Item HA 03 - Update to the Housing Choice Voucher Administrative Plan

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Administrative Plan 7/1/2025 Page 18-22 Income Eligibility [FR Notice 8/13/24] With some exceptions, the PHA must determine income eligibility for VASH families in accordance with 24 CFR 982.201 and policies in Section 3-II.A. Low-income families (80 percent of AMI) are eligible for assistance under VASH, and PHAs may not condition eligibility based on additional eligibility criteria specified in its administrative plan. If the family is over- income based on the most recently published income limits for the family size, the family will be ineligible for assistance. The following alternative requirements related to income apply to VASH families:  The PHA must determine the applicant’s annual income for purposes of income eligibility by excluding all VA service-connected benefits received by the applicant. This special income exclusion only applies to the definition of annual income for purposes of determining income eligibility. If the HUD-VASH applicant qualifies as a low-income family under the alternative requirement, the VA service-connected benefits (with the exception of the normally excluded deferred VA disability payments under 24 CFR 5.609(b)(16) and the payments related to aid and attendance under 24 CFR 5.609(b)(17)) must still be included as annual income when calculating the family’s adjusted income. In other words, the VA service-connected disability benefits are excluded for purposes of determining income eligibility but included for purposes of calculating the family’s total tenant payment (TTP), housing assistance payment (HAP), and family share.  When a veteran family reports that they have zero income, the PHA must accept a self- certification of zero income from the family at admission and at reexamination without taking any additional steps to verify the family is indeed zero income. The self-certification does not need to be notarized. The PHA must verify families’ income in the Enterprise Income Verification (EIV) system within 120 days after admission. The PHA may not deny zero income families.  Regardless of PHA policy, in determining compliance with the asset limitation at admission, for the VASH program, the PHA must accept a self-certification by the family that the family’s total assets are equal to or less than the HUD-published asset limitation amount (adjusted annually) and that the family does not have any present ownership interest in real property, without taking additional steps to verify the accuracy of the declaration.  The PHA must not enforce the asset limitation for VASH families at reexamination.  In addition, because there needs to be a monthly housing assistance payment (HAP) in order to enter into a HAP contract on behalf of a tenant-based voucher family, the utilization of tenant-based VASH assistance by families determined income-eligible is limited to those areas where the family’s (TTP) is less than the applicable payment standard or exception payment standard (including any VASH-specific exception payment standard established by the PHA). The family must select a unit with a gross rent that is above the family’s TTP in order to lease a unit with the tenant-based VASH voucher. EXHIBIT 1