Public and Indian Housing

Special Attention of: Public Housing Office Directors; Program Center Coordinators;	Notice PIH 98-34 (HUD) Issued: 6/22/98 Expires: 9/30/99 Cross References: NOFA FR-4359
Subject: Processing Public Housing Agency (PHA) Applications for Section 8 Rental Vouchers and Certificates For Disabled Families Under the Mainstream Program, NOFA FR-4359, Dated April 30, 1998. Application Review Checklist. Attached as Attachment 1 is the Application Review Checklist for rating PHA applications for FY 98 funding under the Mainstream Program for Section 8 rental vouchers and certificates for disabled families. The checklist is divided into two parts: an initial list of screening criteria that a PHA's application must pass in order to be eligible for further processing (Part 1), and a list of screening criteria to be used (for reviewing only those applications having passed the initial screening criteria) to determine if a PHA's application is approvable (Part 2). The Office of Public Housing in the local HUD Field Office HUBs and local HUD Field Office Program Centers must review each PHA application and arrive at a determination of approvability and promptly advise Headquarters of each approvable application. For purposes of this Notice, the term local HUD Field Office is defined to include the local HUD Field Office HUB and the local HUD Field Office Program Center. Application Submission Procedures and Due Date. An original and a copy of the application are to be submitted by the PHA to the local HUD Field Office. Unlike in prior years for the Mainstream Program, the due date for a PHA's application will vary slightly now based upon the method of submission, as follows: a. Delivered Applications. The local HUD Field Office HUB, Attention: Director, Office of Public Housing; or local HUD Field Office Program Center, Attention: Program Center Coordinator; are the locations to which PHAs are to submit their applications in response to NOFA FR-4359. The deadline for the submission of an application is July 7, 1998, 6:00 p.m. local HUD Field Office time. b. Mailed Applications. Applications will be considered timely if postmarked before midnight on July 7, 1998, and are received by the local HUD Field Office before midnight on July 17, 1998. c. Applications Sent by Overnight Delivery. Overnight delivery items will be considered timely if received by the local HUD Field Office by July 7, 1998, or upon submission of documentary evidence that they were placed in transit with the overnight delivery service by no later than July 7, 1998. HUD Reform Act. The HUD Reform Act requires that HUD make available for public inspection the documentation supporting the approval or disapproval of each application. In addition, the documentation must indicate the basis on which any award was made or denied. Accordingly, reviewers must ensure that their review checklists are appropriately completed in support of the recommendation to Headquarters that the application be approved. The Director of the Office of Public Housing or Program Center Coordinator should ensure that all reviewers within the local HUD Field Office are consistent in their use of this processing Notice and the requirements of NOFA FR-4359. Review by Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. The Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) in the local HUD Field Office will no longer review each PHA application submitted for rental vouchers or certificates. Instead, FHEO will only review applications from PHAs that it is monitoring based on past non-compliance with fair housing and equal opportunity requirements. The Director, FHEO, in the local HUD Field Office must provide a list annually to the Director, Office of Public Housing, or Program Center Coordinator, of the names of PHAs that are subject to FHEO compliance reviews and for which FHEO wants to review applications for Section 8 rental vouchers or certificates. Upon receipt of PHA applications for the rental voucher and certificate programs, the Director, Office of Public Housing, or Program Center Coordinator must forward copies of applications from those PHAs identified by the Director, FHEO, for FHEO's review. If the local HUD Field Office questions the validity of a civil rights certification by a PHA, the PHA's application may not be funded until the applicant resolves any charge, lawsuit, or letter of findings (see paragraph II.(A)(1) in NOFA FR-4359 and corresponding items 2. (a), (b), and (c) in Part 1 of the Application Review Checklist) to HUD's satisfaction. Initial Screening of Applications. The local HUD Field Office must review the applications at the time they are received. The first step is to complete the initial screening of each application. Part 1 of the Application Review Checklist lists the criteria to be used in the initial screening to determine which applications are eligible for further processing. If the answer to any question in Part 1 is "no," the application is unacceptable for further processing. Review of Applications. Part 2 of the Application Review Checklist is to be used by local HUD Field Offices in further reviewing the contents of those applications which successfully completed the initial screening described in paragraph 5 above. Section 213 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 requires HUD to independently determine that there is a need for the housing assistance requested in applications, and solicit and consider comments relevant to this determination from the chief executive officer of the unit of general local government. The local HUD Field Office must send a written invitation to the chief executive officer of the unit of general local government to submit Section 213 comments in accordance with 24 CFR part 791, subpart C. To ensure timely application processing, Section 213 comments must be solicited as soon as possible, since the regulations allow a 30-calendar day comment period from the date of the local HUD Field Office letter. The local HUD Field Office's review of a PHA's application must be completed, and the PHA notified in writing of any deficiencies (information either missing or requiring correction), promptly following the date of receipt of the PHA's application. The PHA has 14 calendar days, from the date of the local HUD Field Office notification letter, to submit the missing or corrected information to that office. Information received by the local HUD Field Office after 3 p.m. local time of the 14th calendar day will not be accepted and the application will be categorized as unacceptable for further processing (rejected). Notification on Unacceptable Applications. After the 14th calendar day deficiency correction period, the local HUD Field Office must immediately notify any PHA that submitted an application that the local HUD Field Office determined is unacceptable for processing. The local HUD Field Office's rejection letter to the PHA must clearly state the basis for the decision. Notification of Approvable Applications. The local HUD Field Office must forward to George C. Hendrickson, (PIHPOST) in HUD Headquarters' Office of Funding and Financial Management, the following information by electronic submission on each approvable Mainstream Program application by not later than August 31, 1998: Name and address of the PHA; Local HUD Field Office contact person and telephone number; The number of rental vouchers and/or certificates in the PHA application, and the minimum number of rental vouchers and/or certificates acceptable to the PHA; A completed fund reservation worksheet for the number of rental vouchers or certificates requested in the application. A Microsoft Excel file created for this purpose and instructions on preparing the fund reservation worksheet will be transmitted to each local HUD Field Office. A completed HUD Notification letter providing the necessary information for Congressional notification in the event the application recommended for approval by the local HUD Field Office is selected for funding by Headquarters. A copy of the HUD Notification letter is attached as Attachment 2. This information will be used by Headquarters to fund applications determined approvable by local HUD Field Offices and Headquarters. Funding of Applications. Applications Recommended for Funding. Headquarters will fund all applications from PHAs that are recommended for funding by the local HUD Field Offices, unless HUD receives approvable applications for more funds than are available. Consistent with the authority granted to HUD under its 1998 Appropriations Act, HUD will supplement the $48.5 million originally made available for the Mainstream Program under NOFA FR-4359 with any funds remaining unobligated as of August 31, 1998, under NOFA FR-4359 related to designated housing allocation plans or certain types of Section 8 project-based developments or certain types of section 202, section 221(d)(3) or section 236 developments. In addition, any funds remaining unobligated as of August 31, 1998, under NOFA FR-4207, dated April 10, 1997, related to designated housing allocation plans or certain types of Section 8 project-based developments will also be used to supplement Mainstream Program funding under NOFA FR-4359. Consequently, significantly more money than the $48.5 million initially announced as available for the Mainstream Program under NOFA FR-4359 may ultimately be available to fund Mainstream Program applications. Lottery. If HUD receives approvable applications for more funds than are available, HUD Headquarters will select applicants to be funded by lottery. As PHAs are selected for the funding of rental vouchers or certificates, the cost of funding the applications will be subtracted from the funds available. Geographic Diversity. In order to achieve geographic diversity, HUD Headquarters will limit the number of applications selected for funding from any state to 10 percent of the budget authority available for the Mainstream Program. However, if establishing this geographic limit would result in unreserved budget authority, HUD may modify this limit to assure that all available funds are used. Number of Units to be Funded. Applications will be funded for the total number of units requested by the PHA and recommended for approval by the local HUD Field Office (not to exceed 100 units, except in the case of State or Regional PHAs which may not exceed 200 units). However, when remaining budget authority is insufficient to fund the last selected PHA application in full, HUD Headquarters will fund that application to the extent of the funding available, unless the PHA's application indicates it will only accept a higher number of units. In that event, the next application selected shall be the one which has indicated a willingness to accept the lesser amount of funding for the units available. Fund Assignment, Congressional Notification and Approval Letter for PHA. Headquarters will assign funds to local HUD Field Offices to cover PHA applications approved by Headquarters for funding. At the same time, Headquarters will provide the applicable HUD Notification letters to the Office of Congressional Relations. Upon fund reservation, local HUD Field Offices must obtain a Congressional notification release date from Headquarters' Office of Congressional Relations before mailing the application approval letter to the PHA. (Because the local HUD Field Office is required under paragraph 8.e. of this Notice to provide Headquarters' Office of Funding and Financial Management with the HUD Notification letter at the same time it advises of an approvable PHA application, the process for obtaining a congressional release date will be simplified.) If you have any questions regarding the attached checklist or the information otherwise addressed in this Notice, please contact George C. Hendrickson in the Office of Funding and Financial Management at PIHPOST or call (202) 708-0477, extension 4064.   Signed Deborah Vincent, General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing