4771447 Housing Authority, District of Columbia - Notice of Final Rulemaking - Achieving Your Best Life Rewards Property Program

THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA HOUSING AUTHORITY

 

NOTICE OF FINAL RULEMAKING

 

The Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA), pursuant to the District of Columbia Housing Authority Act of 1999, as amended, effective May 9, 2000 (D.C. Law 13-105; D.C. Official Code § 6-203 (2012 Repl.)), hereby gives notice of the adoption of the following amendments to Chapter 98 (Public Housing: Achieving Your Best Life Rewards Property Program) of Title 14 (Housing) of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR).

 

The purpose of the amendments is to amend the existing policies regarding DCHA’s Achieving Your Best Life Rewards Property Program. 

 

The first proposed rules were published in the D.C. Register on November 15, 2013, at 60 DCR 15868. The second proposed rules were published in the D.C. Register on January 17, 2014, at 61 DCR 000431. These second proposed amendments contained revisions made as a result of considering comments submitted following the publication of the first proposed rulemaking. Final action to adopt this rulemaking was taken at the Board of Commissioners regular meeting on February 12, 2014.  The final rules will become effective upon publication of this notice in the D.C. Register.

 

Chapter 98, PUBLIC HOUSING: ACHIEVING YOUR BEST LIFE REWARDS PROPERTY PROGRAM, of Title 14, HOUSING, is amended as follows:

 

Section 9800 (Program Purpose) is amended as follows:

 

Subsection 9800.1(b) is amended to read as follows:

 

9800.1            (b)        Make progress toward achieving economic independence and prepare for:

(1)        purchasing a home; or

 

(2)        renting in the private market without federal or local housing assistance.

 

Section 9801 (Program Description) is amended as follows:

 

Subsection 9801.1 is amended to read as follows:

 

9801.1             The District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA) recognizes the need to encourage families in their efforts to attain self-sufficiency.  As such, DCHA establishes the Achieving Your Best Life Rewards Program (AYBL), a self-sufficiency program structured around DCHA designated Public Housing developments known as Rewards Properties.  Participating AYBL Families reside at these developments while preparing to become (1) homeowners; or (2) sign a lease in the private market without federal or local housing assistance.  Although the primary goal of the program is to prepare public housing families to become homeowners or renters in the private market by reducing their dependency on public and housing subsidies, families also set self-declared goals related to achieving homeownership or renting in the private market without federal or local housing assistance.  In an effort to assist families to become homeowners, DCHA’s goal is to connect residents with available resources and services in such areas as credit and budget counseling, general life skills, job readiness assessment and training, home ownership counseling, education/vocational training and self improvement workshops.  Through case management and active participation, families will be connected with community services and related programs critical to their success.  Participation in the AYBL program is voluntary.

Section 9802 (Rewards Properties) is amended as follows:

 

Subsection 9802.4 is amended to read as follows:

 

9802.4             AYBL Families may reside at Reward Properties until the following:

(a)        The family successfully purchases a home;

(b)        The family has signed a lease with a landlord in the private market without federal or local housing assistance;

(c)        The Contract of Participation expires;

(d)       DCHA terminates the family’s Contract of Participation;

(e)        The family breaches the Public Housing dwelling lease or AYBL lease addendum as determined in Landlord Tenant court; or

(f)        The family is evicted, whichever comes first.

Section 9806 (AYBL Program Eligibility Determination) is amended as follows:

 

Subsection 9806.3 is amended to read as follows:                                                                                                                   

 

9806.3             The DCHA shall consider an AYBL Applicant Family eligible for participation in the AYBL program if the AYBL Applicant Family meets the following criteria:

(a)        Is a current resident in a DCHA subsidized conventional public housing unit, in a mixed finance unit subsidized by an Annual Contributions Contract, or is currently in the selection pool;

(b)        Can demonstrate at least one (1) year of timely rental payment history with DCHA or in the private market; 

 

(c)        Bedroom size requirement meets the unit composition of the Reward Property and established DCHA Occupancy Standards of this chapter;

 

(d)       Income eligible: minimum earned income of the potential borrower/co-borrower or renter of no less than thirty-two thousand dollars ($32,000) from employment or in the case where the potential borrower/co-borrower or renter is elderly and/or disabled certain unearned income (for example, SSI, SSDI, pension payments, etc.) may be counted toward the thirty-two thousand dollars ($32,000) minimum.  DCHA may from time to time change the minimum income eligibility requirement.

(e)        The family may not include any person who has held an ownership interest in a residence during the three (3) years prior to commencement in AYBL, except as follows:

 

(1)        Equitable interest in a property under the terms of a lease-purchase agreement prior to exercise of the purchase option;

 

(2)        An individual who is now single, but had previously owned a home with his or her former spouse even within the three (3) year period;

 

(3)        A household in which a family member is a person with a disability, if homeownership assistance is needed as a reasonable accommodation; and

 

(4)        A family that owns or is acquiring shares in a cooperative.

 

(f)        Be a DCHA resident in Good Standing:

 

(1)        Timely completion of scheduled and interim recertifications;

 

(2)        No instances of unreported income;

 

(3)        No current debt owed (i.e., rent, excess utility charges, maintenance charges, etc.) to DCHA, federally funded housing program, and any court or in-house repayment agreements must be paid off prior to application to the AYBL program.

 

(4)        No more than four (4) late rental payments, in either public housing or the private market, within the twelve (12) months prior to approval of an AYBL application provided that the payment is received within the month that the rent is charged.  For other charges (i.e., excess utility charges, maintenance charges, etc.) payment must have been made within thirty (30) days of the date of the charge.

 (5)       Passed scheduled DCHA inspections that were conducted in the unit within the past twelve (12) months from the date of AYBL application submission;

 

(6)        No legal actions for non-curable violations of the lease within the last five (5) years at the time of AYBL application submission;

 

(7)        No repeated breaches of other terms of the Lease by the Lessee(s) or any household member identified in the Public Housing dwelling lease;

 

(8)        Pass a separate DCHA AYBL Home Visit inspection.

 

(9)        Pass a criminal background check that will be conducted on all household members who are eighteen (18) years of age or older pursuant to 14 DCMR § 6109.

 

Section 9807 (AYBL Selection Preferences and Lottery) is amended as follows:

 

Subsections 9807.4 - 12 are amended to read as follows:

 

9807.4             If DCHA is unable to fill the AYBL units with families residing in conventional public housing or in a mixed financed unit subsidized by an Annual Contributions Contract, at its sole discretion, DCHA shall pull from the selection pool of applicants who have been deemed eligible for admission and who are waiting placement at a public housing property.        

 

9807.5             After the returning ABYL families and residents at DCHA designated properties in the area surrounding the Rewards Property have been put on the Site-based Transfer Waiting list, and there is a need for additional families to occupy units at a Rewards Property, DCHA will conduct a lottery as defined in this section for all other AYBL eligible residents.

 

9807.6             Only those AYBL applicant families that have been determined eligible for the AYBL program will be placed in a lottery pool to be selected for an AYBL Site-based Transfer Waiting list pursuant to this section.

 

9807.7             Applicants are assigned a number at the time they are determined eligible. Once the eligibility determination process is complete, DCHA will conduct a public lottery overseen by a third party to determine which applicants will be selected for placement on an AYBL Site-based Transfer Waiting Lists according to bedroom size and property requested.

 

9807.8             The size of AYBL Site-Based Transfer Waiting Lists will be based upon DCHA's projected vacancy rates at each AYBL Rewards Property. The size of AYBL Site-based Transfer Waiting Lists will be determined by DCHA, at its sole discretion, based on projected vacancies.

 

9807.9             Once the required number of AYBL eligible families is selected from the lottery pool to meet projected vacancies for an AYBL Rewards Property, the families will be placed on the AYBL Site-Based Transfer Waiting List based on the order the families were selected from the lottery pool.

 

9807.10           Once the AYBL Families are placed on an AYBL Site-based Transfer Waiting List, that Site-Based Transfer Waiting list will be closed.

 

9807.11           Once a AYBL Site-based Transfer Waiting List is closed, those AYBL Families who were in the lottery pool, but were not selected to be placed on a AYBL Site-based Transfer Waiting List, will be able to re-apply when DCHA determines to reopen the list.

 

9807.12           When there is not a sufficient number of eligible AYBL Families on an AYBL Site-based Transfer Waiting List to meet vacant unit projections for that property, the AYBL Site-based Transfer Waiting List will be opened and applications will be requested in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

 

Section 9817 (Contract of Participation) is amended as follows:

 

Subsections 9817.6 - 14 are amended to read as follows:

9817.6             Requests for extensions of the contract term must be submitted to DCHA in writing in a form approved by DCHA at least thirty (30) days prior to the end of the Contract of Participation or extension and must include evidence justifying the request.

 

9817.7             AYBL Families who have identified renting in the private market without federal or local housing assistance are not entitled to an extension of the Contract of Participation. At the end of the contract term the AYBL Family must vacate the AYBL unit or transfer to a conventional public housing unit pursuant to the transfer regulations in this chapter.   

 

9817.8             The Contract of Participation shall incorporate the ITSP(s) for both the potential borrower/co-borrower or the renter/co-renter as applicable.

 

9817.9             The ITSP, in addition to identifying homeownership or renting in the private market as the AYBL Family's end goal, will establish interim goals by which the ABYL Family's progress in fulfilling its obligations will be measured. Mandatory minimum interim goals are to be included in the ITSP and thereby required by the Contract of Participation are that the AYBL Family:

 

(a)        Has been admitted in the HOAP;  

 

(b)        Is under contract to purchase a home; or

 

(c)        Has identified a private rental unit and is in the process of executing a lease.  

 

9817.10           Modification of the Contract of Participation -- DCHA and the AYBL Family may mutually agree to modify the Contract of Participation. The Contract of Participation may be modified in writing with respect to the Individual Training and Services plans, the contract term, and designation of the Head of Household.

 

9817.11           Completion of the Contract of Participation -- A Contract of Participation is considered to be completed and a family's participation in AYBL is considered to conclude when the AYBL Family has fulfilled all of its obligations under the Contract of Participation on or before the expiration of the contract term, including any extension thereof.

 

9817.12           Non-compliance will be determined based on the requirements of the Contract of Participation. AYBL Families will be notified in writing for instances of non-compliance through the issuance of a Notice of Non-Compliance.

 

9817.13           Termination of Contract of Participation -- the Contract of Participation is automatically terminated if the AYBL Family's Public Housing lease is terminated. The Contract of Participation may be terminated before the expiration of the contract term, and any extension thereof, by:

 

(a)        mutual consent of DCHA and the AYBL Family;

 

(b)        the failure of the AYBL Family to meet its obligations under the Contract of Participation without good cause;

 

(c)        the AYBL Family's withdrawal from the AYBL program;

 

(d)       such other act as is deemed inconsistent with the purpose of AYBL; or

 

(e)        operation of law.

 

9817.14           Termination of the Contract of Participation for reasons other than a breach of the Public Housing lease, in accordance with this section, may not result in the termination of Public Housing assistance. If the Contract of Participation is terminated for reasons that require an AYBL Family to transfer to a non-Rewards Property unit the AYBL family will be transferred to a conventional public housing unit in accordance with the AYBL transfer policy described in this chapter.

 

9817.15           AYBL Families who successfully complete the Contract of Participation will transition to the HCVP/HOAP. All members of the AYBL Family must vacate the AYBL unit at the conclusion of the family's participation in the program whether by termination or successful completion of the Contract of Participation.

 

Section 9899 (Definitions) is amended to replace the definition of “AYBL Applicant Family” to read as follows:

AYBL Applicant Family -- a Public Housing family living in conventional public housing or in a mixed finance development unit which is subsidized with Annual Contributions Contract assistance, or is currently in the selection pool, and who has submitted a completed application, including all required documents, for consideration to become an AYBL Family.