To: Contra Costa County Housing Authority Board of Commissioners
From: Joseph Villarreal, Executive Director
Report Title: ADOPT AMENDMENTS TO THE ADMISSIONS AND CONTINUED OCCUPANCY POLICY (ACOP) FOR THE PUBLIC HOUSING PROGRAM IN RESPONSE TO HUD’S UPDATES OF SECTIONS 102 AND 104 OF THE HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH MODERNIZATION ACT OF 2016 (HOTMA) AND THE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN’S ACT
☐Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
ADOPT amendments to the Admissions and Continued Occupancy Policy (ACOP) for the Public Housing Program in response to HUD’s updates of Sections 102 and 104 of the Housing Opportunities Through Modernization Act of 2016 (HOTMA) and the Violence Against Women’s Act (VAWA).
BACKGROUND:
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued Initial Guidance in the Federal Register on October 24, 2016 announcing sweeping changes in the Public Housing and Housing Choice Voucher Programs. At that time, only a fraction of the changes announced by HUD were implemented. Many changes were not implemented pending further legislative review and policy development. Since then, HUD has been slowly releasing parts of the changes as they became ready. On July 18, 2023, this Board approved the changes to Section 103 of HOTMA that made significant changes regarding income limits for the Public Housing program and policies for families who exceed the “over-income” limit after the 24-month grace period.
The changes being implemented in Section 102 and 104 of HOTMA are some of the most extensive changes made to the Housing Choice Voucher and Public Housing programs in over 10 years. These changes are being implemented to modernize the rental assistance programs and bring them in line with societal norms of today. Moreover, HUD is making changes to the deductions permitted in the calculation of rent and implementing restrictions on participation in the program for households with excessive wealth. The changes are transformative to the rental assistance program and have resulted in extensive changes being proposed for the ACOP.
In 2024, HACCC staff brought many of the HOTMA changes to the Board for public hearing and approval. To date, all HOTMA updates to the ACOP have been made and are being implemented in parts by HUD.
HACCC is accommodating the partial role out of the HOTMA changes by invoking a two-tiered ACOP whereby actions not implemented yet would refer to the ACOP approved by the Board in December of 2022 while new HOTMA changes that are implemented appear in the current version and become active.
Despite the fact that staff have implemented extensive changes to the ACOP in response to HUD’s updates of Section 102 and 104 of HOTMA, some edits continue to be made to the language, including changes to the Violence Against Women’s Act (VAWA) guidelines. The HOTMA changes were discussed by the Resident Advisory Board (RAB) on October 10, 2024 and approved by the RAB on November 6, 2024 as part of the initial adoption of the changes. Public hearings were held regarding these changes on July 9 and December 3, 2024. This action by the Board is to approve the additional edits made to the ACOP since the substantial changes were made available for public comment in 2024. The following changes were made to the ACOP for the Public Housing Program as it pertains to HACCC Policy:
In addition to any grammatical changes, edits were made to the standard HUD language in the plan that introduces the subject matter. These are not policy changes but regulatory edits from the Code of Federal Regulations. The following changes were made to the ACOP as it pertains to HACCC Policy:
• Added language addressing additional protections provide by the State of California for access to Fair Housing;
• Modified some language in the ACOP to be consistent with Reasonable Accommodation policies in our Housing Choice Voucher program, including:
o Allowing a change in a family’s rent due date to correspond with the receipt of SSI or SSDI benefits.
o Verification of disability and/or disability-related need is not required when the disability and/or disability-related need is obvious or already known to HACCC.
o The request need not use a specific written form and need not mention the Fair Housing Act, Section 504, or the ADA, or use the phrase "reasonable accommodation" or “reasonable modification."
o HACCC will help the family fill out the form if they choose to use it and if they need assistance.
o While requests for accommodation may be submitted to any Housing Authority employee, requests will be evaluated and decided upon by the Section 504 Coordinator and/or another staff member trained in and knowledgeable about fair housing and reasonable accommodations.
• Modified language to allow families who own otherwise disqualifying real property to remain eligible for the Public Housing program if the property’s location creates significant barriers to accessing work, school, healthcare, or other necessary services.
• Added and amended language regarding Violence Against Women’s Act pursuant to HOTMA changes and HUD guidelines including prohibiting the denial of admission to an otherwise qualified applicant on the basis or as a direct result of the fact that the applicant is or has been the victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking;
• Adding language prioritizing VAWA-related Emergency Transfers for participant families above all other transfer requests;
• Removed restrictive language for documentation needed to verify VAWA claims;
• Reemphasized security protocols in protecting the identity of victims of VAWA, Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, or Stalking.
• Updated all mandatory forms related to VAWA including HUD Forms 5380, 5381, 5382, and 5383;
• Added language categorizing and defining all assets as either real property or personal property.
• Added language about using a streamlined income determination for annual reexaminations on families with fixed income sources.
• Added language adopting current IRS Publication 502 as a standard for determining if expenses claimed by eligible families qualify as health and medical care expenses
• Updated the Glossaries of the ACOP
• Updated the Appendix of HOTMA which specifies the items being modified or implemented by the latest changes announced by HUD.
The proposed changes to the ACOP are too extensive to be attached. A complete copy of the proposed ACOP is available for review at HACCC’s main office and on HACCC’s website.
FISCAL IMPACT:
No direct financial impact.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
Should the Board of Commissioners elect not to approve the resolution to implement the amendments to the Admissions and Continued Occupancy Plan for the Public Housing Program in response to HUD’s updates of Sections 102 And 104 of the Housing Opportunities Through Modernization Act Of 2016 (HOTMA) and the Violence Against Women’s Act (VAWA), HACCC will be out of compliance with HUD requirements. HUD may also impose additional sanctions.