(a) Owner maintenance and operation. (1) The owner must maintain and operate the contract units and premises in accordance with the HQS, including performance of ordinary and extraordinary maintenance.

(2) The owner must provide all the services, maintenance, equipment, and utilities specified in the HAP contract with the PHA and in the lease with each assisted family.

(3) At the discretion of the PHA, the HAP contract may also require continuing owner compliance during the HAP contract term with additional housing quality requirements specified by the PHA (in addition to, but not in place of, compliance with HUD's HQS). Such additional requirements may be designed to assure continued compliance with any design, architecture, or quality requirement specified by the PHA (§ 983.204(c)). The PHA must specify the conditions under which it will require additional housing quality requirements in the Administrative Plan.

(b) Enforcement of HQS. (1) The PHA must vigorously enforce the owner's obligation to maintain contract units in accordance with HUD's HQS. If the owner fails to maintain the dwelling unit in accordance with HQS, the PHA must take enforcement action in accordance with this section.

(2) The unit is in noncompliance with HQS if:

(i) The PHA or other inspector authorized by the State or local government determines the unit has HQS deficiencies based upon an inspection;

(ii) The agency or inspector notifies the owner in writing of the unit HQS deficiencies; and

(iii) The unit HQS deficiencies are not remedied within the following timeframes:

(A) For life-threatening deficiencies, the owner must correct the deficiency within 24 hours of notification.

(B) For other deficiencies, the owner must correct the deficiency within 30 calendar days of notification (or any reasonable PHA-approved extension).

(3) In the case of an HQS deficiency that the PHA determines is caused by the tenant, any member of the household, or any guest or other person under the tenant's control, other than any damage resulting from ordinary use, the PHA may waive the owner's responsibility to remedy the violation. Housing assistance payments to the owner may not be withheld or abated if the owner responsibility has been waived. However, the PHA may terminate assistance to a family because of an HQS breach beyond damage resulting from ordinary use caused by any member of the household or any guest or other person under the tenant's control, which may result in removing the unit from the HAP contract.

(4) In the case of an HQS deficiency that is caused by fire, natural disaster, or similar extraordinary circumstances, the PHA may permit the owner to undertake substantial improvement in accordance with § 983.212. However, so long as the contract unit with deficiencies is occupied, the PHA must withhold or abate housing assistance payments and remove units from or terminate the HAP contract as described in this section.

(5) In the case of a project that is undergoing development activity after HAP contract execution per § 983.157, the remedies of paragraph (d) of this section do not apply to units designated as unavailable for occupancy during the period of development activity in accordance with the rider. However, in the case of any contract unit with deficiencies that is occupied, the PHA must withhold or abate housing assistance payments and remove units from or terminate the HAP contract as described in this section.

(c) Family obligation. (1) The family may be held responsible for a breach of the HQS that is caused by any of the following:

(i) The family fails to pay for any utilities that the owner is not required to pay for, but which are to be paid by the tenant;

(ii) The family fails to provide and maintain any appliances that the owner is not required to provide, but which are to be provided by the tenant; or

(iii) Any member of the household or guest damages the dwelling unit or premises (damages beyond ordinary wear and tear).

(2) If the PHA has waived the owner's responsibility to remedy the violation in accordance with paragraph (b)(3) of this section, the following applies:

(i) If the HQS breach caused by the family is life-threatening, the family must take all steps permissible under the lease and State and local law to ensure the deficiency is corrected within 24 hours of notification.

(ii) For other family-caused deficiencies, the family must take all steps permissible under the lease and State and local law to ensure the deficiency is corrected within 30 calendar days of notification (or any PHA-approved extension).

(3) If the family has caused a breach of the HQS, the PHA must take prompt and vigorous action to enforce the family obligations. The PHA may terminate assistance for the family in accordance with 24 CFR 982.552.

(d) PHA remedies. These remedies apply when HQS deficiencies are identified as the result of an inspection other than a pre-selection, initial, or turnover inspection. (See § 983.103 generally, and see § 983.103(c) in particular for PHA enforcement actions related to the initial HQS inspection for existing housing). The PHA must identify in its Administrative Plan the conditions under which it will withhold HAP and the conditions under which it will abate HAP or terminate the HAP contract for units other than the unit with HQS deficiencies.

(1) A PHA may withhold HAP for an individual unit that has HQS deficiencies once the PHA has notified the owner in writing of the deficiencies. If the unit is brought into compliance during the applicable cure period (within 24 hours from notification for life-threatening deficiencies and within 30 days from notification (or other reasonable period established by the PHA for non-life-threatening deficiencies), the PHA:

(i) Must resume assistance payments; and

(ii) Must provide assistance payments to cover the time period for which the assistance payments were withheld.

(2)(i) The PHA must abate the HAP, including amounts that had been withheld, for the PBV unit with deficiencies if the owner fails to make the repairs within the applicable cure period (within 24 hours from notification for life-threatening deficiencies and within 30 days from notification (or other reasonable period established by the PHA) for non-life-threatening deficiencies).

(ii) The PHA may choose to abate payments for all units covered by the HAP contract due to a contract unit's noncompliance with the HQS, even if some of the contract units continue to meet HQS.

(iii) If a PHA abates the HAP for a unit, the PHA must notify the family and the owner that it is abating payments and that if the unit with deficiencies does not meet HQS within 60 days after the determination of noncompliance (or a reasonable longer period established by the PHA), the PHA will either terminate the HAP contract or remove the unit with deficiencies from the HAP contract, and any family residing in a unit that does not comply with HQS will have to move if the family wishes to receive continued assistance.

(3) An owner may not terminate the tenancy of any family due to the withholding or abatement of assistance. During the period that assistance is abated, the family may terminate the tenancy by notifying the owner. The PHA must promptly issue the family a tenant-based voucher to move.

(4) If the owner makes the repairs and the unit complies with HQS within 60 days (or a reasonable longer period established by the PHA) of the notice of abatement, the PHA must recommence payments to the owner if the unit is still occupied by an assisted family. The PHA does not make any payments for the unit to the owner for the period of time that the payments were abated.

(5) If the owner fails to make the repairs within 60 days (or a reasonable longer period established by the PHA) of the notice of abatement, the PHA must either remove the unit from the HAP contract or terminate the HAP contract in its entirety. The PHA must issue the family whose unit will be removed or all families residing in contract units, if the PHA is terminating the HAP contract, a tenant-based voucher to move at least 30 days prior to the removal of the unit from the HAP contract or termination of the HAP contract. A family may elect to remain in the project in accordance with § 983.206(b) if the project contains a unit that meets the requirements of that section, with priority given to families who will remain in the same unit if there are insufficient units available to accommodate all families that wish to remain.

(6)(i) The PHA must give any family residing in a unit that is either removed from the HAP contract or for which the HAP contract is terminated under this paragraph (d) due to a failure to correct HQS deficiencies at least 90 days or a longer period as the PHA determines is reasonably necessary following the termination of the HAP contract or removal of the unit from the HAP contract to lease a unit with tenant-based assistance.

(ii) If the family is unable to lease a new unit within the period provided by the PHA under paragraph (d)(6)(i) of this section and the PHA owns or operates public housing, the PHA must offer, and, if accepted, provide the family a selection preference for an appropriate-size public housing unit that first becomes available for occupancy after the time period expires.

(iii) PHAs may assist families relocating under this paragraph (d) in finding a new unit, including using up to 2 months of the withheld and abated assistance payments for costs directly associated with relocating to a new unit, including security deposits, temporary housing costs, or other reasonable moving costs as determined by the PHA based on their locality. PHAs must assist families with disabilities in locating available accessible units in accordance with 24 CFR 8.28(a)(3). If the PHA uses the withheld and abated assistance payments to assist with the family's relocation costs, the PHA must provide security deposit assistance to the family as necessary. If the family receives security deposit assistance from the PHA for the new unit, the PHA may require the family to remit the security deposit returned by the owner of the new unit at such time that the lease is terminated, up to the amount of the security deposit assistance provided by the PHA for that unit. The PHA must include in its Administrative Plan the policies it will implement for this provision.

(e) Maintenance and replacement—Owner's standard practice. Maintenance and replacement (including redecoration) must be in accordance with the standard practice for the building concerned as established by the owner.

(f) Applicability. This section is applicable to HAP contracts executed on or after or extended on or after June 6, 2024. For purposes of this paragraph, a HAP contract is extended the earlier of the effective date of the next extension period or the date the PHA and owner agree to the next extension. For all other HAP contracts, § 983.208 as in effect on June 5, 2024 remains applicable. However, the PHA and owner may agree to apply this section to a HAP contract executed before June 6, 2024 prior to extension.

[89 FR 38328, May 7, 2024]