| (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 the services of a manager or management company to handle
tenant intake and leasing. Accordingly, Owners should ensure that
they hire competent and properly trained managers or management companies
and that they exercise appropriate oversight of any managers or management
companies.
(b) For every certification, requiring verification
of income and assets, of a household residing in a HOME, NHTF, NSP,
TCAP RF, or HOME-ARP assisted Unit, Owners must examine at least two
months (60 days) of source documents evidencing annual income (e.g.,
wage statement, interest statement, unemployment compensation). Qualified
populations in HOME-ARP Units may not need to meet an income requirement
upon move-in, but will have their income verified to determine rental
portion of payment.
(c) Department administered programs are permitted
to utilize the Section 8 Verification of income process, available
on the Department website, for the verification of household income
at initial or subsequent annual certifications. This permission is
removed if any entity that is in the Control of the operation of the
Development or is in any way associated with the certifying Housing
Authority. This permission is only granted for households that currently
are utilizing a Housing Choice Voucher. No other means tested verifications
are allowable.
(d) A household's lowest designation, as recorded on
the Income Certification, at the time of move in, cannot be increased
unless the household was found to never have income qualified for
the Unit, no longer income qualifies for the Unit, or program rules
required the change. In addition, a household's low income status
cannot be removed because of an increase in income at recertification
unless the increase causes the Unit to go over income as defined in §10.615
of this subchapter (relating to Elections under IRC §42(g) and
Additional Income and Rent Restrictions for HTC, Exchange, and TCAP
Developments), IRC §42(g), or the HOME Final Rule.
(e) For all programs, for every certification that
requires verification of income and assets, those verifications must
be dated within 120 days of the certification effective date. The
only exceptions are lifetime benefits (e.g. pension, annuities, Social
Security).
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