HUD Officials Brief NACCED Members During 2023 Annual Conference
Deputy Director Yetman’s presentation covered a range of updates on OBGA programs, starting with COVID-era relief funds. He reported that on April 18 of this year, HUD lifted the requirement that 80 percent of a Community Development Block Grant CARES Act (CDBG-CV) grant must be expended within three years of grant agreement execution. HUD’s intent with this action is to alleviate expenditure delays directly suffered by grantees caused by the pandemic. HUD found that more than a third of the over 1,200 CDBG–CV grantees faced major supply chain issues for construction materials, prolonged business quarantine shutdowns and a decrease in workforce areas because of the pandemic.
The National Virtual CARES Act Conference was held from May 22-25 to offer solutions for CDBG-CV expenditure. Session materials have been posted to the HUD Exchange CARES Act Conference webpage along with content from previous years’ iterations. Additionally, virtual CDBG-CV problem solving clinics have been held monthly to aid grantees with timely expenditure of funds and will continue to be offered in 2024 along with in-person clinics.He further reported that fiscal Year (FY) 2016 CDBG closed out on September 30. Of note was even though the percentage of urban counties with FY 16 funds still on hand exceeds the national average, as of September 11, only a handful of urban counties had more than $150,000 in 2016 funds to spend. The median amount left to spend for the 29 urban counties with funds on hand was less than $41,000.
Other priority highlights included the newly announced Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO) Competition which provides $85 million to support the removal of barriers to affordable housing production. County and city governments are eligible to apply for PRO until the October 30 deadline. A new Preservation and Reinvestment Initiative for Community Enhancement (PRICE) competition will receive $225 million to preserve and revitalize manufactured housing and eligible manufactured housing communities. A Notice of Funding Opportunity for PRICE is set to be released by the end of the year. Two landmark moments were also celebrated with the announcements of the Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program passing $10 billion in approved projects and a tee up for CDBG’s 50th anniversary celebration in 2024.
Virginia Sardone, Director for the Office of Affordable Housing Programs (OAHP) followed with additional regulatory updates. HUD is expected to release rulemaking for the Home Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) later this year in an effort to support the White House Housing Supply Action Plan which aims to update and strengthen HOME. Included will be revised guidance for participating Community Housing Development Organizations, HOME Rents, Community Land Trusts and property standards. HUD has also worked closely in the past year with the office of Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) on crafting HOME rulemaking to coincide with a statutory reauthorization. NACCED is an active member in the HOME Coalition and is engaged in efforts with our industry partners to pass reauthorization legislation in the 118th Congress.
HUD’s HOME American Rescue Plan (ARP) program continues to be a success with 606 of 643 HOME-ARP plans accepted. HUD plans for 20 upcoming HOME-ARP Technical Assistance (TA) implementation clinics for grantee support which will begin on October 17 from 2:30pm-4:00pm eastern. Up to 43 in-person clinics will be available additionally. Written HOME-ARP TA products set to be released includes non-congregate shelter considerations, property standards, qualifying populations eligibility documentation, tenant based rental assistance sponsor checklists, capacity assessments for community development executives and program content purposed for elected officials. Questions on HOME-ARP are also currently being accepted via email at [email protected].
FY 2015 HOME funds are expected to expire on September 30. As of September 15, 1.1% of FY 15 funding remains unspent. Assistance with expiring HOME funds has been provided throughout the year by HUD. An expiring funds report is issued by HUD regularly and a webinar for participating jurisdictions (PJs) facing difficulties with disbursement was held on May 24. Additionally, one-on-one help has been provided by HUD for PJs to aid with fund expenditure.
On May 11, HUD published a final rule on the implementation of National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate (NSPIRE). HUD’s final rule includes an increase in the number of applicable programs defined as “HUD Housing”, redefines multiple habitat safety standards and reduces the categories of inspectable areas from five to three. OAHP will publish a further notice outlining how NSPIRE applies to HOME and HTF for program commitments made on or after October 1.
On February 14, HUD published a final rule on the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016 (HOTMA) with an effective date of January 1, 2024 and a compliance date of January 1, 2025. The rule revises income regulations, streamlines and aligns administrative processes in HUD rental programs and targets resources to those most in need. Conforming regulations for HOME, HOME-ARP and National Housing Trust Fund participants were also provided in the final rule to reduce administrative burden.
NACCED thanks our colleagues at HUD for their expertise and we look forward to continuing our partnership. Presentations will shortly be available on NACCED’s website. For additional information on any of these updates, contact NACCED Policy Director Josh Brandwein at [email protected].
