HUD and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently issued a Notice of Final Determination that establishes minimum energy standards that newly constructed housing units must meet to be eligible for insurance through various HUD and USDA programs. The two agencies have adopted the 2009 edition of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) for single-family homes and the 2007 edition of the American Society of ...

In an effort to address emergency, safety, and security needs, HUD recently awarded grants to 29 public housing authorities to help fight crime and drug activities at their sites. The grants originated from HUD's Capital Fund Emergency Safety and Security Program. This program supports public housing authorities as they address safety and security threats that pose a risk to the health and safety of public housing resid...

The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) is the largest public housing authority in North America. In spite of many problems, it is still considered to be the most successful big-city public housing authority in the country. Whereas most large public housing authorities in the United States have demolished their high-rise projects and in most cases replaced them with lower scale housing, New York's continue to be ful...

A former manager and a consultant of the Massachusetts-based Chelsea Housing Authority have been found guilty of conspiring to defraud the government by rigging biennial federal inspections of apartments to make sure the housing agency received a high performance rating. The convictions are the latest from the 2011 scandal that mired the Chelsea Housing Authority and forced the former board to resign.

HUD recently announced the recipients of approximately $34 million in Housing Counseling program grants for fiscal year (FY) 2015. The awards given out this year represent the second phase of HUD’s two-year Comprehensive Housing Counseling Grant Program Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA), which was published in March 2014, and covered FYs 2014 and 2015. The funding will go to 270 different housing counseling agenci...

The U.S. Supreme Court recently refused to hear a challenge brought by HUD to a federal appeals court decision requiring the agency to use contracts rather than grants to fund its administration of Section 8 public housing projects. Without offering a specific explanation, the Supreme Court justices implicitly rejected HUD’s argument that the Federal Circuit’s decision would impair its Section 8 housing program....

Q: A resident has lost his job, and you are delaying the household’s interim recertification until the resident’s unemployment claim has been completed and the new income is known. During the delay, the household stops paying rent. Can you start the eviction process?

A: No. During the delay, you can neither:

To help prevent thousands of individuals with disabilities from being unnecessarily institutionalized or possibly falling into homelessness, HUD recently announced it is awarding $150 million in rental assistance to 25 state housing agencies. In turn, the state agencies will provide permanent affordable rental housing and needed supportive services to nearly 4,600 households who are extremely low-income persons with disabil...

Representative Scott Peters (D-CA) recently introduced the “Housing Assistance Efficiency Act,” H.R. 1047, which would allow private nonprofit organizations to administer permanent rental assistance through the Continuum of Care Program under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. Under current law, only public housing agencies and state and local governments may administer this assistance. The bill also wo...

HUD recently announced it will take the next step toward an exploratory grant program to assist low-income victims of domestic violence living with HIV/AIDS. HUD released a notice of intent to fund demonstration projects focused on helping this population. HUD shared the announcement at a White House event to commemorate National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.