Professional Resources

State Housing Information

Pennsylvania Office of Financial Education – Housing Information
http://www.moneysbestfriend.com/

Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA)
www.phfa.org/

PHFA Quick Start Housing Resources – Lackawanna County:
www.phfa.org/forms/housing_services/resources/hs_lackawanna.pdf

State Agencies

PA Department of Education:
www.pde.state.pa.us/

PA Department of Health:
www.dsf.health.state.pa.us/health/site/default.asp
Includes information on emergency preparedness

PA Department of Insurance:
www.ins.state.pa.us/ins/site/default.asp

PA Department of Labor & Industry:
www.dli.state.pa.us/
Includes information on permits, building codes, etc.

• Information on contractors certified as lead based paint abatement contractors:
  www.dli.state.pa.us/landi/cwp/view.asp?a=124&Q=232508

PA Department of Military & Veterans Affairs:
www.milvet.state.pa.us/DMVA/index.htm

PA Office of Financial Education:
www.moneysbestfriend.com/

PA Housing Finance Agency:
www.phfa.org

PA Public Utility Commission:
www.puc.state.pa.us/

PA Department of Public Welfare (Apply for benefits online through COMPASS):
www.dpw.state.pa.us/

PA Law Help: guide to free legal information and legal services:
www.palawhelp.org

Office of Children, Youth & Families:
http://www.dhs.pa.gov/learnaboutdhs/dhsorganization/officeofchildrenyouthandfamilies/

Office of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services:
http://www.dhs.pa.gov/citizens/mentalhealthservices/

Office of Long Term Living:
http://www.dhs.pa.gov/learnaboutdhs/dhsorganization/officeoflongtermliving/

Department of Community & Economic Development:
www.newpa.com

Department of Aging:
www.aging.state.pa.us/
Office of Consumer Advocate: The Pennsylvania Office of Consumer Advocate was established by the General Assembly in 1976 to represent the consumers of Pennsylvania in matters involving their utility service.
http://www.oca.state.pa.us/
PA Commission on Human Relations: Discrimination, prejudice and bias, three words that can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. Our purpose is to provide you with answers to questions that you may have about the Commission, our procedures and our role within Pennsylvania: investigating complaints of discrimination and monitoring bias-related crimes and tension within our communities. . http://www.phrc.state.pa.us/

Federal Agencies

Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae):
www.ginniemae.gov/

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD):
www.hud.gov/

• HUD: Home & Communities Fair Housing Page:
  www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/FHLaws/index.cfm
• HUD in Pennsylvania:
  www.hud.gov/local/index.cfm?state=pa
• HUD Rental Assistance and Programs:
  www.hud.gov/renting/
• FY2008 Income Limits (All States):
  www.huduser.org/datasets/il/il08/FY08_StateIncomeLimits.pdf
• FY2008 Income Limits (PA Counties and Metropolitan Statistical Areas):
  www.huduser.org/Datasets/IL/IL08/pa_fy2008.pdf
• HUD Tenant Information (Includes information on rights, responsibilities and links to related information):
  www.hud.gov/groups/tenants.cfm
• Low Income Apartment Search:
  www.hud.gov/apps/section8/index.cfm
• Public Housing Eligibility & Information:
  www.hud.gov/renting/phprog.cfm
• Housing Choice Voucher Program Fact Sheet (Section 8):
  www.hud.gov/offices/pih/programs/hcv/about/fact_sheet.cfm

The Federal Register (Published by the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the Federal Register is the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents):
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/search/getfrtoc.action

American with Disabilities Links

American with Disabilities Act: (Housing Design Information)
www.ada.gov/

The Administration on Developmental Disabilities ensures that individuals with developmental disabilities and their families participate in the design of and have access to culturally competent services, supports, and other assistance and opportunities that promotes independence, productivity, and integration and inclusion into the community.
www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/add/

Disability.gov provides quick and easy access to comprehensive information about disability programs, services, laws and benefits. You can begin your search by visiting any of the nine subject areas at the top of this page. To find disability resources in your state just click on the Find State and Local Resources map located in each of these subject areas.
www.disability.gov

National Council on Independent Living:
www.ncil.org/

Planning and Community

American Planning Association:
www.planning.org/

PA Planning Association:
www.planningpa.org/

Community Connections:
www.comcon.org/
Provides publications and information form HUD’s office of Community Planning & Development

The Consortium for Housing and Asset Management (CHAM) is a collaboration of the leaders in the fields of nonprofit affordable housing production and community development. The Consortium is comprised of Enterprise Community Partners, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, and the NeighborWorks America.
http://www.cham.us/

The Corporation for Supportive Housing is a national nonprofit organization and Community Development Financial Institution that helps communities create permanent housing with services to prevent and end homelessness
www.csh.org/

Enterprise Community Partners
Enterprise helps build affordable housing for low-income Americans by providing financing and expertise to community and housing developers. Every 80 minutes, someone moves into a house we helped create. Enterprise Community Partners is a national nonprofit that provides loans, grants and information resources. Our for-profit subsidiary, Enterprise Community Investment, offers tax credit financing and asset management services.
www.enterprisecommunity.org/

 

Other Important Links

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia helps formulate and implement monetary policy, supervises banks and bank holding companies, and provides financial services to depository institutions and the federal government. One of the 12 regional Banks that, together with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., make up the Federal Reserve System, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank serves eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and Delaware.
http://philadelphiafed.org/

National Fair Housing Advocate:
www.fairhousing.com/
This is a resource designed to serve both the fair housing advocacy community and the general public with timely news and information regarding the issues of housing discrimination.

National Association of Housing & Redevelopment Agencies (NAHRO):
www.nahro.org

PA Association of Housing & Redevelopment Agencies:
www.pahra.org

PA Commission on Human Relations: Discrimination, prejudice and bias, three words that can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. Our purpose is to provide you with answers to questions that you may have about the Commission, our procedures and our role within Pennsylvania: investigating complaints of discrimination and monitoring bias-related crimes and tension within our communities.
www.phrc.state.pa.us/

PA Law Help: guide to free legal information and legal services;
www.palawhelp.org

Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae):
www.ginniemae.gov/

Housing Assistance Council information for providers:
www.ruralhome.org/

Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC):
www.lisc.org/
This site contains a voluminous collection of training materials and information on housing preservation, Section 8 and tenant issues.

National Center for Healthy Housing:
www.centerforhealthyhousing.org/

• Other contacts:
  https://mycil.org/
  www.sdhp.org