The Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016 (HOTMA) was enacted on July 29, 2016. This proposed rule would revise HUD regulations to put sections 102, 103, and 104 of HOTMA into effect. These sections make sweeping changes to the United States Housing Act of 1937, particularly those affecting income calculation and reviews.
- Section 102 changes requirements pertaining to income reviews for public housing and HUD's Section 8 programs.
- Section 103 modifies the continued occupancy standards of public housing residents whose income has grown above the threshold for initial eligibility.
- Section 104 sets maximum limits on the assets that families residing in public housing and Section 8 assisted housing may have. Additionally, section 104 provides that HUD must direct public housing agencies to require that all applicants for and recipients of assistance through HUD's public housing or Section 8 programs provide authorization for public housing agencies to obtain financial records needed for eligibility determinations.
The Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) regulations incorporate 24 CFR §5.609 and 24 CFR §5.611 requirements on calculating income, assets, and recertification. Please take time to review this proposed rule, as Sections 102 and 104 will directly impact HOPWA’s resident rent calculations, maximum asset limits, and income recertification requirements. Additionally, HOTMA struck the Section 8 statutory authority of Earned Income Disregard (EID) from the Section 8 statute and removed implementing regulations from 24 CFR §5.617. The Section 8 EID authority and implementing regulations are the underlying authority for HOPWA grantees and project sponsors to disregard earned income by participants returning to employment. EID allowed for the disregard of 100% of a beneficiary’s income in the first year after beginning new employment and 50% of their income in the second year of employment.
- Submission of Comments by Mail. Comments may be submitted by mail to: Regulations Division, Office of General Counsel, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW., Room 10276, Washington, DC 20410–0500.
- Electronic Submission of Comments. Interested persons may submit comments electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal.
HUD strongly encourages commenters to submit comments electronically. Electronic submission of comments allows the commenter maximum time to prepare and submit a comment, ensures timely receipt by HUD, and enables HUD to make them immediately available to the public. Comments submitted electronically through the www.regulations.gov website can be viewed by other commenters and interested members of the public. Commenters should follow the instructions provided on that site to submit comments electronically.
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