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During a recent call with the Rural Preservation Working Group, RD officials announced that RD is following HUD and will not propose a mixed-status rule restricting RD housing beyond what is required by Section 214 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1980. This means mixed-status families can continue to live together in RD housing without fear of being evicted. At some later date, RD will propose new regulations that conform to the previous HUD Section 214 regulations. Read More »

The ongoing public charge litigation battle has ended and the Trump rule can no longer be enforced. The United States Department of Justice yesterday filed motions to dismiss its defense of the Trump public charge rule, ending a nearly two-year legal battle and invalidating the rule nationwide. The public charge rule has effectively denied millions of immigrant families health care and economic support–a particularly cruel impact during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the full news release from the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), Shriver Center on Poverty Law, Legal Council for Health Justice, and National Housing Law Project. Read More »

NHLP submitted comments on the IRS’s proposed rule that would prohibit owners of LIHTC AIT properties from redesignating a unit’s imputed income limitation. The comment letter advocates for the IRS to give owner’s the ability to re-designate a unit’s imputed income limitation when necessary to comply with fair housing and VAWA obligations and when necessary to accommodate the floating unit designations allowed by other subsidy programs. The comment letter also explains how owner’s of LIHTC AIT properties have an incentive to rent their very low-income and extremely low-income units to Section 8 voucher holders where the voucher payment standard exceeds the maximum rent allowed under the LIHTC program. This duplicates the LIHTC subsidy for these units, it makes these... Read More »

Statement by Shamus Roller, Executive Director of the National Housing Law Project Today, Speaker Pelosi introduced a $3 trillion coronavirus relief package. The HEROES Act contains substantial resources to provide housing stability to renters and homeowners across the country. The bill provides $175 billion in rental and homeownership assistance to those suffering from loss of work or income. It includes approximately 100,000 emergency rental vouchers targeted to those most vulnerable during the crisis. And the Act expands and strengthens payment relief options for homeowners, and creates a twelve-month eviction moratorium that covers all residential properties. “NHLP cannot emphasize enough the need for immediate rental and homeowner relief, and we appreciate that the House bill works to address the... Read More »

NHLP Analysis of HUD’s Public and Indian Housing Waiver Notice This is NHLP’s analysis of HUD’s PIH Notice 2020-05 regarding COVID-19 statutory and regulatory waivers (issued April 10, 2020). The analysis includes (1) an overview of the HUD waiver notice (2) a list of key policies to consider when advocating with your local PHA (3) a summary of the available waivers for the Housing Choice Voucher and Public Housing programs that will impact tenants’ rights and housing access. Click here to view other NHLP COVID-19 Resources... Read More »

The National Housing Law Project submitted comments this April to oppose HUD’s “Equal Participation of Faith-Based Organizations” proposed rule which will force many to choose between abandoning their most closely held beliefs or going without critical life-saving services. View NHLP’s comment letter here.   NHLP’s comments were drafted using resources provided by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, whose comment campaign opposed a series of proposed regulations from the Trump Administration that threaten access to essential services and infringe upon individuals’ rights to religious freedom. ... Read More »

The federal stimulus package in response to COVID-19 (The CARES Act) was passed on March 27. The bill includes a moratorium on some residential evictions. This memo is a summary of those eviction protections NHLP’s CARES Act Eviction Moratorium Summary (PDF) NHLP COVID-19 Resources... Read More »

PUBLIC CHARGE LEGAL FIGHT ENDS:  Victory for Immigrant Communities Nationwide as U.S. Justice Department Drops Defense in Public Charge Case (March 9, 2021) The ongoing public charge litigation battle has ended and the Trump rule can no longer be enforced. The United States Department of Justice yesterday filed motions to dismiss its defense of the Trump public charge rule, ending a nearly two-year legal battle and invalidating the rule nationwide. The public charge rule has effectively denied millions of immigrant families health care and economic support–a particularly cruel impact during the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the full news release from the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), Shriver Center on Poverty Law, Legal Council for Health Justice, and... Read More »

WASHINGTON, DC/SAN FRANCISCO – On January 27, 2020, the Supreme Court granted the Trump administration’s request to lift a nationwide injunction allowing the “Public Charge” rule’s implementation awaiting other court rulings.  The rule, finalized by the Department of Homeland Security last August, will penalize low- and moderate-income immigrant families based on a prediction that they may use certain federal benefits in the future. The rule will also affect immigrant families that use or qualify for federal housing assistance. The National Housing Law Project (NHLP) worked closely with its partners on the Protecting Immigrant Families campaign opposing this rule, and has several resources on the housing impact of the public charge rule. “The National Housing Law Project strongly condemns... Read More »

Proposal from HUD to Effectively Eliminate Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule Weakens Enforcement of Fair Housing Laws, Reinforces Decades of Discriminatory Practices Leaders of The National Fair Housing Alliance, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, National Low Income Housing Coalition, National Housing Law Project, and Alliance for Housing Justice held a media conference call today to express opposition to the Trump administration’s latest attack against a critical Fair Housing Act tool for fighting housing discrimination. You can listen to a recording of the full press call here. The proposed rule released by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) just days before Martin Luther King, Jr. Day would effectively eliminate the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) mandate... Read More »