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HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 13.2.4 Parties Whom VAWA Protects

VAWA protects any individual who is or has been a survivor of actual or threatened VAWA crimes, and is living in, or seeking admission to, any of the covered housing programs.25

VAWA also protects a VAWA crime victim’s “affiliated individual,” defined as a spouse, parent, sibling or child of that victim; an individual to whom the victim stands in loco parentis; or an individual, tenant, or lawful occupant in the victim’s household.26

Truth in Lending: 3.7.8 Assignment Fee or Discount

Creditors (particularly sellers of future services, such as health spas) will frequently sell their consumer credit paper to other parties, such as finance companies, at a deep discount; that is, the creditor will assign the consumer’s obligation for less than the face value of the obligation. For example, if the amount financed for a health spa contract were $400, the finance company may pay the health spa only $300, thereby in effect charging the health spa $100 as a condition of purchasing the contract.

Truth in Lending: 3.7.9 Credit Insurance—Unless Excluded

Credit insurance premiums are, in the first instance, explicitly characterized as part of the finance charge.445 However, they are also the subject of one of the exclusionary rules.446 Because the exception has virtually swallowed the rule, credit insurance is discussed in detail in connection with the exclusions at § 3.9.4, infr

Truth in Lending: 3.7.10 Debt Cancellation Coverage; GAP Insurance

Debt cancellation agreements (DCAs) are contracts that generally serve the same purpose as credit insurance, but they are contracts directly between the creditor and the borrower to cancel the debt in case of a specified event.447 (Thus, they cut out the middle-man insurer.448) Included in the definition, for TILA purposes, are GAP (guaranteed automobile protection) agreements, or GAP insurance, which cancels any loan deficiency that may remain if property insurance on collateral is insuffic

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 5.1 Introduction

To keep subsidized housing affordable for low-income households, federal law for most federally assisted housing programs limits tenants’ rent contributions.1 The tenant rent contribution in these programs includes both shelter and the costs for a reasonable amount of utilities.2 Where utilities are tenant-paid, a tenant is entitled to a “utility allowance” to cover reasonable utility costs.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 5.2.1 Introduction

Federally subsidized tenants receive utility allowances if they pay for at least some portion of their utilities. The type of metering system used in a tenant’s building affects whether or not the tenant pays for some or all of the utilities. This section reviews how the different metering systems operate and interact with utility allowance procedures.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 13.2.5 “Core” Protections

VAWA prohibits otherwise qualified tenants and applicants from being denied or terminated from housing assistance, or from being denied admission or evicted from, a covered housing program on the basis that the tenant or applicant is or has been the survivor of a VAWA crime.33 The HUD VAWA Rule refers to these general anti-discrimination protections as the “core” protections as they apply to all HUD programs covered by VAWA.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 13.2.7 Remedies under VAWA

VAWA includes several potential avenues for survivors of VAWA crimes to pursue, outlined in this section, which generally allow the survivor to remain in federally assisted housing while taking actions to ensure safety—such as requesting an emergency transfer to a safe unit, or requesting to bifurcate the lease to remove the abuser. However, in practice, the extent to which these avenues are successfully utilized by survivors depends on a number of factors, including (and especially) the actions taken by the covered housing provider.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 13.3.1 Overview

Reasonable accommodations can be a powerful tool for ensuring that people with disabilities can fully access housing. Because requesting and granting an accommodation is extremely fact-specific, this section provides a basic overview of the analysis and some examples of reasonable accommodations in the context of federally assisted housing.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 13.3.2 Federal Definition of Disability

For purposes of federal civil rights laws, a person with a disability176 is any person who: 1) has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities;177 2) has a record of such impairment; or 3) is regarded as having such an impairment.178 In addition, the Fair Housing Act exempts from its coverage current users of illegal drugs179 and persons who pose a direc

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 13.3.4 Common Issues Arising in Federally Subsidized Housing

Many of the reasonable accommodation issues for people living in privately owned housing and federally assisted housing overlap. Recipients of federal financial assistance, however, must abide by additional obligations under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504)216 that are not imposed on housing providers solely covered by the FHAA.217 Throughout this manual, there are references to a tenant’s right to reasonable accommodations in federally subsidized housing.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 13.4 Language Access Rights for Individuals with Limited English Proficiency

An increasing number of people nationwide are limited English proficient (LEP), including individuals who live in or are trying to access federally subsidized housing programs. A limited or lack of an ability to communicate in English can create significant barriers to accessing important benefits or services, understanding and exercising vital rights, complying with accompanying responsibilities, and understanding other essential information. These barriers can lead to denial of admission or to eviction.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 5.2.2 Retail-Metered Utilities

In a “retail-metered” building, each household has a separate account with the utility company and pays its utility bills directly to the utility company. Tenants residing in retail-metered units should be provided with a utility allowance in terms of a dollar amount applied as an offset against the tenant’s share of rent.5 This offset will generally reduce the amount of the tenant’s share of rent or, if the utility allowance exceeds the tenant’s share of rent, result in a reimbursement of the difference to the tenant.