In short
Regulation 9618 of 21 November 2024 establishes the formal adjudicative procedures of the Housing Department and its attached agencies, under the Uniform Administrative Procedure Act, Act No. 38-2017. Its most important rule for anyone whose benefit has been denied, cancelled or revoked is the one on reconsideration. Any party adversely affected by a final resolution or order may file a motion for reconsideration within twenty days from the date the notification of the resolution or order is filed in the record. And then comes the detail that loses cases: if the date the copy of the notification was filed in the record differs from the date of deposit in ordinary mail or of sending by email, the twenty-day term is computed from the date of the mail deposit or the electronic sending, as applicable. Once filed, the Department has fifteen days to consider the motion. If it rejects it outright or does not act on it within those fifteen days, the term to seek judicial review starts running again from notification of the denial or from the expiry of the fifteen days. If the Department does take a determination, the judicial-review term runs from the date a copy of the notification of the resolution definitively resolving the motion is filed in the record.
What is it?
It is the rulebook for when you disagree with a Housing Department decision. It applies to the Department and its attached agencies, so it covers what the Public Housing Administration and the subsidy programmes decide, not just the central office. The regulation distinguishes informal procedures, for matters resolved without a formal hearing, from formal adjudicative ones, which involve a presiding official — an Examining Officer or an Administrative Judge —, parties, intervenors, evidence and a written resolution. And it guarantees things worth knowing are written down: due process of law, reasonable accommodation, and a provision on the language in which the procedure is conducted. The piece most people need, though, is the last one: what to do once the resolution has issued and it does not favour you.
Who can do it?
The regulation defines who may seek reconsideration in a broad phrase: any party adversely affected by a final resolution or order. It does not require being the original applicant or being represented by a lawyer; the regulation’s own index contemplates self-representation, alongside legal representation and its possible disqualification. It also contemplates intervenors — third parties asking to take part — with criteria for adjudicating that request and the possibility that intervention is denied.
Requirements
- Being a party adversely affected by a final resolution or order of the Department or one of its attached agencies.Verified against the official source
- Filing the motion for reconsideration within twenty days from the filing of the notification in the record, or from the deposit in ordinary mail or the sending by email if that date differs.Verified against the official source
- Filing documents on letter-size paper, in printed 12-point type and double-spaced.Verified against the official source
- Including a table of contents in any document exceeding fifteen pages, except transcriptions or exhibits.Verified against the official source
Documents you need
Cost
Step by step
Step 1: Look at the notification and find two dates, not one
The general rule is that the twenty days run from the date the notification of the resolution or order is filed in the record. But the regulation adds a decisive proviso: if the date the copy of the notification was filed in the record differs from the date of deposit in ordinary mail or of sending by email, the twenty-day term is computed from the date of the mail deposit or the electronic sending, as applicable. Translated: do not count from the day you opened the envelope, nor from the date in the resolution’s header. Find the postmark or email date and compare it with the filing-in-record date, and count from whichever applies.
Step 2: File the motion for reconsideration
Any party adversely affected by a final resolution or order may file a motion for reconsideration. The regulation does not require a lawyer — it expressly contemplates self-representation — but it does require form: letter-size paper, printed 12-point type, double-spaced, and a table of contents if the document exceeds fifteen pages, except transcriptions or exhibits. In the initial filing the caption carries the names of all claimants and respondents; afterwards the first on each side suffices, with “and others”.
Step 3: Count fifteen days, and note what silence means
The Department, within fifteen days of the motion for reconsideration being filed, shall proceed to consider it. There are two paths here and both are worth being clear about. If the Department rejects the reconsideration request outright, or simply does not act on it within the fifteen days, the term to seek judicial review starts running again from notification of that denial or from the expiry of those fifteen days after filing. If the Department does take a determination in considering it, the term to seek judicial review starts running from the date a copy of the notification of the resolution definitively resolving the motion is filed in the record. The agency’s silence does not buy you time: it starts the judicial-review clock.
Step 4: If you withdraw your complaint, there is its own rule
The regulation governs withdrawal in three cases. You may withdraw by filing a notice of withdrawal at any time before the respondent files and notifies its first appearance. If you withdraw after that initial appearance, the withdrawal is with prejudice and the respondent has ten days to oppose it; in those cases, granting the withdrawal is at the Department’s discretion. And at any stage you may withdraw by stipulation signed by all parties. Withdrawal is without prejudice unless the notice or stipulation says otherwise. In short: withdrawing early is not the same as withdrawing late.
Step 5: Ask for reasonable accommodation if you need it
The regulation devotes a section to reasonable accommodation within its general norms and procedures, alongside the due-process guarantee and a provision on language. If you have a condition that makes it hard to take part in a hearing or comply with a step, accommodation is provided for and is requested; it is not a favour. Subsequent judicial review goes to the Court of Appeals, and the regulation provides for the record to be elevated for that purpose.
Where to do it
The motion for reconsideration is filed with the Housing Department or the attached agency that issued the resolution or order. Regulation 9618 is published in the Regulations section of vivienda.pr.gov. Subsequent judicial review lies with the Court of Appeals. If you need in-person guidance, the Department has ten regional offices and this site carries the directory.
How long it takes
What to do if something goes wrong
First, on the source: the PDF of Regulation 9618 has a partially degraded text layer — there are pages whose margins decode as noise. Everything this guide asserts was read in clean, continuous passages; nothing was reconstructed from illegible text. If you need to cite a rule in a filing, read it in the original. Second, what the regulation does not publish and is not invented here: there is no published filing fee, no published term for a case to be resolved, and this guide does not reproduce the judicial-review deadline before the Court of Appeals, which is set by Act 38-2017 and not by this regulation; confirm it before counting days. Third, a misreading worth warning about because it is easy to make: the regulation’s ten-day term is not for opposing a reconsideration, it is for opposing a withdrawal with prejudice; and the fifteen pages are not a limit, they are the threshold above which a document must carry a table of contents. Fourth: if your problem is with a federal programme administered by another entity — for example a decision of a municipal public housing administration or of a Section 8 plan run by a third party — confirm first that the resolution was issued by the Department or an attached agency, because whether this regulation applies depends on that. And fifth, the most useful advice: do not wait for the Department to answer the reconsideration before starting to prepare the judicial review, because if it does not act within fifteen days the clock starts by itself.
Common mistakes
- Counting the twenty days from the day you opened the envelope instead of from the filing in the record or the mail deposit.
- Ignoring the email date when the notification arrived that way.
- Believing the Department’s silence pauses the term: at fifteen days the judicial-review clock starts.
- Thinking a lawyer is required: the regulation contemplates self-representation.
- Submitting a filing of more than fifteen pages without a table of contents.
- Withdrawing the complaint after the initial appearance without knowing that withdrawal is with prejudice.
- Not requesting reasonable accommodation when needed, though the regulation provides for it.
- Waiting for the reconsideration to be resolved before starting to prepare the judicial review.
Frequently asked questions
How many days do I have to seek reconsideration?
Twenty days from the date the notification of the final resolution or order was filed in the record. If that date differs from the deposit in ordinary mail or the sending by email, the twenty days count from the mail deposit or the electronic sending, as applicable.
What happens if the Department does not answer?
The Department has fifteen days to consider the motion. If it rejects it outright or does not act within those fifteen days, the term to seek judicial review starts running again from notification of the denial or from the expiry of the fifteen days.
Do I need a lawyer?
The regulation expressly contemplates self-representation, alongside legal representation. It does not say a lawyer is mandatory. PRFácil gives no legal advice and represents nobody.
Official sources
These are the government pages this guide is based on.
- Departamento de la Vivienda
Vivienda
docs.pr.gov
- Housing Department regulations
vivienda
www.vivienda.pr.gov
Last verified
August 15, 2026
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