**Update: HUD Extends Deadline to Comment on PBCA Rebid Draft Contracts to September 28. Please reach out to Juliana (jbilowich@leadingage.org) to add your voice.**

On July 27, after years in the making, HUD took public steps to develop a new solicitation for Project-Based Contract Administrator (PBCA) contracts, to be renamed Housing Assistance Payment Contract Support Services (HAPPS) and published a draft solicitation containing its proposal to formally procure contractors to provide “Housing Assistance Payments contract support services” to HUD and to service project-based rental assistance contracts.

PBCAs are typically responsible for conducting on-site management reviews of assisted properties; adjusting contract rents; and reviewing, processing, and paying monthly vouchers submitted by owners. There are currently 53 PBCAs; the draft solicitation contemplates 15 HAPPS contractors (three for each of HUD’s five multifamily regions).

As LeadingAge members know, HUD suspended PBCA management and occupancy reviews from 2011 to 2016 in response to litigation filed against HUD over how it chose PBCAs. Subsequently, Congress was very unhappy to learn from GAO that the suspension resulted in some owners not meeting contract requirements and HUD incurring more than $5,600,000 in questionable costs. Furthermore, GAO found that HUD’s lack of monitoring resulted in ongoing compliance issues which have resulted in the physical deterioration of some properties and put the health and safety of residents at risk, GAO said.

PBCAs are HUD’s primary providers for overseeing compliance, renewing rental contracts, and managing tenant interactions. PBCAs provide day-to-day monitoring and oversight of most of HUD’s approximately 17,000 project-based Section 8 contracts with property owners throughout the nation. Most PBCA contracts expire in 2023, with options for term extensions. HUD says it will assess all comments received to develop a final, formal solicitation, with the intention of having new contracts in place before any lapse of service to residents.

LeadingAge will be reviewing the draft solicitation and will comment as necessary.