The HUD notice of occupancy rights under VAWA and the certification form must be given at denial, at admission, with any eviction or termination notice, and at recertification or lease renewal

pbra.vawa.notice_of_occupancy_rights_and_certification_form · v1.0.0

A covered housing provider must give each applicant and each tenant HUD's Notice of Occupancy Rights under the Violence Against Women Act, which explains the VAWA protections including the right to confidentiality and any limitations on those protections, together with a HUD-approved certification form on which a victim may document an incident. The notice and the form must be provided no later than at each of four points: when the applicant is denied assistance or admission; when the individual is provided assistance or admission; with any notification of eviction or notification of termination of assistance; and, in the twelve months following 16 December 2016, during the annual recertification or lease renewal process or, where there would be none in that first year, through other means. Both must be made available in multiple languages consistent with HUD's limited-English-proficiency guidance. For renewed funding or leases of project-based Section 8 under parts 880, 882, 883, 884 and 886, the HUD-required lease or lease addendum must itself describe the specific VAWA protections. HUD Handbook 4350.3 adds the file and delivery practice the regulation does not state. VAWA policies and procedures must be written into the property's tenant selection plan, and into the house rules where there are any. A certification form enclosed with a termination or eviction notice must direct the family to complete, sign and return it within FOURTEEN BUSINESS DAYS, a period the owner may extend at its discretion. The owner may not demand official documentation or physical proof of victim status as a condition of the protections. Because posting the form may itself put the victim at risk if the abuser monitors the mail, the owner is expected to arrange discreet delivery. And all documentation relating to the abuse must be kept in a SEPARATE FILE in a separate secure location from the other tenant files -- not in the tenant file.

Confidence

high

Effective from

2016-12-16

Consequence model

agency finding with cure

Last reviewed

2026-09-02