The Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing program helps families who are, or about to become, homeless. Florida received $65 million in October, part of $1.5 billion in the federal stimulus program last year devoted to homelessness.

Grants are for individuals and families suffering from economic distress who face eviction or homelessness. The money is paid to the landlord or utility company for rent or back rent, utilities and security deposits. The money cannot be used for mortgage payments.

There is no standard application. Each person must apply to the city, county or local service agency administering the program. Money is given to those whose income is below 50 percent of the area’s median income.

For more information:

In Broward County, dial 2-1-1 or 954-537-0211.
In Palm Beach County, call the Division of Human Services at 561-355-4775 or Adopt-A-Family at 561-253-1361
In Miami-Dade County and the city of Miami, call the Homeless Helpline at 1-877-994-4357.
For all local contacts throughout Florida, go to http://www.dcf.state.fl.us/programs/homelessness/HPRG/docs/FAQs.pdf

WASHINGTON, D.C. - July 1, 2010 - The U.S. Senate voted yesterday to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program. The U.S. House of Representatives had already approved the National Flood Insurance Program Extension Act of 2010 (H.R.5569). The bill must still be signed by President Obama to become law.

Senate Republics blocked passage of the extension of National Flood Insurance Program which expired on May 30, 2010 as part of their effort to defeat health care reform.

Republican members of the Senate, led by Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Jim Bunning of Kentucky have basically left a segment of America in serious risk when it comes to protecting their homes and families, unable to purchase new flood insurance policies, or renew existing policies, under the Federal program. Additionally, new home buyers have been unable to close in areas where flood insurance is required.

Yesterday's approval extends authorization of the National Flood Insurance Program until September 30, 2010, and retroactively reauthorizes the program for the period it lapsed (June 1, 2010, until the measure is signed by the President). If Congress fails to act within 90 days, the National Flood Insurance Program will be in the same position that it was last month.

 IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL SECTION 8 LANDLORDS CONCERNING NEW FEDERAL LEAD PAINT LAWS

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has implemented new laws regarding defective paint (potentially containing lead) in units built BEFORE 1978. In order to effectively begin or to continue the Section 8 program in any of your units built prior to 1978 where children under 6 years old reside or may reside in the future, the following regulations will have to be followed.  In addition to providing a description of the new laws and required procedures, we will also mention other ways of handling this issue which could greatly simplify the new laws.

The 5 ft. limitation no longer applies. Defective paint will now have to be removed in an acceptable manner from the ground to the peak of the roof. Any fence or outbuilding on the property will also now be part of the inspection. Re-painting will have to be performed immediately or as soon as weather permits, or, encapsulating the effected area with siding or other material where possible.

If any defective paint is found during a Section 8 inspection, the law prohibits the owner of the unit from doing any of the repairs, (**unless it's deminimus) or from even taking the samples of defective paint to be sent for testing, without proper training.   Paint samples can be collected only by persons certified by the EPA as a Lead Inspector or Risk Assessor.  Contractors must also have their Lead Abatement Project Designers and Supervisors certified by the EPA.   They are required by law to treat it very similarly to asbestos. Contractors have to be equipped with special vacuum equipment to keep any dust particles from escaping during the removal process and the paint can no longer be "dry" scraped, only wet scraping will be allowed. After the repairs are made a "clearance" inspector must then come out to give final approval on the repairs. Owners can be licensed to repair defective paint by taking certain approved courses and having specialized equipment which can be specified if desired. "Risk assessment" (pre-repair) and "clearance" inspections still would have to be performed by licensed third party individuals upon the initial finding of defective paint by HUD and completion of repairs by said contractor. All incurred costs would have to be covered by the property owner. Click this link for service providers in Washington. 

It is important to note that if an initial or annual inspection of the unit indicates no peeling, cracking, chalking paint or unstable substrate anywhere on the inside or outside of the unit and all adjacent structures associated with the unit, the unit won’t fail this part of the Housing Quality Standards inspection. Defective paint will not be a HQS violation if prior to all inspections all defective paint is properly removed and repainted, the unit was built after 1978, or there will be no children under of the age of 6 or a pregnant female living in the unit. If any defects are found, new regulations will have to be followed if a Section 8 tenant is to move into or continue to live in the unit.

If lead-based paint is found, all defective paint will have to be removed in accordance with EPA regulations 40 CFR § 745.227 (see below) and all defective surfaces must be completely covered prior to a Section 8 inspection.  If your rental unit fails a Housing Authority inspection because of lead paint, you as the owner can no longer repair the defective areas (9/15/2000 rule).

In short, if no peeling, cracking, chalking paint or unstable substrate is found during any Housing Authority inspection, no testing, risk assessment or paint stabilization will be needed. This will require more diligence to stay on top of the condition of any rental unit which you desire to be on the Section 8 program that are older than 1978 and have children under 6 years of age or a pregnant female living there. It has been said that possibly within 5 years all rental property that is older than 1978 will come under the same federal laws regarding lead paint.

September 15, 2000 is the effective date for this new regulation. All housing types will be included whether single family houses, apartments or mobile homes. Remember, this only applies to units built before January 1^st, 1978, with children under the age of 6 or a pregnant female residing, or anticipated to reside in the unit. We will require proof of the date of construction to waive this requirement.

Please contact us at 360-423-0140 (OR/WA Toll-Free 1-800-613-4993) if you have questions about the new regulations. Our agency will be conducting landlord training sessions every year to provide comprehensive information to local landlords about this new regulation and to answer questions you may have.  We would encourage all of you to attend if at all possible.

We have tried to make the new regulations as simple and understandable as possible. We are as concerned as you are about the new laws and the added amount of work involved to maintain a Section 8 unit, but we too, are bound by federal regulations dictating program administration. We all need to remember that this is a serious health issue in older housing stock and more cases of children with elevated lead blood levels are identified each year.

**deminimus = less than 20 square feet on an outside surface or 2 square feet on an inside surface or 10% of a component's area (e.g. windowsill, door frame)

A storage place,  located at SW 27th Avenue and 6th Street in Ft. Lauderdale is offering up to six months free storage to  persons in distress / recently rendered homeless.  To quality the candidate must be vouched for by a charitable or religious organization.

Gerry Cooper, and his son Caldwell, of Cooper Properties were our spkears on 2/11/10. Everyone asked a lot of questions and got a lot of great answers
on subjects like tenant incentives, advertising, evictions and referral bonuses. Below are some of their answers!

Cooper stated that his best method of attracting tenants was the signs posted on the properties.  They also installed real estate post signs with the flyer attachments.  He commented the street signs are th best because the tenant is already out on the street and serious about finding a new place to rent.  Their second best advertising is the Sun-Sentinel and they also post on Craigslist.  They said they have an approximate conversion of 10:100 on phone calls.  They also give referral fees to their current tenants to bring in other renters.  Cooper stated that internet advertising was a total waste of money and out of $16,000 spent on google he maybe got one tenant.