NAHMA HUD Update: HUD extends 2015 guidance on Approval of Requestsfor PBRA Transfers

January 23, 2017

Last week, HUD issued the attached notice regarding “HUD Approval of Requests for Transfers of Multifamily Housing Project-Based Rental Assistance, HUD-Held or Insured Debt, and Income-Based Use Restrictions,” effective February 21, 2017.

In a previous email to stakeholders, HUD’s Office of Multifamily Housing (MFH) stated this Federal Register Notice is “extending the previously established terms and conditions by which the Department will approve a request for the transfer of project-based rental assistance, debt held or insured by the Secretary, and statutorily required income-based use restrictions from one multifamily housing project to another (or between several such projects). 

The HUD Appropriations Act, 2016 gives the Secretary the authority of approve transfer requests for fiscal years 2016 and 2017, provided that the Secretary publish a notice in the Federal Register establishing the terms and conditions and for HUD approval of such transfers no later than 30 days before such notice takes effect.  In FY 2016, HUD continued to utilize the FY 2015 published criteria, which covered authority enacted for both FY 2015 and FY 2016.  For FY 2017, HUD continues to utilize, without revision, the published FY 2015 criteria. 

HUD believes that criteria established and published in FY 2015, and cross-referenced in this notice, will continue to assist project owners to determine whether a transfer is feasible given the specific circumstances of their multifamily projects.”

To view the criteria for approval of transfers published in the Federal Register on March 31, 2015, please click here