require the qualified expense be related to COVID-19 outbreak .
• Strongly encourages grantees to avoid establishing burdensome documentation requirements that are likely to be barriers to participation for eligible households , by allowing programs to verify eligibility of lowincome renters based on readily available information or “ proxies ”, such as the average income in the neighborhood in which they live .
• Requires programs to prioritize assistance to low-income households and those with members who have been unemployed for more than 90 days . To help ensure that assistance is reaching those who most need it most – especially those with incomes below 50 percent of the area median income – grantees are now required to report how they will achieve the required prioritization of assistance .
• Encourages additional legal services and support to hard pressed residents . HUD is developing a $ 20 million demonstration to provide legal assistance to low-income residents at risk of or subject to evictions .
• Advances the Nation ' s understanding of evictions in the marketplace . HUD will continue to build out a research agenda for helping the field better understand the prevalence of evictions and the disparate impact they have on disadvantaged communities . This includes assessing how the federal government could develop a national database of evictions .
Industry Roundtable Tackles Longer-term Impacts of Pandemic Policy
The National Apartment Association took a deep dive into pandemicrelated policy in its first-ever , live-streamed Industry Roundtable . The event featured NAA ’ s Nicole Upano , Director , Public Policy ; Ayiesha Beverly , Assistant Vice President , Legal ; and Jodie Applewhite , Manager , Public Policy .
This was the first of a series of conversations designed to educate industry professionals on critical issues facing the apartment housing industry , with the Inaugural edition featuring a timely discusion on what short-term pandemic policy could mean for rental housing in the long term .
Among the major subjects covered were the federal eviction moratorium , emergency rental assistance and housing affordability in the post-pandemic future , with participants describing how NAA ’ s advocacy efforts are focused on keeping residents in their homes and addressing the financial instability experienced by residents and housing providers . Other efforts surrounding the Housing Supply and Affordability Act as well as federal programs like the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program were unpacked .
One of the most emphasized points was the billions of dollars in rental assistance and the more than 300 state and local programs tasked with distributing the relief . Communication is key between residents and housing providers in the application process , says Applewhite .
Visit https :// www . naahq . org / news-publications / industry-roundtable-tackles-longer-term-impactspandemic-policy or scan QR code to view the roundtable
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