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HUD recently published an 84-page proposed Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule regarding how state and municipal governments address affordable housing opportunities. The rule pertains to the 1968 Fair Housing Act’s requirement that HUD grantees “affirmatively further fair housing.” The proposed rule, once finalized, would replace the AFFH rule published in 2015 under the Obama administration.

HUD has recently focused its attention on websites that sell assistance animal certifications. HUD Secretary Ben Carson has asked the chairman of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection to investigate these websites for compliance with federal laws that protect consumers from unfair and deceptive acts or practices. “These certificates are not an acceptable substitute for authentic documentation provided by medical professionals when appropriate,” said Secretary Carson.

HUD recently published the Operating Cost Adjustment Factors (OCAFs) for fiscal year 2020. These factors are used for adjusting or establishing Section 8 rents under the Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act of 1997 (MAHRA), as amended, for projects assisted with Section 8 Housing Assistance Payments. The factors are effective Feb. 11, 2020. The OCAFs can be found here.

The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs recently confirmed Brian Montgomery’s nomination to become Deputy Secretary of HUD. The committee approved Montgomery, who is HUD Assistant Secretary for Housing and FHA Commissioner and currently also serving as Acting Deputy Secretary, by a voice vote of 20–5. The nomination now will progress to the full Senate for a vote. Ranking Member Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Jack Reed (D-RI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), and Tina Smith (D-MN) opposed Montgomery’s nomination.

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) recently announced that she will introduce a Senate companion bill to Representative Nydia Velazquez’s (D-NY) “Public Housing Emergency Response Act,” which was introduced in the House in September. The bill would create a one-time, $70 billion appropriation into the Public Housing Capital Fund to address the estimated $70 billion backlog of maintenance and repairs in public housing.

HUD recently published a Request for Information (RFI) seeking public comment on federal, state, local, and tribal laws, regulations, land use requirements, and administrative practices that artificially raise the costs of affordable housing development and contribute to shortages in America’s housing supply.

HUD recently awarded $131.3 million to 325 local public housing authorities across the country to provide affordable housing to approximately 15,363 additional non-elderly persons with disabilities.

Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently introduced the “Green New Deal for Public Housing Act.” The legislation aims to retrofit, rehabilitate, and decarbonize the entire nation’s public housing stock. It would invest up to $180 billion over 10 years in sustainable retrofits that include all needed repairs and eliminate carbon emissions in federal public housing. The legislation would also provide funding to electrify all buildings, add solar panels, and secure renewable energy sources for all public housing energy needs.

Democratic presidential hopeful Mayor Pete Buttigieg from South Bend, Ind., recently released An Economic Agenda for American Families, which includes spending $430 billion on affordable housing measures.

Q Some of our applicants, especially those from Puerto Rico, have a second last name on their birth certificate that isn’t on their Social Security card. How should this scenario be handled?