Blogs

The NAHRO team has a new addition: Emily Pasi, our summer intern.  For the next few months Emily will be working with the Policy and Program Development staff, along with John Bohm and our Congressional Relations team.  She will be introducing herself shortly, but I'm pleased to let you know that one of her assignments will involve posting to this blog on a regular basis.  So watch this space for Emily's daily updates from Washington on housing and community development policy and programs.

Summary:  On Monday, June 3, 2011 HUD issued a notice (PIH Notice 2011-29) to among other things, renew PIH Notice 2010-10 regarding HUD’s program requirements that apply to Housing Quality Standards (HQS) and supplementary guidance that PHAs and inspectors may rely upon when conducting inspections. The second section deals with the issue of electrical receptacles.

Summary: HUD has issued a notice (PIH Notice 2011-27) to implement the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program funding provisions of the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011 (PL 112-10) enacted on April 15, 2011. The 2011 Act establishes the allocation methodology for calculating housing assistance payments (HAP) renewal funds, new incremental vouchers, and administrative fees. 

Date of Publication:  June 2, 2011

In case you missed it, HUD posted FY 2011 formula allocations for CDBG, HOME, ESG, and HOPWA on Friday, May 27.  HUD's press release announcing the allocations is available here. 

Summary:  Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS - Grants funded under this initiative will advance HUD’s implementation of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS). HUD’s FY 2011 NOFA also addresses the Department’s Fiscal Year 2010-2015 Strategic Plan and the Opening Doors Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness. These actions address goals to: prevent and end homelessness; increase the supply of affordable housing; and increase the coordination of mainstream housing resources and other health and human services.

NAHRO and its partners recently submitted the following letter to the editor of the Washington Post:

The undersigned national organizations representing elected officials and housing practitioners are strong supporters of the HOME Investment Partnerships Program.   We are disappointed that the Post’s recent reporting on the program has favored misleading, blanket assertions while ignoring HOME’s twenty-year track record of success providing decent, safe and affordable housing opportunities for millions of low- and moderate-income Americans.

Summary:  This Notice provides public housing agencies (PHAs) and HUD Field Office staff with an overview of the Capital Fund Program awards process including the Capital Fund Program formula grant and, where applicable, the Replacement Housing Factor (RHF) grants(s). The Notice identifies general requirements for all PHAs as well as, specific requirements for qualified and non-qualified PHAs. The HUD PIH website for the Capital Fund Program is located at:

On May 10, 2011, HUD published PHAs’ Annual Adjustment Factors for purposes of their respective FY 2011 renewal funding.  The final appropriations law for FY 2011 continues the requirement for HUD to provide renewal funding for each Public Housing Agency (PHA) based on Voucher Management System (VMS) leasing and cost data for the most recent Federal fiscal year (i.e. October 1, 2009 – September 31, 2011) and by applying the most recent Annual Adjustment Factors as established by the Department. 

Summary:  The purpose of this Notice is to promote and encourage the use of IPM by Public Housing Authorities (PHAs), Indian tribes, Tribal Designated Housing Entities (TDHEs), and owner/agents providing assistance through the HCV program. This notice provides guidance to Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) on the benefits of IPM, additional technical assistance and training opportunities for PHAs. Pest management is integral to the provision of safe and sanitary housing.

Summary:  On April 29, 2011 HUD implemented with a new version of the Voucher Management System, while conducting a webcast on the same day.  There are no new data reporting fields or data entry requirements for HUD’s April 2011 VMS release, but rather a new tabular format for entering data fields.  Among the noteworthy new features in VMS are: