Small Public Housing Agency Opportunity Act of 2012

Small Public Housing Agency Opportunity Act of 2012 - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to subject a small public housing agency (PHA) to the same requirements as a PHA.

Defines a small PHA as a PHA for which the sum of the number of public housing dwelling units and the number of vouchers under Section 8 (tenant-based assistance) it administers is 550 or fewer.

Requires the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to:

• provide for physical inspections of a small PHA public housing project at least once every three years, unless it is a troubled small PHA;
• determine the financial condition of a small PHA's public housing program solely on the basis of the ratio of current assets to current liabilities; and
• determine management condition of a small PHA's public housing program solely on the basis of the ratio of vacant unit months to eligible unit months.

Requires a small PHA administering Section 8 tenant-based assistance under the housing voucher program to make physical inspections of assisted units at least once every three years.

Requires HUD to evaluate the management of a small PHA's voucher program solely on the basis of its lease-up rate or the budget utilization rate.

Directs HUD to designate a small PHA as a high-performing agency if it exceeds acceptability criteria.

Specifies conditions under which HUD may designate a small PHA as a troubled small PHA with respect to its public housing program or housing voucher program.

Requires HUD to establish an appeals process for a small PHA to dispute a determination of deficiency.

Requires HUD and the small PHA to enter into a one-year corrective action agreement (renewable at HUD option) under which the small PHA shall undertake actions to correct deficiencies.

Prescribes and/or revises requirements to reduce the administrative burden on small PHAs with respect to:

• certain reports;
• community service;
• economic opportunities for low- and very low-income persons;
• exemption of a small PHA administering not more than 400 public housing dwelling units, upon request, from any asset management requirement;
• exemption from environmental review for a development or modernization project with a total cost of not more than $100,000; and
• streamlined HUD procedures for such reviews.

Authorizes a small PHA to convert all or a portion of its public housing units to project-based voucher assistance or to project-based assistance.

Requires HUD to carry out a demonstration project to examine how various methods of determining rent in public housing affect the administrative burden on small PHAs and public housing residents.

Establishes rent-setting mechanisms for demonstration project participants based on: (1) a tiered system for initial rents for extremely low-income families, very low-income families, and low-income families; (2) a certain range of gross income percentages; or (3) one or more of these methods in combination with methods established for assisted housing rental payments.

Authorizes a small PHA to elect to be paid for its utility and waste management costs under the formula for a period, at its discretion, of up to 20 years based on its average annual consumption during the three-year period preceding the year in which the election is made.

Requires HUD to develop and deploy all electronic information systems necessary to accommodate full consolidated reporting by PHAs electing to operate in consortia.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov