Los Angeles Office of Public Housing
Quarterly Newsletter Winter 2014
Serving Southern California

That's a First: A HUD Black History Fact
by Shantae Goodloe

Did you know that Robert Weaver, the first Secretary of HUD was also sworn in as the first African-American to hold a cabinet-level position?

In fact, Weaver set the tone for HUD's work today and is known for a series of firsts: working toward passage of the 1961 low-income rental housing program, the first piece of legislation passed by President John F. Kennedy's administration; championing the 1968 Fair Housing laws to end discrimination; and, connecting housing to jobs in what we now call sustainable communities.

As a result, HUD continues to ensure that people live in inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination. The Fair Housing Act, the law that makes it illegal to discriminate in the sale or rental of housing based on race/color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status and disability was signed on April 11, 1968, days after Dr. King's assassination. And it was only the beginning of our work.

Today, HUD's Office of Fair Housing and its Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP) partner agencies receive over 9,000 complaints alleging some form of housing discrimination. And HUD continues to investigate individual acts of housing discrimination, and to obtain appropriate relief for its victims. The Department has also increased its efforts to create strong, sustainable communities by connecting housing to jobs, fostering economic development, and helping to build a clean energy economy.

HUD recognizes that the work it does today has an incredible impact on the future of our nation and applauds Secretary Weaver for laying the foundation.

Shantae Goodloe is a Public Affairs Officer in HUD's Office of Public Affairs.

- See more at:
http://blog.hud.gov/index.php/2014/02/04/thats-a-first-a-hud-black-history-fact/#sthash.id8lWT66.dpuf

San Diego Housing Commission Smoke-Free Policy
Effective February 1, 2014

Following a 2012 California law that authorized landlords to prohibit smoking at their rental properties, the San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC) adopted a Smoke-Free Policy for all SDHC-owned apartment buildings.

The SDHC's Smoke-Free Policy prohibits smoking anywhere at the more than 2,000 affordable housing units owned by SDHC. Smoking lighted pipes, cigars or cigarettes of any kind, including electronic cigarettes and cigarettes made from any weed or plant, is not permitted.

Smoking is not allowed in:

• Individual residents' apartments
• Entryways
• Porches
• Balconies and patios
• Interior common areas
• Community rooms
• Community bathrooms
• Lobbies
• Reception areas
• Hallways
• Laundry rooms
• Stairways
• Offices
• Elevators
• Within 25 feet of the buildings

The policy applies to:

• Residents
• Residents' guests
• SDHC employees or contractors working on-site

The SDHC Board of Commissioners approved the adoption of the Smoke-Free Policy on May 10, 2013. The Smoke-Free Policy received the unanimous approval of the San Diego City Council, sitting as the Housing Authority of the City of San Diego, on June 11, 2013.

SDHC's Smoke-Free Policy takes effect on February 1, 2014, providing tenants with ample notice. On February 1, 2013, SDHC's Real Estate Division began using a lease addendum to notify new tenants and residents who were renewing their leases that SDHC may be implementing a Smoke-Free Policy in the future. Smokers can still live in SDHC-owned apartments, but they cannot smoke on the premises.

Reduced Maintenance Costs

The Smoke-Free Policy is also expected to reduce maintenance costs for SDHC. A 2009 study based on surveys of housing authorities and subsidized housing facilities in New England determined the average cost of rehabilitating apartments:

• $560 for a nonsmoking unit
• $1,810 for a unit where light smoking occurred
• $3,515 for a unit with heavy smoking
• The data were collected and reported by Smoke-Free Housing New England.

Tenant Support

Before moving forward with the Smoke-Free Policy, SDHC surveyed tenants. SDHC distributed surveys to 2,186 tenants living in SDHC-owned housing units. SDHC received 764 completed surveys. Of those who responded, 65 percent said they prefer a smoke-free building.

Tenant Health - National Issue

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a notice on July 17, 2009, that strongly encouraged public housing authorities in the United States to implement nonsmoking policies at some or all of their properties. HUD reissued the notice on May 29, 2012. HUD made its recommendation because "environmental tobacco smoke can migrate between units in multifamily housing, causing respiratory illness, heart disease, cancer, and other adverse health effects for those living in neighboring residences."

Help for Smokers

Any tenant who wants to quit smoking may obtain information from the American Lung Association,
2750 4th Ave., San Diego, CA 92103, or call (619) 297-3901, or visit www.lung.org.

Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino (HACSB)

Rental Assistance Demonstration

New HUD Designation Granted to HACSB for Replacing Apartments and Rebuilding the Community; Additional Flexibilities for Replacing Waterman Gardens in San Bernardino

HACSB was granted a designation by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) this week to facilitate the revitalization and rebuilding of the Waterman Gardens public housing site into a mixed-use, mixed-income community. The 252-unit housing site recently received approval by the City of San Bernardino's Planning Commission for complete demolition and new construction.

Built in 1942, this is the second oldest affordable housing site build in the County and is in great need of a complete revitalization as a modern community. The new HUD Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program helps change the rent structure of affordable housing and provides techniques for new financing. RAD agencies will be able to use the equity from the housing site as collateral for loans and will receive long term rent assistance from the federal government similar to what private landlords often obtain.

"HACSB is amongst the few (199 out of 3,200 Housing Authorities) to get this award, we are thankful to be among these select few. This is the first step towards a new innovative approach to revitalizing public housing," states Daniel Nackerman, HACSB's President/CEO.

In the near term nationwide, RAD is expected to preserve and enhance 60,000 units of affordable housing and generate more than $650 million in private capital to address the backlog in capital needs faced by public housing authorities in the U.S. This additional capital will also stimulate employment in the construction trades across the country. (Excerpts from the HUD's website)

"This innovative and cost-effective approach greatly enhances our ability to confront the decline of our public housing and older assisted housing stock," said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. "With the initial implementation of RAD, the Obama Administration has begun to demonstrate that public-private partnership can help preserve our nation's affordable housing and create jobs in the process." (Excerpts from the HUD's website)

This designation will greatly assist with the $200 million neighborhood revitalization undertaken through National Community Renaissance (National CORE), a major non-profit developer headquartered in Rancho Cucamonga.

The Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) allows proven financing tools to be applied to at-risk public and assisted housing and has two components:

1st Component - Allows Public Housing and Moderate Rehabilitation (Mod Rehab) properties to convert, under a competition limited to 60,000 units, to long-term Section 8 rental assistance contracts; and

2nd Component - Allows Rent Supplement (Rent Supp), Rental Assistance Payment (RAP), and Mod Rehab properties to convert tenant-based vouchers issued upon contract expiration or termination to project-based assistance.

RAD is a central part of the Department's rental housing preservation strategy, which works to preserve the nation's stock of deeply affordable rental housing, promote efficiency within and among HUD programs, and build strong, stable communities.

HACSB Receives $135,678 to Assist San Bernardino County Residents through Self Sufficiency Activities

HACSB was awarded $135,678 by HUD to continue promoting self-sufficiency activities for participants of the Housing Choice Voucher Program.

The agency's Family Self-Sufficiency Program staff work directly with clients to develop a 5-year plan towards economic independence. As a family's income rises, an escrow credit is deposited into an interest bearing escrow account by the Housing Authority. If the family successfully completes its FSS contract, the family receives the escrow funds that it can use for any purpose, including paying educational expenses, starting a business or paying debts. HACSB's Community Development Initiatives Department works directly with families to: 1) develop a personalized education and/or professional action plan; and 2) provide on-going case management assistance to ensure each family/individual is achieving their planned goals.

Through its established partnerships, staff refers families to existing community resources, whether its access various educational programs, job training and placement, and/or to health and human services. "Our agency is committed to helping each family succeed in their own personal endeavors by providing them with case management assistance and references to the various services offered throughout the County," explains Daniel Nackerman, HACSB's President/CEO. Thanks to this renewed funding from HUD, Housing Authority families will continue to receive these much needed services which ultimately benefit the entire community as individuals become self-sufficient and more families in need of affordable housing are housed.

Take Notice of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) Notices!

The Energy Performance Information Center (EPIC)
Change in EPIC Reporting Frequency

In order to provide PHAs with some administrative relief, starting October 1, 2013, PHAs will only be required to report on planned/completed Energy Efficiency Measures (EEMS) in the Energy and Performance Information Center (EPIC) system ANNUALLY. Under the revised system, PHAs would report at the end of their fiscal year rather than each quarter, as follows:

*Reminder: EPIC reports are cumulative. For example, if a PHA installs 10 Energy Star refrigerators in the first quarter in which it is reporting on a grant, it would report that in the Q1 report – if it then installs 5 more Energy Star refrigerators in the next quarter, it is to report 15 in the next quarter's report, not 5.

What is EPIC?

The Energy and Performance Information Center (EPIC) is a program designed to collect summary capital fund grant activity and energy efficiency measures (EEM) – planned and completed - being implemented with PIH Capital Fund Formula or Replacement Housing Factor (RHF) grants. It is similar in appearance and functionality to the Recovery Act Management Performance System (RAMPS) program which was used to collect EEM for ARRA grants. PHAs are required to report their activities in EPIC on a quarterly basis after the conclusion of each quarter. PHAs must submit a report for all open Formula and RHF grants.

Accessing EPIC

EPIC can be found at: http://portal.hud.gov/app_epic. Please add this to your Favorites in your web browser for easy future access.

Help!

EPICHelp@hud.gov In your help request, you should include your M number, your full name, your office telephone number, and your PHA code. Additionally, the EPIC login page provides additional information about what to do and who to contact if you encounter problems logging into the system. To access EPIC, go to: http://portal.hud.gov/app_epic. Please add this to your Favorites in your web browser for easy future access.

Announcements

Public Housing Capital Fund Program Final Rule Publication

The Public Housing Capital Fund Program Final Rule was published in the Federal Register October 24, 2013 (Docket No. 5236-F-02) and will be effective on November 25, 2013. This new regulation combines the Capital Fund requirements for modernization and development into a single regulation. It also updates and streamlines many of the Capital Fund and development requirements, incorporates recent energy requirements, and directs more funding towards modernization. This rule along with a new Capital Fund guidebook, which is under development and expected to be available in the spring, will ensure that the Capital Fund Program is more efficiently and uniformly implemented by PHAs and managed more effectively by the HUD Field Offices.

HUD Monitoring of PHA Program Compliance

As part of its internal control efforts, the Department's Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) continuously monitors the timeliness and accuracy of tenant information reported to the Public and Indian Housing Information Center (PIC). REAC performs data comparisons of tenant information reported in PIC to data obtained from other Federal databases to validate the accuracy of tenant-reported Social Security Numbers (SSNs), names, and date of birth. The intended outcome of this monitoring is to identify, reduce, and recover improper payments within HUD's rental assistance programs; improve the accuracy and integrity of tenant data; and to verify Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) compliance with PIC reporting and use of the Enterprise Income Verification (EIV) system.

What REAC monitors and what the PHAs should be monitoring on a monthly (m) or quarterly (q) basis:

• PIC Delinquency Report (m)
• PIC Rexam Report (m)
• EIV PHA Usage Report
• EIV Deceased Tenants Report (m)
• EIV Identity Verification Report (m)
• EIV Multiple Subsidy Report (q)
• EIV Immigration Report (m)
• EIV Income Report (m)
• Tenant Unreported Income (m)

If further assistance and/ or questions regarding the notice of deficiencies for the reports due by the respective deadlines, please contact Martha.E.Murillo@hud.gov.

HUD Secure System Password Reset

Please be advised that your HUD-PIH EIV Coordinator or agency User Administrator cannot reset your HUD Secure System password. For password resets, you must go to: https://hudapps.hud.gov/reac/wass/resetPwd.html, and provide the requested information and then click on the Reset Password button at the bottom of the form.

My Social Security

Beginning February 2014, the Social Security Administration will no longer issue Social Security number (SSN) printouts and their field offices will stop providing benefit verification letters.

Beneficiaries can obtain a benefit verification letter by registering for an account, or by calling the national toll-free number (800) 772-1213, and using the automated application.

Members of the public can register for a "my" Social Security account at www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount and safely conduct business online 24 hours a day/7 days a week.

Proactive Exchange

New Dates for this year! Please save the dates and mark your calendars!

Thursday, March 13, 2014
Thursday, July 10, 2014
Thursday, November 13, 2014

Time: 10-12pm

If you will like to present at any of our upcoming Proactive Exchanges or have topic suggestions please email Maria.J.Granata@hud.gov. We encourage you to attend in person and will continue to have Live Meeting available for those who can't be here. Hope to see you at our next Proactive Exchange coming up March 13, 2014.

Helpful Resource Links

REAC Technical Assistance Center - The Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) Technical Assistance Center analyses data and develops objective performance scores. PHA staff can use the REAC technical assistance for helpful links. http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/public_indian_housing/reac/support/tac

POST - At the POST Website, PHA staff can obtain quick access to PIH systems, tools, training opportunities, program requirements, commonly used external websites, PIH contacts for using Public Housing one stop tool. http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/public_indian_housing/post

Upcoming Deadlines

Financial Data Schedule (FDS) Submission Deadlines

Unaudited submissions are due no later than 2 months after the PHA's Fiscal Year End (FYE); for those entities required to have an audit, the audited submissions are due 9 months after the PHA's FYE. PHAs are required to submit their financial information through the FASS-PH (Financial Assistance Subsystem for Public Housing) system.

Deadlines and Key Dates

A Leader Serves His Country on Two Fronts
Hien Dom -Captain, US Army and Program Analyst, HUD

Hien Dom is a public servant who is diligent and praiseworthy in any role or task that is asked of him. The Los Angeles Office of Public Housing (LAOPH) has been fortunate to have Hien on staff since 2012 as a Program Analyst, helping PHAs in Southern California to increase the utilization of the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Section 8 program.

In addition to his civilian career, Captain Hien Dom maintained his status as a career Army Reservist since 1999. He was deployed to the Middle East, 2009 to Iraq and 2005 to Kuwait. Now, Hien has been called upon again to serve; he will temporarily leave HUD to be deployed to Afghanistan until February 2015.

He began his career at HUD in the Seattle Office of Public Housing, serving under HUD's Master of Business Administration Fellows Program. In Seattle, Hien helped to streamline internal processes and to monitor the viability of more than 40 PHAs in Washington, Idaho, and Alaska. The LAOPH staff wish Hein our absolute best as he continues to serve his country.

K. J. Brockington -Farewell to a Leader

K. J. Brockington, Director of Public Housing, retired in January 2014. This leader gave more than 41 years to HUD as a true civil servant, colleague, innovator, and mentor. K. J. worked tirelessly to better serve HUD's clients and program goals. On her days off, K. J. volunteered her time for a variety of causes. Her service will be missed, but the Los Angeles Office of Public Housing is proud to have worked with K. J. and wish her the absolute best.

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