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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 184 / Monday, September 27, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
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PHA in lieu of another type of government-issued photo identification.
These cards may also be used to verify SSNs and date of birth.
When adding a family member after the HUDVASH family is admitted to the program, the rules of 982.551h2
apply. Other than the birth, adoption, or court-awarded custody of a child, the PHA must approve additional family members and may apply its regular screening criteria in doing so.
Civil rights requirements cannot be waived. The HUDVASH program is administered in accordance with applicable civil rights and fair housing requirements. These include applicable authorities under 24 CFR 5.105a and 24 CFR 982.53 including, but not limited to, the Fair Housing Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and HUDs Equal Access Rule.2
When HUDVASH applicants or recipients include veterans with disabilities or family members with disabilities, HUDs reasonable accommodation requirements apply.
These standards require PHAs to make a reasonable adjustment to rules, policies, practices, and procedures when it may be necessary to enable an applicant or resident with a disability to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling, the common areas of a dwelling, or participate in or access a recipients programs and activities.
These standards extend to various aspects of program implementation, including, for example, denial or termination of assistance, initial search term of the HCV, initial lease term, and informal reviews and hearings. In the case of project-based assistance, this also includes providing structural changes to a unit or public or common use area when they may be needed as a reasonable accommodation for an applicant or participant or their household members with a disability.
Other obligations include, for example, effective communication with persons with disabilities, physical accessibility requirements, and overall nondiscrimination in the administration of the program.
b. Income Eligibility The PHA must determine income eligibility for HUDVASH families in accordance with 24 CFR 982.201.
2 See 24 CFR 5.105a; See also, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fair Housing Rights and Obligations, https www.hud.gov/
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Income targeting requirements of section 16b of the USHA of 1937, as well as 24 CFR 982.201b2, do not apply for HUDVASH families so that participating PHAs can effectively serve the eligible population specified in the Appropriations Acts; that is, homeless veterans, who may be at a variety of income levels, including low-income.
The PHA may, however, choose to include the admission of extremely lowincome HUDVASH families in its income targeting numbers for the fiscal year in which these families are admitted. In conformance with normal program rules, PHAs may not deny admission to a family with zero income and must consider hardship circumstances before charging a minimum rent in accordance with 24
CFR 5.630b.
c. Initial Search Term of the Voucher Recognizing the challenges that HUD
VASH participants may face with their housing search, HUDVASH vouchers must have an initial search term of at least 120 days. Therefore, 24 CFR
982.303a, which states that the initial search term must be at least 60 days, shall not apply, since the initial term must be at least 120 days. Any extensions, suspensions, and progress reports will remain under the policies in the PHAs administrative plan but will apply after the minimum 120-day initial search term. Extensions of search terms may also be needed as a reasonable accommodation for a household with a member with a disability, such as for example, due to the difficulty in finding a unit that meets ones disability-related needs, e.g., physically accessible unit, unit near accessible transportation, unit near medical or other facilities.
d. Initial Lease Term Under the HCV program, voucher participants must enter an initial lease with the owner for at least one year, unless a shorter term would improve housing opportunities for the tenant and the shorter term is a prevailing market practice. To provide a greater range of housing opportunities for HUDVASH
voucher holders, initial leases may be less than 12 months; therefore, both section 8o7A of the USHA of 1937, 42 U.S.C. 1437fo7A, and 24 CFR
982.309a2ii are waived. Note that this waiver does not apply to PBVs.
e. Ineligible Housing HUDVASH families will be permitted to live on the grounds of a VA
facility in units developed to house homeless veterans. This applies to both tenant-based assistance and PBV.
Therefore, 24 CFR 982.352a5 and
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983.53a2, which prohibit units on the physical grounds of a medical, mental, or similar public or private institution, are waived for that purpose only.
f. Mobility and Portability of HUD
VASH Vouchers An eligible family issued a HUD
VASH voucher must receive case management services provided by the partnering VAMC or DSP. Therefore, special mobility and portability procedures must be established. HUD
VASH participant families may reside only in those jurisdictional areas that are accessible to case management services as determined by the VAMC or DSP. Since the VAMC or DSP will be identifying homeless veterans eligible to participate in the HUDVASH program, section 8r1Bi of the USHA of 1937, 42 U.S.C. 1437fr1Bi, which restricts portability in cases where the family did not reside in the jurisdiction of the PHA at the time of application for HCV assistance, and 24 CFR 982.353a, b, and c, which affects where a family can lease a unit with HCV
assistance, do not apply. HUD may publish PIH notices from time to time to further explain portability requirements under the HUDVASH program.
1 Portability Moves Within Same Catchment Area or Area of Operation Where Case Management Is Provided by the Initial PHAs Partnering VAMC or DSP
If the family initially leases up, or moves, under portability provisions, but the initial PHAs partnering VAMC or DSP will still be able to provide the necessary case management services due to the familys proximity to the partnering VAMC or DSP, the receiving PHA must process the move in accordance with the portability procedures of 24 CFR 982.355.
However, since the initial PHA must maintain records on all HUDVASH
families receiving case management services from its partnering VAMC or DSP, receiving PHAs without a HUD
VASH program must bill the initial PHA. Therefore, 24 CFR 982.355d, which gives the receiving PHA the option to absorb the family into its own HCV program or bill the initial PHA, is not applicable.
2 Portability Moves Within Same Catchment Area Where Both PHAs Have Received HUDVASH Vouchers The receiving PHA may bill the initial PHA or absorb the family into its own HUDVASH program if the VAMC or DSP providing the initial case management agrees to the absorption by the receiving PHA and the transfer of
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