Victory! HUD Prevents Domestic Violence Survivors From Becoming Homeless

Activists do a great job advocating for change. We should also pause to celebrate when change happens. Here's a great example of a victory on the fronts of homelessness and domestic violence.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently announced its plans for stronger affordable housing regulations that will better protect survivors of domestic violence and abuse. The requirements fall under the Violence Against Women Act (VAMA). This vital piece of legislation provides legal protections for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. Up until now, there wasn't consistent enforcement of VAMA by landlords and other housing authorities and often families would be forced into homelessness as an only means to escape abuse.

Advocates have been working to educate housing authorities and make them more aware and sensitive to the nature of domestic abuse to protect victims. New rules now regulate owners to exhaust all protective measures prior to starting eviction proceedings. Now owners and housing authorities are held more accountable to take actions that will reduce or eliminate the threat to the victim and family before resorting to actions that could lead to eviction and homelessness.

Another important note in the new rule is the fact that it "broadens the definitions of 'actual and imminent threat', to help housing or subsidy providers understand that to use 'imminent threat' of harm to other residents as a reason for eviction of the victim, the evidence must be real and objective — not hypothetical, presumed or speculative."

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan stated that "[t]his rule recognizes the need to protect victims of domestic abuse from being evicted just because they were victimized. No one should be afraid of losing their home if they report abuse. The Obama Administration has strengthened the existing interim regulation to further protect victims and ensures that current or former victims of domestic violence will not be turned down from HUD programs."

HUD Assistant Secretary Sandra Henriquez added, "The 2009 U.S. Conference of Mayors annual report on Hunger and Homelessness identified domestic violence as the third leading cause of homelessness among families. This regulation protects victims housing so they are not forced to choose between staying with their abuser and becoming homeless." The third leading cause — think on that.

October was National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, so this news could not have come at a better time. Tell HUD: thank you, but get on it! We expect timely implementation of the new guidelines.

Photo credit: Rich Lombino