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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 05132008 - D.2H HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE COUNTY OF CONTRA COSTA TO: BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS FROM: Joseph Villarreal, Executive Director DATE: May 13, 2008 SUBJECT: SECTION 8 ADMINISTRATIVE PLAN REVISIONS CONCERNING VOUCHER TERMS FOR CLIENTS EXERCISING PORTABILITY SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION I. RECOMMENDED ACTION: APPROVE Section 8 Administrative Plan revisions to the policies governing voucher terms for incoming and outgoing portable voucher holders. II. FINANCIAL IMPACT: None. Resources will be provided from existing HUD funds. III. REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION/BACKGROUND Since the early 1990s, with some restrictions, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has permitted families receiving voucher assistance to move from the jurisdiction of one housing authority to another anywhere in the United States. This is called portability. Incoming portables are those who come to HACCC's jurisdiction from another agency's and outgoing portables are those who come off the Authority's wait list or who have been part of HACCC's voucher program and are moving from Contra Costa to another agency's jurisdiction. All vouchers issued to Section 8 families have a term within which the family must find rental housing that meets program guidelines. If the family is not able to find a unit before the voucher term expires, then the family must give up their voucher and is not entitled to assistance under the program. The family will have to reapply in the future for Section 8 assistance. HUD requires all housing authorities to issue vouchers with an initial term of at least 60 calendar days. At its discretion, a housing authority may grant families a longer initial term or one or more extensions to the initial voucher term. If a family needs and requests an extension of the initial voucher term as a reasonable accommodation, a housing authority must extend the term up to one reasonably required for that purpose. HACCC currently issues vouchers with an initial term of 90 days to families on its program. HACCC only grants extensions to this term for reasonable accommodation or, on a case-by-case basis, in response to an event outside the family's control such as hospitalization or natural disaster. CONTINUED ON ATTACH.MENT:. YES SIGNATURE Joseph Villarreal.Executive Director RECOMMENDATION OF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHER 1 SIGNATURE(S): ACTION OF BOARD ON Q 1'Z ) APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER VOTE OF COMMISSIONERS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A UNANIMOUS (ABSENT ) TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN AYES: _NOES: ACTION TAKEN AND ENTERED ON THE ABSENT:_ ABSTAIN: MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ON TME DATE SHOWN. ATTESTED JOSE H VILLARREAL. SECRETARY OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR BY TY Under the Authority's current policy, families who decide to use portability to move outside of HACCC's jurisdiction are issued a voucher with a term of 90 days after they receive approval to move. However, this policy does not differentiate between applicants and participants. A participant is a family or individual that has been admitted to the Section 8 program and is currently assisted in the program. The family becomes a participant on the effective date of the first Housing Assistance Payments contract executed by a housing authority for the family. An applicant is someone who has applied for admission to the program but is not yet a participant. In this context, an applicant is someone just issued a voucher from the wait list. While the Authority's practice is that all families receive a 90 day voucher term, the policy needs to clearly state that participant families will receive no more than 90 days. Under the existing policy, a participant family who is not currently housed could already have used 45 days on a voucher, decide to port and then be given another 90 days without requesting an extension. The Authority's current Administrative Plan reads as follows: 10-11.13 INITIAL HOUSING AUTHORITY ROLE Voucher Issuance and Term HACCC Policy For families approved to move under portability, HACCC will issue a new voucher within 15 business days of HACCC's written approval to move. The initial term of the voucher will be 90 days. Staff's proposed change reads as follows: 10-11.13 INITIAL HOUSING AUTHORITY ROLE Voucher Issuance and Term HACCC Policy For applicant families approved to move under portability, HACCC will issue a new voucher when it provides the family with written approval to move. Participant families who are approved to move will also be issued a new voucher when provided with written approval to move unless the Authority must conduct an income recertification. In such cases, the family will be provided written approval to move as soon as the Authority has made such determination, but the family will not be issued a voucher until the income recertification is complete. The initial term of the voucher will be 90 days. The policies on voucher extensions set forth in Chapter 5, section 5-II.E, of this plan will apply to any requests for extensions. Participant families holding a voucher at the time they request to move under portability will retain the original expiration date of their voucher term plus any time that must be added on for tolling. For your reference, Chapter 5, section 5-II.E of the Administrative Plan is attached. Staff also proposes to update its current policy governing voucher terms assigned to incoming portable voucher holders. Existing HUD regulations require the Authority.to issue incoming portables with a term that may not expire before the expiration date given by the initial housing authority. HACCC's current policy provides that the voucher will expire on the same date as the initial housing authority's voucher. However, some agencies only issue vouchers with the HUD-required minimum term of 60 days. In response, current HACCC practice is to issue a voucher that expires on the same date as the initial agency's voucher, per the Administrative Plan, but then to extend by 30 days if the incoming portable family so requests and they had less than 90 days total on their voucher term. Staff proposes to remove this administratively burdensome step and instead issue a voucher to incoming portable families that either expires after a total of 90 days from the date the first agency issued the voucher in cases where the initial term was less than 90 days (e.g., if the initial housing authority gave the family a 60 day voucher, HACCC would add 30 days to the original expiration date) or with a term that expires on the date issued by the original housing authority if the term was 90 days or more. The Authority's current Administrative Plan reads as follows: 10-II.0 RECEIVING HOUSING AUTHORITY ROLE Voucher Term HACCC Policy HACCC's voucher will expire on the same date as the initial Housing Authority's voucher. Staff's proposed change reads as follows: 10-II.0 RECEIVING HOUSING AUTHORITY ROLE Voucher Term HACCC Policy HACCC will provide all incoming portable voucher holders with a voucher term of at least 90 total days. Incoming voucher holders who received a voucher term of fewer than 90 days from their initial housing authority will be given a voucher expiration date that is 90 days from s8admi„ 1 t` f • the date of issuance of their original voucher. Incoming portables issued vouchers with terms of 90 days or more will retain that expiration date as required by HUD regulations. The final change proposed by staff to this section of the Administrative Plan must be made by the Authority in order to comply with HUD regulations. The Authority's Administrative Plan only allows for voucher term extensions in cases where HACCC plans to absorb the incoming portable family. This complies with past HUD rules but is contrary to current HUD regulations which require that receiving agencies must determine whether to extend the voucher term. The Authority's current Administrative Plan reads as follows: 10-II.0 RECEIVING HOUSING AUTHORITY ROLE Voucher Extensions HACCC Policy HACCC will not extend the term of the voucher that it issues to an incoming portable family unless HACCC plans to absorb the family into its own program, in which case it will follow the policies on voucher extension set forth in.section 5-11.E. HACCC will consider an exception to this policy as a reasonable accommodation to a person with disabilities (see Chapter 2). Staff's proposed change reads as follows: 10-II.0 RECEIVING HOUSING AUTHORITY ROLE Voucher Extensions HACCC Policy The policies on voucher extensions set forth in Chapter 5, section 5-II.E, of this plan will apply to any requests for extensions. IV. CONSEQUENCES OF NEGATIVE ACTION Should the Board of Commissioners elect not to approve the proposed policy governing voucher terms for applicant and participant families who wish to move from the Authority's jurisdiction under portability, the Authority's policies will remain unclear on the voucher term assigned to portable participant families and the Authority could be challenged in this area by HUD or families.seeking more time. Should the Board of Commissioners elect not to approve the proposed policy governing voucher terms of at least 90 days for incoming portable families, not all families assisted by the Authority will be given the same opportunity (in terms of time) to search for housing. This issue is primarily one of fairness and not of compliance with HUD regulations. Should the Board of Commissioners elect not to approve the proposed policy governing the extension of voucher terms for incoming portable families, the Authority will remain out of compliance with HUD regulations. 5-II. E. VOUCHER TERM, EXTENSIONS, AND SUSPENSIONS Voucher Term [24 CFR 982.303 HACCC Policy The initial voucher term will be 90 calendar days. Tlie family must submit a Request for Tenancy Approval and proposed lease within the 90-day period unless HACCC. . grants an extension. Extensions of Voucher Term [24 CFR 982.303(bll HACCC will approve extensions to the voucher term only in the following circumstances: • If an applicant or participant needs and requests an extension of the voucher term as a reasonable accommodation to.make the program accessible to and usable by a family member with disabilities, HACCC will extend the voucher term up to the term reasonably required for that purpose. • If IIACCC determines that an applicant or participant deeds additional search time beyond the initial term due to reasons beyond the family's control, as determined by HACCC. Following is a list of extenuating circumstances that HACCC may consider in making its decision. The presence of these circumstances does not guarantee that an extension will be granted: • Serious accident, illness or death in the family • Other family emergency • Obstacles due to employment • Whether family size or other special requirements make finding a unit difficult • Any request for an additional extension must include the reason(s) an additional extension is necessary. IIACCC may require the family to provide documentation to support the request. All requests for extensions to the voucher term must be made in writing and submitted to HACCC prior to the expiration date of the voucher (or extended term of the voucher). HACCC will decide whether to approve or deny an extensionyequest within 15 business days of the date the request is received, and will immediately provide the family written notice of its decision. HACCC's decision to deny a request for an extension of the voucher term is not subject to informal review [24 CFR 982.554©(4)]. The Authority may require additional conditions as part of any extension, such as weekly reporting or insisting that voucher holders receiving an extension work closely with HACCC staff in their search. Suspensions of Voucher Term [24 CFR 982.3010] HACCC Policy When a Request for Tenancy Approval and proposed lease is received by HACCC, the term of the voucher will be suspended (tolled) while IIACCC processes the request. Expiration of Voucher Term HACCC Policy If an applicant family's voucher termor extension expires before the family has submitted a. Request for Tenancy Approval (RTA), HACCC will require the family to reapply for assistance. If an RTA that was submitted prior to the expiration date of the voucher is subsequently disapproved by HACCC (after the voucher term has expired), the family's voucher will be "tolled" and the number of processing days shall be added to the voucher. The tenant shall be given another RTA to search for another unit for only the days remaining on the voucher after it is tolled. This is not an extension but merely holding the tenant harmless from any processing time. Within 15 business days after the expiration of the voucher term or any extension, HACCC will notify the family in writing that the voucher term has expired and the family must reapply in order to be placed on the waiting list.