New Notice Requirements for Tenancies Covered by VAWA

VAWA applies to many different HUD grantees under what are called “covered housing programs.”  (See 34 U.S.C. § 12491(a)(3)).  HUD’s covered housing programs include:

• Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly, including the direct loan program under section 202;
• Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities;
• Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) program;
• Homeless programs under title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, including the Emergency Solutions Grants program, the Continuum of Care program, and the Rural Housing Stability Assistance program;
• HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) program;
• Multifamily rental housing under section 221(d)(3)/(d)(5) of the National Housing Act with a below-market interest rate (BMIR);
• Multifamily rental housing under section 236 of the National Housing Act;
• 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;
• Housing Trust Fund; and
• Other Federal housing programs that provide affordable housing to low and moderate-income persons through restricted rents or rental assistance, or other affordable housing opportunities, which HUD identifies as covered by VAWA.  This will ordinarily occur in a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).
   (See 34 U.S.C. § 12491.)

VAWA also protects your right to report crime and emergencies from your home, regardless of whether your housing is assisted under a covered housing program. (See 34 U.S.C. § 12495).