PROCEDURE NOTICE

RD MANUAL CHANGES

REMOVE RD INS 1970-E (WSAL)

GUIDANCE FOR CONDUCTING ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND SOCIOECONOMIC ANALYSES. This Instruction is being made obsoleted and is no longer in use. See Unnumbered Letter “Rescission of RD Instruction 1970-E” for more details.

• REMOVE: All Pages; All Exhibits.

INSERT RD INS 2024-A (WSAL)

PROGRAM LOAN COST EXPENSES. This Instruction has been completely to include revision to the Purpose, Roles, Definitions, Mailing addresses, and Organizational names. Additional updates consist of addition of restoration of funds procedures, sample restoration of funds cover letter, clarity on processes, and minor formatting changes.

• REMOVE: All pages dated 06-23-20.
• INSERT: All pages revised 06-13-25.

RD HANDBOOK CHANGES

INSERT RD HB-2-3560 (WSAL)

MFH ASSET MANAGEMENT HANDBOOK. This Handbook is partially revised. The specific revisions are outlined below.

Chapter 6:

Section 1: Tenant eligibility requirements

• Updated definitions related to household members (dependents, fosters, unborn child, etc.); and
• Technical corrections & clarifications.

Section 2: Calculating income and initial certification

• Added information on MINC instructions for household members without Social Security numbers (inserted next to paragraph related to SS# requirement for family members 6 years of age and older);
• Added definitions for earned income & unearned income;
• Added Student Financial Assistance paragraph;
• Added Links to annual HUD published deduction amounts;
• Added Temporary Relief and Hardship Exemptions;
  • Phased-In relief.
  • General Relief.
  • Childcare hardship exemption.
  • Owner/Management responsibilities/requirements.
• Clarifying statement that RD does NOT have an asset limitation;
• Added definitions for real property, personal property (non-necessary versus necessary);
• Updated retirement asset guidance;
• Updated Income from Assets determinations/calculations;
• Added Exhibit 6-3 “Income from Assets Determination” & 2 example boxes;
• Updated Verification information including:
  • Verifications valid for 120 days, no oral update after 120 days.
  • Checking accounts – current balance.
  • Created an Attachment for Acceptable forms of Verification.
• Technical corrections & clarifications.

Section 3: Occupancy Policies and Occupancy Rules

• Technical corrections & clarifications.

Section 4: Marketing and application processing

• Removed paragraph labeled “Requirements for Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing Plans” and replaced with “[RESERVED];”
  • It was a relatively short paragraph in the handbook – about a half a page of guidance removed.
• Updated references of “Gender” to “Sex;”
• Technical corrections & clarifications.

Section 5: Tenant Selection and Unit Assignment

• Added Set-aside Unit Preference information from Unnumbered Letter; and
• Technical corrections & clarifications.

Section 6: Dwelling Leases

• Technical corrections & clarifications.

Section 7: Tenant Recertification and changes in eligibility

• Technical corrections & clarifications.

Section 8: Tenant Grievance Procedures

• Updated wording to match 7 CFR 3560 regulations for required postings
• Technical corrections & clarifications.

Section 9: Special Requirements for Labor Housing

• Replaced wording referencing “old” Attachment 6-H with language from the regulations 7 CFR 3560.576(b)(2);
• Attachment 6-H will be replaced in the handbook. We had a lot of difficulty attempting to figure out how these “income limits” were determined 20 years ago and had never been updated; and
• Technical corrections & clarifications.

Attachment Updates:

• Attachment 6-A – Updated to Income Exclusions.
• Attachment 6-B – Technical corrections to Zero Income Checklist.
• Attachment 6-C – Updates to Allowable Deductions.
• Attachment 6-D – Updated to Net Family Assets – Exclusions.
• Attachment 6-E – Updates to Lease Requirements (technical corrections).
• Attachment 6-F – Updates to Prohibited Lease Clauses (technical corrections).
• Attachment 6-G – Updates to Software provider list.
• Attachment 6-H – Deleting entire attachment with “regional income limits for farmworkers.”
• Attachment 6-I – Updated “gender” to “sex.”
• Attachment 6-J – No changes to tenant file documentation, only the revision date.
• Attachment 6-K – VAWA.
• Attachment 6-H – NEW/REPLACEMENT – Acceptable Verifications (move to Attachment 6-H).