The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has published a final rule requiring housing providers to provide written notification to tenants facing eviction for non-payment of rent 30 days in advance of filing a formal judicial eviction procedure.
The final rule also makes permanent a proposed process initiated by HUD in late 2023 to make permanent certain pandemic-era eviction notification requirements, which LeadingAge supported.
LeadingAge welcomes the final rule, which is effective January 13, 2025.
The requirements apply to both Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) and owners of HUD-assisted Multifamily Housing properties, including project-based Section 8, Section 202 PRACs and SPRACs, seeking to address what was previously a patchwork of federal, state, and local requirements. Most LeadingAge affordable senior housing provider members are already subject to a similar requirement.
The rule states that following publication, HUD will amend the RAD Notice to reflect the change that this rule is making for all PBRA properties and to address the requirements related to RAD PBV conversions. However, HUD does not have jurisdiction to establish rules governing properties supported under Treasury’s Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program (LIHTCP).
The final rule establishes the following requirements, effective January 13, 2025:
On October 7, 2021, HUD published an interim final rule titled “Extension of Time and Required Disclosures for Notification of Nonpayment of Rent” to assist with the response to the national COVID-19 pandemic and future national emergencies.
On December 1, 2023, HUD published for public comment the “30-Day Notification Requirement Prior to Termination of Lease for Nonpayment of Rent” proposed rule. The proposed rule sought to make the interim final rule generally applicable and no longer contingent on the existence of a national emergency or the availability of emergency rental assistance funds by revising HUD’s regulations to provide for a 30-day notification requirement prior to initiating an eviction proceeding against a tenant for nonpayment of rent.
Prior to 2021 when the interim final rule was implemented, certain HUD programs had requirements for non-payment of rent evictions and timing of eviction notices. For example, project-based rental assistance programs – in which the bulk of LeadingAge’s affordable housing provider members participate – require 30 days’ notice for a termination of tenancy for “other good cause.”
However, Public Housing and Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation Program require a 14-day, or 5 business day, notice before initiating a termination of tenancy action for nonpayment of rent. Absent a Federal rule, HUD-assisted residents are subject to varying state and local notice requirements, of which only three have some version of a similar 30-day notification requirement. According to HUD, the final rule “seeks to remove a variable patchwork of notice requirements and reduce the number of preventable evictions filed against HUD-assisted tenants.”
The rule states that evictions, which disproportionately impact housing of color, women, and families with children, can be prevented with more time and notice, which can help people work together to pay rent owed or attain hardship exemptions, rent recalculations, or other financial assistance. In the rule, HUD cites research showing that between 1,600 and 4,900 nonpayment-related moveouts in Public Housing and PBRA-assisted housing were prevented each year because of the 30-day notice requirements of the CARES Act and HUD’s interim final rule.
Adjusted Requirements Under the Final Rule
In response to comments submitted to HUD throughout the proposal process, HUD made slight adjustments: Under the final rule, a PHA or owner must not proceed with filing an eviction if the tenant pays the alleged amount of rent owed within the 30-day notification period.
An updated provision also requires the 30-day notice to include an itemized amount, which is separated by month, of alleged rent owed by the tenant, along with any other arrearages allowed by HUD and included in the lease which must also be separated by month, and the date by which the tenant must pay the amount of rent owed before a formal judicial eviction can be filed for nonpayment of rent.
The arrearages, which might include late fees or other fees, must also be itemized separately from the alleged rent amount owed by the tenant. If the tenant pays the full amount of the alleged rent owed but not the arrearages, the nonpayment will still be considered cured, and an eviction for nonpayment of rent cannot be filed. However, HUD emphasizes that the protections in this rule do not apply to other types of evictions that result from non-rent lease violations, such as nonpayment of arrearages if allowed under the applicable HUD program and specified in the lease.
HUD also reiterates that the agency strongly recommends the best practice of entering into a rental repayment agreement as an alternative to a lump-sum payment for past due amounts. Lastly, HUD reminds PHAs and owners that the 30-day notice must be provided in accessible formats to ensure effective communication for individuals with disabilities, and the notice must provide meaningful access for persons with LEP; housing providers also must comply with the nondiscrimination requirements contained in title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
LeadingAge Advocacy and Impacts
In our advocacy, we urged HUD to consider the impact of evictions and housing instability on older adults with low incomes. That said, the final rule will not have a significant impact on LeadingAge members, since a very similar eviction notification requirement is already in place for HUD’s project-based rental assistance programs.
LeadingAge welcomes the alignment of notification requirements across HUD rental assistance programs as an important step in improving housing stability and due process for households: “On behalf of our membership of mission-driven senior housing and other aging services providers, we value HUD’s efforts to improve housing stability among HUD-assisted households by extending public health emergency-related eviction notification policies, and urge HUD to take a further step to collect and maintain data related to evictions among HUD-assisted households,” LeadingAge wrote in a January, 2024 comment letter to HUD in response to the proposed eviction notification requirement.”
LeadingAge’s letter went on to emphasize the severe shortage of affordable housing for older adults with low incomes, stating: “Despite the ongoing affordable housing crisis, HUD does not currently collect eviction data, even for its own subsidized programs. We strongly urge HUD to launch a nationwide evictions data collection program that maintains data on race, ethnicity, age, income, and other factors. We also urge HUD to amend the proposed rule to require reporting to HUD of the non-payment evictions that are initiated among participants of the housing programs covered by the rule.”
HUD highlighted our comments in the final rule, reiterating the agency’s commitment to ensuring housing stability for older adults. HUD also referenced our requests to add evictions data collection requirements.
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