RAD Basics PANELISTS

Rich LarsenNovogradac & Company LLP

Holly KnightBGC Advantage

Jessie CassellaNational Housing Law Project

Matthew RooneyMDG Design + Construction

Tenants’ Rights: Ensuring Compliance and Best Practices

Jessie CassellaStaff Attorney, National Housing Law Project

Key RAD Principles

1. RAD can drastically impact low-income tenants’ everyday lives

2. RAD is a fundamental shift for nearly half of all public housing units nationwide

3. RAD tenants have more and stronger rights than non-RAD PBV or PBRA tenants

4. Details matter!

5. The best RAD conversions go above and beyond HUD’s requirements

6. HUD and others will enforce RAD tenants’ rights

#1: RAD can drastically impact low-income tenants’ everyday lives

•New owner

•How/who to pay rent

•New lease, house rules, grievance procedure

•Construction at property, in unit

• Temporary relocation

• Effect on school-aged children, individuals with reasonable accommodations

• Transition from PHA multiple owners

• Emergencies during/after RAD conversion

• Transfer of assistance

•Waiting lists for RAD-converted properties

•Role of PHA v. new owner v. local government

• Timing/overlap of income recertifications

#2: RAD is a fundamental shift for nearly half of all public housing units nationwide

•Congress has significantly underfunded public housing for decades = $49 billion backlog of capital needs

•Public housing PBV or PBRA

•Portfolio conversions

•PHA 1 or more owners within same community

•HUD requires several layers of reviews, among different HUD silos

•RAD builds in protections to ensure the long-term affordability of the property

• Subject to existing fair housing, accessibility, relocation laws

#3: RAD tenants have more and stronger rights than non-RAD PBV or PBRA tenants• Incorporates public housing rights into RAD-converted property (i.e. grievance procedures, termination notification)

•Adds key RAD-specific tenant rights:•No tenant rescreening, income targeting (RAD authorization statute, HUD Notice 2012-32 REV-3)

•Right to remain/ return after temporary relocation (RAD authorization statute, HUD Notice 2012-32 REV-3)

•Broader relocation requirements (HUD Notice 2016-17)

•Phase-in of rent increases caused by RAD (HUD Notice 2012-32 REV-3)

•RAD tenant education and consultation requirements (HUD Notice 2012-32 REV-3, HUD Notice 2016-17)

•Broader tenant organizing and participation funding requirements (HUD Notice 2012-32 REV-3)

•Broader choice mobility requirements (HUD Notice 2012-32 REV-3)

•Broader Section 3 requirements (HUD Notice 2012-32 REV-3)

No Rescreening, Income Targeting

•Current households cannot be denied right to return or relocation housing based on any rescreening, income eligibility, or income targeting•This includes LIHTCs!

•Current households will be grandfathered in for application of any eligibility criteria to conditions that occurred prior to conversion

RAD Tenant Right to Remain/ Return

•Public housing tenants have right to remain at the property• If tenants are required to temporarily relocate because of construction, they have right to return to

the same property after repairs completed•RAD conversion cannot result in permanent involuntary displacement of any resident

• If proposed plans would prevent resident from returning to the property (i.e. changes in bedroom size), resident must be given opportunity to object to such plans • If resident objects, PHA must alter project plans to accommodate resident’s right to return • If resident prefers to voluntarily and permanently relocate, PHA must secure informed, written consent

RAD Temporary Relocation•Written relocation plan required if: • any permanent relocation (including transfer of

assistance), or • temporary relocation anticipated to last >1 year

•Generally, relocation cannot take place before RCC effective date

•Decent, safe, and sanitary living conditions

•Reasonable accommodations, adequate unit size

•Relocation written notifications•RAD Information Notice •General Information Notice •Notice of Intent to Acquire •RAD Notice of Relocation (after RCC issued)•URA Notice of Relocation Eligibility (for residents whose temporary relocation >1 year) •Notification of Return to the Property

RAD Rent Increase Phase-In

•If a tenant’s monthly rent increases by more than the greater of 10% or $25 purely as a result of conversion, the rent increase must be phased in over 3 or 5 years•PHA must create a policy setting the length of the phase-in period at three years, five years, or a combination depending on circumstances

•Include in Significant Amendment to PHA Plan

RAD Tenant Education and Consultation

•When?•Before submitting RAD application•After CHAP•After RCC•After closing

•How?•Accommodate persons with hearing, visual other disabilities•Resident meetings in physically accessible facilities•Meaningful access for LEP individuals•Name and telephone number of contact on each notice

Tenant Organizing and Participation Funding

•Tenants have the right to organize before and after RAD conversions

•Protected organizing activities (i.e. tenant organization meetings on site, distributing leaflets, door-to-door surveys)

•Owners and their agents must allow tenant organizers to assist tenants in establishing and operating tenant organizations

•Owner must provide $25 per occupied unit per year for resident participation, of which at least $15 per occupied unit shall be provided to the legitimate tenant organization • If no tenant organization, owners must make resident participation funds available to residents

for organizing activities

Choice Mobility Requirements

•PBV Choice Mobility:•Residents have a right to move with tenant-based rental assistance the later of: 12 months from date of execution of the HAP or 12 months after the move-in date•PHA Administrative Plan

•PBRA Choice Mobility:•Residents have a right to move with tenant-based rental assistance the later of: 24 months from date of execution of the HAP or 24 months after the move-in date•Choice Mobility Letter of Agreement

Section 3 Requirements

•Requires recipients of HUD funding to ensure “to the greatest extent feasible” that certain % of job training, employment, and contracting opportunities benefit low-and very low-income individuals

•HUD Notice 2012-32 (REV-3): • “Section 3 (24 CFR part 135) applies to all Work, including any new construction, that is

identified in the Financing Plan and RCC to the extent that such repairs qualify as construction or rehabilitation. In addition, Section 3 may apply to the project after conversion based on the receipt of the use of federal financial assistance for rehabilitation activities.”

#4: Details matter!•Who

• Who will be the owner?• Who are the local community members who can support

your efforts?

•What• PBV or PBRA?

•Where • Which properties? Entire portfolio? • How many units?

•When• What stage of RAD conversion?

•How• Rehab? How much and for how long? When?• Temporary relocation? On or off-site?• Tenant education and outreach?• Waiting list changes?• New leases? House rules? Grievance procedures? Utility

allowances?• Emergency transfers?• Section 3 compliance?• Choice mobility implementation?• Transition between PHA and owner?• Post-conversion oversight? Ground lease?

#5: The best RAD conversions go above and beyond HUD’s requirements

•RAD guiding principles early on

•More tenant education and involvement

•Community input, transparency

•Written relocation plan always

•Long-term oversight: ground leases

•Uniformity across portfolio conversions within community

•Housing retention framework

•Post-conversion local data collection

#6: HUD and others will enforce RAD tenants’ rights•HUD investigations and litigation, especially for:

• Failure to provide (adequate) grievance procedures• Failure to provide right to remain/return• Illegal tenant rescreening• Inadequate tenant education• Interference with tenant organizing• Failure to provide resident participation funding• Illegal leases• Illegal termination notifications• Failure to phase-in tenant rent increases• Failure to provide reasonable accommodations• Discrimination based on protected class status

• Relocation violations• Failure to provide emergency transfers, per VAWA• Failure to provide translation for LEP tenants• Noncompliance with accessible design requirements• Impermissibly concentrating accessible units• Section 3 noncompliance• Failure to maintain RAD resident logs• Failure to provide choice mobility• Failure to follow fair housing and accessibility laws• Inadequate long-term oversight

Thank you!

Jessie CassellaStaff Attorney, National Housing Law Project

jcassella@nhlp.org