Injunction Issued in PBCA NOFA Case

The U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals issued an injunction in the case CMS Contract Management et al v. United States, in which some eight Performance-Based Contract Administrators had challenged HUD’s procedures and criteria for awarding PBCA contracts through a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) process. Previously, in late April 2013, the Court of Federal Claims had ruled to validate HUD’s NOFA method of awarding contracts to administer the Department’s project-based rental assistance programs. The Court found that these contracts were cooperative agreements and therefore, the manner in which HUD awarded these contracts was proper. This decision was appealed to the U.S. Federal Circuit Court, and in issuing the injunction, the Court of Appeals has barred HUD from moving forward with the awarding of PBCA contracts which it recently announced on Aug. 6, 2013 (see http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/housing/mfh/PBCA%20NOFA).