U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

PUBLIC AND INDIAN HOUSING

Special Attention of: Notice PIH 96-5 (HA)

Directors, Offices of Public

Housing; Field Office Managers; Issued: February 13, 1996

Housing Management Division

Administrators, Offices of Expires: February 28, 1997

Native American Programs; Cross References:

Public Housing Agencies;

Indian Housing Authorities;

Resident Management

Corporations

Subject: Clarification of policies, procedures and standards in the
Public and Indian Housing

Amendment to the Tenant Participation and Tenant Opportunities in Public
and Indian

Housing Final Rule 24 CFR Part 950, et al

1.0 Purpose

The purpose of this Notice is to clarify the intent of certain policies,

procedures and standards in the Public and Indian Housing Amendment to
the

Tenant Participation and Tenant Opportunities in Public and Indian
Housing

Final Rule (24 CFR Parts 905 and 964) published August 24, 1994.

2.0 Background

Section 20 of the United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended, (42

U.S.C. 1437r ) (the \"1937 Act\") was enacted to encourage increased
resident

management of public housing projects \"to promote formation and
development

of resident management entities.\" The Department implemented section 20
of

the 1937 Act by regulations (24 CFR 964 for Public Housing, and 24 CFR
Part

905, subpart O for Indian Housing), that governed tenant participation
and

resident management in public/Indian housing.

When the Tenant Participation and Tenant Opportunities final rule was

published, it amended the Native American programs found in 24 CFR Part
905,

Subpart O. On April 10, 1995, the Department published revised
consolidated

regulations for Native American programs, which became effective on May
10,

1995\. The regulation was renumbered from 24 CFR Part 905 to 24 CFR Part
950.

No substantive changes were made to Subpart O at that time.

PR: Distribution: W-3-1, R-3-1(PIH), R-6, R-7, R-9, 138-2, 138-7, RMC-2

The Office of Community Relations and Involvement has received numerous

inquiries from residents, public housing authorities and HUD field staff

regarding certain provisions in the regulation. This Notice provides

clarification of policies, procedures and standards specified below to
ensure

compliance with the regulations. In addition, the clarification involves

only provisions in 24 CFR Part 964 which relates to the public housing

program, and does not include 24 CFR Part 950.

3.0 Clarification of Procedures and Standards

The following are the specific sections of the regulations being

clarified:

a\. Resident membership on Housing Authority (HA) Board of
Commissioners:

964.110. HUD encourages to the maximum extent possible resident
membership

on HA Board of Commissioners, for the purpose of having maximum input
into HA

policy and decision-making on matters concerning public housing.

o It is a conflict of interest when a RC\'s officer serves in a policy

making or supervisory position at the HA and receives a salary from

the HA.

o It is not a conflict of interest when an officer serves on the

resident council\'s (RC\'s) board and simultaneously serve as a

member of the HA\'s Board of CommissiOners, a non-paid position.

b\. Election procedures and standards:

964.130 (a) (1). All procedures must assure fair and frequent elections
of

resident council members - at least once every three years for each
member.

o RCs are required to have elections at least once every three years

and members must be democratically elected by the residents of the

community to assume the role of the board.

o The resident council shall have oversight from an independent

third-party entity, i.e., the League of Women Voters, the Urban

League, etc., to be involved in every aspect of the election

process (nomination committee activities, e.g. planning meetings,

voting, counting ballots, etc.).

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o The local HA or a member of the resident council cannot serve as

the independent third-party entity in an election process.

964.130 (a) (2). Staggered terms for resident council governing board

members and term limits shall be discretionary with the resident
council.

o Staggered terms for RC board members/officers are optional, and the

length of the staggered terms are discretionary. HUD strongly

encourages staggered terms to ensure continuity in the

organization\'s business matters. For example, a RC may decide that

the President and Secretary terms are three (3) years in length;

the Vice President and Treasurer terms are two (2) years in length;

and the Parliamentarian\'s term is one (1) year.

964.130 (a) (3). Each resident council shall adopt and issue election
and

recall procedures in its by-laws.

o Each officer shall hold office until his or her successor shall

have been duly elected and shall have been qualified or until his

or her death or removal by at least 10% of the voting membership of

the residents residing in public housing at the individual resident

council\'s site. This 10% threshold may be higher, and it is

clearly up to the RC\'s Board and voting membership to make this

determination.

o If an officer of the board resigns before his or her term, another

resident can be appointed by the resident council board to serve

out the term of that position.

o A resident council\'s board must consist of democratically elected

residents who reside within the applicable building(s) or

development(s).

o To ensure fairness and openness of the election process, the

election committee should consist of residents of the development

(committee members cannot be candidates running for office), one

representative from the PHA (this is optional); and one person from

outside of the community (this is optional). The election

committee should be chaired by a resident. (See role of the third

party entity on page 2 and Section 3.0 (b) of this Notice.)

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964.130 (a) (5). All voting members of the resident community must be
given

sufficient notice (at least 30 days) for nomination and election. The
notice

should include a description of election procedures, eligibility

requirements, and dates of nominations and elections.

o The election notice should be distributed to the voting membership

of the community either during a special/monthly meeting or posted

in a prominent location in the community.

o After the slate of officers has been developed, the list of

candidates must be posted in a prominent location within the

community at least 30 days in advance of the voting process to

allow time for candidates to campaign and garner support from the

community.

The voting can be held any time after the 30-day period.

964.130 (b) If a resident council fails to satisfy HUD minimum standards
for

fair and frequent elections, or fails to follow its own election
procedures

as adopted, HUD shall require the HA to withdraw recognition of the
resident

council and to withhold resident services funds as well as funds
provided in

conjunction with services rendered for resident participation in public

housing.

o While the Tenant Opportunities Program (TOP) regulations do not

specifically address election procedures for City-wide/

Jurisdiction-wide organizations, HUD requires the organizations

to conduct fair and frequent elections, and establish elections

procedures and standards for officers of the governing board.

The election procedures must be a democratic process and the

City-wide/Jurisdiction-wide organizations may opt to use the

policies established for the RC elections in 24 CFR.964.130.

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4.0 Information Contact

For more information or questions, please contact:

Public Housing Programs Indian Housing Programs

Dorothy Walker, Director Debbie Lalancette, Director

Tenant Opportunities Division Housing Management Division

Office of Community Relations Office of Native American

and Involvement Programs

202-708-3611 Room 4112 L\'Enfant Plaza - Room 8204

\(202\) 755-0088

Kevin Emanuel Marchman

Deputy Assistant Secretary

for Distressed and Public Housing

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