HUD Publishes Draft VAWA Notices, August 1, 2017

HUD published a "60-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Implementation of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013," in the August 1, 2017 Federal Register.   This notice provides four draft documents associated with VAWA, (1) form HUD 5380, Notice of Occupancy Rights Under the Violence Against Women Act to All Tenants and Applicants; (2) form HUD- 5381, Model Emergency Transfer Plan Under VAWA; (3) form HUD-5382, Certification of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, or Stalking and Alternate Documentation; and (4) form HUD-5383, Emergency Transfer Request for Certain Victims of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, or Stalking. HUD is seeking public comment on these draft forms, and comments are due no later the October 2, 2017.   The first three forms (5380, 5381, and 5382) are forms that the VAWA 2013 law requires HUD to develop and provide. The final form (5383) is one that HUD has chosen to develop and provide.   Owners and managers should obtain copies of the draft notices and carefully review them. Comments should be sent to HUD with suggestions for improvements to the forms.   A summary of the proposed changes from the earlier editions of the forms follows:  

• Form 5380:
  • clarifies the "Tenant Protections" and "Removing the Abuser or Perpetrator from the Household" sections to align with the regulations and provide more information about bifurcation of the lease;
  • Renamed "Moving to Another Unit" to "Emergency Transfer;"
  • Includes more emergency transfer language
  • Adds language in the "Documenting That You Are or Have Been a Victim" section about reasonable accommodations and updates the language to be consistent with the regulation; and
  • Updates the "Confidentiality" section to more closely follow the regulation and put individuals on notice of confidentiality protections.
• Form 5381:
  • Adds a note to covered housing providers that the use of the model form without adding program specific and housing provider specific policies will not be sufficient to meet the emergency transfer plan requirements. In other words, a property’s emergency transfer plan will have to be specific to both the property and the applicable program at the property;
  • Adds a definition section;
  • Renames the section titled "Emergency Transfer Timing and Availability" to "Emergency Transfer Procedures" and adds two new sections,
    • "Emergency Transfer Policies" section, which clarifies that the provider must specify their individual policies for different categories of transfers (i.e., internal or external transfers) where applicable; and
    • a "Priority for Transfers" section, which requires providers to provide any type of priority being provided to a victim consistent with federal regulations.
  • Updates the "Confidentiality" section to more closely follow the regulation and put individuals on notice of confidentiality protections; and
  • Add a "Making Plan Available" section to describe how the plan will be made publicly available, where possible.
• Form 5382:
  • Updates the "Submission of Documentation" section to include information about reasonable accommodations.
  • Adds a warning for making false submissions to ensure users of the form are aware of the legal nature of submitting false information to an entity when seeking access to Federal funds.
• Form 5383:
  • Updates the "Confidentiality" section to more closely follow the regulation and put individuals on notice of confidentiality protections;
  • Reframes question #11 as a "Yes" or "No" question; and
  • Adds a warning for making false submissions to ensure that users of the form are aware of the legal nature of submitting false information to an entity when seeking access to Federal funds.

  Drafts of the revised forms are being published along with the new HUD notice so that the public will have chance to review the proposed changes.