The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) provides protections for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking. VAWA protections are not only available to women, but are available equally to all individuals regardless of sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation.2 The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is the Federal agency that oversees that Greater Metropolitan Area Housing Authority of Rock Island County (GMAHARIC) is in compliance with VAWA. This notice explains your rights under VAWA. A HUD-approved certification form is attached to this notice. You can fill out this form to show that you are or have been a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, and that you wish to use your rights under VAWA.
If you otherwise qualify for assistance under any of the GMAHARIC Housing Assistance Programs, you cannot be denied admission or denied assistance because you are or have been a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
If you are receiving assistance under any GMAHARIC Housing Assistance Programs, you may not be denied assistance, terminated from participation, or be evicted from your rental housing because you are or have been a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
Also, if you or an affiliated individual of yours is or has been the victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking by a member of your household or any guest, you may not be denied rental assistance or occupancy rights under any GMAHARIC Housing Assistance Programs solely on the basis of criminal activity directly relating to that domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
Affiliated individual means your spouse, parent, brother, sister, or child, or a person to whom you stand in the place of a parent or guardian (for example, the affiliated individual is in your care, custody, or control); or any individual, tenant, or lawful occupant living in your household.
GMAHARIC may divide (bifurcate) your lease in order to evict the individual or terminate the assistance of the individual who has engaged in criminal activity (the abuser or perpetrator) directly relating to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
If GMAHARIC chooses to remove the abuser or perpetrator, GMAHARIC may not take away the rights of eligible tenants to the unit or otherwise punish the remaining tenants. If the evicted abuser or perpetrator was the sole tenant to have established eligibility for assistance under the program, GMAHARIC must allow the tenant who is or has been a victim and other household members to remain in the unit for a period of time, in order to establish eligibility under the program or under another HUD housing program covered by VAWA, or, find alternative housing.
In removing the abuser or perpetrator from the household, GMAHARIC must follow Federal, State, and local eviction procedures. In order to divide a lease, GMAHARIC may, but is not required to, ask you for documentation or certification of the incidences of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
Upon your request, GMAHARIC may permit you to move to another unit, subject to the availability of other units, and still keep your assistance. In order to approve a request, GMAHARIC may ask you to provide documentation that you are requesting to move because of an incidence of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking. If the request is a request for emergency transfer, the housing provider may ask you to submit a written request or fill out a form where you certify that you meet the criteria for an emergency transfer under VAWA. The criteria are:
OR
GMAHARIC will keep confidential requests for emergency transfers by victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking, and the location of any move by such victims and their families.
GMAHARIC's emergency transfer plan provides further information on emergency transfers, and GMAHARIC must make a copy of its emergency transfer plan available to you if you ask to see it.
GMAHARIC can, but is not required to, ask you to provide documentation to "certify" that you are or have been a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking. Such request from GMAHARIC must be in writing, and GMAHARIC must give you at least 14 business days (Saturdays, Sundays, and Federal holidays do not count) from the day you receive the request to provide the documentation. GMAHARIC may, but does not have to, extend the deadline for the submission of documentation upon your request.
You can provide one of the following to GMAHARIC as documentation. It is your choice which of the following to submit if GMAHARIC asks you to provide documentation that you are or have been a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
If you fail or refuse to provide one of these documents within the 14 business days, GMAHARIC does not have to provide you with the protections contained in this notice.
If GMAHARIC receives conflicting evidence that an incident of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking has been committed (such as certification forms from two or more members of a household each claiming to be a victim and naming one or more of the other petitioning household members as the abuser or perpetrator), GMAHARIC has the right to request that you provide third-party documentation within thirty 30 calendar days in order to resolve the conflict. If you fail or refuse to provide third-party documentation where there is conflicting evidence, GMAHARIC does not have to provide you with the protections contained in this notice.
GMAHARIC must keep confidential any information you provide related to the exercise of your rights under VAWA, including the fact that you are exercising your rights under VAWA.
GMAHARIC must not allow any individual administering assistance or other services on behalf of GMAHARIC (for example, employees and contractors) to have access to confidential information unless for reasons that specifically call for these individuals to have access to this information under applicable Federal, State, or local law.
GMAHARIC must not enter your information into any shared database or disclose your information to any other entity or individual. GMAHARIC, however, may disclose the information provided if:
VAWA does not limit GMAHARIC's duty to honor court orders about access to or control of the property. This includes orders issued to protect a victim and orders dividing property among household members in cases where a family breaks up.
You can be evicted and your assistance can be terminated for serious or repeated lease violations that are not related to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking committed against you. However, GMAHARIC cannot hold tenants who have been victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking to a more demanding set of rules than it applies to tenants who have not been victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
The protections described in this notice might not apply, and you could be evicted and your assistance terminated, if GMAHARIC can demonstrate that not evicting you or terminating your assistance would present a real physical danger that:
If GMAHARIC can demonstrate the above, GMAHARIC should only terminate your assistance or evict you if there are no other actions that could be taken to reduce or eliminate the threat.
VAWA does not replace any Federal, State, or local law that provides greater protection for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking. You may be entitled to additional housing protections for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking under other Federal laws, as well as under State and local laws.
You may report a covered housing provider's violations of these rights and seek additional assistance, if needed, by contacting or filing a complaint with the HUD Chicago Regional Office, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60604, or you may call (312) 353-5680; or for persons with hearing impairments, call (312) 353-7143.
View a copy of HUD's final VAWA rule.
Additionally, GMAHARIC must make a copy of HUD's VAWA regulations available to you if you ask to see them.
For questions regarding VAWA, please contact the GMAHARIC Central Office at 621 17th Avenue, East Moline, IL 61244 or call (309) 755-4527. For persons with hearing impairments, call (800) 545-1833 ext. 820.
For help regarding an abusive relationship, you may call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at (800) 799-7233 or, for persons with hearing impairments, (800) 787-3224 (TTY). You may also call the Family Resources Safe Path 24-Hour Illinois Crisis Hotline at (309) 797-1777.
For tenants who are or have been victims of stalking seeking help may visit The National Center for Victims of Crime's Stalking Resource Center.
For help regarding sexual assault, you may call the Family Resources Safe Path 24-Hour Illinois Crisis Hotline at (309) 797-1777.
Victims of stalking seeking help may call the Family Resources Safe Path 24-Hour Illinois Crisis Hotline at (309) 797-1777.
1 Despite the name of this law, VAWA protection is available regardless of sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation.
2 Housing providers cannot discriminate on the basis of any protected characteristic, including race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, disability, or age. HUD-assisted and HUD-insured housing must be made available to all otherwise eligible individuals regardless of actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status.