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OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 6529 (as amended by House "A")*
AN ACT CONCERNING HOUSING AUTHORITIES.
SUMMARY
This bill imposes an annual auditing requirement on local and
regional housing authorities and the Connecticut Housing Authority,
if it operates as a housing authority. (In practice, only local housing
authorities are subject to the bill’s provisions.)
The bill requires (1) existing housing authority commissioners to
participate in federal Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) commissioner training by January 1, 2022, and (2) new
commissioners to participate in the training upon appointment (§ 1).
Finally, the bill also requires housing authorities receiving state
assistance and the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) (if
it or its subsidiaries are successor owners to housing previously owned
by a local authority) to annually provide tenants, beginning when they
sign their initial lease, (1) contact information for the authority’s
management, local public health department, and Commission on
Human Rights and Opportunities and (2) a copy of the guidance
concerning landlords’ and tenants’ responsibilities that the Judicial
Branch posts on its website (§ 2).
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2021
*House Amendment “A” (1) removes provisions in the underlying
bill requiring background checks and limiting how they are used in the
hiring process and (2) requires CHFA to provide tenants a copy of
Judicial Branch guidance, rather than a notice of tenant rights.
ANNUAL AUDIT
The bill requires local housing authorities to annually contract with
an independent certified public accountant for a financial audit. The 2021HB-06529-R010626-BA.DOCX
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audit results must be included in an authority’s annual report that
existing law requires it to submit to the housing commissioner and the
chief executive officer of the municipality where it is located.
The bill specifies that the audit described above is in addition to
certain audits required by existing law. Specifically, existing law
requires:
1. the housing commissioner to ensure local housing authorities
are audited biennially, with the authority covering the audit’s
costs, if the commissioner requires it (CGS § 7-392(d)); and
2. housing authorities to audit themselves if they have annual
revenue of more than $1 million and spend more than $300,000
in a fiscal year (CGS § 4-231).
COMMITTEE ACTION
Housing Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 11 Nay 4 (03/11/2021)