The Sacramento Report
By Heidi Poppe
The federal Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD) issued a proposed guidance document in December 2003 to comply with an executive order that requires all federal agencies to improve access to federally assisted programs for people who, as result of their national origin, are limited in their English proficiency (LEP). The intent of HUD’s guidance is to achieve a balance that ensures meaningful access without imposing an undue burden on small businesses, local governments or nonprofits.
HUD’s guidance document does not change the responsibilities of owners of private housing who participate in the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program. This is the federal government’s major program that provides housing assistance for very low-income families, the elderly and disabled individuals. The tenant, not the owner, is the applicant for and the recipient of federal assistance. The owner’s position is analogous to that of a store that accepts food stamps—the store is not a recipient of federal assistance but simply accepts a payment from a particular source on behalf of that customer.
This new proposed guidance from HUD provides an example of how a housing authority might comply with the voucher program. It suggests that each housing authority affirmatively markets the availability of the housing choice vouchers to all families living within its jurisdiction by placing public-service announcements in English, Spanish, Chinese or Vietnamese in the local general circulation Spanish, Chinese or Vietnamese newspapers, and on the radio and TV as applicable.
Rental property owners who receive direct financial assistance from HUD (such as in the case of Section 8 project-based assistance) do fall under the provisions of this new guidance document. Overall, however, HUD’s guidance does not require housing authorities or recipients/grantees of federal assistance to take any specific action. The guidance spells out a four-factor analysis that should be undertaken by the recipient to determine the extent of the obligation to provide LEP services.
The Four Factors
- The number or proportion of LEP persons eligible to be served or likely to be encountered by the program or grantee;
- The frequency with which LEP persons come into contact with the program;
- The nature and importance of the program activity or service provided by the program to people’s lives; and
- The resources available to the grantee and the cost
of the services.
HUD’s guidance should not be confused with California’s new law that requires businesses, including rental property owners, who negotiate in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese and/or Korean to provide a copy of their contracts in that specific language. The California provision applies to rental leases that are for a period longer than one month. While the federal order addresses the issue of fair housing and federal services, California’s law attempts to get at fraud in contracts. Under California’s law, rules and regulations that govern a tenancy and inventories of furnishings provided by the business are not included in the term contract or agreement and need not be provided in the specific languages outlined above. The Spanish translation requirements are not new to California. They have been in place for nearly a decade.
You can review HUD’s guidance by visiting
www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/retrieve.html and then click “2003”
and insert page #70968.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of the SFAA or the San Francisco Apartment Magazine. Heidi Poppe serves as the Research Counsel for the California Apartment Association. Questions or concerns should be directed to SFAA at 415-255-2288. Copyright © 2004.