BHA Waivers (Updated)

On July 2, 2020, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development published Notice PIH 2020-13 (HA), REV-1, which revised Notice PIH 2020-05 and the regulatory waivers and alternative requirements for the public housing and Housing Choice Voucher (“HCV”) program. Among other things, Notice PIH 2020-13 changes the period of eligibility for public housing and HCV waivers and alternative requirements that previously ended prior to December 31, 2020, to December 31, 2020. Other changes include:

o  For any housing quality standards (“HQS”) provision that authorizes a Public Housing Agency (“PHA”) to rely upon an owner’s certification as to the absence of life-threatening conditions, the PHA is now required to perform an inspection of the unit no later than 1 year from the date of the owner’s certification, rather than no later than October 31, 2020.

o For any PHA that employs biennial HQS inspections, the PHA is required to perform an inspection as soon as reasonably possible but no later than 1 year from the date on which the biennial inspection would have been required in the absence of a waiver,

rather than no later than October 31, 2020.

The link below includes the waivers and alternative requirements adopted by the BHA Board of Commissioners and the period of eligibility for each waiver or alternative requirements.

If you have any questions about these temporary changes and how they may apply to you, please let us know at (207) 942-6365.