HUD Publishes New RAD Guidance

Tomorrow, HUD will publish new Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) guidance in the form of two new Federal Register notices. The Department has also published a new RAD Public and Indian Housing (PIH) Notice. The three new guidance documents are the following:

1. Rental Assistance Demonstration: Implementation of Certain Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 Appropriations Act Provisions (link is to a pre-publication copy);
   1. [7/3/18 Edit – The final, published document can be found here];
2. Rental Assistance Demonstration: Supplemental Guidance on Final Notice (link is to a pre-publication copy);
   1. [7/3/18 Edit – The final, published document can be found here]; and
3. PIH-2018-11 – Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) – Supplemental Guidance.

[7/2/18 11:55 am edit – At the same time this post was published, HUD sent a RADBlast! email with additional information.

• Modified FY 16 RAD Rents can be found here.
• HUD will host a webinar on July 9, 2018 at 2 pm ET. Registration can be found here.
• Finally, a version of the RAD notice revised version 3 as amended with the Supplemental Notice can be found here.]

The first notice announces several things:

1. HUD will use rent levels based on the FY 18 RAD rent base year for Commitments to enter into a HAP contract (CHAPs), portfolio awards, and multi-phase awards issued on or after January 1, 2019. Those rent levels will be published once the final public housing operating subsidy obligation is made for FY 18.
2. For awards before Jan. 1, 2019, HUD will modify the FY 16 RAD rent base year by replacing the PHA’s FY 16 Capital Fund Formula Grant  with the PHA’s FY 18 Capital Fund Formula Grant (i.e., in calculating RAD rents before Jan. 1, 2019, HUD will use FY 18 Capital Grant allocations, but FY 16 Operating Fund allocations and tenant rents);
3. The Department can award RAD authority to certain projects where PHAs have submitted Letters of Interest (LOIs) to reserve their position on the RAD waiting list if they submit a complete RAD application within 60 days of publication of the notice;
4. For all multi-phase awards issued after March 22, 2018, PHAs will have until September 30, 2024 to submit an application for the final phase of the project covered by the multi-phase award; and
5. HUD may approve a replacement CHAP without new application materials, when a PHA voluntarily withdraws a project and requests new RAD authority for the same project within one month thereafter.

The second notice summarizes certain aspects of the PIH notice. It expands Rent Bundling such that PHAs may bundle between RAD project-based vouchers and non-RAD project-based vouchers. It allows PHAs to establish a project-specific utility allowances for Covered Projects. It provides alternative developer fee limits when a PHA adopts a waiting list preference for households exiting homelessness. It establishes that HUD will disapprove a proposed conversion where a PHA is disposing units at a proposed project and HUD determines that the use of disposition and RAD undermines the unit replacement requirements of RAD. It creates a streamlined conversion option for PHAs that have a very small public housing portfolio of 50 units or less that will not involve any rehabilitation, new construction, or relocation.

NAHRO members will receive additional coverage on these notices and the RAD program.