The following summaries provide information on the date that HOME waivers were granted and denied, the State or Local Field
Office making the request, the situation which gave rise to the need for a program waiver, and the regulatory citation. To obtain
a copy of a specific HOME waiver, contact HUD's Office of Affordable Housing Programs at (202) 708-2470. Hearing impaired users
may call the Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339.
3/18/2005
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MS
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Waiver request denied. The City of Jackson requested a waiver to permit City employees, who may be in a decision-making
capacity or in a position to gain inside information, to benefit from its HOME-assisted housing program. The City failed to
demonstrate why the exception proves authorized by 92.356(d) and (e) cannot be used. In addition, the City failed to provide
justification for eliminating the public disclosure of the nature of the individual conflicts of interest.
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92.356(b), (c), (d) and (e)
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3/22/2005
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OR
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Waiver request granted to Washington County, Oregon of the HOME Program regulations established at 24 CFR 92.214(a)(6) to
provide additional funds during the period of affordability to a project previously funded with HOME. Washington County and its
partners have addressed property management concerns, assessed rehabilitation needs, and reduced debt service while leveraging
needed resources. The actions of the County and its partners constitute due diligence in trying to ensure the viability of the project.
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92.214(a)(6)
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5/2/2005
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UT
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Waiver request granted for Salt Lake County, Utah, to allow the county to substitute 9 comparable, non-federally assisted units in
Millcreek II as an alternative to repaying $346,000 of HOME funds invested in the Millcreek I project. The first mortgage on Millcreek I
foreclosed before the end of the HOME affordability period, and the new owner was not willing to continue the HOME restrictions on
the property.
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92.356(b)(1)
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5/6/2005
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MI
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Waiver request granted to the City of Ann Arbor, Michigan to allow refinancing of existing debt on a single-family rental unit being
rehabilitated with HOME funds. The HOME regulations at 92.206(b)(2) permit the refinancing of existing debt in conjunction with the
rehabilitation of owner-occupied, single-family housing, and multifamily rental housing. The exclusion of single-family rental projects
from the regulations at 24 CFR §92.206 is an oversight; refinancing and rehabilitating single-family rental projects should be eligible
project costs and subject to the provisions at §92.206(b)(2). This oversight is interfering with the city’s effort to preserve at-risk
affordable housing.
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92.206(b)(2)
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5/20/2005
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NC
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Waiver request granted to the City of Greensboro, North Carolina, to allow the city to substitute 36 comparable, non-federally
assisted units as an alternative to repaying $900,000 of HOME funds invested in the St. James II project. The project, because
of deterioration, fell out of compliance with HOME standards for rental projects. The City of Greensboro initial waiver request to
add additional HOME funds into the project for rehabilitation was denied. Greensboro had to devise consider alternatives including
repayment, grant reduction and substitution. The City determined that substitution of comparable non-federally assisted units
was feasible and again requested a waiver of repayment that was granted.
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92.503(b)
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5/20/2005
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FL
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Suspension of Section 212 (c) of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act of 1990 (NAHA) in a Presidentially-
Declared Major Disaster Area granted to the Florida Housing Finance Corporation (FHFC). Requests this suspension to permit
it to use 14% of its HOME allocation for administrative costs so that local Public Housing Authorities can provide tenant-based
rental assistance to hurricane victims.
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NAHA Section 212(c)
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5/20/2005
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TX
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Denied a waiver request from the State of Texas regarding the Lakeside Apartments project in La Porte, Texas that was
acquired with HOME funds, but never rehabilitated or occupied. The State permitted acquisition of this project to proceed
without first resolving existing zoning issues. Since the project was never completed and no affordable rental units were
made available, the HOME funds expended must be repaid as required by the HOME regulations at 24 CFR § 92.503(b)(2).
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92.503(b)(2)
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5/27/2005
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MN
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Waiver request granted to the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency (MHFA) of the HOME program regulations established at
24 CFR 92.503(b) that requires a PJ to repay its HOME account if the HOME-assisted housing fails to meet the affordability
requirements for the full period of affordability. A HOME-funded project was condemned and vacated with 28 months of the
affordability period remaining due to structural damage in the foundations. HUD denied MHFA’s original waiver request, as
well as the second one citing inadequate justification for a determination of good cause. The State resubmitted its request
for a third time and included new information about the damage to the foundation of the project as well as the due diligence
by MHFA beyond what was outlined it the previous requests. The new information clarified the cause of the damage and
explained actions taken by MHFA.
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92.503(b)
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6/15/2005
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OR
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Waiver request granted to Washington County, Oregon of the HOME Program regulations established at 24 CFR 92.214(a)(6),
to provide additional funds during the period of affordability to a project previously funded with HOME. The County and its partners
worked to stabilize the vacancy rate, assess rehabilitation needs, and leverage additional resources. Through a capital needs
assessment, they developed a detailed repair and replacement plan that will make the project competitive in the market and more
financially viable. The replacement of the limited partner has resulted in an increase in the equity investment in the project.
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92.214(a)(6)
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6/15/2005
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OH
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Waiver request denied. The City Of Cincinnati requested a waiver of the HOME program regulations established at 24 CFR 92.503(b)
that requires a PJ to repay its HOME account if the HOME-assisted housing fails to meet the affordability requirements for the full period
of affordability. The City committed $3.95 million to rehabilitate a 1,100-unit complex 264 of which would be HOME units. The project
experienced problems early on and rehabilitation was never complete or the property fully occupied. The project owner filed for bankruptcy,
the property was sold and ultimately demolished. The City submitted two waiver requests: the first to waive repayment and the second
for permission to use substitute units in lieu of repayment. HUD determined the City did not exercise due diligence in either its decision
to fund the project or its oversight of the project. In addition the units proposed for substitution did not meet HUD standards to be
comparable, non-federally funded and meet the HOME affordability requirements.
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92.503(b)
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6/16/2005
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IN
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Waiver request granted to the City of Indianapolis to extend the FY 2004 deadline for Consolidated Plan submission to allow the City
to amend its Plan to include its FY 2003 and FY 2004 ADDI programs
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91.15(a)(2)
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6/16/2005
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IN
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Waiver request granted to the City of Evansville, Indiana to extend the FY 2004 deadline for Consolidated Plan submission to
allow the City to amend its Plan to include its FY 2003 and FY 2004 ADDI programs
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91.15(a)(2)
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6/17/2005
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OR
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Waiver request granted to the State of Oregon to permit it to use the Federal Housing Administration’s Minimum Property
Requirements (MPR) instead of HQS in order to streamline its ADDI program and make it as widely accessible as possible. MPR
standards are equal to or exceed those of HQS.
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92.251(a)(2)
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7/28/2005
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WI
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Waiver request granted to Milwaukee County, WI to extend the deadline for its consolidated action plan submission. A
new provision in the ADDI interim rule that required PJs to include their ADDI programs in their annual consolidated plan submissions
and if already submitted, the PJs needed to amend their action plan to include the required information. Milwaukee County, who had
previously submitted its plan, did not submit an amended plan for 2004, instead included the required information in their 2005 plan.
Due to unforeseen staff turnover and a misinterpretation of what HUD required the Department found good cause to grant Milwaukee
County an extension.
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91.15(a)(2)
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8/1/2005
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PR
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Waiver request granted to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to extend the Commonwealth’s five-year deadline for expending
its FY 2000 HOME funds.
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92.500(d)(1)(C)
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8/1/2005
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NY
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Waiver request granted to the City of Yonkers, New York to allow it to extend its submission deadline for its FY 2004 Consolidated
Annual Action Plan so it can amend the plan to include its FY 2003 and FY 2004 ADDI programs.
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91.105(a)(2)
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8/1/2005
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TX
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Waiver request granted to the City of Houston of the HOME Program regulations established at 24 CFR 92.214(a)(6), to provide
additional funds during the period of affordability to a project previously funded with HOME. To resolve a 2004 finding of non-compliance
with local property standards, the City needed to bring its HOME-assisted homebuyer units up to standard, which required additional funds
for repairs. The City adopted housing quality standards and developed and implemented procedures to ensure qualified personnel
conducted inspections of HOME-assisted homebuyer units. With corrective actions in place the investment of additional HOME funds will
enable the City to bring the units up to standard and ease the hardship placed on homeowners living in these units.
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92.214(a)(6)
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9/14/2005; 10/4/2005
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Waivers for communities receiving displaced persons from Presidential disaster declaration areas due to Hurricanes Katrina
and Rita. HUD waived HOME regulation and suspended certain HOME statutory requirements for HOME participating jurisdictions (PJs)
that receive displaced residents from areas President Bush declared disaster areas under Title IV of the Robert T. Stafford Act to
facilitate PJs’ efforts to serve the critical housing needs of the displaced.
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91.105(a)(2) and (k);
91.115(c)(2) and (i);
91.401;
92.203(a)(1) and (2);
92.500(c);
92.209(h)(3);
92.209(i);
92.251(d)
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9/20/2005
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MN
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Waiver request granted to the Dakota County Consortium, Minnesota, to allow the consortium to substitute a comparable,
non-federally assisted property as an alternative to repaying $8,500 of HOME funds for failing to keep the property affordable
for the length of the affordability period. Due to unforeseen circumstances, residents had to be removed and the residence sold
during the affordability period. Because the property did not remain affordable for the period specified, the PJ is required to repay
the funds to its HOME account. PJ requested a waiver of 92.503(b) -the repayment provision and asked instead to substitute a
comparable property in lieu of repayment.
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92.500(b)
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10/7/2005
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MI
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Waiver request denied for the City of Flint, Michigan of citizen participation requirements in the Consolidated Plan regulations
established at 24 CFR 91.105(c). City requests a waiver to expand the applicability of the September 9, 2005 Hurricane Katrina
disaster waiver that permitted PJs to reduce the public comment period from 30 to 3 days on disaster related activities. The City
seeks to expand the September 9, 2005 waiver to include current residents in its proposed homebuyer program. HUD has never
waived the citizen participation requirements for any circumstance other than a major disaster.
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91.105(c)
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11/9/2005
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WI
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Waiver request granted to state of Wisconsin to allow the State to provide CHDO set-aside funds to 28 CHDOs that form LLCs.
The provision at 92.300(a)(1) permits a PJ to award CHDO set-aside funds to limited partnerships, where the CHDO is the managing
general partner, but not to LLCs. The State requested a waiver of this provision for 28 CHDOs stating limited partnerships would cause
undue hardship to CHDOs.
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92.300(a)(1)
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12/21/2005
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LA
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Waiver request and suspension of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act of 1990 (NAHA) granted for the
City of Lake Charles, a declared disaster area under Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: waives the 2001-2004 and 2007 CHDO reservation
requirements; waives the FY 2003 commitment requirement; and allows the City to spend up to 20% of its FY 2007 HOME allocation plus
program income for administrative/planning costs.
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92.300(a)(1),
NAHA Section 231;
92.500(d)(1)(B),
NAHA, Section 218(g); and
92.207,
NAHA Section 212(c)
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