Admission and Continued Occupancy Policy (ACOP)
HOTMA IMPLEMENTATION TIMELINE UPDATES as of December 10, 2024:
Earlier this year, the Abilene Housing Authority updated its Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program's Administrative Plan and its Low Rent Public Housing (LRPH) Program's Admissions & Continued Occupancy Policy (ACOP) to incorporate HUD's new Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016 (HOTMA) rules. As of January 1, 2025 these new HOTMA rules were supposed to become active for Public Housing Authorities (PHA's) across the country. Accordingly, we posted on our website, the HCV HOTMA Administrative Plan and LRPH HOTMA ACOP that would go live on January 1, 2025. Since this time, HUD has delayed the implementation of HOTMA for both the HCV and LRPH programs.
Please continue to watch our website for updates. As HUD provides updates to PHA's on a new start date for HOTMA rules, the Abilene Housing Authority will update the public as well.
As of now, continuing on January 1, 2025 and forward, the current HCV 1st Administrative Plan and 1st ACOP will remain in effect as the governing rules for both programs.
EXPLANATION of the TWO (2) ADMISSIONS AND CONTINUED OCCUPANCY POLICIES (ACOP)
October 1, 2024 - January 1, 2025
The Abilene Housing Authority (AHA) would like to notify the public as to why two (2) Admissions & Continued Occupancy Policies (rules that govern the Public Housing Program - LRPH) are being listed.
Currently, the Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) is bringing forward substantial changes and reforms in the HCV and LRPH programs. This new streamlined approach comes from the Housing Opportunity through Modernization Act of 2016 (HOTMA) which amends several sections of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937.
To follow the regulatory requirement, AHA is providing notice to the public that:
· As of October 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024 the "1st ACOP" will be in place to govern our programs;
· As of January 1, 2025, the new "HOTMA ACOP" will replace the "1st ACOP" as rules that govern AHA's LRPH program.
We ask that the public continue to watch our website for changes to this notice and to changes in the timing of when these items will go into effect.
HUD has a system upgrade that needs to occur before AHA can move to the new HOTMA rules. Processing timelines with their system upgrade may delay our timeline.
Gene Reed
Chief Executive Officer
Abilene Housing Authority
