HUD Proposes New Regulations to Implement the VAWA 2013

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has proposed amendments to its regulations to implement the requirements of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA 2013). VAWA provides protections and services for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking and funding for the prosecution of these crimes. Since 2005, VAWA has prohibited the denial or termination of federal housing assistance on the basis that an applicant or tenant is a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking. VAWA 2013 strengthened protections for tenants in federally-subsidized housing who are victims of these crimes and expands those protections to HUD programs not previously covered by VAWA. Although VAWA refers to women in its title, the statute’s protections apply to all victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, regardless of sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or age.

VAWA 2013 expanded the scope of VAWA protections beyond HUD’s public housing and section 8 programs to cover the following programs:

Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly
Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities
Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) program (42 U.S.C. 12901 et seq.) with implementing regulations at 24 CFR part 574
HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) program
Homeless programs under title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance
Multifamily rental housing under section 221(d)(3) of the National Housing Act with a Below-Market Interest Rate (BMIR)
Multifamily rental housing under section 236 of the National Housing
HUD programs assisted under the United States Housing Act of 1937; specifically, public housing under section 6 of the 1937 Act, tenant-based and project-based rental assistance under section 8 of the 1937 Act, and the Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy
The Housing Trust Fund

VAWA’s essential protections – prohibiting the denial or termination of housing assistance on the basis that an applicant or tenant is a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking—apply even in the absence of regulations and are effective immediately. However, other requirements of VAWA 2013 must be implemented through regulations subject to public comment. Key provisions of the proposed regulations would:

Add “sexual assault” as an action covered by VAWA protections, an action that was not included for HUD-covered programs by VAWA 2005.
Establish a definition for “affiliated individual” in a housing unit, based on the statutory definition.
Apply VAWA protections to the Housing Trust, which was not statutorily listed as a covered program.
Establish a reasonable period of time for a tenant who is not the perpetrator to establish eligibility to remain in a unit, when a household is divided (and a lease is “bifurcated”) due to domestic violence. VAWA 2013 provides that if the person removed from a unit as a result of bifurcation was the sole eligible tenant, the remaining tenants must have a reasonable amount of time to establish their eligibility for the program, or if not eligible, find new housing.
Require every covered housing provider to adopt an emergency transfer plan to allow a victim to transfer to another available and safe VAWA-covered dwelling if the victim feels threatened with imminent harm from further violence. The plan must include strict confidentiality measures to ensure that the housing provider does not disclose the location of the victim’s dwelling to a person who has committed or threatened to commit an act of violence against the tenant.
Establish what documentation requirements, if any, should be required of a tenant seeking an emergency transfer to another assisted unit.

HUD is also seeking public comment on two documents—a notice of occupancy rights and a template emergency transfer plan.

Comments on these regulations must be submitted by June 1, 2015 to the Regulations Division, Office of General Counsel, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW., Room 10276, Washington, DC 20410-0500. All submissions must refer to the docket number and the title: FR-5720-P-02; Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013: Implementation in HUD Housing Programs. HUD encourages electronic submission to the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov.

Contact: Karen Lipson, klipson@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8383, ext. 124