HUD Updates: CSP FAQ and Notice Requirements for Evictions

HUD Allows Key Deadline Flexibilities for CSP Requests

In response to advocacy from LeadingAge National, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is allowing key relief payment deadline flexibility for capital cost reimbursements due to COVID-19. HUD announced the change in a 20-question COVID-19 Supplemental Payment (CSP) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document that answers questions from LeadingAge National and others. HUD also released a draft version of the CSP request form.

As a reminder, costs CSP dollars may be used for include:

Costs associated with both off- and on-site vaccine and testing access for residents
Personal protective equipment (PPE)
Additional cleaning/sanitation expenses due to vaccination and testing events
Transportation costs for residents going to off-site vaccine clinics
Overtime for property management staff and existing budget-driven service coordinators
Capital costs related to ventilation and internet access:
- Capital investments made in direct response to COVID-19. These are capital improvements that will benefit the property over a multi-year period.
- Incremental costs for HVAC system ventilation and filtration upgrades
- Emergency generators
- Broadband Wi-Fi infrastructure

The FAQ states that purchases and installation services should “generally” be complete by Oct. 31, 2021, but given delays caused by the pandemic and natural disasters, HUD is now allowing some additional flexibility on the timing of delivery and installation of eligible capital items. Where the owner is unable to find a vendor who can complete delivery by Oct. 31, 2021, HUD will allow inclusion of amounts for Eligible Capital Expenses in CSP requests in the following circumstances:

Payment has been completed AND the delivery/installation date has been specified by the vendor to occur no later than March 31, 2022; OR
Payment has not been disbursed to the vendor, but legal liability to complete the purchase has been established. Agreements must include delivery/installation no later than March 31, 2022.

Deadlines for requesting reimbursement for incurred COVID-19-related costs:

Costs must have been incurred prior to Oct. 31, 2021.
Providers must request reimbursement using the correct HUD form prior to Nov. 19, 2021.

LeadingAge National has posted an article with their full analysis of the FAQ document, available here.

HUD Notice: 30 Days' Notice for Eviction and Required Information Sharing to At-Risk Tenants

On Oct. 7^th, HUD published a Notice requiring HUD-assisted owners and public housing agencies (PHAs) to provide no less than 30 days' advance notification of lease termination due to nonpayment of rent. Further, owners and PHAs must provide information to affected tenants as necessary to support tenants in securing such available funding. The Notice does not require that specific language be included in notifications of terminations for nonpayment of rent; rather, landlords must ensure that such notification is provided no less than 30 days prior to any actions to terminate the lease of the affected household.

As for the information that owners must relay to at-risk tenants about the availability of Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA), HUD is requiring owners to use language found in the Notice to convey this information. Owners must, at a minimum, use HUD-provided language, updated to reflect the entity issuing the notification with the appropriate link to the local ERA grantee.

LeadingAge National has posted an article with more information on the Notice, available here.

Contact: Sarah Daly, sdaly@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8845