National Housing Law Project Housing Law Bulletin

HUD has just announced the availability of significant funds for Technical Assistance and Outreach and Training for residents of certain HUD-assisted Section 8 multifamily properties that will be eligible for the new "Mark to Market" program. See Economic Development and Empowerment Super-NOFA, 63 Fed. Reg. 23,931 (ITAG program), and 23,941 (Outreach and Training Grant program) (Apr. 30, 1998). The Mark to Market program, described in numerous recent Bulletin articles, potentially covers many HUD-insured developments with expiring Section 8 contracts that have rents exceeding true market levels.

Outreach and Training Grants

Approximately $6 million will now be made available by HUD for three-year Outreach and Training grants (OTAGs). The general objective of these funds is to enable residents to "participate meaningfully" and "affect decisions" in the Mark-to-Market process about the future of their housing, which also includes buildings with above-market rents that are undergoing potential disqualification or enforcement action by HUD.

Eligible activities include identifying residents in eligible properties, outreach and training, organizing, developing information clearinghouses, materials preparation, and general education to other constituencies (e.g., lenders, state and local government officials and community groups) about what is happening with the properties under the Mark to Market program.

Maximum grants are $150,000 per year, with a $400,000 limit for three years. Eligible applicants are resident-controlled nonprofits with a board majority of HUD tenants and two years' experience in resident organizing and education, community-based nonprofits with the same experience, and "public" entities such as community action, legal services, state and local government agencies and other (nonprofit?) organizations and intermediaries. The geographic scope for activities may be community-wide to state-wide. Apparently, jurisdictions with more Mark-to-Market- eligible properties will receive higher points in the bidding process, but other factors will also be weighed in the rankings.

HUD's plan is to fund the general outreach and training activities now, and to shift the focus of future funds in subsequent years to project-specific capacity-building and technical assistance activities. Therefore, these may be the only general organizing funds for residents in this stock of housing. Applicants should take advantage of this opportunity because there may not be another one.

OTAG applications are due by June 30, 1998. Application kits are available from the "HUD SuperNOFA Shopping Center," 1-800-HUD-8929. Better yet, get an application more quickly by downloading it from HUD's website at http://www.hud.gov.

Intermediary Technical Assistance Program

The Intermediary Technical Assistance program (ITAG) first seeks applications from qualified intermediaries to receive HUD funding allocations from which project-specific grants will be made to individual qualified applicants performing eligible activities for specific properties. HUD is making available $1 million from Fiscal Year 1998 funds, and proposes allocating another $8 million from next year's anticipated appropriation.

Intermediary ITAG applications are due July 21, 1998. Applications may be obtained from HUD, as described above for the OTAG program.