H.R. 10168: Veterans Housing Opportunity Act

This bill would create a temporary HUD pilot program called the HUD-VASH National Pool Pilot Program to help use veterans housing vouchers more efficiently.

What the program would do

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), working with the Department of Veterans Affairs, would have to set up the pilot program within one year of enactment. The program would focus on HUD-VASH vouchers, which are rental assistance vouchers for veterans.

Under the pilot, HUD would:

• identify public housing agencies that are using HUD-VASH vouchers very little over a sustained period of time;
• be allowed to take back, or “recapture,” vouchers from those agencies; and
• reassign those vouchers to other public housing agencies through a process HUD sets up.

Notice and opportunity to use vouchers

If HUD finds that a public housing agency is chronically underusing its HUD-VASH vouchers, HUD must notify the agency first. The agency would then get a period of time, set by HUD, to put the vouchers to use before HUD can take them back and reallocate them.

Who could receive the reallocated vouchers

Any vouchers moved under the pilot would have to go to veterans who are:

• homeless; or
• at risk of homelessness, as determined by HUD.

Reporting and duration

Within three years, HUD would have to report to Congress on:

• how often HUD-VASH vouchers are being used;
• housing results for veterans;
• how the pilot affects the administration of the voucher program; and
• whether the pilot improves the program’s efficiency.

The pilot would end after five years. If a veteran is already using a voucher from the pilot when it ends, that voucher would continue under the regular HUD-VASH program.

Key definitions

The bill defines “chronically underutilized” as long-term, sustained underuse, with the details left to HUD to decide. It also defines HUD-VASH voucher assistance to include regular HUD-VASH rental assistance and similar assistance funded through appropriations laws.

Relevant Companies

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