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NCHM Announces Change 3 Mini-Webinar

NCHM will be offering a 90 minute mini-webinar on the recently issued Change 3 to HUD Handbook 4350.3, Rev. 1 on July 27, 2009 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Eastern time.  Change 3 becomes effective on August 1st, so this is your chance to get detailed and specific training about the changes before the implementation date.

Change 3 makes some amendments to income, and clarifies several other issues, including live-in aides.  Chapter 9 of the HUD Handbook 4350.3, Rev. 1 (Billing and Special Claims) has been thoroughly revised to reflect TRACS 202C.

The Change 3 mini-webinar is part of our "Spotlight On..." series.  To register for the Change 3 mini-webinar visit NCHM's website at www.nchm.org and go to our registration form which includes the "Spotlight On..." option.

I'll be leading the session which will have several opportunities for Q&A.  I hope to see you there.

Change 3 Is Out!!

HUD today announced the release of Change 3 to HUD Handbook 4350.3, Rev. 1.  The change is dated June 23rd and will be effective on August 1st.

Change 3 consists of many clarifications throughout all chapters of the handbook, and a complete revision of Chapter 9 on Billing and Special Claims.

NCHM will, of course, be updating our COS program to reflect Change 3.  Please also "stay tuned" to this blog and our website: www.nchm.org for additional information and training offerings tied to Change 3.

HUD Announces EIV Data Retention Requirements will change

The following announced today via RHIIP Listserve:

"HUD is in the process of finalizing negotiations with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for retention of the National Directory of New Hires (NDNH) employment and income data obtained  from the EIV system.  HHS has agreed to allow retention of the EIV printed reports for the term of tenancy plus three years after termination of tenancy.  With this change, owners and management agents (O/As) will no longer need to worry about destroying the EIV printed reports containing NDNH data in the tenant files when the reports are two years old.  This change will be incorporated in a revision to Notice H2008-3, Enterprise Income Verification (EIV) System."

 

 

 

The First Response to "Name Your (Compliance) Frustration"

"My compliance frustration is the Race & Ethnicity forms that came with an expiration date so now anyone who completed the form after that date had to complete a new one.

It is hard to explain to our residents the reason this needs to be done, astheir race has not changed. Then a new one came out with a 2011 expiration date followed by the current one with a 4/30/09 expiration date. Of course during a MOR we are dinged for this kind of thing and it looks like those who make up the forms are using something.

Also no one uses the form or looks at it accept for the MOR. The form itself has not changed except the date. Another thing is that residents do not have to complete the form which means that even if the information is used it is not complete. The only place were this is used is on TRACS.  If the resident chooses to not complete the form, TRACS won't accept a non answer. This means we have to judge ourselves what race and ethicity they are."

MARK ALPER'S COMMENT: I want to begin by thanking the writer of the above post.  It is true that by making the racial/ethnicity data certification "optional," HUD has (probably inadvertently) placed property managers in the difficult position this writer expresses so well.

"Name Your (Compliance) Frustration"

It has been quite a while since my last blog posting, for which I apologize. By way of explanation, but not excuse, there hasn't been much "new" coming from HUD in the compliance arena.  

With summer just around the corner, many of you will be taking well-deserved vacations.  This provided the inspiration for a little online "game" that I am calling: "Name Your (Compliance) Frustration."

The "game" is fairly easy: All you need do is write in with the compliance-related issue that most frustrates you...makes you want to pull your hair out....makes you want to go somewhere and have an umbrella drink (with an ACTUAL umbrella in the glass rather than a toothpick with a colored piece of paper intended to resemble an umbrella).

So, go ahead and vent.  You can then enjoy your vacation and not have to give it any further thought.

I'll select the best submissions, keeping your names anonymous, and post them here.  At the appropriate time, I'll call for a vote and the submission with the most amount of votes wins.  

Yes, colleagues, this will be a compliance-oriented version of "American Idol."  You might think that analogy cute, appropriate, or pathetic and sad.  Regardless, let's start the conversation and have some fun with it.   

Regulation vs. Guidance

This is an interesting question: When there is a conflict between HUD regulation and guidelines, which takes precedence?

As with many HUD issues, the answer is not clear cut.  I used to think that regulation usually prevailed over guidance.  I can well remember how the guidelines in the old version of HUD Handbook 4350.3 stated "a parent shall not share a bedroom with a child." This guideline wasn't changed until the early 1990's, but the Fair Housing Act Amendments -- including protections on familial status -- were implemented in 1989.  So it was possible for a housing provider to follow the "a parent shall not share a bedroom with a child" provision and find themselves in hot water with respect to fair housing.

In the above scenario, the regulation (Fair Housing Act Amendments) trumped the guidelines (HUD Handbook 4350.3).  The guidelines came BEFORE the regulation, and it was the regulation that effectively made the guidelines obsolete on that question.

Recently, however, I was contacted by a managing agent in connection with HUD Handbook 4350.3, Rev. 1, Paragraph 5-6 O.  This was a "change 2" change (2007) that said if a resident is making regular withdrawals from an investment, such receipts were to be regarded as income and any remaining funds were not to be counted as an asset.

But the regulatory authority in researching the issue discovered 24 CFR Part 5.609 that says that withdrawals from investment accounts are only income once the original amount invested had been disbursed.  Some of you may remember that this was the original Paragraph 5-6 N of HUD Handbook 4350.3, Rev. 1 when that handbook was issued on June 1, 2003.  And this indeed was the rule until Change 2 was issued in 2007.  So the guidelines changed and the regulation did not.

In this case, my argument would be that the guidelines as issued in Change 2 trump the regulation that pre-dated them.  My argument rests on the belief that a contrary position, i.e., that the regulations trump the Change 2 provisions, would effectively devalue the importance of HUD Handbook 4350.3, Rev. 1 and would also deprive the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and his team of the authority to issue guidelines and interpretations without first changing the underlying regulations, something they are afforded the right to do under existing regulations.

As always, I feel it is important to place an issue in context and look at the whole picture before reaching a conclusion.

Wishing you all a Happy Passover, a Happy Easter, and a fine weekend.

HUD Sets Date for UIV Implementation: September 30, 2009

HUD has published a Federal Register notice today setting the implementation date for their "Refinement and Income Determination requirements" (also known as Upfront Income Verification) as September 30, 2009.  This date applies to both Public Housing Authorities and Owners/Agents.

The final rule also gave owners/agents presently without access to EIV a deadline of September 30, 2009 to make that transition.  HUD has determined no additional delays beyond that date are needed. 

HUD has also stated the September 30, 2009 deadline will give the agency the opportunity to review the comments on the Final Rule and to make any changes it deems appropriate.  HUD has thus far not made any specific changes to the Final Rule other than the effective date beyond the exemption from the Social Security number rule it proposes for mixed families that include a non-citizen who does not wish to contend eligible status, that was contained in their February 11th notification considering the delay..

You can read the Federal Register by going to: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-6942.pdf

HUD experiencing IMAX issues

HUD issued a brief announcement yesterday that TRACSMail is back online and that it will continue to accept files submitted through TRACSMail until one week from today (March 13, 2009).  This is clearly the result of some problems associated with IMAX.

UIV: Breaking News

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NEWS FLASH -- Since writing and posting this item, we received an email from Linda Kornegay of HUD-RHIP (RHIIP Listserve #139) that stated as follows: "Although the effective date may be delayed, owners and management agents are encouraged to begin informing applicants and tenants who have not disclosed their social security number, or the social security number of a child under the age of 6, or who have certified they do not have a social security number, of this upcoming revision to the regulations and their need to begin the process of obtaining a social security number.

In addition to the above, owners and management agents who have access to the Enterprise Income Verification (EIV) system should be verifying and correcting social security numbers for individuals listed on the Failed EIV Pre-screening and the Failed Verification Report as having invalid social security numbers. "

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HUD published today their promised notice pertaining to the Upfront Income Verification (UIV) final rule that appeared in the Federal Register on January 27, 2009.  Here are the details:

* HUD is considering a delay of 60 days in the implementation date for UIV. 

* They are soliciting comments on the delay and the Final Rule, and the deadline for comments is March 13, 2009.

This is being done to comply with the request of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel that agency heads have an opportunity to review pending regulations in order to identify any issues of "law or policy" that need to be addressed.  This request does not require a 60 day delay, it merely provides that as an option.

What does this mean?

What this means is that the UIV Final Rule, published on January 27, 2009 remains intact.  The implementation dates may or may not change.  While the comment period may elicit issues of "law or policy," we do not yet know this to be a fact.  It is therefore entirely possible that the Final Rule will be left to stand as published without any substantial amendments.

What does NCHM intend to do?

We will be commenting during the period set forth by HUD in the notice today.  We will also continue to offer training on the UIV Final Rule, and have made this decision because there is a chance the effective dates will not change, and this could have our industry scrambling for training at "the last minute." 

But given the possibility of deadline extensions and even the slight potential for change, we're calling our program: UIV PLUS.  We'll cover in detail the UIV Final Rule and recent developments, and we're also adding to the training, by popular demand, detailed treatment of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), IMAX/202C issues, and some important fair housing related topics.

Additional information is immediately available by contacting our offices at 1-888-291-5562, and our website (www.nchm.org) is in the process of being updated.  You can also contact me directly with any questions by commenting to this post.

HUD Delays UIV

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced a delay in the implementation of their Upfront Income Verification (UIV) rule.  More details will be forthcoming in a Federal Register notice to be issued tomorrow (February 11).  Please check back here or on NCHM's website (www.nchm.org) and we'll keep you fully informed of developments.