By Robin Lovelace on November 24th, 2021
Disclaimer: Affordable Housing Online is not affiliated with HUD, or any HUD agency.
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 24, 2021:
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.
Date Posted: November 17, 2021
HUD released its new climate change plan, which explains HUD’s strategy to reduce energy use and carbon reduction to help build energy efficient and sustainable housing.
Part of HUD’s goal is to address climate-related disasters with a host of resources, support, and tools to help cities respond to low-income victims of natural disasters and climate crisis events.
What does this mean for renters?
HUD states it will “implement a broad approach to the climate crisis that reduces climate pollution; increases resilience to the impacts of climate change; protects public health; delivers environmental justice; and spurs well-paying union jobs and economic growth.”
The four parts of HUD’s Climate Change Plan are:
Read more about HUD’s Climate Action Plan here.
Date Posted: November 17, 2021
HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge discussed the department’s allocation of $2 billion dollars in funding for disaster recovery with governors of states and territories that have been recently damaged by natural disasters.
These governors include Oregon’s Governor Kate Brown, Louisiana’s Governor John Bel Edwards, and Puerto Rico’s Governor Pedro R. Pierluisi.
What does this mean for renters?
The State of Oregon received substantial funding to help with recovery from the state’s massive forest fires last year. The funding will help people from low-income rural areas, and people from communities of color who lost their homes to fire to rebuild.
Also, the funds will be used to expand access to affordable fire-resilient homes and support business recovery to help recover lost jobs.
Louisiana received funds to help build back after the 2020 hurricanes, and from the destruction caused by Hurricane Ida in August of this year.
Puerto Rico received funding to rebuild after Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria devastated rural and urban areas in 2017, and a 2020 earthquake wrecked the southwest region of the island.
Governor Pierluisi stated, “The challenges our administration encountered stemmed from obstacles around access to recovery funding, which, thanks to the commitment of this Administration and Secretary Fudge's leadership, are now a thing of the past.”
These funds will also help make improvements to better prepare for impacts of climate change.
HUD states that it is “committed to taking actions to invest in climate resiliency to reinforce its mission of creating strong, sustainable, and inclusive communities with affordable homes for all.”
Read more about the disaster recovery discussion here.
Date Posted: November 23, 2021
HUD is distributing funding to legal service providers to assist in providing legal aid to renters who are at risk of being evicted, or are in the process of being evicted.
What does this mean for renters?
Through the Eviction Protection Grant Program, HUD is giving funding to experienced legal service providers to provide legal assistance at no cost to low-income tenants at risk of or who are being evicted.
HUD plans to award grants to the following non-profit legal services providers:
| Recipient | City | State | Amount of Award |
| Advocates For Basic Legal Equality | Toledo | OH | $1,000,000 |
| Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation | Atlanta | GA | $1,800,000 |
| Community Legal Aid, Inc. | Worchester | MA | $2,400,000 |
| Connecticut Fair Housing Center | Hartford | CT | $2,400,000 |
| Idaho Legal Aid Services | Boise | ID | $1,800,000 |
| Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Inc. | Jacksonville | FL | $2,400,000 |
| Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada | Las Vegas | NV | $1,000,000 |
| Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York | Albany | NY | $2,400,000 |
| Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc. | Geneva | NY | $2,400,000 |
| Legal Services of Eastern Missouri | St. Louis | MO | $2,400,000 |
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