Housing Choice Vouchers

HUD has published a proposed rule on Reducing Barriers to HUD-Assisted Housing. The proposed amendments would revise existing regulations that govern admission for applicants with criminal records or a history of involvement with the criminal justice system. The proposed rule also revises regulations surrounding eviction or termination of assistance of persons on the basis of illegal drug use, drug-related criminal activity, or other criminal activity Comments are due on June 6 (60 days after publication in the Federal Register). If you wish to submit feedback to CLPHA on this proposed rule, please send it to Malcolm Guy (mguy@clpha.org) by Wednesday, May 22.

The proposed revisions would require that prior to any discretionary denial or termination for criminal activity, PHAs and assisted housing owners take into consideration multiple sources of information, including but not limited to the recency and relevance of prior criminal activity. This proposed rule would apply to the public housing and Section 8 assisted housing programs, as well as the Section 221(d)(3), Section 202, Section 811, and Section 236 programs.

A high-level summary of the proposed rule:

• Requires the establishment of a “lookback period” limiting the reliance on old convictions;
  • For all programs, prohibiting admission for a period of time longer than three years following any particular criminal activity is “presumptively unreasonable.”
• Tenants shall be given at least 15 days to challenge the accuracy and relevance of the information and provide any relevant mitigating information prior to an admissions decision.
• Harmonizes the non-exhaustive list of relevant considerations across programs, setting out some specific factors that will frequently be considered relevant, such as:
  • how long ago the offense or incident occurred;
  • mitigating conduct that has taken place since (e.g., evidence of rehabilitation and successful reentry, including employment and tenancy); and
  • completion of drug or alcohol treatment programs.
• Requires certain owners of federally assisted housing to update their tenant selection plans to reflect the relevant policies they employ within six months following this rule’s effective date.
  • This provision does not apply to owners of properties receiving tenant-based assistance, project-based vouchers, or moderate rehabilitation owners.
• Language concerning mandatory admission denials based on criminal activity and alcohol abuse which are required by federal statute is largely left unchanged by the proposed rule.
  • HUD proposes adding greater clarification to the definition of “currently engaging in,” which currently triggers a mandatory exclusion with respect to the use of illegal drugs and triggers discretionary exclusion authority with respect to certain criminal activity.

CLPHA will provide a more detailed analysis of this rule shortly.