For the past several years, RSA has been working with both the Housing Authority and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development to improve the performance of their Section 8 programs and, in particular, to increase the level of communication between the agencies and owners so that owners are adequately informed of their duties and obligations under Section 8. As a result, HPD has issued newsletters and improved their website for this purpose. HPD recently released its first edition of HAP HAPennings, a Section 8 landlord newsletter. This publication is scheduled to go out semi-annually to all participating HPD Section 8 landlords and is available on their website http://www.nyc.gov/hpd).
One of the topics covered in the first issue are the new policies implemented in the Housing Quality Standards (HQS) Inspection unit that went into effect July 14th, 2008. One of RSA’s primary goals in the area of Section 8 is to ensure that NYCHA and HPD use similar procedures and standards. HPD’s new policy regarding HQS inspections and owner self-certifications of non-emergency items is now virtually identical to NYCHA’s and is an example of that effort. RSA has continued to advocate for clearer explanation of such policies and below you will see a helpful chart that itemizes the HQS failure items. The new policies provide that:
Owners are able to certify repairs of non-emergency HQS failure items, without requiring a re-inspection.
You will be asked to return a “Certification of Completed Repairs” (CCR) form verifying to HPD that repairs were made within 28 days in order to avoid suspension of HAP payments.
Forms must include a tenant and landlord signature.
Subsides for apartments that are still in failure status after the 28-day correction period will be suspended on the first of the month following the 28-day correction period, per HUD regulations.
HPD will not lift the suspension until you either return a completed self-certification form or request a re-inspection that results in the unit passing.
If you have made the necessary repairs but are unable to obtain the tenant’s signature, you should use space provided on the Certification of Completed Repairs form to request a re-inspection.
In order to avoid a suspension of HAP payments, the inspection needs to be requested before the correction deadline indicated on the failure notice.
Self-certification is only acceptable for non-emergency failures that are the owner’s responsibility to fix.
HQS failures in vacant units, emergency failures and failures identified as the tenant’s responsibility to fix must be re-inspected by the HQS unit and in those cases automatic re-inspections will be scheduled.
HQS reserves the right to conduct re-inspections at anytime with proper notice to tenant and owner.
The goal of this new policy is to make it easier for owners and tenants alike to maintain their apartments in HQS compliance and enjoy uninterrupted subsidy payments.
HPD has also started to address the “no access” issue. HPD recommends that if a tenant doesn’t allow you to gain access, you should keep documented records of the attempts and to inform HPD. Examples of those documents include certified mailings to the tenant, proof of scheduled appointments with contractors and copies of any Court papers filed. If you have tried to gain access at least two times and have documentation, you may submit that documentation to the HQS Unit at the following address via fax or certified mail:
NYC Department of Housing
Preservation and Development
100 Gold Street Room 4-N
New York, NY 10038
Attn: Carrol Dixon
At that point, the HQS unit will contact the tenant and encourage them to allow you to exercise your legal right to gain access. When and if the repairs have been made and verified, HPD will make retroactive HAP payments back to the time of your first documented proof of attempt to gain access. According to HPD, this policy largely mirrors NYCHA’s policy except that NYCHA caps reimbursement in these situations at two months and HPD will reimburse up to four months.
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