National Housing Law Project Housing Law Bulletin

Copies of the cited HUD 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.

The USDA website for the Rural Housing Service is: http//www.rurdev.usda.gov/rhs/index.html.

HUD Regulations

Due Date of First Annual Performance Report Under the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996; Final Rule
64 Fed. Reg. 3,014-3,015 (Jan. 20, 1999)
Summary: This final rule sets January 31, 1999, as the due date for recipients of Indian Housing Block Grant funds to submit the first annual performance reports under the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (NAHASDA). This date provides an additional 60 days to the 60-day period that was assumed to apply, and allows recipients and HUD more time to work out the difficulties of the first performance report submissions.
Effective date: February 19, 1999.

Home Equity Conversion Mortgages; Consumer Protection Measures Against Excessive Fees; Final Rule
64 Fed. Reg. 2,983-2,988 (Jan. 19, 1999)
Summary: This final rule implements several measures designed to provide protection to elderly homeowners in connection with HUD's Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) insurance program. The HECM program offers FHA-insured first mortgages providing payments to elderly homeowners based on the accumulated equity in their homes. These FHA-insured HECMs are commonly referred to as "reverse mortgages." The rule is designed to protect homeowners in the new HECM program from becoming liable for payment of excessive fees for services of little or no value provided by third parties. This rule takes into consideration the comments received on a March 16, 1998, proposed rule.
Effective date: February 18, 1999.

Uniform Financial Reporting Standards for HUD Housing Programs Technical Amendment; Final Rule
64 Fed. Reg. 1,504-1,505 (Jan. 11, 1999)
Summary: This final rule makes a technical amendment to HUD's regulations on Uniform Financial Reporting Standards, published on September 1, 1998. The amendment will change for certain entities whose fiscal years end December 31, as further described in the Supplementary Information section of this rule, the first financial report submission date from April 20, 1999, to June 30, 1999. The June 30, 1999, report submission date is only for the first year of compliance with these standards.
Effective date: February 10, 1999.

Fair Housing Performance Standards for Acceptance of Consolidated Plan Certifications and Compliance with Community Development Block Grant Performance Review Criteria; Extension of Public Comment Period; Proposed rule; extension of public comment period
63 Fed. Reg. 71,405 (Dec. 28, 1998)
Summary: On October 28, 1998, HUD published a proposed rule that would amend the regulations on Consolidated Submissions for Community Planning and Development Programs to establish a standard for determining if the jurisdiction's certification regarding affirmatively furthering fair housing is inaccurate. The October 28, 1998, proposed rule also would amend the regulations on Community Development Block Grants to provide performance review standards for affirmatively furthering fair housing requirements. The public comment period on this rule was scheduled to close on December 28, 1998. This document extends the public comment period on this proposed rule to February 26, 1999.
Comments due: February 26, 1999.

Multifamily Housing Mortgage and Housing Assistance Restructuring Program (Mark-to- Market) and Renewal of Expiring Section 8 Project-Based Assistance Contracts; Technical Correction
63 Fed. Reg. 71,372-71,374 (Dec. 28, 1998)
Summary: On September 11, 1998, HUD published an interim rule implementing the Mark-to-Market Program and the statutory provision for renewals of Section 8 project-based assistance contacts expiring in Fiscal Year 1999 or later. On October 15, 1998, HUD published a first correction to the interim rule to correct the Internet address given for submitting public comments. This second correction to the interim rule addresses additional matters that were in error when the interim rule was published and in need of correction. This document also corrects one provision of the interim rule as well as preamble language that need correction because of a change in authorizing legislation since issuance of the interim rule.
Effective date: December 28, 1998.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Regulations

Administrative Civil Right Adjudications Under Section 741; Interim Final Rule
63 Fed. Reg. 67,391-67,398 (Dec. 4, 1998)
Summary: This interim final rule implements the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) adjudication process for certain civil rights discrimination complaints filed administratively with USDA, as authorized by Section 741 of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999, enacted in Division A, Section 101(a) of the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999, Pub. L. No. 105-277. Among eligible complaints under the interim final rule are certain complaints that allege discrimination in violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. §§ 1691 et seq.) in administering a housing program established under Title V of the Housing Act of 1949.
Effective date: December 4, 1998.

HUD Federal Register Notices

Real Estate Assessment Center; Notice of Issuance of Advisory Scores Under the Public Housing Assessment System; Notice
63 Fed. Reg. 72,319 (Dec. 31, 1998)
Summary: This Notice advises public housing agencies, as well as members of the public, that HUD's Real Estate Assessment Center intends to issue advisory scores to public housing agencies under the new Public Housing Assessment System, established by final rule published on September 1, 1998. The schedule for issuance of advisory scores by the Real Estate Assessment Center accompanies this Notice.

Fair Housing Enforcement — Occupancy Standards Statement of Policy; Notice
63 Fed. Reg. 70,255-70,257 (Dec. 18, 1998)
Summary: This statement of policy advises the public of the factors that HUD will consider when evaluating a housing provider's occupancy policies to determine whether actions under the provider's policies may constitute discriminatory conduct under the Fair Housing Act on the basis of familial status (the presence of children in a family). Publication of this Notice meets the requirements of the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998.

Statutorily Mandated Designation of Difficult Development Areas, and Supplemental Designation of Qualified Census Tracts, for Section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; Notice
63 Fed. Reg. 68,115-68,127 (Dec. 9, 1998)
Summary: This document designates "Difficult Development Areas" and supplemental "Qualified Census Tracts" for purposes of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) under

Section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development makes new Difficult Development Area designations annually and makes supplemental designations of Qualified Census Tracts at this time because of recent legislation. The corrected designations of "Qualified Census Tracts" under Section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code, published May 1, 1995 (60 Fed. Reg. 21,246), as amended by the supplemental designations published June 25, 1998 (63 Fed. Reg. 34,748), are not affected by this Notice.

Privacy Act of 1974; Notice of Matching Program: Matching Tenant Data in Assisted Housing Programs
63 Fed. Reg. 68,129-68,133 (Dec. 9, 1998)
Summary: Pursuant to the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988, as amended, and the Office of Management and Budget's guidance on the statute, HUD is updating its notice of a matching program involving comparisons between income data provided by applicants or participants in HUD's assisted housing programs and independent sources of income information. The matching program will be carried out to detect excessive housing assistance under the National Housing Act, the United State Housing Act of 1937, Section 101 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1965, and the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996. The program provides for the verification of the matching results and the initiation of appropriate administrative or legal actions, primarily through public housing agencies, Indian Tribes and Tribally Designated Housing Entities, and private owners/management agents for subsidized multifamily projects.

This Notice provides an overview of computer matching for HUD's assisted housing programs. Specifically, it describes HUD's program for matching its tenant data to: (a) The Social Security Administration's (SSA) earned income and the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) unearned income data, (b) SSA's wage and Social Security and Supplemental Security Income data, (c) State Wage Information Collection Agencies' (SWICAs) wage and unemployment benefit claim information, and (d) the Office of Personnel Management's personnel data.

Changes to this Notice recognize: (a) a recent statutory change providing permanent authority for SSA and IRS disclosures of federal tax return information to HUD, (b) an additional HUD matching program objective, i.e., to develop nationwide estimates of excessive housing assistance to satisfy a financial reporting requirement, (c) the assignment of certain income verification functions to federal employees in HUD's Chicago and Seattle offices, and (d) HUD's current and planned use of a secure electronic facility for transmitting Social Security and Supplemental Security Income data to entities that administer HUD's rental assistance programs.

Effective dates: HUD considers this a continuous matching program. The computer matching described in this Notice may begin after compliance with the reporting requirements cited in Section 4 of Appendix I to OMB Circular No. A-130, Federal Agency Responsibilities for Maintaining Records About Individuals (Transmittal Memorandum No. 3 (Feb. 8, 1996)). That section requires that federal agencies provide the Chair of the House Committee on Government Reforms and Oversight, the Chair of the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, and the Office of Management and Budget with notice of the matching program and computer matching agreements 40 days before operating the program.

Privacy Act of 1974; Notice of a Computer Matching Program
63 Fed. Reg. 66,193-66,195 (Dec. 1, 1998)
Summary: In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. § 552a), as amended by the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988 (Pub. L. No. 100-503), Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Guidelines on the Conduct of Matching Programs (54 Fed. Reg. 25,818 (June 19, 1989)), and OMB Bulletin 89-22, "Instructions on Reporting Computer Matching Programs to the Office of Management and Budget, Congress and the Public," the Department of Housing and Urban Development is issuing a public notice of its intent to conduct a computer matching program with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to utilize a computer information system of HUD, the Credit Alert Interactive Voice Response System (CAIVRS), with DOJ's debtor files. The CAIVRS database now includes delinquent debt information from the Departments of Agriculture, Education and Veterans Affairs and the Small Business Administration. This match will allow prescreening of applicants for debts owed or loans guaranteed by the federal government to ascertain if the applicant is delinquent in paying a debt owed to or insured by the federal government. Before granting a loan, a lending agency and/or an authorized lending institution will be able to interrogate the CAIVRS debtor file which contains the Social Security Numbers (SSNs) of HUD's delinquent debtors and defaulters and debtor files of the DOJ and verify that the loan applicant is not in default on a federal judgment or delinquent on direct or guaranteed loans of participating federal programs. As a result of the information produced by this match, the authorized users may not deny, terminate, or make a final decision of any loan assistance to an applicant or take other adverse action against such applicant until an officer or employee of such agency has independently verified such information.
Effective date: Computer matching is expected to begin 40 days after publication of this Notice in the Federal Register unless comments are received that will result in a contrary determination, or 40 days from the date a computer matching agreement is signed, whichever is later.

USDA Federal Register Notices

Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the Section 515 Rural Rental Housing Program; Correction
64 Fed. Reg. 2,877 (Jan. 19, 1999)
Summary: The Rural Housing Service (RHS) corrects a Notice published November 16, 1998 (63 Fed. Reg. 63,667). This action is taken to correct the amount of funds available for Section 515 new construction purposes.
Effective date: January 6, 1999.

HUD Notices

Renewal of Expiring Contracts in the Section 8 Tenant-Based Program During Federal Fiscal Year 1999
Notice PIH 98-65 (Dec. 30, 1998)
Summary: This Notice implements Section 556 of the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act (QHWRA) of 1998 which directs HUD to establish an allocation baseline amount of assistance and apply an inflation factor, based on local or regional factors, to the baseline. HUD will use the methodology set out in the Notice to allocate the amount of funding for renewal of contacts in the tenant-based Section 8 program.

Dwelling Construction and Equipment Costs for Affordable Housing Under the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (NAHASDA)
Notice PIH 98-63 (Dec. 18, 1998)
Summary: This Notice supersedes Notice PIH 98-29 (HA) on the same subject, dated May 12, 1998. This Notice transmits the schedule for the maximum amount of funds that may be used per unit for dwelling construction and equipment (DC&E) costs of developing affordable housing under NAHASDA. Minor changes were made to the schedules to update the cost figures. The remaining schedules are unchanged. The content of Notice PIH 98-29 (HA) has been incorporated into this Notice without change and provides a history and description of the DC&E costs , as well as procedures for requesting a variance. The requirement for the development and imposition of these limits is found in 24 C.F.R. § 1000.156 of the Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) regulations published on March 12, 1998.

HUD's FY 1999 Appropriations Act, Section 8 Tenant-Based Assistance Program Statutory Provisions
Notice PIH 98-64 (Dec. 18, 1998)
Summary: This Notice provides information on several significant statutory changes in the Section 8 certificate, voucher, and Moderate Rehabilitation programs resulting from enactment of the Department's FY 1999 Appropriations Act (Pub. L. No. 105-276), which was signed into law on October 21, 1998. Title V of the Appropriations Act authorizes a new voucher program. This Notice confirms that, until HUD implements the legislation that authorizes the new voucher program (the merged tenant-based program), all Section 8 tenant-based assistance remains subject to current regulatory requirements.

Fiscal Year 1999 Renewal of Expiring Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation (Mod Rehab) Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) Contracts
Notice PIH 98-62 (Dec. 15, 1998)
Summary: This Notice provides instructions for implementing Sections 534(a)(1) and (2) of the Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act of 1997 (MAHRA), as amended by Section 597 of the Department of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 (FY 1999 Appropriations Act).

Public Officials Liability Notice PIH 98-61 (Dec. 10, 1998)
Summary: This Notice transmits a copy of a "very informative" article from the Fall 1998 issue of the CPCU (Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters) Journal, which should be of interest to all executive directors and board members of Public and Indian Housing Authorities.

Grant Closeout Procedures Notice PIH 98-60 (Dec. 4, 1998)
Summary: The objective of this Notice is to standardize the procedures to be followed by grantees and local HUD office staff in closing out a grant agreement for programs funded under the Office of Public and Assisted Housing Delivery (PAHD). The procedures cover partial or complete termination for cause by HUD as well as normal closeout with all activities satisfactorily completed by the grantee. The procedures apply to all nonprofit organizations administering federal grants, including Resident Management Corporations, Resident Councils, and all other nonprofit organizations receiving Public and Indian Housing grants including the Tenant Opportunities Program (TOP), Drug Elimination grants (PHDEP), Youth Sports grants (YSP), Family Investment Centers (FICs), the Youth Apprenticeship Program (YAP), and Economic Development/Supportive Services grants (EDSS).

Byrd Amendment Requirement for Anti-Lobbying Certification Notice PIH 98-59 (Dec, 3, 1998)
Summary: This Notice provides guidance to Public Housing Agencies regarding the submission of the Form HUD 50071, Certification for Contracts, Grants, Loan and Cooperative Agreements, as required by the Byrd Amendment which requires submission of information by any PHA receiving more than $100,000 in budget authority in any fiscal year as well as disclosure of any payment made, or agreement to make a payment, with other than federally appropriated funds for influencing or attempting to influence executive or legislative branch personnel in connection with new or renewal funding.

FY 1999 Performance Funding System (PFS) Inflation Factor and Equation Notice PIH 98-57 (Dec. 1, 1998)
Summary: This Notice transmits the updated Inflation Factor, Equation, and related tables which must be used for the determination of operating subsidy eligibility for Public Housing Agencies (HAs) operating locally owned projects for fiscal years beginning January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1, 1999.

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.