HUD Housing Notice § 2010-02

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Special Attention of:
 NOTICE:    H 2010-02

Multifamily Hub Directors
Issued:   January 11, 2010
Multifamily Program Center Directors
Supervisory Housing Project Managers                            Expires:
January 31, 2011
Rural Housing Services (RHS) Directors
Project Managers
Contract Administrators                             Cross References: None
Owners and Management Agents Administering
  Multifamily Housing Rental Assistance Programs

[pic]SUBJECT:    Enterprise Income Verification (EIV) & You Brochure -
           Requirements for Distribution and Use

     I. PURPOSE

        The purpose of this Notice is to provide guidance to owners and
        management agents (O/As) on the distribution and use of the EIV &
        You brochure. Any O/A participating in one of Multifamily Housing's
        rental assistance programs listed in Section II. below who is using
        the EIV system, is subject to this Notice.  The EIV & You brochure
        is to inform tenants and potential tenants about the EIV system,
        the data that is available about them in EIV, how the information
        will be used, and their responsibilities as a tenant.


    II. APPLICABILITY


        This notice applies to administrators of the following programs:


   A. Project-based Section 8
        1. New Construction
        2. State Agency Financed
        3. Substantial Rehabilitation
        4. Section 202/8
        5. Rural Housing Services Section 515/8
        6. Loan Management Set-Aside (LMSA)
        7. Property Disposition Set-Aside (PDSA)
   B. Section 101 Rent Supplement
   C. Section 236 Rental Assistance Payment (RAP)
   D. Section 202/162 Project Assistance Contract (PAC)
   E. Section 202 Project Rental Assistance Contract (PRAC)
   F. Section 811 PRAC
   G. Section 236
   H. Section 221(d)(3) Below Market Interest Rate (BMIR)

   III. BACKGROUND


        In 2004, HUD developed and began implementation of the Upfront
        Income Verification (UIV) system, now known as the EIV system.  The
        EIV system serves as a central repository and source for income and
        benefit data, securely accessible over the internet, for use by
        Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) and O/As to improve the accuracy
        of rent and income determinations.


        HUD has computer matching agreements with the Department of Health
        and Human Services (HHS) and the Social Security Administration
        (SSA) enabling EIV to contain wage, unemployment compensation and
        new hire data from HHS' National Directory of New Hires (NDNH) and
        Social Security (SS), Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Dual
        Entitlement SS benefit data from SSA.  Using this data assists in
        reducing errors in determining a tenant's income, thereby reducing
        the number of improper payments in Multifamily Housing's rental
        assistance programs.


    IV. IMPLEMENTATION


        O/As using the EIV system must provide each tenant household with
        the EIV & You brochure at the time of annual recertification along
        with a copy of the HUD Fact Sheet  "How Your Rent is Determined".
        O/As must also provide applicant households who have been selected
        from the waiting list for screening and final application
        processing with a copy of the EIV & You brochure.  The brochure
        will be translated into thirteen languages for distribution to non-
        English speaking households.


        O/As may order the EIV & You brochure for English speaking
        households from the online HUD Direct Distribution Center at
        http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/dds/index.cfm, or by telephone at
        (800) 767-7468.  Quantities ordered should be sufficient to cover
        distribution to existing tenant households and anticipated new
        tenant households over the next twelve months.   The brochure is
        also available for download at the Multifamily RHIIP website at
        http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/mfh/rhiip/mfhrhiip.cfm.


        Translated versions of the brochure for non-English speaking
        households will be posted to the Multifamily RHIIP website once the
        translations are completed.  These versions will not be available
        for order through the HUD Direct Distribution Center.


     V. BENEFITS OF IMPLEMENTATION


        Tenants and applicants selected for final screening and application
        processing have a right to know that an O/A has access to a system
        containing personal and financial information about them.  In
        addition, there are numerous benefits to the O/A and HUD for
        distributing the brochure to tenants and applicants.  Among the
        benefits are:  If tenants accurately report their income then the
        right amount of rental assistance will be paid on their behalf,
        thus allowing more families to receive the rental assistance they
        need.  Furthermore, the administrative workload on O/As will be
        significantly reduced because they will not have to set up
        repayment agreements with tenants to recover rental assistance that
        was inappropriately paid on their behalf and discovered through use
        of the EIV system.  And finally, there will be fewer tenants moving
        out of their units while still owing back rent because the right
        amount of rental assistance will have been paid from the beginning.
         The potential for fraud, waste and abuse in HUD's rental
        assistance programs will be diminished.


        If you have any questions regarding this Notice or need more
        information on the EIV system, please contact your local Contract
        Administrator or local HUD field office.



                                  ________________________________________


                                  David H. Stevens, Assistant Secretary for
                                    Housing-Federal Housing Commissioner