Verification of Eligibility Status: Amendments to Further Implement Provisions of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1980

Maria Chelo Manlagnit De Venecia
Alastair McFarlane
Yves Djoko
Lydia B. Taghavi
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research

The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not represent the official positions or policies of the Office of Policy Development and Research, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or the U.S. Government.

On May 10, 2019, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) proposed a rule to align its regulations with Section 214 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1980. Section 214 prohibits the HUD Secretary from making financial assistance available to persons other than U.S. citizens, nationals, or to certain categories of eligible noncitizens in HUD’s public and specified assisted housing programs. First, the proposed rule required the verification of the eligible immigration status of all recipients of assistance under a covered program who are under the age of 62, including those who are currently living in a mixed family and receiving prorated assistance. Second, the proposed rule specified that individuals who are not in eligible immigration status may not serve as the leaseholder, even as part of a mixed family. Third, and most importantly, under the proposed rule, a household would not receive housing assistance unless every member residing in the assisted unit, including those over the age of 62, is of eligible immigration status. The impact of the rule would have been that some households, especially those previously classified as mixed families, would be denied assistance or simply terminated from a program.