| (a) For all rental programs administered by the Department,
annual income shall be determined consistent with the Section 8 Program
administered by HUD, using the definitions of annual income described
in 24 CFR §5.609 as further described in the HUD Handbook 4350.3,
as amended from time to time. For the Housing Tax Credit program,
where there is a conflict between the HUD Handbook 4350.3 and the
IRS Guide for Completing IRS Form 8823, the IRS guidance will be controlling.
At the time of program designation as a low income household, Owners
must certify and document household income. In general, all low income
households must be certified prior to move in. Certification and documentation
of household income is an Owner's responsibility, even if the Owner
is using a manager's services to handle tenant intake and leasing.
Accordingly, Owners should ensure that they hire competent and properly
trained managers and that they exercise appropriate oversight of any
manager's activities.
(b) For the initial certification of a household residing
in a HOME, NHTF, NSP, or TCAP RF assisted unit, Owners must examine
at least two months of source documents evidencing annual income (e.g.,
wage statement, interest statement, unemployment compensation).
(c) A household's income designation at the time of
move in cannot be changed unless:
(1) The household goes over income and they are replaced
with another low income household;
(2) The Development has a written policy and procedure
for changing household designations as household income changes;
(3) The household receives rental assistance, and due
to changes in their income, their portion of required rent exceeds
the rent limit of their move in designation;
(4) The household is designated as Market Rate and
a certification is performed that completely and clearly documents
that the household is qualified as low income;
(5) The household has been designated as low income
and they become, or it is determined that they have been, an ineligible
full time student household. If the Development has Units that do
not have student restrictions, the household can continue occupancy,
and their designation may be removed; or
(6) The household's designation is being lowered.
|
