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Saving Project-Based Section 8 Housing

The material below is intended for tenants who are at risk of losing their affordable housing through prepayment of the mortgage on the building by the owner.

The information contained here will tell you what your rights are as a tenant living in a subsidized building. You will learn about laws that have been passed to help you save your home, you will learn about what your landlord is required to do, and you will learn what steps you can take to save your affordable housing.

Most importantly, you will see that there are many options available to you. Although the many options may seem confusing, they are actually exciting opportunities for you to take control of the circumstances surrounding your housing. What action you take depends on the decisions you, as tenants working together, make!

What is prepayment?

In the 1960’s the government offered subsidies as an incentive to encourage businesspeople to develop affordable housing for low to moderate income people. Many businesspeople jumped at this opportunity because they could use the newly developed housing as a tax shelter, a loophole to hide income and save money on their taxes.

The housing built with these incentives was built under the Section 221(d)(3) and Section 236 government programs. The agreement was that in exchange for the subsidies, the owners would agree to keep the rents affordable for low to moderate income tenants for a period of 40 years. Prepayment is the option the owners have to pay the balance of the mortgage after only 20 years and end all promises to keep the rents affordable. Today, tenants across the country are faced with the possibility that the owners of the buildings they live in will prepay their mortgage and rent affordability will end.

How am I affected?

When an owner is allowed to prepay his mortgage he ends the promise to the government to provide housing that low to moderate income people can afford. At that time, the owner can:

  1. Raise the rent.
  2. Sell the building in order to make a profit.
  3. Tear the building down and sell the land.

Any of these options will probably force a low to moderate income person out of his/her housing. So if your owner is permitted to prepay the mortgage on the building you live in, the possibility that you will lose your home is a very real one.

ELIPHA vs. LIPRHA

Owners first began prepaying their mortgages because it was no longer advantageous for them to hold on to the properties. Most of the owners were not interested in housing, they were interested in making money. A new tax law was passed that closed the loophole that allowed the owners to use the buildings as a tax shelter.

When the government first made the offer of subsidies to owners they thought that the need for low to moderate income housing was only a temporary need. They didn’t realize that the economic climate of the country would make the need more urgent as the years went by. As owners across the country began prepaying their mortgages, the government became very concerned about the loss of thousands of units of low to moderate income housing, and realized that they had made a mistake in allowing the option to prepay. As a result, Congress decided to pass laws that would affect the owners’ ability to prepay. These are the laws that will allow you to save your home!

The Emergency Low Income Housing Preservation Act, or ELIPHA, was the first law that Congress passed in 1987 to try and slow down the rapid loss of affordable housing units through prepayment. In 1990, Congress passed another law, called the Low Income Preservation and Resident Homeownership Act, or LIHPRHA. Which law your building owner has to follow is dependent upon when your building’s prepayment date is and when the owner files his/her notice of intent to prepay. If the prepayment date is before September 30, 1991 and the owner files a notice of intent to prepay his/her mortgage between November 1987 and December 31, 990, the owner is eligible to proceed under ELIPHA.

Although an owner is eligible to proceed under ELIPHA, s/he may choose instead to follow the guidelines found in LIHPRHA. Tenants whose business are qualified under ELIPHA may decide that they want to try to convince their owner to choose to follow LIHPRHA. Many feel that LIHPRHA is a stronger law that gives tenants more opportunity to participate.

The following sections outline some basic differences between ELIHPA and LIHPRHA.

How do I save my home under ELIPHA?

If your building’s prepayment date is before September 30, 1991 and the owner files a notice of intent to prepay between November 1987 and December 31, 1990, the owner may choose to proceed under ELIPHA.

If your building’s owner decides to use ELIPHA, the owner has the choice of the following:

  1. Prepay the mortgage and raise rents.
  2. Stay in as the owner and apply for additional subsidies from the government. If the owner picks this option, the rents must stay low for 20 years.
  3. Do nothing and continue to run the building as it is until the contract with the government runs out.

If the owner decides that s/he wants to prepay the mortgage and end the affordability requirements, the owner must file a notice of intent to prepay (NOI) with HUD. The owner is not obligated under ELIPHA to notify the tenants of his/her intent. After filing the NOI, the owner submits a plan of action to HUD. If the owner’s plan of action is approved by HUD, the owner can prepay the mortgage and raise the rents. The tenants have the right to comment on the action plan after HUD approves the plan.

If the owner decides to stay as the owner and accept additional subsidies, the owner must file a notice of intent to stay in. Under ELIPHA, the owner is not obligated to notify the tenants of his/her intent. After filing the NOI, the owner must submit a plan of action. If HUD approves the plan of action, the owner must keep rents low for the rest of the mortgage.The tenants have the right to comment on the action plan after HUD approves the plan.

The tenants’ right to participate in the process is limited under ELIPHA. ALthough a landlord may be eligible to proceed under ELIPHA, s/he may choose to proceed under LIHPRHA. Under LIHPRHA, not only can the tenants participate in the steps involved, but under LIHPRHA the tenants have the options of buying their building or choosing a qualified purchaser to support in their efforts to purchase the building. One of the first steps you may want to take after determining the prepayment date of your building, is meeting with your building owner and as a group requesting that s/he choose to proceed under LIHPRHA. If you are able to do so, read the next section, “How do I save my home under LIHPRHA?”

If you are unable to convince the owner of your building to proceed under LIHPRHA, you should try to affect the plan of action by making your concerns known to HUD. The tenants in your building should meet on a regular basis to discuss different ways of putting pressure on HUD. You may want to think about enlisting the assistance of friendly elected officials, the media, community leaderes, or a tenant organizer. Elected officials are accountable to you and they may have influence on HUD. The media can help to research and publicize the issue, which can result in added support for your cause. A tenant organizer can meet with you to give you technical support in helping you to develop a strategy, identify targets, and decide what tactics to use.

How do I save my home under LIHPRHA?

If the owner of your building has chosen to proceed under LIHPRHA, s/he can do one of the following:

  1. Prepay the HUD mortgage and raise rents.
  2. Stay in as the owner of the building and apply for additional subsidies from the government. If the owner chooses this option, the rents must stay low for the life of the building.
  3. Sell the building to a qualified purchaser, who will agree to keep the rents low for the life of the building.
  4. Do nothing and continue to run the building as it is until the contract with the government runs out.

Under options 1, 2, and 3 the owner begins the process by submitting a notice of intent (NOI) not only to HUD, but also to the tenants. Receipt of any notice of intent should be a signal to tenants in your building to get together and meet to talk about the opportunities available to all of you.

The first NOI will indicate whether the owner’s interest is to sell, stay-in, or prepay. Regardless of the owner’s intent there is a lot for the tenants to do. The following is an explanation of the steps the owner is required to take under each scenario, and the steps the tenants can take to have a positive impact on the outcome.

Option 1: Owner wants to sell

Timeline:

After the NOI is filed HUD has two months to inspect the complex. This is called the Capital Needs Assessment, or DNA for short. You have the right to participate in the DNA. This is an opportunity for the tenants to tell HUD what repairs need to be done and what changes you would like to see. After the CNA is completed, HUD uses the information you have given them to determine a dollar value of the building; this is called the appraisal. The owners also get their own appraisal. If the owners and HUD don’t agree, a third independent appraisal is required. An agreed-upon appraisal must be reached within 9 months of the NOI. Within one month of the appraisal, the owner must submit a second notice to sell. After you receive this second notice, you can be sure that the owners want to sell. After the owner submits the second NOI, s/he can begin to take offers only from “priority purchasers,” such as a resident group or a nonprofit that has your support. After 6 months the owner can accept offers from any “qualified purchaser,” that is, anyone who agrees to keep the rents low for the life of the building. Once the owner accepts an offer, the prospective purchaser has two months to submit a plan of action. Tenants and other interested parties have 2 months after submission of a plan of action to give their comments to HUD. After the 2 month comment period, HUD has 3 months to approve the sale.

The role of tenant participation is greatest when your building’s owner wants to sell. Not only can you take part in the Capital Needs Assessment and get needed repairs and amenities, but you can also help decide who buys your building. Your group of tenants could even purchase your building as a limited equity cooperative or condominium association!

As soon as the NOI to sell is filed, the tenants in your building should begin to meet as a group. You can identify individuals and agencies who can offer your group assistance. The first issue your group will focus on is the CNA. Pass out questionnaires asking about the condition of individual units and common areas, ask your local housing inspector to inspect your building. After deciding what repairs need to be made and what amenities you want added to your complex (one complex got a new playground!) meet with HUD to let them know.

After the appraisal is completed and the second notice of intent to sell is filed, your group needs to begin discussing whether you are interested in pursuing a self-purchase. HUD has money and technical assistance for tenant groups who want to purchase their building.

If your group is not interested in self-purchase, you need to begin to identify a qualified purchaser. One may come forward. In order to be considered a “priority purchaser,” they need your support. You should meet with them to determine whether or not they would be a good owner.

Once a purchase offer is made, if it is one that you support, let your current owner know. Let your owner know if it is an offer you do not support. If your owner accepts the offer, work with the prospective purchaser in developing a plan of action. Use the comment period to let HUD know what you think about the plan.

Option 2: Owner wants to stay-in

Timeline:

After the NOI is filed HUD has two months to inspect the complex. This is called the Capital Needs Assessment, or DNA for short. You have the right to participate in the DNA. This is an opportunity for the tenants to tell HUD what repairs need to be done and what changes you would like to see. After the CNA is completed, HUD uses the information you have given them to determine a dollar value of the building; this is called the appraisal. The owners also get their own appraisal. If the owners and HUD don’t agree, a third independent appraisal is required. An agreed-upon appraisal must be reached within 9 months of the NOI. Within six months of the appraisal, the owner must submit a plan of action. The tenants have the right to comment on this plan of action. After a 2 month public comment period, HUD can decide to approve or deny the plan. If HUD approves the plan, HUD has 3 months to make incentives available to the owner. If HUD misses the deadline, the owner can prepay his/her mortgage. If HUD does not approve the plan, the owner has the option of either starting the process over again, or continuing to operate the building as it is for the rest of the mortgage.

If an owner wants to stay-in as the landlord and apply for additional subsidies, the role of tenants’ participation is more limited than if the owner wants to sell — nonetheless, there is still a lot for the tenants to do!

As soon as a NOI to stay-in is filed, the tenants in your building should begin to meet as a group. You can identify individuals and agencies who can offer your group assistance. The first issue your group will focus on is the CNA. Pass out questionnaires asking about the condition of individual units and common areas, ask your local housing inspector to inspect your building. After deciding what repairs need to be made and what amenities you want added to your complex, meet with HUD to let them know.

After the appraisal is completed, your tenant group will probably meet to discuss what you would like to see in the owner’s plan of action. You may want to meet with the owner to discuss the plan of action. Remember, the owner would like you to support his/her plan of action; consequently, you are in a good position to negotiate with him/her. For instance, if you have management problems in your building you may want to offer your owner the support of your tenant group during the public comment period in exchange for tenant representation on the management hiring committee. As a group of tenants working together you have more power than an individual tenant working alone. Make a “wish list,” and don’t be afraid to make demands!

Once your building’s owner submits his/her plan of action, your group has 2 months to either support the plan or give evidence to HUD why it should not be supported. If your owner has refused to meet with you or has broken a lot of promises in the past, you should let HUD know.

After the 2 month comment period, and within 6 months of submission of the plan, HUD can either approve or deny the plan. If they approve the plan, HUD must make the subsidies available within 3 months. If HUD fails to make the subsidies available within 3 months, the owner can prepay his/her mortgage and raise the rent. It’s important to make sure that you have contact with a HUD representative to ensure that HUD meets the deadline. If HUD denies the plan of action, the owner can either choose to run the complex as it has been run, or s/he can begin the whole LIHPRHA process again.

Option 3: Owner wants to prepay

Timeline:

Owner first files a notice of intent to terminate. HUD then has six months to notify the owner and tell them what they need to submit in order for HUD to approve the conversion. After receiving the information from HUD, the owners have 6 months to submit a plan of action to HUD. The plan of action will attempt to prove that there is no need for affordable housing in your area. The two months following the submission of the plan of action is the public comment period. HUD must approve or deny the plan of action within 6 months of its submission. If HUD approves the plan, the rents can go up to market rate housing. If HUD doesn’t approve the plan the owners have the choice of running the complex as it was or beginning the process again to try to sell or stay-in.

The role of tenant participation in the process is most limited when an owner is trying to prepay his/her mortgage. Unfortunately, the need for tenant participation is greatest when this is the case. Although your participation is limited to commenting on the plan of action, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t utilize that opportunity. As soon as the plan of action is filed, your tenants group should go over it as carefully as possible. You will need to try to disprove what they say in their plan. You should also meet with as many elected officials, social service agencies, and media representatives as you possibly can. When you meet with them, you should tell them why your owner should not be allowed to prepay his/her mortgage. You should also ask people who you meet with to issue their concerns with HUD.

Section 8 Tenants Organizing Manual

Introduction

The purpose of this web page is to help you learn how to organize with other tenants to defend, assert, and expand your rights. If you organize well, you can help build a movement to not only protect and expand your rights but also win respect and a voice in your future.

The most important existing right you have is your right to organize. Section 8 tenants in Minnesota along with tenants from around the country campaigned to win a federal law specifically protecting the right of Section 8 tenants to organize. It is through organizing that all your other rights have come to exist, and it is through organizing that you gain the power to decide which newer, stronger rights you need.

The history of the tenants movement and all movements for social change has shown that the single most powerful way for tenants to organize is to stand together in large numbers and take collective action against injustice. There are many different ways to exercise the power you gain from working together.

And since there are so many more of us than there are landlords, it is we who really hold the power. For instance, consider this: tenants could survive if there were no landlords, but landlords could not survive if there were no tenants. It makes one wonder, who is dependent on whom?

If we organize collectively, we can draw public attention to the fact that the system tenants are in is not unchangeable. We can set a powerful example by taking a stand together against a setup that is stacked in favor of the rich and powerful. And remember, the more tenants are educated, organized, and mobilized, the more control we will have over our lives and our future.

Why Organize a Tenant Council

There are many reasons to organize a tenant council. The biggest one is that when we try to defend, assert, or expand our rights or position in society all by ourselves we are weak, ineffective, and constantly ignored. But when we stand together and make the same demands, we have power. We are much more effective and we cannot be easily ignored.

People come together in tenant councils for the same reasons they come together in labor unions, civil rights groups, women's groups and many other kinds of organizations: because working together wins concrete improvements in people's lives, builds a sense of community and personal power, and wins us more control over our daily lives.

When you make a decision to organize a tenant council, you are turning the day-to-day world of alienation, isolation, and greed on its head. By rejecting this model, you are making a commitment to your fellow tenants in the building to work together for the common good. At the same time, you are building community where community may not have existed before. If you organize well, personal issues and prejudices will no longer be able to keep you divided; as people organize, it's quite common for these divisions to dissolve. This is another great reason to organize!

What issues can we organize around?

Section 8 tenants often have similar issues that they choose to organize around. Following are some typical issues:

How to Organize Your Tenant Council

Anyone can organize. To be successful you may want to look at what others have done, as well as get advice from other tenants who have organized or from organizers at tenant organizations. The following is an overview of how to get started.

Outreach

The first thing you need to figure out is what the common problems are that you share with your neighbors. The best way to figure this out is to talk to your neighbors by knocking on their doors, introducing yourself, getting to know them, and asking them what problems or concerns they have. Share what is important to you and then ask what is important to them or what they would change if they could make any change they want. This is usually called doorknocking. The most important thing to keep in mind is to listen to people.

Compile a list of issues that come up and keep a list of names and numbers of who you talk to so you can get in touch later. This list can be used to contact your neighbors for organizing meetings, in case of emergencies, or just to get to know each other. As you go door to door, ask people to make a small commitment to the organizing efforts such as handing out flyers, coming to a meeting, or talking to a neighbor. Make a note of what people say they will do and follow up with them. This builds commitment to your organizing efforts.

As you go through this process, often you will find other people in the building who are as interested as you are in organizing around the issues. You could call these people back and arrange to meet with them later so you can work together.

First meeting

Usually the next step after you talk with everyone in the building is to plan a meeting. The key to a successful meeting is to have a clear, achievable goal and purpose for meeting. People get discouraged if they go to a meeting where everyone just complains and lists what's wrong. It's important to move from listing problems to taking action to solve them.

If you live in a very large building or complex you might want to start with small meetings on each floor or in each building and then plan a complex-wide meeting.

Before you call the meeting contact the tenants who said they were interested in organizing and get together to make flyers, call everyone on your list, set up a proposed agenda, and make other necessary arrangements to make it happen. The more people who are involved in planning and making the meeting happen the more successful it will be because more people will be recruiting friends and neighbors to attend and your effort will be stronger.

At the first big meeting, the group should elect a facilitator. The facilitator has two main parts to their job. The first is to keep a running list of those who have shown that they want to speak by raising their hand, and to call on them when it is their turn. Second, the facilitator should make sure that everyone is aware of what agenda item is being discussed so that people don't go off on other topics. If the meeting doesn't accomplish anything, many will never come back.

It's a good idea to set some ground rules at the beginning of the meeting so it's not all on the facilitator's shoulders to control who talks when. Ground rules can be things like; raise your hand to speak, one person talk at a time, respect what people say, people who haven't said anything get a chance to talk before others who have already spoken, and large decisions are made by majority vote. Make up your own ground rules for your own group and agree to follow them.

Plan a campaign

After you have identified as a group what issues you want to organize around, then come up with a basic plan for how you can work together to get what you want. This usually involves figuring out which issues are the most important to the most people while keeping in mind what you can win with the power you've got. You are most likely to win your goal if it is specific, measurable (meaning you'll be able to clearly tell if you win it), and achievable with the resources you have or can get.

At the big meeting, you can vote on which issue to tackle first. You will also need to make a plan of how to win the change you decide to pursue and give as many people as possible a role to play. Remember, if you can win a small victory first, you might get more support for bigger issues later.

After you've gotten the ball rolling, it's probably a good time to make a decision about what kind of structure you want for the tenant council. Even if you don't want any particular structure at all, it can be helpful to look at the different ways other tenants have organized.

Choosing Your Tenant Council's Structure

There are many types of ways to structure your tenant council, and each has its individual advantages and disadvantages. Following are some of the typical ways that tenant councils are structured. Keep in mind that these are not set in stone, and that a mixture of any or all of these ways can be used. And of course, new ideas that you come up with of running a tenant council can also be used!

Parliamentary

In a parliamentary tenant council, there is usually an elected President, Vice-President, and a Secretary-Treasurer. The President is considered to be the head of the organization, and has the most authority. The Vice-President fills in for the President when needed, and carries out tasks delegated by the President. The Secretary-Treasurer keeps meeting minutes, records and maintains a bank account and a ledger of the tenant council's finances. Sometimes rather than electing a one-person President and Vice-President, a Steering Committee of 5 or 10 people is elected instead. The President usually writes the agenda of the meeting, but this task could be rotated. The officers sometimes make decisions without the other members.

Committee-Secretary

In the committee-secretary model, there is no President or Vice-President that lead the group. Instead, the entire membership leads by direct democracy, and all members have equal voice and vote on all matters. Committees are formed and dissolved as needed to carry out tasks, and an elected Secretary-Treasurer keeps meeting minutes, records and maintains a bank account (if the group decides it wants one) and a ledger of the resident council's finances. At the end of each meeting, a Chairperson for the next meeting is elected to write up an agenda.

Non-organized

The non-organized model is what usually exists before choosing one of the first two models. However, some tenants prefer to keep this model for the long term as well. In this model, there is no central keeper of records,committees are not formed to carry out tasks, and there is no accountability. Instead, individuals volunteer to do things and sometimes follow through, and sometimes don't. If the tenant council were to fall apart, the records of the resident council would be lost, and things would fall apart at the building as well. In this model, an unelected, defacto president often writes the agenda.

How Might The Landlord React?

As you begin to organize, you should be prepared for how the landlord might react. It is also very important to give your fellow tenants a picture of what to expect, so that when it happens they don't get scared off.

Landlords, like those in power generally, are often surprised when those who "live under their thumb" start to organize for their interests. If this has never happened before they may do one of many things. These include:

Tenants successfully defend themselves against these things (most of which are completely illegal) all the time - usually by standing together and being prepared. Some things tenants have done include copying the "Right to Organize" policy from HUD and posting it around the building, and using demonstrations or other direct actions. They also get other organizations in the community to put pressure on the owner. Getting the media to cover the story doesn't hurt either.

Funding Your Tenant Council

As you choose the structure for your tenant council, one thing that is sure to come up is the question of money. There are many ways to get money for your tenant council, and each choice has its advantages and disadvantages.

The first choice you will have to make is whether you want to have a Treasurer and a bank account, or if you would rather just keep your treasury "in the members' pockets". If you have a Treasurer and a bank account, you run the risk of potential disagreements and splits over who controls the money and where it is or is not. If you go this route, which is best suited to larger amounts of money, here are a few ideas:

Some tenant councils opt to avoid this route and instead just raise the money when it's actually needed by getting donations from members and grassroots fundraising. Following are a few typical methods:

Joining the Larger Movement

The purpose of organizing is to bring people together so that they will have more power. But there are many different levels on which people "come together".

When you organize in your building, you are bringing people together at the most local level possible. This is the thread that keeps the fabric of the larger tenant and social justice movements together on the larger scale. But without being directly woven in with these movements, the tenant council is isolated from the bigger picture, which is where the larger, longer lasting changes take place.

There are many organizations that you could affiliate your tenant council with statewide, nationwide, or internationally to weave your organization's thread into the fabric of the movement.

The Tenants Union is the organization that made this booklet possible. We are a statewide, membership-based organization that helps Washington State tenants to organize for their interests, and to sustain and connect existing tenant councils to the larger statewide movement. To affiliate your Tenant Council with the Tenants Union, which will entitle you to a number of benefits, your Tenant Council needs to meet three basic requirements.

  1. 25% of the tenants in your building must be individual members of the Tenants Union.

  2. You must vote at a meeting to which all tenants are invited to affiliate with the Tenants Union.

  3. You must vote to adopt the Tenants Union Principles of Unity as your own.

Tenants Union
3902 S. Ferdinand
Seattle, WA 98118
(206) 722-6848
http://www.tenantsunion.org

The National Alliance of HUD Tenants is a nation-wide organization of tenants who live in federally-assisted housing. Member tenant councils work together to preserve affordable housing, protect tenants rights, and promote tenant ownership and control - especially at the federal level. Voting membership in NAHT is open to tenant councils that meet regularly and are democratic, representative, and independent of management. Dues for tenant council membership are $25 yearly.

National Alliance of HUD Tenants
353 Columbus Ave.
Boston, MA 02116
(617) 267-9564

Long-term Maintenance of Your Tenant Council

Every tenant council runs into snags here and there. Sometimes individual personalities just rub each other the wrong way, while other times divisions appear between race, age, gender, ability or other lines. And sometimes the problem is the fact the old tenant leaders have moved on, while new ones were not developed.

These problems are often a product of a society which puts profit before people, difference before unity, and conflict before cooperation. Since most tenants were raised in this society, we are products of it - so there must be a common understanding and commitment to what we are fighting for, and how we intend to get there together.

If the group starts to lose focus, consider writing a mission statement for the tenant council to endorse. Sometimes this can help to illustrate the pettiness of division and might help folks remember what got you started organizing against injustice in the first place. You can also hold a meeting addressing such issues and bring outside speakers to come and talk with the group.

Often it may be a problem of power. If your tenant council uses a Parliamentary structure that gives the most authority to a small group of people, often the membership will become restless with the way in which that authority is used.

In all cases, it makes sense to keep lines of communication between officers and the membership open. One policy that can help your tenant council to remain representative of the membership is to have an "immediate recall" policy. This means that any officer may be voted out of office at any time by democratic vote of the membership.

When old campaigns have passed on, don't hesitate to pick up a new one right away. Nothing kills the spirit of a tenant council as quickly as a lack of activity.

The most important thing however, is the ongoing skill development of the membership. Often the people who come forward to lead in the beginning are those who already have decent organizing skills. But when those people become tired, or they move away, the building is left with nothing. It might even revert to the stage it was at before any organizing took place - and that's a real shame. The goal should be for all of the membership to be developed as leaders. Then, leadership could rotate, or be taken on by different tenants for different issue areas.

Glossary of HUD-Speak Terms

As you organize, you will come across many terms and acronums that may be unfamiliar to you. Tenant activists call this language "HUD-speak". This technical and special language creates a barrier which prevents low-income people and others from understanding issues that affect our lives and keeps us from knowing how to expand our rights. Here are plain-English translations of some of the more common terms you will encounter.

Eyes and Ears
Regional meetings initiated by both the Tenants Union and NAHT with tenant associations and local and national HUD multifamily housing staff to meet face to face and identify problems and work out solutions.

Fair Market Rent (FMR)
The rent amount determined by HUD and sometimes used to set the standard for how much rent HUD will give an owner. HUD figures FMR by looking at all the rents in a given area, generally a region around a city, and figuring out 90% of the average rent in the area.

FOIA (Freedom of Information Act)
A law that requires requested information to be provided within ten working days. The public can file FOIA requests by sending a letter to a government agency and requesting information.

Haircut
A "haircut" is the same thing as an OMHAR Lite. It is a version of the "Mark to Market" program in which HUD reduces the amount of money an owner receives in rent. A haircut is a building where the owner of a Section 8 property gets a cut in the rent they are receiving from HUD but decides not to accept the financial incentives HUD offers. By refusing the incentives, the owner avoids being required to sign a 30-year Section 8 contract and just goes on renewing year by year.

Housing Quality Standards
Maintenance and safety standards used by HUD to evaluate apartments in subsidized housing programs.

HUD
The US Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is the federal agency that was set up to oversee and administer public and subsidized housing programs. It also provides funds to cities, states, and counties for homeless programs, rent assistance, and urban development.

HUD Assisted Multifamily Housing
Housing owned privately, but subsidized by the government.

ITAG
Intermediary Technical Assistance Grant. A grant program administered by HUD which gives grants directly to tenant groups. If the tenant association is a registered non-profit they can apply directly to the local ITAG administrator for a grant. If not the group can ask a non-profit agency , such as the Tenants Union to be its "fiscal sponsor".

LIHPRHA
This acronym stands for "Low Income Housing Preservation and Resident Home Ownership Act". Until the government began the massive deregulation of social services in the past decade (which ended LIHPRHA), this program gave Section 8 tenants the first right to purchase their building and money to buy it should it go up for sale or the owner decide to get out of the program.

Mark To Market
A HUD program that requires a reduction in the amount of money the government pays to owners of buildings down to the amount of rent the building could earn on the open market. In exchange for this reduction, HUD gives the owner additional funds for rehabilitation. If an owner goes through the Mark to Market program then they must sign a 30 year Section 8 contract.

Mark Up To Market
A HUD program that increases the amount of money the government pays to owners of building up to the amount of rent the building could earn on the open market. In exchange for these additional funds, the owner must sign a 5-year contract to stay in the Section 8 program.

NAHT (National Alliance of HUD Tenants)
A nationwide coalition of tenant associations and supporting organizations that work to preserve and defend subsidized housing.

OMHAR Lite
The same thing as a "Haircut". It is a version of the "Mark to Market" program where HUD reduces the amount of money an owner receives in rent. A haircut is a building where the owner of a Section 8 property gets a cut in the rent they are receiving from HUD but decides not to accept the financial incentives HUD offers. By refusing the incentives the owners avoids being required to sign a 30 year Section 8 contract and just goes on renewing year by year.

Opt-out
A term that describes when an owner decides to get out of the Project-based Section 8 housing program.

Prepayment
When an owner pays off the remaining debt on an insured or subsidized mortgage. Prepaying the loan absolves them of any obligation to maintain low rents or follow other requirement of the regulatory agreement.

Public Housing
Subsidized housing owned by the state or federal government and administrated by local agencies such as the Seattle Housing Authority.

Right of First Refusal
A law the Tenants Union has been trying to get passed in the city of Seattle to give tenants the first right to buy their building if an owner chooses to sell, since LIHPRHA no longer exists.

Seattle Housing Authority
Local agency that oversees the public housing projects and the tenant-based Section 8 certificate and voucher programs.

Payment Standard
The maximum amount of rent subsidy the housing authority will provide to a tenant who has tenant-based Section 8.

Project-based Section 8
Subsidized housing assistance in which the private owner of the building has a "Section 8 Contract" with HUD, and the tenant pays only 30% of their income for rent.

REAC
The Real Estate Assessment Center- A HUD department located in Washington DC which is responsible for doing all the inspections of HUD owned, subsidized or managed property.

Section 8 Tenant Organizing Project (STOP)
A project of the Tenants Union to organize tenants in at-risk Section 8 buildings.

Tenant-based Section 8
A portable rent subsidy, a voucher or certificate, given to individual tenants through the housing authority that only covers the difference between 30% of a tenant's income and the payment standard set by the housing authority. This means that tenants are often priced out of the market.

Tenant Relocation Assistance Act
A Seattle law which requires owners to provide money to help a tenant move if they are displaced as a result of a rent increase of 20% or more after an owner opts out of a project-based subsidy.

The Tenants Union
A statewide, membership-based organization fighting for tenants rights in Washington State since 1976.

Section 8 Tenants Rights

This page was put together so that you can learn how to fight for your rights as a Section 8 Tenant. In our society, having a right doesn’t mean it is respected. Those who have the power (property-owners, business-owners, wealthy people, etc.) tend to know their rights very well. And when they don’t, they usually have the money to hire an attorney to defend these rights in court.

Low-income people are in a much different situation. Affordable or free lawyers are often not readily available when we need them most. And the courts are filled with judges who are more likely to be landlords than tenants. The land-owners have control over a basic life need, and are by and large the same people who control our society on the larger scale.

The real truth, however, is that tenants are the ones with the power. There are many, many more of us than there are landlords. If we organize collectively, we can draw public attention to the needs of tenants and how to change tenants’ situation. We can set an example by taking a stand against a system that is stacked against us, in favor of the rich and powerful. The more tenants are educated, mobilized, and organized, the greater our control over our own lives will become.

Section 8 Tenants are covered by all state, local and federal laws just as other tenants are. But they are also covered by additional laws and regulations from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

At the Tenants Union, we can provide you with a copy of “Resident Rights and Responsibilities” put out by HUD for Section 8 Tenants. Unfortunately, HUD’s widely distributed booklet leaves out many of your most important rights.

This web page will inform you of these additional rights, which you will need to know in order to start to shift the center of power away from the landlord and towards the tenants who live in the building.

Your rights: the basics

The first step in having a working knowledge of your rights is knowing what rights tenants have won before you. If tenants are not informed enough about their rights to know when they have been violated, those rights might as well not exist at all.

The next thing every Section 8 tenant should know is that when an owner enters into an agreement to have project-based Section 8, that owner gets special deals from the government, including guaranteed monthly rental income, and/or low interest rates, or low mortgage payments.

In exchange, the government expects owners to follow certain rules to ensure that tenants are being treated well. However these rules are often not enforced by HUD, as they often are not aware of violations. Therefore, tenants must be the “eyes and ears” of HUD, and inform them in order to defend your rights.

The following information was taken from various HUD publications, many of which tenants never see, even when landlords are told by HUD to give one to each tenant. These publications include: HUD Management Agent Handbook 4381.5 REV-2, HUD Resident Rights and Responsibilities, as well as many others put out by tenants rights organizations around the country.

Did you know?

The owner is obligated by HUD

The owner is not allowed to:

So, all Section 8 tenants have the right…

If the owner violates these rules

More options for Section 8 renters

These are not the only options available to you if you wish to protect yourself and defend your rights. The key lies in eternally pushing for even more rights by organizing all the tenants in your building collectively to have a united voice. As new, higher standards of how owners must treat tenants are brought to the table, older and weaker standards become stronger.

Tenants can put pressure on the landlord in many other ways, too. Organizing a tenant council in your building is the most effective way to protect yourself. As a group you can identify strategies and tactics to win the changes you want in your home and protect your rights.

Tenants across the nation are organizing together and coming up with new and effective ways to win changes in their living situaiton. How and why to organize is the subject of the other manual in the STOP Renters Kit, the “Section 8 Tenant Organizing Manual”.

Section 8 Tenant Organizing Project

The Section 8 Tenants’ Organizing Project is a nationally recognized organizing project formed in 1997 to mobilize tenants of privately owned HUD subsidized housing. Sweeping federal budget cuts and policy changes are threatening the homes and the futures of thousands of people who live in subsidized housing, have Section 8 assistance or are on waiting lists for affordable housing.

STOP has preserved 8 affordable housing complexes, home to about 400 families, which were slated to convert to market rate housing and was instrumental in passage of local and national protections for this housing. STOP is also organizing to hold back the tide of budget cuts that threaten to force families and disabled people off of the Section 8 Voucher Program.

Additional Information: