4.4: Rental Assistance
Transform Rental Assistance Other Information:
Rental assistance is provided by many public housing agencies, thousands of private owners with Federal contracts, and hundreds
of non-profits. HUD does not have a unified approach to interacting with these disparate rental assistance programs. This
creates inefficiencies for these organizations, and eligible families must interact with these programs separately, such as
adding their names to many different waiting lists. Currently being developed within the Department, the Transforming Rental
Assistance (TRA) program intends to provide a uniform way of working with the disparate rental assistance programs by moving
their properties toward a uniform funding stream, governed by a single set of rules and regulations, while retaining deep
affordability. Equally important, TRA will help to preserve the millions of units receiving HUD rental assistance by opening
them up to other public and private sources of financing to meet their capital needs and ensure their long-term quality through
the market discipline brought to bear in mixed finance projects. Additionally, TRA reflects the Department's commitment to
enhancing tenant mobility, providing more tenants in HUD-assisted housing the option to 'vote with their feet' if their current
housing is poorly operated or if they have the chance to move to a neighborhood of greater opportunity. HUD is committed to
developing this initiative in an open and collaborative manner including public meetings and leveraging webcast technologies.
As recently as March 29, 2010, HUD conducted a webcast entitled "Transforming Rental Assistance: An Informational Webcast
for Residents of HUD's Rental Assistance Programs". This webcast was a live presentation by senior HUD leaders in which information
on potential policies and program specifics were presented and the senior leadership received questions from the public via
email and phone. One question that was addressed during the webcast was whether HUD is committed to ensuring robust opportunities
for residents to participate. HUD was able to immediately address the question by responding that residents would: have a
right to organize, be consulted before and during conversion, have access to funding for organizing throughout competitive
process, serve on public housing authority (PHA) boards, and participate in the PHA planning process. As the TRA program evolves,
HUD will continue to offer public meetings, webcasts, and other mechanisms to actively engage the public. The Department will
also ensure that residents have direct mechanisms to engage with HUD in this important transformation program.
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