HOME waivers are out for Rita

HUD's Office of Community Planning and Development has issued a couple of waivers allowing state and local entities to make use of previously funded HOME units to assist victims of Hurricane Rita. Separate waivers appear for Rita disaster areas (note special language regarding Rita areas in Texas that do not overlap the previously designated Katrina areas), and for the larger category of Rita "receiving communities." The receiving communities are authorized to alter their Consolidated Plans based on three-day public comment periods and also to skip some income and verification requirements in qualifying Rita victims for housing. Interestingly, these waiver documents bear signature stamps from Oct. 4 but seem to have been posted just this past Friday, Oct. 14.