Required Elements of VAWA Emergency Transfer Plan

HUD recently published a revised form HUD-5381, “Model Emergency Transfer Plan for Victims of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking.” The model contains only general provisions of an Emergency Transfer Plan. Adoption of the model plan without further information will not be sufficient to meet a covered housing provider’s responsibility to adopt an emergency transfer plan. Owners of housing projects that are covered by the VAWA regulations were to have put an Emergency Transfer Plan into place no later than June 14, 2017. Owners who have not done so should do so immediately, using the following information to ensure that all required elements are contained in the plan. Owners who have created Emergency Transfer Plans should refer to the information in this article to ensure that all statutorily required elements are in the Plan.

Definitions

The Plan should include the following definitions:

• Internal Emergency Transfer: refers to an emergency relocation of a tenant to another unit where the tenant would not be categorized as a new applicant; that is, the tenant may reside in the new unit without having to undergo an application process.
• External Emergency Transfer: refers to an emergency relocation of a tenant to another unit where the tenant would be categorized as a new applicant; that is the tenant must undergo an application process in order to reside in the new unit.
• Safe Unit: refers to a unit that the victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking believes is safe.

Aside from these definitions, the Emergency Transfer Plan must include the following elements:

1. A tenant receiving rental assistance through, or residing in a unit subsidized under, a covered housing program who is a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking qualifies for an emergency transfer if:
   1. The tenant expressly requests the transfer; and
   2. The tenant reasonably believes there is a threat of imminent harm from further violence if the tenant remains within the same dwelling unit that the tenant is currently occupying; or
   3. In the case of a tenant who is a victim of sexual assault, either the tenant reasonably believes there is a threat of imminent harm from further violence if the tenant remains within the same dwelling unit that the tenant is currently occupying, or the sexual assault occurred on the premises during the 90-calendar-day period preceding the date of the request for transfer.
2. The plan must detail the measure of any priority given to tenants who qualify for an emergency transfer under VAWA in relation to other categories of tenants seeking transfers and individuals seeking placement on waiting lists.
   1. Tenant Selection Plans (TSPs) should be amended to include any VAWA preference (this does not require HUD approval).
3. The plan must incorporate strict confidentiality measures to ensure that the housing provider does not disclose the location of the dwelling unit of the tenant to a person who committed or threatened to commit an act of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking against the tenant.
4. The plan must allow a tenant to make an internal emergency transfer under VAWA when a safe unit is immediately available.
   1. The plan should define the term “immediately available.” For example, “a vacant unit, ready for move-in with a reasonable period of time.”
   2. Include time frames, possible internal transfer locations, and priority status relative to other tenants seeking an internal transfer.
5. The plan must describe policies for assisting a tenant in making an internal emergency transfer under VAWA when a safe unit is not immediately available, and these policies must ensure that requests for internal emergency transfers receive, at a minimum, any applicable additional priority that housing providers may already provide to other types of emergency transfer requests (e.g., transfers based on disability).
6. The plan must describe reasonable efforts the housing provider will take to assist a tenant who wishes to make an external emergency transfer when a safe unit is not immediately available. The plan must include policies for assisting a tenant who is seeking an external emergency transfer under VAWA out of the housing provider’s program or project, and a tenant who is seeking an external emergency transfer under VAWA into the housing provider’s program or project. These policies may include:
   1. Arrangements, including memoranda of understanding, with other housing providers to facilitate moves (such documents should be attached to the plan); and
   2. Outreach activities to organizations that assist or provide resources to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
7. Nothing may preclude a tenant from seeking an internal emergency transfer and an external emergency transfer concurrently if a safe unit is not immediately available. It is recommended that this policy be clearly stated in the plan.
8. The plan should state that a request does not guarantee continued assistance or an external transfer to other HUD housing.
9. Where applicable, the plan must describe policies for a tenant who has tenant-based rental assistance (e.g., voucher) and who meets the requirements of #1 above to move quickly with that assistance.
   1. Housing providers should coordinate with local providers of the tenant-based assistance (e.g., local PHA).
10. The plan may require documentation from a tenant seeking an emergency transfer, provided that:
    1. The tenant’s submission of a written request to the housing provider, where the tenant certifies that they meet the eligibility requirements to request a VAWA transfer, shall be sufficient documentation of the requirements necessary to request an emergency transfer;
    2. The housing provider may, at its discretion, ask an individual seeking an emergency transfer to document the occurrence of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, in accordance with 24 CFR §5.2007, for which the individual is seeking the emergency transfer, if the individual has not already provided documentation of that occurrence; and
    3. No other documentation is required to qualify the tenant for an emergency transfer.
11. The housing provider must make its emergency transfer plan available upon request and, when feasible, must make the plan publicly available.
12. Nothing in the plan may supersede any eligibility or other occupancy requirements that may apply under any other covered housing program.

With regard to #9 above, housing providers are not required to require documentation from a tenant claiming VAWA protection. Verbal requests may be accepted. However, if documentation will be required, the requirement (as outlined above) must be included in the plan.

The housing provider must keep a record of all emergency transfers requested under its plan, and the outcomes of such requests, and retain these records for a period of three years, or for a time period as specified in program regulations. Requests and outcomes of such requests must be reported to HUD annually.

I recommend that all elements of the Model Emergency Transfer Plan be incorporated, plus the elements outlined above.