HUD AAQ #125773: Allowed PSH Expenses
Question Status: Answered
Question ID: 125773
Question Subject:
Emergency housing question
Question Text:
I have an issue that we have never dealt with in the past and wanted to reach out for guidance.
One of our tenants woke up yesterday to the ceiling falling in in their kitchen. Long story short, there was an issue with the HVAC in the attic and water had been pooling for quite some time. The landlord has put the family in a hotel for a few days but the damage is extensive and it will likely take more than 2 weeks to fix all the issues. The landlord has stated they are unable to keep the family in the hotel and that as the house is uninhabitable the lease is automatically terminated.
We are working with the landlord now to see what other options we have but we will likely not be able to get them back into the unit. The landlord also found some other issues in the house and has said they would be terminating the lease anyways.
My question is, can we use the subsidy that we currently have lined up for September towards temporary housing while we find a permanent solution? I would hate to see this family have to go to a shelter if we have funding for them.
Response:
Thank you for your question.
Based on the information in your question, the unit would not meet the housing standards set forth in section 578.75(b) of the CoC Program interim rule; therefore, please move the family to a new unit as soon as possible.
HUD agrees that the family must not be required to live in an emergency shelter or any other form of homelessness while a new unit is located. Section 578.61 of the CoC Program allows recipients and subrecipient to use CoC Program grant funds to pay for the costs to provide relocation payments and other assistance to persons displaced by a project assisted with grant funds in accordance with § 578.83. Based on the information described in your question, it sounds as though the family would qualify for temporary relocation assistance as described in section 578.83(b)(2) of the CoC Program interim rule. You may pay for these costs out of your operating budget line item or use program income to pay for these costs. You may also consider moving funds from your leasing line item to the operating line item in order to pay for these costs. Please also note, if you do not use grant funds or program income to pay for these costs and instead use funds other than grant funds, you could count the money spent on those costs as match, so long as the costs meet the requirements set forth in section 578.73 of the CoC Program interim rule. We recommend you reach out to your local HUD field office to discuss the most appropriate course of action.
Be aware, in order to qualify for temporary displacement under the CoC Program, the program participant may not be displaced from their unit for more than one year (see section 578.83(b)(2) for more information). If the program participant will be displaced for more than one-year, then the recipient or subrecipient is required to treat the family as required in section 578.83(c) of the CoC Program interim rule.
Additionally, please work with your local HUD field office as quickly as possible to:
- Discuss the costs that will be charged to the grant, and
- Discuss the timeline for making the unit habitable again and allowing the family to move back into the unit.