National Housing Law Project Housing Law Bulletin

The following are housing-related regulations and Notices that HUD has recently issued. For the most part, the summaries are taken directly from the agency's summaries in the Federal Register. The Notice summaries are taken from their introductory paragraphs.

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 site 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

HOME Investment Partnerships Program; Additional Streamlining; Final Rule
24 C.F.R. Part 92
62 Fed. Reg. 44,837 (Aug. 22, 1997)

Summary: This rule implements the proposed rule published December 11, 1996, and amends the existing HOME program final rule by (1) replacing the hearing procedures of the current HOME rule with the Department-wide streamlined hearing procedures, (2) removing the close-out requirements and instead providing that HOME funds be closed out in accordance with procedures established by HUD, (3) replacing the extensive requirements for the competitive reallocation of HOME funds with a citation to the selection factors in the HOME statute and a statement of the maximum number of points that may be awarded for each factor, and (4) establishing a separate market interest rate formula for rehabilitation loans.

This rule also promulgates an amendment to, and requests public comment on, 24 C.F.R. § 92.252(i)(2) to limit the rents charged to tenants of HOME-assisted units whose income rises above 80 percent of area median income in HOME projects in which the HOME-assisted units "float."

Effective date: September 22, 1997.

Comments due: Comments on Section 92.252(i)(2) are due on October 21, 1997. Interested persons are invited to submit their comments to the Rules Docket Clerk, Office of General Counsel, Room 10278, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20410.

HUD Federal Register Notices

Public Housing Lease and Grievance Procedures; Notice of HUD Due Process Determinations
62 Fed. Reg. 45,434 (Aug. 27, 1997)

Summary: Under section 6(k) of the United States Housing Act of 1937, a housing agency (HA) is generally required to provide a public housing tenant with the opportunity for an administrative hearing before commencement of eviction proceedings in court. The statute provides that the HA may bypass the administrative hearing for evictions involving any activity that threatens the health, safety or right to peaceful enjoyment of the premises of other tenants or employees of the HA or for any drug-related criminal activity. However, HUD must first make a determination that local law requires a pre-eviction court hearing that provides the basic elements of due process (a "due process determination"). This Notice lists the judicial eviction procedures in the states of Louisiana and North Carolina for which HUD has recently issued a due process determination. Those procedures are:

A summary action for eviction in the district courts and in the courts of limited jurisdiction under Book VII, Title XI, of the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure.

A summary ejectment action in district court (including a summary ejectment action before a magistrate in district court) and in superior court under Chapter 42, Article 3, of the General Statutes of North Carolina.

Summary: On June 23, 1997, HUD published a Notice providing general information about the Section 8 certificate and voucher program budget authority made available by HUD's FY 1997 Appropriations Act and additional carryover budget authority that is available for use in FY 1997. In that Notice, HUD explained that, for certain categories of Section 8 certificate and voucher funds (Public Housing Relocation, Development Funds Recapture Exchange and Replacement), applications for funds may not be processed if the HA is subject to certain civil rights, litigation, Inspector General, or management review findings or actions. This correction document explains that HUD intends not to process HA applications where HUD determines that any pending litigation, not merely civil rights litigation, may seriously impede the ability of the HA to administer the certificates or vouchers.

HUD Notices

Contract Nonrenewal Notice
Notice H 97-50 (Aug. 8, 1997)

This Notice provides further guidance for the renewal or refusal to renew Section 8 Housing Assistance Payments contracts that are expiring this year. The Notice supersedes any conflicting guidance provided in Notice 97-38, which was issued on June 27, 1997, and Notice 96-74, Notice 96-89 and the November 1, 1996, memorandum entitled "Clarification Procedures for Project-based Section 8 Contracts Expiring in Fiscal Year 1997" (collectively "Clarification Memo"). The Notice is based upon Sections 211(b)(1) and (4) of the Fiscal Year 1997 Appropriations Act (Pub. L. No. 104-204, 110 Stat. 2874, approved Sept. 26, 1996) ("Applicable Law").

In summary, the Notice requires one-year renewal of all expiring contracts, except for the contracts on about 450 projects for which HUD records may indicate failure to meet HUD regulations relating to physical condition. For those projects, if there is sufficient evidence in the files of material adverse managerial or financial actions or omissions by the owner, HUD may refuse to renew the expiring contracts.

For more details on this notice, see HUD Multifamily Inventory Awaits Decisions, section on Section 8 renewal and rejection policies, elsewhere in this issue.

Single-Family Property Disposition (Officer Next Door Sales Program)
Notice H 97-51 (Aug. 11, 1997)

HUD has a program to sell single-family homes that it has acquired through foreclosure at a larger special discount to police officers who occupy them as their primary residence. The purpose is to make homeownership opportunities available to police officers in the communities they serve and to help promote safe neighborhoods by furthering the community policing efforts. Effective with the date of this Notice and for one year thereafter, for this program only, HUD has increased the discount to 50 percent for both insurable and uninsurable properties that are located in Revitalization Areas as defined in Notice H-96-81 (Sept. 30, 1996), and for properties located outside a Revitalization Area that meet the exception criteria (the property meets the standards for establishment of a Revitalization Area and is located in a neighborhood where seller concessions, such as take-back financing are common and/or a predominance of other buyers in the area are investor owners). In addition, both insurable and uninsurable properties, for this program only, may be purchased on a direct sale basis by the unit of local government, nonprofit organization or police officer in Revitalization Areas and exception areas. HUD intends that the full discount be passed on to the police officer if the property is first purchased by the unit of local government or nonprofit organization.

1. At http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs.
2. Call Aspen Systems at (301) 251-5395 to find out how to use HUD Clips.
3. To order Notices and Handbooks from HUD, call (800) 767-7468 or fax (202) 708-2313.