In May, a smokers’ rights organization filed an appeal in the latest in a line of court decisions rejecting constitutional challenges to HUD’s regulation banning smoking in public housing.

HUD’s Smoke-Free Rule bans the use of all lit tobacco products, including cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and waterpipes (but not electronic cigarettes). The ban applies to all public housing units and interior areas, as well as outdoor areas within 25 feet of publi...

On June 5, HUD released Housing Notice 2020-06, Exclusion from Annual Income of Temporary Employment from the U.S. Census Bureau. With this notice, HUD intends to remind owners and managing agents that, pursuant to Section 24 CFR §5.609(c)(9), tenants who receive Section 8 benefits are to exclude from the calculation of annual income any temporary income payments received by those tenants from the U.S. Census Bureau. In other words, any temporary income received fr...

House Financial Services Chair Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Representative Denny Heck (D-WA) recently announced the introduction of the Emergency Rental Assistance and Rental Market Stabilization Act of 2020, which would create a $100 billion emergency rental assistance fund to ensure that lower-income households remain housed during the coronavirus pandemic. Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Ranking Member Sherrod Brown (D-OH) is introducing the Senate version of ...

HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) recently released a fact sheet, “Preventing and Addressing Harassment in Housing for Property Owners and Managers.” The document primarily focuses on sexual harassment, but also includes information on harassment based on other characteristics protected by the Fair Housing Act.

HUD recently announced the allocation of $380 million in supplemental administrative fee funding to all public housing authorities (PHA), including Moving to Work (MTW) PHAs. The two months of additional funding may be used for traditional administrative fees as well as for new costs related to protecting assisted families and employees throughout this coronavirus pandemic. The funding, made available by the CARES Act, will be awarded to PHAs across the nation.

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HUD recently announced it’s issuing new mortgage payment relief guidance under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) for borrowers with multifamily mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) or borrowers participating in other HUD Multifamily housing programs. This guidance is being issued to help maintain and preserve affordable rental housing.

On March 27, 2020, the president signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) into law. The law includes important, immediate protections for tenants. Specifically, it mandates a 120-day eviction moratorium for tenants living in certain types of properties. The definition of a covered site provided in the CARES Act includes almost all of the nation’s affordable rental sites.             

After the president signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) into law on March 27, HUD Secretary Ben Carson directed HUD to immediately begin allocating $3.064 billion to help America’s low-income families and most vulnerable citizens. These funds will be awarded quickly by using existing grant formulas. HUD is making the $3.064 billion available through its Community Development Block Grant, Emergency Solutions Grant, and Housing ...

Former Vice President Joe Biden recently released his plans to address the nation’s affordable housing crisis. His plan would invest $640 billion over 10 years “so every American has access to housing that is affordable, stable, safe and healthy, accessible, energy efficient and resilient, and located near good schools and with a reasonable commute to their jobs.”

According to his plan, Biden will accomplish these goals by:

HUD’s recent Assistance Animals Notice makes a significant distinction in the types of animals that residents may have as support animals. If the animal is commonly kept in households—such as a “dog, cat, small bird, rabbit, hamster, gerbil, other rodent, fish, turtle, or other small, domesticated animal,” then the resident’s request for an assistance should be granted, assuming the resident’s disability-related need for the animal ha...