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Like other real estate businesses, you may be using ChatGPT, Bard, Bing, and other generative AI products, a.k.a. chatbots, for marketing purposes, such as developing advertising strategies, analyzing housing markets, and generating property listings, ads, social media posts, and other marketing content. Just recognize that for all their potential benefits, chatbots contain flaws that make them risky to use for marketing and advertising.
Remember to redact personally identifiable information (PII) when submitting or transmitting documents to contract administrators. It’s important to protect this information because owners and their employees are subject to penalties for unauthorized disclosure of applicant or resident information. In addition, applicants and residents may initiate civil action against an owner for unauthorized disclosure or improper use of the information they provided [HUD Handbook 4350.3, par. 5-19(B)(1)].
According to experts, controlling the spread of the pandemic demands finding the infected and isolating them until they can no longer spread the disease, alongside broader measures like social distancing. With an untold number of asymptomatic carriers, the only option to find out who truly has the virus is to test. As they reopen, many universities are requiring students to undergo a mandatory COVID-19 test upon their return to campus. With the increased attention given to testing, you may have considered requiring applicants to undergo a COVID-19 test as a condition of occupancy.
Sites receiving project-based Section 8, Section 202, or Section 811 assistance are allowed to require tenants to wear face coverings while at the site and/or treat a tenant’s failure to wear a face covering as a lease violation—as long as modifications to the lease or house rules have been made properly.
If a tenant waits some amount to time to report a decrease in income, after an income recertification, you must then retroactively apply any reduction in rent starting with the first day of the month after the date of the action that caused the decrease in income. So, for example, if a tenant lost her job on March 4, 2020, you would reflect this change in income starting with the first day of the following month, which would be April 1, 2020.
While the country is still dealing with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s Atlantic hurricane season is currently on pace to match the number of named storms during the historic 2005 hurricane season, which was the most active hurricane season on record. Hurricane season brings extreme events and creates conditions that spread disease and viruses.
The CARES Act created a federal moratorium on evictions of tenants for most federal housing programs. The moratorium took effect on March 27 and extends until July 25, 2020. According to the provisions of the act, it’s unlawful to “charge fees, penalties, or other charges to the tenant related to the nonpayment of rent” [Section 4024(b)(2)].
As the pandemic continues, Internet connectivity for information and services has become increasingly important. From virtual doctor’ visits to virtual learning as schools delay openings, these critical services have underscored the importance of Internet connectivity during this time. But, despite progress in expanding Internet connectivity in the U.S., a report from the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) finds that approximately 21.3 million Americans live in “digital deserts” and still lack access to fixed broadband service at threshold speed.
Showing that residents committed a substantial or material lease violation isn’t enough to evict them from federally assisted housing. You must also furnish a proper lease pre-termination notice letting residents know exactly what they did wrong. If the notice isn’t clear and specific enough, it will be deemed defective. And if the notice is defective, you won’t be able to evict the residents no matter what violations they committed.
In this month’s feature, The Risk of the Incomplete Lease, we told you what documents HUD requires you to attach to your leases. But can you make other modifications to a HUD model lease?
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