HUD

The Senate Banking Committee held a hearing on June 9 entitled Oversight of Housing Regulators. The witnesses included HUD Secretary Benjamin Carson and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark Calabria.

The HUD Office of Inspector General (OIG) published a report evaluating HUD’s use of agency-wide telework in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. They found telework severely impeded business processes dependent on paper records or facility access; bandwidth constraints with the HUD information technology (IT) infrastructure and the lack of government-furnished equipment for some employees disrupted HUD operations; and respondents reported HUD was generally well-prepared for mandatory telework.

HUD published a Federal Register notice adjusting the Annual Indexing of Basic Statutory Mortgage Limits for Multifamily Housing Programs. The percentage change in the consumer price index for all urban consumers (CPI-U) is 2.3 percent and the limits have an effective date of January 1, 2020.

HUD’s office of Policy Development and Research published a NOFA to study the “Impact of RAD on Children in HUD Assisted Households.” The NOFA makes $750,000 in funding available to be split among one or two potential awardees. The objective is to support research project(s) that will produce policy-relevant evidence on the implementation of the RAD program and its effect on children’s well-being

HUD published a 60-day notice of proposed information collection on the evaluation of the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program’s choice mobility option and long-term affordability. Congress requested and HUD provided two previous evaluations of RAD and the 2018 budget legislation that extended and expanded RAD provided funds to conduct a follow-up evaluation. This notice provides an opportunity to comment on the information collection. Those

On Tuesday, House Democrats unveiled the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act (HEROES Act) and summary. While the House is expected to vote on the $3 trillion bill on Friday, it is unlikely to become law, at least not in its current form. The bill is largely a messaging document that lays the groundwork for negotiations with the Senate and Republicans.

On Tuesday the Senate voted 61-32 to confirm Brian Montgomery as HUD’s deputy secretary. In a hearing last week the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee advanced the nomination of Dana Wade to be the Assistant Secretary for Housing and Federal Housing Commissioner at HUD.

NH&RA sent a letter to HUD calling for guidance to PHAs on the distribution distributing of relief funds to mixed-finance properties as well as traditional public housing properties.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and HUD launched an online resource on mortgage and housing assistance for renters and homeowners affected by COVID-19.

HUD announced the allocation of $380 million in supplemental administrative fee funding to all Public Housing Authorities (PHAs). HUD also allocated an additional $1 billion through its Community Development Block Grant.

Ginnie Mae issued a memo, which announces a new version of the existing Pass-Through Assistance Program (PTAP) for use by Multifamily Mortgage-backed Securities (MF MBS) Issuers facing a temporary liquidity shortfall directly attributable to COVID-19.

HUD published a final rule that allows public housing authorities (PHAs) and owners to conduct full income recertifications for families with 90 percent or more of their income from fixed-income every three years instead of annually. The final rule is effective as of June 8, 2020.