Dealing with Households

RSS

On March 11, 2021, President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 into law. The $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, which passed in the U.S. Senate by a narrow 50-49 vote on March 6 and in the U.S. House of Representatives by a 220-211 vote on March 10, signifies the Biden administration's first legislative achievement with the Democratic majority in Congress to expand federal assistance to the American public.

New guidance lowers barriers to emergency rental relief.

On Feb. 22, the Department of the Treasury released an updated FAQ to help states and communities quickly distribute more than $25 billion in emergency rental assistance to renters financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The $25 billion for the Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program was provided for late last year by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. 

High-speed Internet at home has become essential for school, work, and many other areas of life during the pandemic. Some of your households may be struggling to afford an Internet connection. In an April Pew Research survey of American parents with children attending school remotely, 36 percent of low-income respondents said it was somewhat likely their children wouldn’t be able to finish schoolwork because they lacked an Internet connection at home.

Occasionally, after the death of a resident or head of household, a remaining family member will claim succession rights to the subsidized apartment. According to HUD, a remaining household member is one in which the individual is of legal contract age under state law and was a party to the lease at the time the tenant died [HUD Handbook, par. 3-16(B)(1-2)]. Section 202 and 811 sites have additional succession requirements. For these sites, managers should refer to HUD Handbook 4350.3, paragraph 3-16(B)(3).

Even residents who don’t file tax returns can still receive their economic impact payments. As a result of the hardships presented by the coronavirus, economic impact payments are still being issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). While most people have received their payment automatically, some non-filing residents need to take action and submit their information to the IRS. These residents don’t typically have a tax return filing requirement because they have very low incomes. But many in this group are still eligible to receive an economic impact payment.

On April 24, HUD published a resource addressing tenant rent concerns during the temporary COVID-19 evictions ban. The brochure applies to assisted and insured housing programs administered by HUD’s Office of MFH Programs. The brochure doesn’t apply to participants in the Public Housing program; it also doesn’t apply to the Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation program or the Housing Choice Voucher program, except in multifamily housing properties with FHA-insured mortgages.

HUD’s Section 202 program is focused on expanding the supply of affordable housing with supportive services for the elderly. Occupancy in Section 202 housing is open to any very low-income household comprised of at least one person who is at least 62 years old at the time of initial occupancy. And it provides very low-income elderly with options that allow them to live independently but in an environment that provides support activities such as cleaning, cooking, and transportation.

Your site may have a few households that occupy a disproportionate amount of your time. These households may make trouble or may invite troublesome guests onto the site. As a result, tensions could escalate between residents or noisy arguments may erupt or other harassing behavior such as loud music may disrupt the site’s peace and quiet. If you, as the site manager or owner, don’t take action to deal with difficult households or their guests, your site could drive away other households and you could be violating responsibilities to your residents imposed by their lease.

The Trump administration has long signaled through its budget proposals that it aims to raise the bar for federal assistance, in large part through expanding work requirements. HUD recently released legislative text proposing sweeping HUD rent reforms. Entitled the “Making Affordable Housing Work Act of 2018,” its proposals include rent increases on certain households and the ability for local housing authorities and owners to impose work requirements.

When you hire an attorney to evict a resident from your assisted site for violating the lease, you want to have the eviction handled as quickly and efficiently as possible. But the process may be unnecessarily hindered if you fail to give the attorney all the documents and information she needs for a speedy eviction.