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On Jan. 9, Rep. Al Green (D-TX) introduced two bills aimed to address homelessness among low-income veterans and their families. According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, on any given night in the United States, 49,933 veterans experience homelessness. Additionally, approximately 12 percent of the homeless adult population are veterans.
Representatives Earl Perlmutter (D-OR) and Steve Stivers (R-OH) recently reintroduced H.R. 233, Tenant Income Verification Relief Act of 2015. It amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 with respect to annual review of low-income families' income for eligibility requirements for certain federal assisted housing programs.
HUD’s Housing Notice 2014-15 established a new Passbook Savings Rate of 0.06 percent effective Feb. 1, 2015, which supersedes the rate published in paragraph 5-7(F) of HUD Handbook 4350.3. To comply with the requirements of the notice, owners are required to use the new Passbook Savings Rate of 0.06 percent for all certifications effective Feb. 1, 2015, and later. If owners have already completed a certification to be effective on Feb. 1, 2015, or later, the certification will need to be corrected using the 0.06 percent rate.
Q: Since many states began passing laws allowing the use of marijuana for medical purposes, you must allow residents who have a prescription for medical marijuana to use it as a reasonable accommodation for a disability. True or false?
Recently, U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter (CO-07) and Rep. Steve Stivers (OH-15) introduced H.R. 5776, the Tenant Income Verification Relief Act, to allow tenants on a fixed income to have their income certified and/or verified once every three years rather than annually. The legislation also calls for the HUD secretary to define the term “fixed income,” which has generally included Social Security or Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
On Dec. 13, the Senate passed by a vote of 56 to 40 the FY 2015 omnibus appropriations bill, H.R. 83. The House approved the same bill on Dec. 11, 219 to 206. The President is expected to sign the bill soon.
HUD and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently announced that they will partner to provide resources to help nearly 2,000 homeless veterans find and sustain permanent housing. The two agencies will be providing help for homeless veterans through the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program, combining HUD's rental assistance with the VA's case management and clinical services. In October 2013, the agencies awarded a combined $62 million in the form of HUD-VASH vouchers to 9,000 homeless veterans.
On Nov. 10, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) released a report showing that rental assistance has been central to efforts to reduce homelessness among veterans, who have made considerable progress in recent years. According to the report, more than 340,000 veterans received rental assistance as of March 2014. And between 2010 and 2014, veteran homelessness fell by 33 percent, which the CBPP says can be attributed in part to the steady increase in the number of housing vouchers dedicated to veterans since 2008.
On Nov. 7, 2014, HUD issued a new passbook savings rate of 0.06 percent to be effective Feb. 1, 2015. The following week, on Nov. 14, HUD issued a RHIIP Listserv that gave additional details regarding the Feb. 1, 2015, effective date.
HUD recently announced that it had settled a disability discrimination case against the owner and manager of a 500-unit site in Illinois. The resolution required the owner to pay $255,000 to settle claims that it violated the fair housing laws by failing to meet the needs of individuals with disabilities and then by retaliating against a resident with a disability because the resident requested a reasonable accommodation.
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