Multifamily Housing Partnership Presentation; Renters Bill of Rights; Denial of Admission Best Practices
On July 20, 2023, Rural Development Multifamily Housing leadership held a meeting providing a quarterly update to our external partners. The update included information about leadership changes, budgets, new tools and resources, Multifamily Physical Inspection Pilot Program (MPIPP), and lots of other pertinent information and updates. These meetings will continue to be held on a regular basis, with our next partnership meeting tentatively scheduled for October 26, 2023, at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time. A link to that meeting will be sent out via GovDelivery once we get closer to the date. Interested parties are encouraged to join a mailing list to receive future updates via GovDelivery from Rural Development Multifamily Housing.
Here’s a copy of our presentation from July 20, 2023: Multifamily Housing Partnership Updates
If you are looking for the servicing specialist for a specific property, you will find a complete and sortable list here: https://www.sc.egov.usda.gov/
If you have any questions, please contact your servicing specialist, as identified in the above sortable list, or contact the applicable Regional Director, as follows:
The four regions and the contact information for each Regional Director follows:
Western Region: Becki Meyer, Regional Director
(AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NM, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY)
Southern Region: Byron Waters, Regional Director,
(AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, OK, PR, SC, TN, TX, VI)
Midwest Region: Eric Siebens, Regional Director,
(IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI)
Northeast Region: Donna O’Brien, Regional Director,
(CT, DE, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VA, VT, WV)
Multifamily Housing Organizational Structure
Multifamily Housing General Inquiries: 800-292-8293
Biden-Harris Administration Takes Action to Advance Renters’ Rights
Actions Fulfill Commitments Made in President Biden’s Blueprint for a Renters Bill of Rights
WASHINGTON, July 27, 2023 – The Biden-Harris Administration today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is advising landlords to inform people applying for and living in USDA-financed rental properties of their legal rights and protections.
Today’s announcement is part of a series of actions to fulfill commitments made in President Biden’s Blueprint for a Renters Bill of Rights that will increase fair housing practices and affordable rent prices for people across the nation.
“Ensuring people living in rural and Tribal communities have safe and affordable places they are proud to call home is a core part of USDA’s mission,” USDA Rural Development Deputy Under Secretary Farah Ahmad said. “That’s why we are committed to advancing the Administration’s actions to protect and educate renters and strengthen protections for people seeking affordable housing across rural America.”
To learn more, read full NEWS RELEASE.
Program Requirements and Best Practices Regarding Denial of Admission
On January 25, 2023, the Biden-Harris Administration announced new actions to increase housing fairness and rental affordability by releasing the Blueprint for a Renters Bill of Rights, which is intended to support the development of policies and practices that promote fairness for Americans living in rental housing.
The Blueprint establishes five principles that create a shared baseline for fairness for renters in the housing market. One of those five principles is Education, Enforcement, and Enhancement of Renter’s Rights. To further this, the Rural Housing Service (RHS), in cooperation with other Federal partners, is releasing the Program Requirements and Best Practices regarding denial of admission in USDA Multifamily Housing (MFH) administered programs memorandum in an effort to ensure renters and rental applicants know their existing legal rights and protections. The ultimate goal of this announcement is to remind USDA MFH stakeholders of the relevant requirements around disclosing denials of admission to applicants and to share best practices around the use of tenant screening reports and the disclosure of the contacts of those reports to tenants.
RHS MFH owners shall post a copy of the attached Program Requirements and Best Practices regarding denial of admission in USDA Multifamily Housing (MFH) administered programs memorandum in all common areas at RHS MFH properties.
RHS is committed to advancing the Biden-Harris Administration’s actions to protect and educate renters and strengthen tenant protections within the affordable housing industry.