HUD No. 16-029 Brian Sullivan (202) 708-0685 |
For
Release Tuesday March 1, 2016 |
HUD STREAMLINES RENT REGULATIONS
New rule to reduce burden on state and local housing agencies and private landlords
WASHINGTON - In an effort to reduce the administrative burden on state and local governments, public housing authorities and private owners of HUD-assisted multifamily properties, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today posted on its website for advanced review a forthcoming new rule to ease its regulatory requirements under a number of the Department's programs. The new rule is intended to streamline a host of requirements and to provide greater flexibility for agencies responsible for administering HUD's rental assistance programs. Read HUD's new rule.
"This rule provides a number of much-needed flexibilities that will enable public housing agencies and other housing administrators to operate their programs more efficiently and effectively," said Lourdes Castro Ramirez, HUD's Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing. "We will continue to explore other areas to reduce administrative burden while ensuring grantees' ability to provide housing assistance to low-income families in communities across the nation."
The changes included in this rule, while important, should be considered an initial step towards more systematic streamlining of HUD's rental assistance programs. HUD recognizes that its partners are struggling to operate their programs in a difficult budget environment and intends to continue reexamining program requirements in order to find ways to eliminate unnecessary requirements and improve efficiency.
The new streamlined rule applies to local housing agencies administering Public Housing and the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) programs as well as private landlords under contract through HUD's Multifamily Housing Programs. In addition, the rule relaxes regulations on state and local units of government administering tenant-based rental assistance programs through HUD's HOME Investment Partnerships Program and Housing Opportunities for Person with AIDS (HOPWA) Program.
HUD's new rule will impact tenant rental payments, rent determination processes, verification of Social Security Numbers for children of applicants, frequency of utility reimbursement payments, verification of assets and community service completion, grievance procedures, unit inspections, and utility payment schedules.
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