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HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 2.5.1 Introduction

Beyond basic eligibility and targeting requirements, PHAs and owners often screen applicants for suitability.451 Such screening often includes factors such as criminal history, eviction history, rent-paying history and credit history. For public housing and HUD-assisted and subsidized developments, PHAs and owners typically conduct significant screening in an effort to determine tenant suitability.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 2.5.2 Mitigating Circumstances, Reasonable Accommodation and Domestic Violence

Many applicants for housing will have histories that include information that may be considered adverse. Advocates should urge PHAs and owners to have a policy on how to respond to such adverse information. The policy should address how, when and under what circumstances mitigating factors will be considered. Mitigating factors should be discussed with respect to particular screening criteria, such as criminal history, rent-paying history, tenancy history, etc.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 2.5.3.1 Overview

Federal law requires PHAs and owners to reject applicants with certain criminal backgrounds.506 For public housing, the Voucher program and Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation housing, applicants that have been convicted of methamphetamine production must be denied admission.507 For these programs and for HUD-assisted and subsidized housing, a PHA or owner must exclude registered lifetime sex offenders508 and current users of illegal drugs.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 2.5.3.2 Previously Evicted for Drug-Related Activity

There is a mandatory three-year ban on admission for families if any member of the applicant household has been evicted from certain federally assisted housing for drug-related criminal activity.516 This ban is applicable to applicants for public housing, the Voucher program, project-based Section 8 and other federally subsidized housing.517 The ban covers evictions from this housing, as well as Section 202 and Section 811 housing, and housing financed by the Rural Housing Service under Sections

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 2.5.3.3 Methamphetamine Production

If any member of an applicant household has ever been convicted for manufacturing or producing methamphetamine on the premises of any public housing, Voucher housing or federally assisted and subsidized housing, a PHA must permanently deny the household admission to public housing, the Voucher program and the Section 8 moderate rehabilitation program.527 This ban does not apply to applicants for other federally assisted housing.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 2.5.3.4 Current Users of Illegal Drugs

PHAs and owners must establish admission standards that prohibit the admission of applicants if any member of the household is “currently engaging in” the illegal use of a drug, or if there is cause to believe that a household member’s illegal use or pattern of illegal use may interfere with the health, safety or the right to peaceful enjoyment of the premises by other tenants.528 For discussion of the term “currently engaging in,” see infra

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 2.5.3.5 Registered Sex Offender

PHAs and owners of federally assisted and subsidized housing must deny admission to a family if any member of the household is subject to a lifetime registration requirement under a state sex offender registration program.549 An applicant must meet all the elements of the definition before he is permanently excluded. For example, because not all sex offenders required to register are subject to a lifetime registration requirement, they are not subject to permanent exclusion.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 2.5.3.7 Access to Criminal Records and Information from Drug Treatment Programs

Criminal Records. PHAs may obtain criminal records from the National Crime Information Center, police departments, and other law enforcement agencies for the purpose of applicant screening, lease enforcement and eviction.592 Such records may be obtained for not only public housing but also Project- and Tenant-Based Section 8 housing.593 The statute limits the release of juvenile records to a PHA to the extent allowed by state law.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 2.5.3.8 Use of Arrest and Other Criminal Records

In 2015, HUD PIH and Housing Offices issued identical notices and an accompanying set of FAQs providing guidance to PHAs and owners of federally assisted housing on the use of arrest records in making housing decisions.619 Specifically, the notices and FAQs state that arrests records alone cannot be the basis for denying admission, terminating assistance, or evicting tenants.620 HUD explains that arrest records are often inaccurate or incomplete such that relying on arrests not resulting in a co

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 2.5.4 Abuse of Alcohol

PHAs and owners must adopt standards that prohibit admission if a household member’s abuse or pattern of abuse of alcohol will interfere with the health, safety or right to peaceful enjoyment of the premises by other residents.631 To implement this provision, PHAs should consider what constitutes alcohol abuse.632 As with any applicant, an alcoholic may be rejected if they cannot meet the obligations of tenancy.633 An individual also may be denied

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 2.5.7 Poor Credit History

PHAs and owners often review an applicant’s credit history because they believe that it indicates the applicant’s ability to pay rent.662 However, credit history should not be controlling if the rent history is good.663 A good rent-paying history should mitigate a poor credit history because it demonstrates that whatever financial difficulties might arise, the applicant pays the rent.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 2.5.8 Prior Debt Owing to PHA and Prior Termination

Prior Debt. PHAs often will reject an applicant because of a prior debt owing to the PHA. The Voucher regulations provide that a PHA may deny admission to its Voucher program for a debt currently owed to it or to any other PHA.670 Most prior debt allegations for Voucher applicants are related to a PHA’s claim that the family failed to pay rent, repairs, or other charges when the applicant resided in public housing.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 2.5.9 Screening Additions to the Household

PHAs and project owners should have a policy for accepting or rejecting additions to the household. Not all elements of the standard admission criteria should apply. Any criteria developed by the PHA or owner may consider the health and safety of other tenants and management staff and the safety and habitability of the development. As with all applicants, the project owner should be concerned with whether past behavior of the new family member is a reasonable indicator of how the individual will perform in the future.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 2.6.1 Introduction

HUD provides some guidance to PHAs and owners regarding the number of individuals who should be permitted to occupy a unit. These guidelines are directed at avoiding overcrowding, underutilization, over-subsidization and complying with civil rights laws.687 The rules include a determination of the number of family members, who may share a bedroom, who may not be required to share a bedroom and how a bedroom/living area is counted. The determination of family size is similar for all the programs.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 2.6.3 Occupancy Standards

For public housing and HUD-assisted and subsidized units, PHAs and owners must develop written occupancy standards. These standards must take into account unit size, bedroom size, number of bedrooms, household size, ages of household members, and other issues, and must comply with civil rights requirements.694 In general the HUD standard is that no more than two persons may be required to occupy a bedroom.695

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 2.6.4 Unit Size and Voucher Program

For the Voucher program, the PHA establishes a local policy regarding the relationship between family size and unit size.711 In establishing policies for unit size, PHAs must balance limiting the expenditure of subsidies needed to house a family while avoiding overcrowding.712 Further, policies should not prevent families of a particular size or configuration from finding units and landlords willing to rent at amounts generally within the payment standard.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 2.7.1 Introduction

The Voucher program presents unique issues because both PHAs and landlords play a role in the admission process. PHAs determine income and immigration status eligibility, while both PHAs and landlords may screen for tenant suitability. In addition, units must pass inspection, and the PHA must determine whether the rent for the unit is reasonable. Certain units are excluded from the Voucher program because of unit type or ownership.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 2.7.2 Screening

For the Voucher program, PHAs may, but are not required to, conduct screening of applicants for family behavior or suitability.742 As with screening for all the programs, a distinction is made between a PHA’s mandatory and discretionary grounds for denial of assistance. PHAs have a duty to prohibit admission of families with members who have engaged in certain criminal behavior.