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Every week, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) publishes news about important events within the agency. The following are summaries of news for the week of November 17, 2021:
- HUD supports mandate to stop false identity matching for credit checks
- HUD awards $74 million to help tribal communities affected by COVID-19
Please note: This news does not cover waiting list openings for low-income rental assistance programs. The latest waiting list news can be found here.
HUD supports mandate to stop false identity matching for credit checks
Date Posted: November 11, 2021
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has declared there is a problem with consumer reporting agencies matching up names only for credit checks of rental and employment applicants.
The CFPB claims the agencies are in violation of the law when utilizing name-matching procedures that lead to false-identity matching.
What this means for renters
Federal courts and the CFPB have regularly found that companies using name only matches and no other forms of identity such as social security numbers or date of birth can cause false information to be reported because of someone having the same name as the applicant.
False identity can cause problems for applicants by giving information that could cause the applicant to not qualify for a rental unit or even for employment.
The CFPB and HUD assert that “Hispanic, Black, and Asian rental applicants are at greater risk of denial because surnames of people from these communities tend to be less diverse than non-Hispanic whites.”
The CFPB’s announcement can be found here.
HUD awards $74 million to help tribal communities affected by COVID-19
Date Posted: November 11, 2021
HUD gave 68 tribal communities $73.9 million in funding from the Indian Community Block Grant-American Rescue Plan.
What this means for tribal communities
The money will be used for projects like the construction of a water intake infiltration gallery, which will increase access to treated, potable water for Kwethluk Village in Alaska. Other significant projects include the purchase of a hotel that will be converted to an emergency shelter for homeless-at-risk tribal members of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, in Michigan.
HUD Deputy Secretary Adrianne Todman stated, “These awards will provide critical funding to Tribes to help them prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19.”
A list of the awards by state and recipient is available here.