Compliance Update | February 2021
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COVID-19 Response and Relief Act signed into law |
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The COVID relief bill signed into law December 27, 2020 includes a number of provisions that affect housing providers.
Eviction moratorium extended. The CDC eviction moratorium is extended until March 31, 2021. Residents threatened with eviction for non-payment due to financial impacts from COVID-19 must complete a CDC declaration form and submit it to their management office.
Second round of stimulus checks. Congress approved direct payments of $600 per person for adults and children under 17 claimed as dependents. We are waiting on guidance from HUD on whether or not this stimulus check will be counted as income (note: the first stimulus check was NOT counted).
Housing assistance. The stimulus package provides $25 billion to state and local governments to assist tenants and landlords who have fallen behind on rent and utility bills due to COVID. Kansas will receive nearly $200 million, and KHRC will serve as administrator for most of these funds. Our team will launch the Kansas Emergency Rental Assistance (KERA) program, an emergency rental initiative that will function similarly to KEPP. The program is expected to launch in March. Stay tuned for more updates!
Unemployment assistance. Aside from the $600 stimulus checks, the legislation also includes an extra $300 a week in unemployment aid. That means that jobless workers would receive their regular state unemployment payments, plus $300 on top of that through March 14, 2021. The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, which covers gig workers and self-employed workers, would also be extended, as would the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program, which provides additional weeks of jobless aid to those who have run out of their regular state unemployment benefits.
Current HUD guidance states that unemployment should be treated as follows:
- Regular unemployment, PUA benefits and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) benefits are counted and should be projected for 52 weeks.
- The Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) program is defined as temporary income and must NOT be included in annual income.
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IRS grants COVID-19 income recertification, monitoring relief
In response to the ongoing COVID–19 pandemic, the IRS has extended temporary relief from certain requirements for qualified low-income housing projects and qualified residential rental projects. Please note the following changes, pursuant to § 1.42-13(a):
INCOME RECERTIFICATIONS. An Owner of a low-income building is not required to perform income recertifications under § 1.42-5(c)(1)(iii) in the period beginning on April 1, 2020, and ending on September 30, 2021. The Owner must resume the income recertifications as due under § 1.42-5(c)(1)(iii) after September 30, 2021.
What does this mean for you? The intent of this notice is to provide relief and is not a change in policy. KHRC continues to expect a good faith effort be made in completing recerts, including Sample Form 18/self-certifications. Additionally, we expect owner/agents to thoroughly document the tenant file as to why they were unable to complete the recert should that happen and then reference Notice 2020-53 and/or Notice 2021-12. For recerts that were not obtained from April 1, 2020 - September 30, 2021, forgiveness will be granted by noncompliance not being reported. This applies to the files inspection process and the annual reporting process as it relates to data entry in the Procorem Tenant Event Portal.
COMPLIANCE-MONITORING. For purposes of § 1.42-5, an Agency is not required to conduct compliance-monitoring inspections or reviews in the period beginning on April 1, 2020, and ending on September 30, 2021. The Agency must resume compliance-monitoring inspections or reviews as due under § 1.42-5 after September 30, 2021.
What does this mean for you? KHRC is currently continuing compliance monitoring. Electronic reviews of tenant files continue, and additional precautionary measures have been put in place for physical inspections. At this time any inspections that cannot be completed between now and September 30, 2021(due to time restraints or other concerns), may be rescheduled, if possible.
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HUD updates Multifamily Housing COVID-19 Q&A |
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- Page 17: CDC Eviction Moratorium extended until January 31, 2021.
- Page 22: Modified MORs (conducing on-site MORs without entering residents’ units) extended until May 31, 2021.
- Page 22: HUD will not waive the requirement for an owner to perform annual unit inspections.
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Electronic Signature, Transmission, and Storage: Guidance for Multifamily Assisted Housing Industry Partners |
Updated 12/8/2020 - The Office of Multifamily Housing has published a revision to Housing Notice 2020-04, “Electronic Signature, Transmission, and Storage – Guidance for Multifamily Assisted Housing Industry Partners.” The revised notice, H 2020-10, is now posted on HUDCLIPS, and provides updates to the following two sections:
- Section II.A – Added another assisted Multifamily Housing program
- Section VII.B.5 – Revised the language regarding Independent Public Auditors
This notice provides guidance on acceptable procedures for use of electronic signatures and the transmission and storage of documents and files. With the issuance of this notice, HUD’s multifamily industry partners are permitted (but not required) to use electronic signatures and electronic file transmission and retention, and must do so in compliance with federal, state, and local laws. Please note that Housing Notice 2020-04 is now obsolete and is replaced entirely by Housing Notice 2020-10.
2021 OCAF and UAF
Published 11/27/2020 - The Operating Cost Adjustment Factors (OCAFs) and Utility Allowance Factor (UAF) for fiscal year (FY) 2021 were published on November 27, 2020 in the Federal Register. These factors are used for adjusting or establishing Section 8 rents under the Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act of 1997 (MAHRA), as amended, for projects assisted with Section 8 Housing Assistance Payments. The factors are effective February 11, 2021.
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Reminders and resources
Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Compliance Training
with optional HCCP exam
Join E&A Team’s Director of Housing Compliance Training, Gary Kirkman, for this 16-hour comprehensive ONLINE course, spread out over three days and specifically designed to assist affordable housing professionals in conquering tax credit compliance.
LIHTC Annual Report and Compliance Fees due March 17
IRS Extension on COVID Relief
On January 15, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice 2021-12 which extends all COVID-19 relief measures originally provided under Notice 2020-53.
Software updates
As of March 1 Procorem will no longer be supported by Internet Explorer. Owner/agents may still use IE but should switch to Google Chrome if issues arise.
The Tenant Event Portal allows for events to be imported using an xml file. The portal currently allows for NAHMA versions 4, 5, and 6. Version 4 will eventually be phased out and owner/agents should start preparing for that change with their software vendor.
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