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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 agencies, including 20 state housing finance agencies.
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?
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 disabilities, many of whom hoping to transition out of institutional settings back to the community.
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 would require HUD to reallocate unspent funds annually rather than twice a year.
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.
Q: A site cannot be liable for housing discrimination based on sexual orientation unless the applicant or resident is gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. True or false?
One in four nonsmokers—58 million people—are still exposed to the dangerous chemicals in secondhand smoke, even though cigarette-smoking rates have dropped and smoking in public places has been banned in many states, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Although HUD has given wide discretion to public housing authorities and federally subsidized project owners to admit low-income tenants with criminal records, many continue to deny these individuals, according to a new report by the Shriver Center. Overly restrictive policies against people with criminal records can violate civil rights laws, increase homelessness, and otherwise impede a person's chance to reintegrate into society.
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