Federal Public Housing

 

Federal public housing was established to provide decent and safe rental housing for eligible low-income families, the elderly and persons with disabilities.  There are approximately 1.2 million households residing in public housing units, managed by at least 3,300 housing authorities.

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Eligibility for the Falmouth Housing Authority's federal public housing program is based on: a) Annual gross income, b) qualification as elderly, person with disability, or as a family; and c) U.S. citizenship or eligible immigration status.  Applicants must be age 62 or older and/or disabled (if under the age of 62).  The waiting list for this public housing program closed on 7/31/2019 at 4:30 p.m.  It reopened on 4/1/23 at 9:00 a.m.

 

The Falmouth Housing Authority manages 222 units of federal public housing at its three (3) locations:  Harborview (80 units), Rose Morin (59 units) and Tataket (83 units).   All units are one-bedroom, one-bathroom.

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FHA has entered into an Annual Contributions Contract (ACC) with HUD to administer its federal public housing program and is required to ensure compliance with federal laws, regulations and notices. Housing authorities must develop policies and procedures that support the intent of these requirements to demonstrate consistency and reliability in its program operations.

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At least annually, the housing authority meets with its tenants to review their concerns about the building's interior and exterior elements.  These concerns are reflected in the building improvement plan, also called the capital plan.  Projects, whether funded or not, are added to the plan and the housing authority (through grants or additional captured funding through the year) implements the projects.  The plan operates on a rolling basis within a five-year time frame - this means that as funding becomes available, the housing authority may move projects from year to year; for example - a project planned for 2025 may be performed in 2022 if additional funding became available.  For this reason, the housing authority is in constant search for grant opportunities.  

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We encourage all federal public housing applicants and residents to review the Falmouth Housing Authority's Admissions & Continued Occupancy Plan (ACOP).  To review, click on each chapter located to the right -> -> ->

 

The ACOP contains information that supports the housing lease(s) and its addendum(s). Examples of lease addendums include, but are not limited to: (1) parking, (2) pets, (3) transfers, and (4) no smoking. HUD allows housing authorities discretion in some areas so there may be a wide range of policies and procedures and the ACOP may not reflect all that are in effect. The goal of the ACOP is to cover many areas of compliance. The ACOP is reviewed and updated on a regular basis and contains policies and procedures regarding certain subjects, such as:

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• Selection and admission of applicants from the public housing authority waiting list

• Screening of applicants of tenancy

• Occupancy standards

• Occupancy policies

• Assisting families claiming illegal discrimination

• Informal review/grievance hearing procedures

• Rent determinations and the use of the Enterprise Income Verification (EIV) system

• Violence Against Womens Act (VAWA), and

• Inspections

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To learn more about HUD's Public Housing Program and/or how rent is determined, click here

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