We'll review the best practices for operating a housing site during a public health crisis.

Whether or not cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in your area, you should review your site’s emergency response plans and update them accordingly as a precaution. Your efforts may not only reduce the spread of the disease, but can help you maintain site operations and minimize disruptions caused by staff absences.

Tenant fraud occurs when an applicant or household member deliberately provides false or misleading information or omits key facts to obtain or increase the amount of assistance provided, and then signs or declares that the lies or omissions are true.

Leases that don't have the required attachments will raise red flags for auditors.

HUD expects owners to enforce program requirements set forth in the HUD Handbook and the HUD model lease. In fact, HUD requires owners to investigate and research discrepancies and possible errors to promote income and rent integrity [HUD Handbook 4350.3, par. 8-18(A)]. Likewise, HUD expects residents to comply with the program requirements as established in the lease, such as timely reporting of changes in family income or other factors that affect the calculation of t...

Recently, HUD’s focus has been directed to certain websites that may be selling assistance animal verifications. HUD Secretary Ben Carson has written to Chairman of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Joseph J. Simons and Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection Andrew Smith requesting that the FTC investigate these websites.

In the fall, as the heat of summer diminishes, site managers typically experience an increase in pest complaints from residents as outdoor pests move indoors seeking warmth. Site managers also find an increase in bedbug sightings, despite the fact that bedbugs are indoor pests that are rarely found outside. While other pests are trying to get into your home to get away from the cold, bedbugs are already inside. But bedbugs are hitchhikers.

When you certify or recertify households, some members may tell you that they’re getting disability payments through a short-term or long-term disability insurance plan. These payments replace part of the wages household members lose when they can’t work due to illness or injury. The household member may be getting short-term disability payments for a limited amount of time through a private insurance company or statewide insurance fund.

A consistent stream of hacks and large-scale corporate data breaches in the news have heightened the public’s awareness and sensitivity towards privacy issues. Most recently, a major bank broke news of a data breach that affected approximately 100 million customers in the U.S. and another 6 million in Canada. While data breaches of banks and large corporations generate the most news headlines, HUD has had its own problems with the data security of public housing r...

HUD’s Office of Asset Management and Portfolio Oversight (OAMPO) recently issued a memo for multifamily regional directors, satellite office directors, performance-based contract administrators, and multifamily owners and management agents. The memo clarifies owners’ responsibilities to notify residents in advance of physical inspections and to make final inspection documents available for review and comment. The memo also encourages collaborative implementa...

A housing assistance payments (HAP) contract is a contract between HUD and an owner to provide rental assistance for low-income residents. The rental assistance supplements what the resident pays for rent, which is usually 30 percent of the resident’s income.