to most of the privately owned, HUD-subsidized and assisted multifamily housing stock.129 Residents are entitled to notice and comment in several situations before project owners take any action adverse to them.130 The same statute that acknowledges the importance of resident participation and protects tenant organizations also requires that residents be given notice and an opportunity to comment

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 9.5.3 Resident Organizations

The tenant participation rule for multifamily housing projects represents an important milestone in recognizing fundamental tenant rights.140 The rule provides that tenants residing in properties covered by the regulations141 “have the right to establish and operate a tenant organization.”142 A legitimate tenant organization is defined as one that “meets regularly, operates democratically, is representative of all residents in the development

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 12.3.1 Overview

HUD provides both subsidized mortgages and rental assistance contracts to support affordable housing.337 Units can be lost from the remaining HUD-subsidized mortgage insurance programs for three primary reasons. Some units are threatened by owners’ proposed conversion to market-rate use, through a mortgage prepayment prior to the end of the restricted use period, or by the maturity of the mortgage.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 12.3.2.1 Introduction

Prepayment of the HUD-insured mortgage terminates the rent and occupancy restrictions contained in the regulatory agreement prior to the expiration of the full mortgage term. This could result in significant tenant rent increases. This section provides background on mortgage prepayments and briefly reviews the applicable laws and policies. The materials in the Appendix at the end of this chapter also provide additional resources regarding prepayment requests.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 12.3.2.2 Background

In the 1960s, beginning with the Section 221(d)(3) Below-Market Interest Rate (BMIR) and Section 236 interest subsidy programs, the federal government began utilizing private ownership as a way to substantially increase the supply of subsidized multifamily housing for lower-income families.340 The subsidy mechanism for this purpose was a federally guaranteed loan341 with a reduced or subsidized interest rate, which enabled housing to be provided at slightly below-market rents.