Get Latest WorkWORLD

Housing Assistance Payment - Section 8

The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is the amount of subsidy paid to the owner of the rental unit by the Public Housing Agency (PHA) or HUD. It is used to calculate the amount of rent that you must pay only if you are participating in the Tenant-Based Voucher program. (See Family Rent-to-Owner for details.)

The following information about calculating the Housing Assistance Payment applies only to the Tenant-Based Voucher Program.

Calculating HAP for the Tenant-Based Voucher Program

The PHA pays to the owner of your rental unit a monthly housing assistance payment on behalf of your family that is equal to the lower of:

(1) The payment standard for your family minus the total tenant payment; or

(2) The gross rent minus the total tenant payment.

The payment standard for the family is the lower of:

The payment standard amount for the family unit size; or

The payment standard amount for the size of the dwelling unit rented by the family.

(See Payment Standard for details.)

Total Tenant Payment: The highest of the following amounts, rounded to the nearest dollar:

(1) 30% of your family's Adjusted Monthly Income;

(2) 10% of your family's monthly Gross Non-Excluded Income. (Your Gross Non-Excluded Income is your total income after subtracting income exclusions.);

(3) If the family is receiving payments for welfare assistance from a public agency and a part of those payments, adjusted in accordance with the family's actual housing costs, is specifically designated by such agency to meet the family's housing costs, the portion of those payments which is so designated; or

(4) The minimum rent set by your Public Housing Agency (PHA).

Gross Rent: The Rent-to-Owner plus any Utility Allowance.

Utility Allowance: The PHA estimates the cost of any utilities that are not included in the Rent-to-Owner. For units in the Tenant-Based Voucher program, the PHA follows these guidelines:

"The utility allowance must be determined based on the typical cost of utilities and services paid by energy-conservative households that occupy housing of similar size and type in the same locality. In developing the estimate, the PHA must use normal patterns of consumption for the community as a whole and current utility rates."

"The utility allowance for an individual family must include the utilities and services that are necessary in the locality to provide housing that complies with the housing quality standards. However, the PHA may not provide any allowance for non-essential utility costs, such as costs of cable or satellite television."

"Higher utility allowance as reasonable accommodation for a person with disabilities: On request from a family that includes a person with disabilities, the PHA must approve a utility allowance which is higher than the applicable amount on the utility allowance schedule if a higher utility allowance is needed as a reasonable accommodation in accordance with 24CFR8 to make the program accessible to and usable by the family member with a disability."

NOTE: The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is available at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/.

Source:

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR): 24CFR982.505 & 518

Back to:

Section 8 Housing Overview

Federal Rent Assistance

WorkWORLD™ Help/Information System

   Share/Save: Click the button or link at left to select your favorite bookmark service and add this page.

This is one topic from the thousands available in the WorkWORLD™ software Help/Information System.
Complete information about the software is available at: http://www.WorkWORLD.org