resident
rights and responsibilities
Resident Rights
& Responsibilities
You,
as a resident, have rights and responsibilities that help make
your HUD-assisted housing a better home for you and your family.
This brochure is being distributed to you because HUD has provided
some form of assistance or subsidy for this apartment building.
As part of its dedication to maintaining the best possible living
environment for all residents, your HUD field office encourages
and supports:
- Communication between
residents, management agents,
and property owners. - Prompt consideration and
resolution of valid resident
complaints by owners and managers. - Residents organizing and
participating in the decisions
regarding the apartment building that affect the well-being
of their home.
Along with your owner/management
agent, you play an important role in making your place of residence-the
unit, the grounds, and other common areas-a better place to live
and in creating a community you can be proud of.
The brochure briefly lists some of your most important rights
and responsibilities to help you get the most out of your home.
As a resident in HUD's
multifamily housing, you should be aware of your rights.
Rights
Involving Your
Apartment
- The right to live in decent, safe, and sanitary housing.
- The right to have repairs performed in a timely manner, upon request, and to have a quality maintenance program run by management.
- The right to be given reasonable notice, in writing, of any non-emergency inspection or other entry into your apartment.
Rights
Involving Resident
Organization
- The right to organize
as residents without obstruction, harassment, or
retaliation from property owners or management. - The right to post materials
in common areas informing other residents
of their rights and of opportunities to involve themselves in their project. - The right, which may be
subject to a reasonable, HUD approved fee, to use
appropriate common space or meeting facilities to organize or to consider
any issue affecting the condition of management of the property. - The right to be recognized
by property owners and managers as having a
voice in residential community affairs.
Rights
Involving Nondiscrimination
The right to equal and fair treatment and use of your building's
services and facilities, without regard to race, color, religion,
gender, disability, familial status (children under 18), national
origin (ethnicity or language), or age.
As
a resident of a HUD assisted project, you also have certain responsibilities
to ensure that your building remains a suitable home for you
and your neighbors. By signing your lease, you and the owner/management
company have entered into a legal, enforceable contract. You
and the owner/management company are responsible for complying
with your lease, house rules, and local laws governing your property.
If you have any questions about your lease or do not have a copy
of it, contact your management agent or your local HUD field
office.
Responsibilities
to Your Property
Owner or Management Agent
- Complying with the rules and guidelines that govern your lease.
- Paying the correct amount of rent on a timely basis each month.
- Providing accurate information
to the owner at the certification or
rectification interview to determine your eligibility for assistance,
and consenting to the release of information by a third party to
allow for verification.
Responsibilities
to the Project and
to Your Fellow Residents
- Conducting yourself in a manner that will not disturb your neighbors.
- Not engaging in criminal activity in the unit, common area, or grounds.
- Keeping your unit clean and not littering the grounds or common areas.
- Disposing of garbage and waste in a proper manner.
- Complying with local codes
that affect the health or safety of the
residence. - Maintaining your apartment
and common areas in the same general
physical condition as when you moved in. - Reporting any defects
in building systems, fixtures, appliances, or
other parts of the unit, the grounds, or related facilities to the management.
Residents in HUD assisted
multifamily housing play an important role in decisions that
affect their project. Different HUD programs provide for specific
resident rights. You have the right to know under what HUD program
your building is assisted. To find out if your apartment building
is covered under any of the following categories, contact your
management agent.
If your building has a mortgage loan under Section 202,
or assisted under Section 236, 221(d)(3)/BMIR, Rent
Supplement Program or the Section 8 Loan Management Set Aside
Program following conversion of the project from Rent Supplement
Program Assistance, you have the right to participate in or be
notified of, and comment on the following:
- An increase in the maximum permissible rent.
- Conversion of a project
from project-paid utilities to tenant-paid utilities
or a reduction in tenant utility allowance. - Conversion of residential
units in a multifamily housing project to a
non-residential use or to condominiums, or the transfer of the project
to a cooperative housing mortgagor corporation or association. - Partial release of mortgage security.
- Capital improvements that
represent a substantial addition to the
project. - Non-renewal of a Project Base Section 8 Contract.
If your building is subsidized
under the Section 202 or 811 program of the National Housing
Act, you have the right to be notified of, and to comment on,
a request to HUD for consent to the prepayment of a loan.
If your building has a project-based Section 8 contract
that is expiring or being terminated and will not be renewed,
you have a right to a one year "portable" Section 8
certificate that you may use in any building with rents in the
allowable range. You also have the right to Opportunity Counseling,
where you can learn about housing options available to you.
If you live in a building that is owned by HUD and is
being sold, you have the right to be notified of, and comment
on, HUD's plans for disposing of the building. If you form, or
have formed, a resident organization, you and your fellow tenants
may negotiate with HUD to purchase the building to establish
cooperative housing or resident owned rental units.
"We have a partnership
with every resident of HUD-assisted housing developments: HUD
protects the rights of tenants, and tenants guard their own rights
through responsible behavior. Our goal is to go beyond that partnership
and create a sense of community by encouraging residents to become
actively involved in the decisions that affect their own housing
developments."
Secretary Andrew M. Cuomo
If you need
help or more information, you may contact:
- Your property manager
- The project manager in the Multifamily Hub or your local Program Center
- The housing counseling
agency in your community (for assistance, call
the HUD Housing Counseling Service Locator at 1-800-569-4287) - HUD's National Multifamily
Clearinghouse at 1-800-685-8470 to report
maintenance or management concerns. - Office of Inspector General
- (OIG Hot Line) at 1-800-347-3735 or in the
Washington, D.C. area, 202-708-4200 to report Fraud, Waste and Mismanagement. - World Wide Web - http://www.hud.gov
- HUD Storefront Office - http://www.hud.gov/storefront/
- Community Builders - http://www.hud.gov/combuild.html
- Fair Housing - http://www.hud.gov/fhe/fheo.html
- Resident Rights and Responsibilities Brochure - http://www/hud.gov/fha/fharent.html
If you believe that you
have been discriminated against, or would like information on
what constitutes housing discrimination, call 1-800-669-9777,
or call your local HUD Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.
Your local government tenant/landlord affairs office, legal services
office, and tenant organizations may also provide you with information
on additional rights you have under local or state law.
The brochure about your rights and responsibilities as a resident
of HUD assisted multifamily housing is also available in Braille
and the following languages, English, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese,
French, Russian, Vietnamese, Korean, Creole, Portuguese, and
Ethiopian, Contact your local HUD Field Office or HUD's National
Multifamily Housing Clearinghouse at 1-800-685-8470.