National Housing Law Project Housing Law Bulletin

Copies of the cited documents may be secured from various sources, including (1) the Handsnet folder at Legal Services/Substantive Law/Housing Forum, (2) the Government Printing Office’s spot on the World Wide Web,¹ (3) bound volumes of the Federal Register, (4) HUD Clips,² and (5) HUD.³ Citations are included with each document to help you secure copies.

HUD REGULATIONS

Strengthening the Role of Fathers in Public Housing Families; Proposed Rule
24 C.F.R. Parts 5, 960, 964, 984, and 990
62 Fed. Reg. 55,323 (Oct. 23, 1997)

Summary: On July 30, 1996, HUD published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) on the subject of "Strengthening the Role of Fathers in Public Housing Families" (61 Fed. Reg. 39,812), with a 45-day comment period. The ANPRM invited public comments on measures, practices, and authorizations to local public housing agencies in support of efforts to encourage absentee parents, especially but not necessarily limited to absentee fathers, to play a more responsible social and economic role in the lives of families in PHA-owned or -assisted developments. Upon review of comments received in response to that ANPRM, the Department has determined that it is unnecessary to go forward with a regulatory change at this point, but that the purposes described in the ANPRM and in this Notice would be best served by proceeding with the development of less formal guidance material.

Indian HOME Program
24 C.F.R. Part 954
62 Fed. Reg. 58,905 (Oct. 31, 1997)

Summary: This rule adopts as final the interim rule for the Indian HOME Program at 24 C.F.R. Part 954, published at 61 Fed. Reg. 32,292 (June 21, 1996). Although Section 505 of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (NAHASDA) (Pub. L. No. 104-330, approved Oct. 26, 1996) ends the Indian HOME Program in Fiscal Year (FY) 1998, which begins on October 1, 1997, this final rule is being issued to provide for the administration of any Indian HOME funds and Indian HOME-assisted projects that will continue beyond the date when new funding under the program will no longer be made available.

HUD FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICES

Notice of Statutorily Mandated Designation of Difficult Development Areas for Section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
62 Fed. Reg. 54,731 (Oct. 21, 1997)

Summary: This document provides revised designations of "Difficult Development Areas" for purposes of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) under Section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and describes the methodology used by HUD. The new Difficult Development Areas are based on FY 1997 Fair Market Rents, FY 1997 income limits and 1990 census population counts. The corrected designations of "Qualified Census Tracts" under Section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code published May 1, 1995 (60 Fed. Reg. 21,246) remain in effect.

Redelegation of Authority Regarding Single-Family Programs
62 Fed. Reg. 54,464 (Oct. 20, 1997)

Summary: In this Notice, all power and authority over Single-Family Housing program functions presently redelegated to field Housing Directors, to field Single-Family Housing Division Directors, and to the Single-Family Housing Specialist in Dallas, Texas, were additionally redelegated from the Assistant Secretary for Housing—Federal Housing Commissioner, through the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Single-Family Housing, to the Single-Family Homeownership Center Directors in the Philadelphia, Atlanta, Denver, and Santa Ana (California) offices. In order to assist in meeting the HUD’s goal of increasing single-family homeownership, as part of the HUD 2020 Management Reform Plan, the Secretary has authorized the establishment of four Single-Family Homeownership centers, located in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Denver, and Santa Ana. These centers are intended to enable HUD to more expeditiously provide services to HUD clients, lenders and borrowers with respect to Single-Family Housing programs.

HUD NOTICES

Revised Payment Schedule for "Moving Expense and Dislocation Allowance"
Notice CPD 97-10 (Sept. 17, 1997)

Summary: On December 12, 1996, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) published in the Federal Register (61 Fed. Reg. 65,425) a new payment schedule for the residential "moving expense and dislocation allowance." (Persons displaced from a dwelling and eligible for assistance under the Uniform Relocation Assistance (URA) and the Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970, as amended, may choose to receive the moving expense and dislocation allowance as an alternative to payment for actual moving and related expenses.

The new payment schedule contains revisions for the following states and territories:

Alabama Michigan North Mariana Islands

Alaska Mississippi Oklahoma

Arizona Missouri Oregon

California Montana South Carolina

Florida Nebraska South Dakota

Hawaii Nevada Virginia

Iowa New York Washington

Kansas North Carolina Wisconsin

Kentucky North Dakota

The allowances for all other states and territories are unchanged. For HUD-assisted programs, the revised allowances are effective on January 13, 1997.

Guidance on Community Housing Development
Organizations Under the HOME Program
Notice: CPD-97-11 (Oct. 8, 1997)

Summary: This Notice was developed to provide updated guidance to Field Offices, participating jurisdictions, and nonprofits on Community Housing Development
Organization (CHDO) requirements and eligible activities, and to set forth HOME Investment Partnership program requirements relating to CHDOs contained in the HOME final rule. Participating jurisdictions under the HOME program must reserve not less than 15 percent of their HOME allocations for investment in housing to be developed, sponsored, or owned by CHDOs. Each participating jurisdiction must identify CHDOs that are capable, or can reasonably be expected to become capable, of carrying out elements of the jurisdiction’s approved housing strategy.

Revised HUD-PA-426, How to Avoid Foreclosure
(May 1997)
Mortgagee Letter 97-44 (Sept. 29, 1997)

Summary: This letter advises all HUD-approved lenders that the brochure, HUD-PA-426-H, Saving Your Home (Mar. 1995), was revised as of May 1997. The brochure is now called HUD-PA-426, How to Avoid Foreclosure (May 1997). It was redesigned to delete references to the Mortgage Assignment Program that HUD terminated in April of 1996. The brochure now concentrates exclusively on the new Loss Mitigation Program options available to delinquent homeowners.

You may request copies of the brochure at no cost by contacting HUD’s Customer Service Center at 1-800-767-7468. You may also secure the brochure by accessing the HUD Loss Mitigation Home Page at http://www.hud.gov/fha/comp/mitig/mitihome.html.

1. At http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs.
2. At http://www.hudclips.org/cgi/index.cgi.
3. To order Notices and Handbooks from HUD, call (800) 767-7468 or fax (202) 708-2313.