Last week, HUD has announced a proposed rule to implement protections arising under the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2103 (VAWA). The reauthorization added a number of programs covered by VAWA, including:
- HOME Investment Partnerships program for rental housing;
- Section 202 supportive housing for the elderly;
- Section 236 Rental Program;
- Section 811 supportive housing for people with disabilities;
- Section 221(d)(3) Below Market Rate Interest Rate Program;
- HOPWA (Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS) housing program;
- McKinney-Vento homeless programs;
- U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Housing properties that receive Section 8 assistance;
- Low-income Housing Tax Credit properties.
These programs are in addition to VAWA’s initial application to housing assisted with public housing funds, Section 8 vouchers and project-based Section 8 assistance proposed. HUD’s proposed rule also adds the Housing Trust Fund (HTF) to the list of programs (the HTF was not yet implemented at the time of VAWA reauthorization).
HUD has also posted a summary of key elements of the proposed rule. Among these are:
- extension of protections to “intimate partners” and “affiliated individuals” (i.e., spouse, parent, brother, sister or child of the individual of a child for whom the individual is loco parentis, or any other individual, tenant or lawful occupant living with the individual);
- clarifies the provision that allows for the bifurcation of the resident lease and the eviction of a tenant who commits criminal acts of physical violence against family members or others, to permit the remaining residents a reasonable opportunity to establish eligibility to maintain tenancy under an assisted housing program or find other housing;
- requires agencies to adopt a model transfer plan when a tenant reasonably believes there is a threat of imminent harm from further violence if the tenant remains in the unit.
The proposed rule was not published in the Federal Register this Wednesday. The deadline for submitting comments on the proposed rule is June 1, 2015.