HUD

HUD has issued a new notice establishing policies and procedures for the administration of the tenant-based Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) rental assistance under the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program administered by public housing agencies (PHAs) that partner with local Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical facilities.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking Housing and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development will hold a hearing on the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative entitled “The Choice Neighborhoods Initiative: A New Community Development Model” on Tuesday, March 27, 2012.

HUD will host two webcasts on Tuesday, March 27 to go over programs to assist with elderly housing.

HUD released an updated Multifamily Accelerated Processing (MAP) Guidebook on November 23, 2011 that includes revisions and updates to the original guidebook that was published August 22, 2011.

Shaun Donovan, Secretary of HUD, and Carol Galante, the Acting FHA Commissioner of HUD, recently issued a memo urging owners of HUD-assisted properties to develop policies and procedures that allow ex-offenders to reunite with families that currently reside at their properties.

HUD has announced Mark B. Van Kirk as the new Director of the Office of Asset Management.

On March 6, 2012, the House Financial Services Committee held a markup on its Views and Estimates of President Obama’s fiscal year 2013 budget.

The Ohio Housing Finance Agency’s (OHFA) recently announced the launch of a collaborative study with USDA RD, HUD and The Ohio State University’s College of Public Health to examine the impact of a proposed policy change to reduce the frequency of physical inspections for affordable housing units receiving multiple funding sources.

HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research is conducting a comprehensive study of the housing needs of Native Americans, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians, and recently announced the latest updates to the study.

HUD has published its quarterly notice of all regulatory waivers that the Department has approved for the Office of Community Planning and Development, the Office of Housing ““ Federal Housing Administration (FHA), and the Office of Public and Indian Housing.

The latest issue of HUD’s Evidence Matters: Transforming Knowledge into Housing and Community Development Policy (Winter 2012) examines how local capacity, leadership, and community connections can help regions avoid or recover from stresses, and how the federal Strong Cities, Strong Communities initiative is fostering capacity-building in some of the nation’s hardest hit areas.

HUD recently released Notice PIH-2012-18 to provide program instructions for the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD or Demonstration), including eligibility and selection criteria, and to solicit public comment on these instructions. RAD was authorized in the 2012 HUD appropriations bill, H.R. 2112. Although the Act specifies that HUD provide an opportunity for public comment only on draft eligibility and selection criteria / procedures that will apply to the selection of properties, HUD has decided to seek public comment on all program requirements.