Congress returns to Capitol Hill this week and will immediately take up the FY17 funding bills, including the HUD funding bill. America’s seniors are facing a severe housing crisis, and Congress has an opportunity to take a big step toward preserving crucial affordable senior housing..
Between 1990 and 2012, Congress funded the creation of nearly 2,800 communities serving over 120,000 low-income senior households through HUD’s Section 202 Project Rental Assistant Contract (PRAC) program. PRACs currently have no mechanism to bring in new capital to make needed repairs and improvements.
Congress should address the lack of PRAC preservation options by making PRACs eligible for an expanded Rental Assistance Demonstration program that would allow PRAC properties to leverage new financing for preservation. Under RAD, these properties could take on debt and use financing mechanisms to renovate and maintain communities in ways that are currently prohibited for PRACs. LeadingAge also supports $4 million to assist certain PRAC properties convert under RAD. The Senate-passed FY17 bill, which LeadingAge supports, includes this critical RAD for PRAC expansion and the $4 million for conversion assistance.
The Rental Assistance Demonstration allows HUD’s public housing, Rent Supplement, Rental Assistance Payment, and Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation programs the opportunity to enter into long-term Section 8 project-based rental assistance or project-based voucher contracts that facilitate the financing of improvements.
Follow these links to access additional information:
LeadingAge PRAC preservation white paper
Contact your lawmakers today and urge them to: “Include RAD for PRAC expansion in the final FY17 HUD funding bill.”
Click here to access a sample letter that you can email to your lawmakers directly.
Thank you for your time and attention.