PIH Notice

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

OFFICE OF PUBLIC HOUSING

Special Attention of: Notice: PIH 2006 –

Regional and Field Office Directors of

Public Housing; Section 8 Financial Management Issued:

Centers; Public Housing Agencies; Regional

Directors; State and Area Coordinators Expires:

SUBJECT: Violence Against Women and Justice Department Reauthorization Act of 2005 HUD Approved Certification Form for Victims of Abuse

1. PURPOSE: This notice transmits Form HUD xxxxx, Certification Form for Victims of Abuse, for use in the Public Housing Program, Housing Choice Voucher Program (including project-based vouchers), Section 8 Project-Based Certificate Program, and Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation Program (excluding Mod Rehab SRO), as required by the provisions of Sections 606 and 607 of the Violence Against Women and Justice Department Reauthorization Act of 2005 (VAWA), Public Law 109-162. VAWA provides that Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) and Section 8 owners or managers may request a tenant to certify that the individual is a victim of domestic violence, dating violence or stalkingabuse and that the incidence(s) of threatened or actual abuse are bona fide in determining whether the protections afforded to such individuals under VAWA are applicable.

2. APPLICABILITY: This Form HUD xxxxxx is for use by PHAs administering

the public Housing, Housing Choice Voucher (including project-based vouchers),

Section 8 Project-based Certificate, and Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation

Programs (excluding the McKinney Act Mod Rehab SROs), as well as owners

and managers participating in the aforementioned programs. A certification form

for use in Section 8 programs administered by the Office of Housing will be

issued under separate guidance.

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3. BACKGROUND: The Violence Against Women and Justice Department

Reauthorization Act of 2005 protects qualified tenants and family members of tenants who are victims of domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking from being evicted or terminated from housing assistance based on acts of such violence against them. These provisions apply both to public housing agencies administering public housing and Section 8 programs and to owners renting to families under Section 8 rental assistance programs.

In general, the law provides in part that criminal activity directly relating to domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking, engaged in by a member of a tenant’s household or any guest or other person under the tenant’s control, willshall not because for termination of assistance, tenancy, or occupancy rights if the tenant or an immediate member of the tenant’s family is the victim or threatened victim of that abuse. The law also provides that an incident or incidents of actual or threatened or threats of domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking will not be construed as serious or repeated violations of the lease by the victim or threatened victim of that violence and will not be or other “good cause” for termination of the assistance, tenancy, or occupancy rights of a victim of such violence.

3. CERTIFICATION OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, DATING VIOLENCE OR

STALKING: Among other requirements, Sections 606 and 607 of VAWA add

certification and confidentiality provisions that allow for PHAs, owners or

managers or ownersto request a tenant, in responding se to an incident or incidents of actual or threatened domestic

violence, dating violence or stalking that may affect a tenant’s participation in the

housing program to request in writing that an individual that would otherwise be the basis of an eviction or termination of housing assistance,complete, sign and

submit, within 14 business days after the individual receives the request,of receive of a HUD-

approved certification form. On the form, the individual certifies that he/she is a

victim of that the individual is a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking, and that the incident or

incidences in question are bona fide incidences of such actual or threatened abuse. On the form, the individual shall provide the name of the perpetrator. of abuse that are the prohibited basis for the eviction or termination of housing assistance are bona fide.

In lieu of a certification form, or in addition to the certification form, a tenant may provide to PHAs, managers or owners, (1) a Federal, State, tribal, territorial, or local police record or court record; or, (2) documentation signed and attested to by an employee, agent or volunteer of a victim service provider, an attorney or a medical professional, from whom the victim has sought assistance in addressing domestic violence, dating violence or stalking, or the effects of abuse, in which the professional attests under penalty of perjury (28 U.S.C. 1746) to the professional’s belief that the incident or incidents in question are bona fide incidents of abuse, and the victim of domestic violence, or stalking has signed or attested to the documentation.

An owner or PHA is not required to demand that an individual produce official documentation or physical proof of an individual’s status as a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking in order to receive the protections of VAWAprotection from termination of assistance or eviction. Note that, a The PHA, or owner or manager, at their discretion, may provide assistance to an individual based solely upon the individual’s statement or other corroborating evidence.

The PHA, owner or manager should be mindful that the delivery of the form to the tenant in response to an incident via mail may place the victim at risk, e.g., the abuser may monitor the mail. Therefore, PHAs, owner and managers may require that the tenant come into the office to pick up the form and are encouraged to work with tenants to make delivery arrangements that do not place the tenant at risk.

If the individual does not provide the Form HUD- XXXXX or the information that may be provided in lieu of the of the certification by the 14th business day or any extension of that date provided by the PHA, owner or manager or owner, none of the protections afforded to the victim of domestic violence, dating violence or stalking (collectively “domestic violence”) by sections 606 or 607 will apply. The PHA, or owner or manager would therefore be free to evict, or to terminate assistance, in the circumstances authorized by otherwise applicable law and lease provisions, without regard to the amendments thereof that were mandatedmade by Sections 606 and 607.

Please note that, at its discretion, the PHA or owner may provide benefits to an individual based solely on the individual’s statement or other corroborating evidence, without requiring completion of the Form HUD XXXXX.

5. DEFINITIONS: The following definitions were incorporated into the United

States Housing Act and apply to this notice.

should be used in implementing VAMA:

Domestic Violence: Includes felony or misdemeanor crimes of violence committed by a current or former spouse of the victim, by a person with whom the victim shares a child in common, by a person who is cohabitated with or has cohabited with the victim as a spouse, by a person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction receiving grant monies, … or by any other person against an adult or youth victim who is protected from that person’s acts under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction.

Dating Violence: Violence committed by a person:

1. who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim; and

2. where the existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on a consideration of the following factors: (i) the length of the relationship; (ii) the type of relationship; and (iii) the frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship.

Stalking: to follow, pursue, or repeatedly commit acts with the intent to kill,

injure, harass, or intimidate; or to place under surveillance with the intent to kill, injure, harass, or intimidate another person; and in the course of, or as a result of, such following, pursuit, surveillance, or repeatedly committed acts, to place a person in reasonable fear of the death of, or serious bodily injury to, or to cause substantial emotional harm to –

that person; (ii) a member of the immediate family of that person; or (iii) the spouse or intimate partner of that person.

Immediate Family Member: a spouse, parent, brother or sister, or child of the

person, or an individual to whom that person stands in loco parentis (in place of a parent); or any other person living in the household of that person and related to that person by blood or marriage.

6. NOTICE AND CONFIDENTIALITYIMPLEMENTATION: VAWA requires that The attached Form HUD xxxx includes the basic VAWA requirements. PHAs, andowners must notify

tenants of their rights under VAWA, which includes the existence of the attached HUD form and the right to confidentiality and limits thereof. In doing so, PHAs may use any of the following administrative options to disseminate Form HUD xxxx. They may mmake the certification form available to all eligible families at the time of admission. Also, in the event of a termination or start of an eviction proceeding, PHAs may; enclose the form with the appropriate notice and direct the family to complete, sign and return the form (if applicable) by a specified date. PHAs could also include language discussing the VAWA protections in the termination/eviction notice and request that a tenant come into the office to pick up the form if the tenant believes the VAWA protections apply. as part of the eviction or termination notice; enclose the form along with the termination notice; send the certification form out separately with a cover letter or, require the family to come to the administrative office to receive the form to avoid any type of danger that it may by intercepted by the abuser or otherwise put the victim at risk if sent through regular mail. The signed and completed form must include the name of the perpetrator and must be returned to the PHA or owner at least 14 business days of receipt. A PHA or owner may at their discretion extend the 14 day deadline.

If, after the 14 day deadline or any extension provided by the PHA or owner an individual does not return the signed and completed HUD Form xxxx, then the PHA or owner may continue with the eviction or termination action proceedings against any tenant or lawful occupant that has committed violations of the lease.

All information provided to a PHA, manager or an owner relating to the incident(s) of domestic violence, including the fact that an individual is a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking, must be retained in confidence by the PHA or owner, and must neither be entered into any shared database nor provided to a related entity, except to the extent that the disclosure is (i) requested or consented by the individual in writing; (ii) required for use in an eviction proceeding or termination of assistance; or,(iii) otherwise required by applicable law. The HUD-approved certification form provides notice to the tenant of the confidentiality of the form and the limits thereof. PHAs and Owners must provide notice to the tenant of their rights to confidentiality.

PHAs must also notify owners and managers of their rights and obligation under VAWA. PHAs, owners and managers PHAs and owners are encouraged to access VAWA via the

Internet at the following Website addresses: http:www.gpoaccess.gov/plaws/index.html or http://thomas.loc.gov/bss/d1099/d109laws.html and search for Public Law 109-162 to access the text of the final law. The VAWA technical corrections bill (Public Law 109-271), was signed into law on August 12, 2006, and may be reviewed via an Internet link on Thomas (the Library of Congress Website, located at http://thomas.loc.gov/).

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Orlando J. Cabrera, Assistant Secretary

For Public and Indian Housing

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