HUD to Fight PBCA Lawsuit Loss

After the 2011 notice of funding availability (NOFA) to solicit bids for performance-based contract administrator (PBCA) contracts was completed, several PBCAs sued HUD, claiming that the NOFA wasn’t an appropriate method for awarding PBCA contracts. PBCAs administer Section 8 HAP contracts for HUD. And PBCAs in the contested 42 states and territories are continuing to operate (without conducting Management and Occupancy Reviews) under a series of three-month extensions that’s expected to last until awards can be made.

The latest update on the legal skirmish occurred on March 25, 2014, when the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled in favor of the PBCAs, ruling that HUD didn’t comply with federal procurement laws. This decision reverses a prior decision of the Court of Federal Claims.

On April 2, 2014, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, in his testimony before the House Appropriations Subcommittee for Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, announced that HUD will not concede. He stated that he believes the NOFA is legal and appropriate, as the Court of Federal Claims upheld prior to HUD’s loss on appeal. Secretary Donovan noted that HUD has been working toward more efficient contracting in past years and that HUD’s budget contains language allowing the agency to award PBCA contracts through the NOFA process, which would save $100 million in the project-based Section 8 program next year.