CARH’S BROADCAST E-MAIL – Regulatory Update

April 3, 2024

Recently, the Rural Development (RD) and the Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) published the following notices in the Federal Register:

Rural Housing Service:

30-Day Notification of Nonpayment of Rent in Multi-Family Housing Direct Loan Programs Final Rule dated March 25, 2024.

Rural Housing Service (RHS) issued a final rule to amend its regulations for the Multi-Family Housing Direct Loans and Grants Programs to require that Section 515, 514, and 516 Multi-Family Housing program borrowers provide tenants with written notification a minimum of 30 days prior to a lease termination or eviction action for nonpayment of rent, as statutorily required by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, (CARES Act). The “30-day notice” requirement applies regardless of the existence of a presidentially declared national emergency or the availability of emergency rental assistance funds. This rule will require this notice to include instructions on how a tenant can cure the nonpayment to avoid eviction, and how to recertify household income. The notices will be required after April 24, 2024, and must be included in leases by September 25, 2025.

This issue has been the subject of much discussion between CARH and RD as the 30-day notice became an issue during the pandemic. While members can see from our 2021 communication with the agency, we believed then, and continue to believe, that the 30-day notice no longer applies as it was time limited under the aforementioned legislation. CARH will continue to advocate for the elimination of this notification.

Multifamily Housing Program Update to the Credit Report Process Proposed Rule dated March 29, 2024.

RD is proposing to update its regulations on how credit reports are obtained for the purposes of determining eligibility and feasibility for Multifamily Housing (MFH) Programs. Comments on the proposed rule must be received by May 28, 2024.

CARH will review the proposed rule and provide comments as necessary. If you have comments that you would like CARH to consider in our submission, please forward them to CARH at carh@carh.org no later than May 1, 2024.

Department of Housing & Urban Development:

Section 8 Housing Assistance Payments Program – Annual Adjustment Factors, Fiscal Year 2024 dated April 1, 2024.

Certain assistance contracts signed by owners participating in the Section 8 housing assistance payment programs provide annual adjustments to monthly rentals for units covered by the contracts. For owners subject to a Reserve for Replacement deposit requirement, HUD also requires that the amount of the required deposit be adjusted each year by the Annual Adjustment Factors (AAF). This Notice announces Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 AAFs for adjustment of contract rents on the anniversary of those assistance contracts. The FY 2024 AAFs are effective April 1, 2024.

Expanding the Fair Housing Testing Pool for FHIP and FHAP Funded Entities Final Rule dated April 3, 2024.

HUD eliminates the restrictions for Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) grantees and for Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP) agencies that currently bar FHIP and FHAP funded entities from using HUD funds to deploy fair housing testers with prior felony convictions or convictions of crimes involving fraud or perjury. The final rule ensures that FHIP and FHAP funded entities are able to fully investigate criminal background screening policies that are potentially discriminatory under federal civil rights laws by using a diverse group of testers with actual criminal convictions. This final rule also improves inclusivity in HUD programs for people with criminal convictions and is based on a HUD determination that no valid interest is served by categorically barring FHIP and FHAP funded entities from using testers with such convictions. The effective date is May 3, 3024.

These and other regulations will be discussed at CARH’s upcoming Annual Meeting & Legislative Conference on June 24-26, 2024. Click here to register.

For other news and information affecting the affordable rural housing industry, please visit the Newsroom on CARH’s website, www.carh.org.