Title VI of VAWA sets out certain protections for tenants in most federally subsidized housing programs.1  VAWA was reauthorized in 2022.2  Covered programs include:

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

• Public housing3
• Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program4
• Section 8 project-based housing5
• Section 202 housing for the elderly6
• Section 811 housing for people with disabilities7
• Section 236 multifamily rental housing8
• Section 221(d)(3) Below Market Interest Rate (BMIR) housing9
• HOME Investment Partnership Program10
• Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA)11
• McKinney-Vento Act homelessness programs (including Continuum of Care Permanent Supportive Housing)12

Department of Agriculture

• Section 515 Rural Rental Housing13
• Sections 514 and 516 Farm Labor Housing14
• Section 533 Housing Preservation Grants15
• Section 538 multifamily rental housing16

Department of Treasury

• Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC)17

​​​​​It does not cover the Rural Housing Voucher Program under § 542 of the Housing Act of 1949.18  It also does not cover private market housing without any type of rental subsidy (though the Louisiana Violence Against Women Act may cover certain private market tenants).19  For VAWA, protected tenants must be victims of actual or threatened domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking, or an immediate family member of the victim. PHAs must inform tenants and owners of their rights and obligations under VAWA.20

• 134 U.S.C. § 12491.
• 2S. 3623, 117th Cong. (2022) (enacted).
• 334 U.S.C. § 12491(a)(3)(H) (referencing 42 U.S.C. § 1437d).
• 434 U.S.C. § 12491(a)(3)(H) (referencing 42 U.S.C. § 1437f).
• 5Id.
• 634 U.S.C. § 12491(a)(3)(A) (referencing 12 U.S.C. § 1701q).
• 734 U.S.C. § 12491(a)(3)(B) (referencing 42 U.S.C. § 8013).
• 834 U.S.C. § 12491(a)(3)(G) (referencing 12 U.S.C. § 1715z–1).
• 934 U.S.C. § 12491(a)(3)(F) (referencing 12 U.S.C. §17151(d)).
• 1034 U.S.C. § 12491(a)(3)(E) (referencing 42 U.S.C. § 12741, et seq.).
• 1134 U.S.C. § 12491(a)(3)(C) (referencing 42 U.S.C. § 12901, et seq.).
• 1234 U.S.C. § 12491(a)(3)(D) (referencing 42 U.S.C. § 11360, et seq.).
• 1334 U.S.C. § 12491(a)(3)(I) (referencing 42 U.S.C. § 1485).
• 1434 U.S.C. § 12491(a)(3)(I) (referencing 42 U.S.C. §§ 1484, 1486).
• 1534 U.S.C. § 12491(a)(3)(I) (referencing 42 U.S.C. § 1490m).
• 1634 U.S.C. § 12491(a)(3)(I) (referencing 42 U.S.C. § 1490p-2).
• 1734 U.S.C. § 12491(a)(3)(J) (referencing 26 U.S.C. § 42).
• 1842 U.S.C. § 1490r.
• 19For additional information regarding protections under Louisiana law, see Section 1.7 of this manual's chapter on landlord-tenant law.
• 2042 U.S.C. §§ 1437d(u)(2)(B), 1437f(ee)(2)(B).

An individual’s status as a survivor of domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking cannot form the basis for denial of admission or housing assistance.1  However, VAWA does not require PHAs to create a preference for survivors of abuse when making admissions decisions.

• 134 U.S.C. § 12491(b); see also 42 U.S.C. §§ 1437d(c)(3), 1437f(c)(9)(A), (o)(6)(B).

A PHA may permit a family with a Section 8 voucher to move to another jurisdiction if the family is in compliance with other obligations of the program and is moving to protect the health or safety of an individual who is or has been the victim of domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking.1  The move may be permitted even if the family’s lease has not expired. A tenant may incur liability from the owner for breaking the lease.

HUD requires that PHAs adopt an Emergency Transfer Plan that allows tenants to make an internal emergency transfer under VAWA when a safe unit is available.2

• 134 U.S.C. § 12491(e); see also 42 U.S.C. § 1437f(r)(5).
• 2See U.S. Dep’t of Hous. & Urb. Dev., Public Housing Occupancy Guidebook § 2.8 (Transfers) (2020).

VAWA establishes an exception to the federal “one-strike” criminal activity rule. Criminal activity that is directly related to domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking does not constitute grounds for terminating assistance, tenancy, or occupancy of the victim or an immediate family member of the victim.1  However, a PHA or owner may still evict a tenant if the PHA or owner can demonstrate an “actual or imminent threat” to other tenants or employees of the property if the tenant is not evicted.2  VAWA also does not protect tenants for acts for which they are being evicted if those acts are unrelated to domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking.3

A PHA or owner may bifurcate a lease to evict, remove, or terminate assistance to any tenant who is a participant in public housing or Section 8 programs and who engages in criminal acts of violence against family members or others.4

PHAs and owners may, but are not required to, ask an individual for certification that he or she is a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking if the individual seeks to assert VAWA’s protection. Any request for certification must be in writing.5

• 134 U.S.C. § 12491(b); see also 42 U.S.C. §§ 1437d(l)(5), 1437f(c)(9)(B), (d)(1)(B), (o)(7)(C), (o)(20)(A).
• 2See 42 U.S.C. §§ 1437d(1)(6)(E), 1437f(o)(7)(D)(v), (20)(D)(iv).
• 3See 42 U.S.C. §§ 1437d(1)(6)(D), 1437f(c)(9)(C)(iv), (o)(20)(D)(iii).
• 434 U.S.C. § 12491(b)(3)(B); see also 42 U.S.C. §§ 1437d(1)(6)(B), 1437f(o)(7)(D).
• 5See 42 U.S.C. §§ 1437d(u)(l), 1437f(ee)(1).

Under VAWA, a survivor of domestic violence may provide as documentation within 14 days of a request any one of the following:

• A completed HUD Certification of Domestic Violence form, currently HUD Form 5382
• A document signed by the survivor and an employee, agent, or volunteer of a victim service provider, an attorney, or medical professional, or a mental health professional that specifies under penalty of perjury that the professional believes the incident or incidents of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking occurred and meet the definition of “domestic violence,” “dating violence,” “sexual assault,” or “stalking” in HUD’s regulations at 24 C.F.R. § 5.2003
• A record of a federal, state, tribal, territorial or local law enforcement agency, court, or administrative agency
• At the discretion of the housing provider, a statement or other evidence provided by the applicant or tenant1

HUD Form 5383 can be used for an emergency transfer request under VAWA.

• 134 U.S.C. § 12491(c); 24 C.F.R. § 5.2007(b).

In United States v. Morrison, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the portion of VAWA providing a private cause of action for survivors of crimes of violence motivated by gender is unconstitutional.1  Whether this holding extends to the separate housing provisions of VAWA is an open question that has not been settled in the Fifth Circuit.2

A number of district courts across the country have ruled that Morrison applies to the housing provisions of VAWA, and therefore there is no private cause of action against a housing provider that violates VAWA.3  However, there is an argument to be made that there may be a cause of action under § 1983 against a housing provider for violation of VAWA, but the question is yet unsettled.4  In the alternative, a violation of VAWA by a housing provider may give rise to a cause of action under the Fair Housing Act for discrimination on the basis of sex.5

Of course, a housing provider’s violation of VAWA may violate a tenant’s lease and give rise to state-law cause of action for breach of contract. Housing Choice Voucher Program and Project-Based Voucher Program leases are subject to HUD Tenancy Addendums that include VAWA provisions. Many HUD subsidy programs require a VAWA addendum to the lease agreement. Because the validity of the federal claims under VAWA is uncertain, be sure to include these claims in addition to any federal claims.

• 1529 U.S. 598 (2000).
• 2McCoy v. Hous. Auth. of New Orleans, No. 15-398, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 118745, at *51, 2016 WL 4592162, at *15 (E.D. La. Sep. 2, 2016) (stating that the Fifth Circuit has not yet decided the issue and declining to rule on it), aff’d, 714 F. App’x 322 (5th Cir. 2017).
• 3Bezi v. Camacho, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 162852, at *61–62, 2012 WL 5519386, at *19 (C.D. Cal. Sep. 28, 2012); Hobby v. Hous. Auth. of New Haven, No. 3:11cv1962, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 126027, at *5–6, 2012 WL 3727267, at *2 (D. Conn. Jan. 9, 2012); Louis v. N.Y.C. Hous. Auth., 152 F. Supp. 3d 143, 157 n.12 (S.D.N.Y. 2016); Doe v. YMCA of Ne. NY, No. 1:19-CV-456, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24223, at *19, 2020 WL 705264, at *6 (N.D.N.Y. Feb. 12, 2020).
• 4Meister v. Kan. City, No. 09-2433-EFM, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19166, at *14, 2011 WL 765887, at *4 (D. Kan. Feb. 25, 2011) (distinguishing the language in the VAWA housing provisions from language analyzed in Banks v. Dallas Housing Authority, 271 F. 3d 605, 611 (5th Cir. 2001), in which no § 1983 cause of action was found and finding that the VAWA language came closer to satisfying the § 1983 test than the statutory provision at issue in Banks, but still declining to rule on the issue).
• 5Dickinson v. Zanesville Metro. Hous. Auth., 975 F. Supp. 2d 863, 872 (S.D. Ohio 2013) (“[D]ereliction of its obligations under the Violence Against Women Act ("VAWA”) . . . could give rise to an inference that [Defendant Housing Authority] acted with intent to discriminate on the basis of gender.”).

In the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998, Congress directed PHAs to submit annual and five-year plans to HUD. The PHA Plan is a comprehensive guide to the PHA’s policies, programs, operations, and strategies for meeting local housing needs and goals. Because the plan controls and sets so many major policies at the local level, the planning process is an important opportunity for legal services advocates, residents, and other community organizations to have an impact on PHA policy affecting both public housing and the Section 8 program. After it is drafted, the PHA plan may also become an important enforcement tool for housing advocates.

The five-year plan describes the goals and objectives of the PHA for the next five years. It is a long-range plan that should help you determine the PHA’s future direction. For example, you may be able to tell if your PHA is planning to shift its mission to providing housing for moderate-income persons instead of using most of its resources to house extremely low-income persons. The details of the PHA plan will be in the one-year plans.

The annual plan is a public document that must be prepared in consultation with residents through one or more Resident Advisory Boards (RABs). RABs must represent the interests of both public housing residents and Section 8 residents. PHAs must make resources available to the RAB so that it may have meaningful input into the drafting of the plan. PHAs must hold public hearings to gather input from interested individuals and organizations. After the public hearings, the PHA is supposed to continue to work in partnership with the RAB in deciding whether to modify the plan after the hearings.

The annual plan is about the operations, programs, and services which the PHA will have for the upcoming fiscal year. It must contain 18 specific topics, describe discretionary policies that apply to public housing and Section 8 tenants, and describe all other rules and policies of the PHA. The one-year plan must have all the information that HUD requires and must be consistent with information and data available to HUD and the PHA, with the local Consolidated Plan, and with civil rights and other federal laws.