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HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 2.7.6 Voucher Success Rates

The Voucher “success rate” measures how well a PHA’s program is actually working for families seeking housing with their Vouchers.771 The Voucher success rate is determined by comparing the number of families that actually lease a unit (the same numerator as the Voucher utilization rate) with the number of Vouchers issued by the PHA over the relevant time period. In other words, if 100 Vouchers are issued and 60 families find a unit, the success rate is 60 percent.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 2.8.1 Overview

PHAs and owners must follow certain procedures when establishing an admission policy and selecting applicants. Failure to establish and follow accessible and clear procedures increases the likelihood of favoritism, partiality, secretiveness and arbitrariness that deprive applicants of a fair opportunity to gain admission to HUD-assisted housing. For example, PHAs that switch to online-only registration and admission processes would restrict access for individuals with disabilities, a large percentage of which lack internet access, and likely violate civil rights laws.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 2.8.4 Notice of Acceptance

Applicants for any HUD-assisted housing are entitled to a notice of acceptance or rejection. If the applicant is accepted and a unit of appropriate size is available,817 the applicant should be offered the unit. If there is no available unit, the applicant is placed on a waiting list, sometimes after an initial eligibility determination but before final screening.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 2.8.5 Opportunity to Provide Additional Contact Information

PHAs and owners are required to give applicants the option to provide information on an individual or organization that may be contacted to assist in providing services or special care to applicants who become tenants and to assist in resolving tenancy issues.823 HUD fForm 92006 allows applicants to submit contact information for one or more persons or organizations, as well as the reason each person or organization may be contacted.824 Housing providers cannot require tenants who have not provi

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 2.8.6.1 Overview

PHAs and owners are required to maintain waiting lists, because the demand for affordable housing far exceeds the supply.825 Managing the waiting list can be complex because there are many factors to consider. For the applicant, the waiting list can be a source of frustration because of its length and because an applicant’s progress is hard to monitor.826

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 2.8.6.3 Opening the Waiting List for Selected Purposes

HUD allows PHAs to open the waiting list or to continue to receive applications for certain categories of applicants.864 Such a policy may be necessary to achieve the federally required purposes of the programs, such as to achieve the income targeting requirements or to meet local preferences, such as a preference for homeless applicants or families subject to code enforcement action.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 2.8.6.4 Types and Number of Waiting Lists

Each PHA may have a number of waiting lists. The lists may be organized by development, by community, by unit size, etc. Also, each PHA may have separate lists for public housing and the Voucher program. Within any jurisdiction, there is no central place to apply for all the affordable low-income housing in the area. Applicants therefore must apply to each PHA serving the rental market and each HUD-assisted and subsidized owner.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 2.8.8.1 Overview

All applicants for public housing, the Voucher program and HUD-assisted and subsidized housing are entitled by regulation894 or due process895 to a review if they are rejected, removed from the waiting list, denied a preference or treated adversely under the non-citizen rule. The nature of the review varies for each program. In general, it includes the right to be heard, to present evidence, to be represented and to receive a written decision with reasons based on the evidence in the record.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 2.8.8.2 Public Housing

Applicants rejected for public housing are entitled to an “informal hearing.”900 While the regulations do not discuss the elements of that hearing, several courts have.901 These courts have determined that at the hearing, the applicant must have a reasonable opportunity to prepare a rebuttal and be able to contest meaningfully the basis for the unfavorable decision.902 At the hearing, no stenographic record is required, but that should not prevent

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 2.8.8.3 Voucher Program

In the Voucher program, HUD regulations establish different procedures to review the PHA’s determination, depending upon whether the person is classified as an “applicant” or a “participant.” According to HUD, “participants” are families that have been admitted to the PHA’s program, and the PHA has executed the first Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) contract with an owner on their behalf.913 All others are applicants.914 Thus, under HUD’s definition, people who apply for a Voucher, are on the w

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 2.8.8.4 HUD-Assisted and Subsidized Housing

In addition to any procedures that may be required by due process,926 HUD-assisted and subsidized owners must inform any rejected applicant of the opportunity to respond in writing or to request a meeting.927 The meeting must be conducted by a member of the owner’s staff who did not make the original rejection decision.928 Unlike the public housing or the Voucher program, there are no guidelines describing how this review should be conducted, which

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 10.1 Introduction

The various administrative procedures available under the major HUD housing programs, including the public housing grievance procedure, the informal hearing for Voucher participants, the meetings sometimes required with the owner or manager of HUD-assisted and subsidized housing, and the hearings for determining eligibility of non-citizens, may have great value for tenants.

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 10.2.1.1 Overview

This section discusses both the legal framework and issues related to implementation of the public housing grievance procedure, including: (1) a brief historical development of the grievance procedure; (2) the scope of the grievance process; (3) the exceptions to the grievance process; (4) the grievance process itself; (5) post-hearing options for public housing residents; and (6) issues concerning negotiating and implementing grievance procedures. HUD guidance also contains a sample grievance procedure.7

HUD Housing Programs: Tenants’ Rights (The Green Book): 10.2.1.3 General Purpose

The grievance procedure is designed to improve management–tenant relationships in public housing and promote an improved housing environment, and to avoid costly and divisive litigation by channeling disputes into an informal and relatively non-adversarial administrative process that provides aggrieved tenants with most of the essential elements of due process.14 At a minimum, the procedure must enable tenants to mitigate the damage suffered from mistakes or from arbitrary or abusive management practices.