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HUD recently announced a package of 19 regulatory and administrative waivers aimed at helping communities to accelerate their recovery from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. While HUD granted a number of individual waivers following disasters in the past, the recent announcement represents one of the largest collections of regulatory and administrative waivers ever issued by the Department at one time.
In a recent disaster recovery update call from HUD’s Office of Multifamily Housing Programs, HUD reported the numbers of HUD-assisted properties and units in disaster-affected areas in Texas, Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and California, as well as the number of on-site disaster assessments that have been completed in Texas, Florida, and California as of Oct. 31. Here are the provided numbers regarding properties in the affected areas:
The House Financial Services Committee recently held an oversight hearing to discuss current HUD activities and programming with HUD Secretary Ben Carson. He defended the Trump administration’s proposed cuts to HUD’s budget. He emphasized that the HUD budget is based on evidence and that he wants to ensure that HUD’s efforts lead people out of poverty. Carson referenced private-public partnerships like the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) and the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) as keys to increasing the availability of affordable homes.
In a recent conference call to give updates on hurricane recovery efforts, HUD stated that in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, it will begin withholding rental assistance (Section 8) for units without electricity. According to HUD, sites without electricity do not meet the agency's requirements for decent, safe, and sanitary housing.
HUD is also requesting information on any vacancies in Florida properties that could provide housing for assisted families relocating from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
HUD is seeking approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for the information collection regarding PHAs’ applicable jurisdictions, also known as service areas, in which they are authorized to operate under state and local law.
HUD has awarded the East Chicago Housing Authority (ECHA) in East Chicago, Ind., $4 million for demolition of the West Calumet public housing complex. HUD has also finalized approval of the demolition plan by ECHA of the complex.
HUD is returning the East St. Louis Housing Authority (ESLHA) to local control after more than 30 years of federal receivership. The agreement marks the end of the first and longest federal receivership of a local housing agency.
Robert Hunter Kurtz has been nominated to serve as Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing at HUD. Mr. Kurtz currently serves as Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Programs at HUD in the Office of the Secretary and previously held several other positions in the department during the George W. Bush Administration. More recently he served as Deputy Director of the Department of Housing and Revitalization for the City of Detroit. Mr. Kurtz received his degree in government from Hamilton College.
HUD recently released its biannual Worst Case Housing Needs Report to Congress. It finds that the number of very poor unsubsidized families struggling to pay their monthly rent and who may also be living in substandard housing increased between 2013 and 2015. HUD reports that in 2015, 8.3 million very low-income unassisted families paid more than half their monthly income for rent, lived in severely substandard housing, or both.
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