The PHA is the covered housing provider and must issue the VAWA notice and maintain an emergency transfer plan

ph.vawa.notice_certification_and_emergency_transfer_plan · v1.0.0

The PHA must administer its public housing program in accordance with all applicable equal opportunity requirements, must affirmatively further fair housing, and must apply the requirements of 24 CFR part 5 subpart L. For the public housing program the covered housing provider is the PHA. As covered housing provider the PHA must give each applicant and each tenant a Notice of Occupancy Rights under the Violence Against Women Act, in the form and in accordance with directions prescribed by HUD, explaining the VAWA protections including the right to confidentiality and any limitations on them, together with a HUD-approved certification form on which a victim may document an incident. The notice and form must be provided no later than at the time an applicant is denied assistance or admission, at the time an individual is provided assistance or admission, with any notification of eviction or termination of assistance, and, for existing tenants, at annual recertification or lease renewal or otherwise. They must be made available in multiple languages consistent with HUD's limited-English-proficiency guidance. The PHA must adopt an emergency transfer plan that describes the priority given to VAWA emergency transfers relative to other transfers and waiting list placements, incorporates strict confidentiality measures so that the location of a tenant's unit is not disclosed to the person who committed or threatened the violence, allows an internal emergency transfer when a safe unit is immediately available, describes how the PHA assists a tenant when one is not, describes reasonable efforts to assist a tenant seeking an external transfer, and permits a tenant to seek internal and external transfers concurrently. The plan must make a tenant's written request certifying the criteria sufficient documentation of eligibility for the transfer and may require no other documentation beyond documentation of the underlying incident under 24 CFR 5.2007. The PHA must make the plan available on request and, when feasible, publicly available; must keep a record of all emergency transfers requested and their outcomes for three years; and must report requests and outcomes to HUD annually.

Confidence

high

Effective from

2016-12-16

Consequence model

agency finding with cure

Last reviewed

2026-08-30