1/21/2011 Edits to Admin

1/21/2011 Edits to Admin

1. Section 3.2.D. Social Security Number Documentation

Section should read: “Prior to admission, every family member regardless of age must provide the XYZ Housing Authority with a complete and accurate Social Security Number unless they do not contend eligible immigration status. New family members must provide this verification within ninety (90) days prior to being added to the lease. The Housing Authority may grant one ninety (90) day extension if in its sole discretion it determines that the person’s failure to comply was due to circumstances that could not have reasonably been foreseen and was outside the control of the person.

If a person is already a program participant and has not disclosed his or her Social Security Number, it must be disclosed at the next re-examination or re-certification.

Participants aged 62 or older as of January 31, 2010 whose initial eligibility determination was begun before January 31, 2010 are exempt from the required disclosure of their Social Security Number. This exemption continues even if the individual moves to a new assisted unit.

The best verification of the Social Security Number is the original Social Security card. If the card is not available, the Housing Authority will accept an original document issued by a federal or state government agency, which contains the name of the individual and the Social Security Number of the individual, along with other identifying information of the individual or such other evidence of the Social Security Number as HUD may prescribe in administrative instructions.

If a member of an applicant family indicates they have a Social Security Number, but cannot readily verify it, the family cannot be assisted until verification is provided. If the Social Security Number of each household member cannot be provided to the XYZ Housing Authority within XXX days of it being requested, the family shall lose its place on the waiting list and drop to the bottom of the list. [INSTEAD OF DROPPING TO THE BOTTOM OF THE WAITING LIST, YOU MAY SUBSTITUTE “are removed from the waiting list”] During this XXX days, if all household members have not disclosed their SSN at the time a unit becomes available, the XYZ Housing Authority must offer the available unit to the next eligible applicant family on the waiting list.

If an individual fails to provide the verification within the time allowed, the family will be denied assistance or will have their assistance terminated. The Housing Authority may grant one ninety (90) day extension from termination if in its sole discretion it determines that the person’s failure to comply was due to circumstances that could not have reasonably been foreseen and there is a reasonable likelihood that the person will be able to disclose a Social Security Number by the deadline.”

2. Section 3.2.F Suitability for tenancy

2nd paragraph should read: “The XYZ Housing Authority will check with the State sex offender registration program and will ban for life any individual who is registered as a lifetime sex offender. The XYZ Housing Authority will check with our state registry and if the applicant has resided in another State(s), with that State(s)’s list. The XYZ Housing Authority will utilize the US Department of Justice’s Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender website as an additional resource. The Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Database is an online, searchable database, hosted by the Department of Justice, which combines the data from individual state sex offender registries.”

3. Section 4.2 Taking Applications

Section should read: “Families wishing to apply for the Section 8 Program will be required to complete an application for housing assistance. Applications will be accepted during regular business hours at:

(Fill out the address or addresses where applications are accepted)

Applications are taken to compile a waiting list. Due to the demand for Section 8 assistance in the XYZ Housing Authority jurisdiction, the XYZ Housing Authority may take applications on an open enrollment basis, depending on the length of the waiting list.

When the waiting list is open, completed applications will be accepted from all applicants. The XYZ Housing Authority will later verify the information in the applications relevant to the applicant’s eligibility, admission, and level of benefit.

Applicants will be provided the opportunity to complete the information on form HUD-92006, Supplement to Application for Federally Assisted Housing. The form gives applicants the option to identify an individual or organization that the Housing Authority may contact and the reason(s) the individual or organization may be contacted. The applicants, if they choose to provide the additional contact information, must sign and date the form.

If the applicant chooses to have more than one contact person or organization, the applicant must make clear to the Housing Authority the reason each person or organization may be contacted. The Housing Authority will allow the applicant to complete a form HUD-92006 for each contact and indicating the reason the Housing Authority may contact the individual or organization. For example, the applicant may choose to have a relative as a contact for emergency purposes and an advocacy organization for assistance for tenancy purposes.

Those applicants who choose not to provide the contact information should check the box indicating that they “choose not to provide the contact information” and sign and date the form.

Applications may be made in person on (Insert the days of the week and office times). Applications will be mailed to interested families upon request.

The completed application will be dated and time stamped upon its return to the XYZ Housing Authority.

Persons with disabilities who require a reasonable accommodation in completing an application may call the XYZ Housing Authority to make special arrangements to complete their application. A Telecommunication Device for the Deaf (TDD) is available for the deaf. The TDD telephone number is (Insert the telephone number).

The application process will involve two phases. The first phase is the initial application for housing assistance or the pre-application. The pre-application requires the family to provide limited basic information including name, address, phone number, family composition and family unit size, racial or ethnic designation of the head of household, income category, and information establishing any preferences to which they may be entitled. This first phase results in the family’s placement on the waiting list if deemed apparently eligible.

Upon receipt of the family's pre-application, the XYZ Housing Authority will make a preliminary determination of eligibility. The XYZ Housing Authority will notify the family in writing of the date and time of placement on the waiting list and the approximate amount of time before housing assistance may be offered. If the XYZ Housing Authority determines the family to be ineligible, the notice will state the reasons therefore and offer the family the opportunity of an informal review of this determination.

An applicant is encouraged to report changes in their applicant status including changes in family composition, income, or preference factors. The XYZ Housing Authority will annotate the applicant’s file and will update their place on the waiting list. Confirmation of the changes will be confirmed with the family in writing.

The second phase is the final determination of eligibility, referred to as the full application. The full application takes place when the family nears the top of the waiting list. The XYZ Housing Authority will ensure that verification of all preferences, eligibility, suitability selection factors are current in order to determine the family’s final eligibility for admission into the Section 8 Program.

Applicants will also be given the opportunity to update their HUD Form 92006 if applicable and if they so desire.”

4. Section 10.4 Verification of Social Security Numbers

If a person is already a program participant and has not disclosed his or her Social Security Number, it must be disclosed at the next re-examination or re-certification. Participants aged 62 or older as of January 31, 2010 whose initial eligibility determination was begun before January 31, 2010 are exempt from the required disclosure of their Social Security Number. This exemption continues even if the individual moves to a new assisted unit.

If a member of an applicant family indicates they have a Social Security Number, but cannot readily verify it, the family cannot be assisted until verification is provided. If an individual fails to provide the verification within the time allowed, the family will be denied assistance or will have their assistance terminated. The Housing Authority may grant one ninety (90) day extension from termination if in its sole discretion it determines that the person’s failure to comply was due to circumstances that could not have reasonably been foreseen and there is a reasonable likelihood that the person will be able to disclose a Social Security Number by the deadline.”

5. Section 10.6 Frequency Of Obtaining Verification

In third paragraph: In first sentence, delete “age 6 and above”. Delete final sentence.

Paragraph should read, “For each family member, verification of Social Security number will be obtained only once. This verification will be accomplished prior to admission. When a family member who did not have a Social Security number at admission receives a Social Security number, that number will be verified at the next regular reexamination.”

6. Section 14.1 General

Changes to fifth paragraph: Add Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Database information. Paragraph should read: “Also, during the recertification, each household shall be asked whether any member is subject to the lifetime registration requirement under a state registration program. The Housing Authority will verify this information using the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Database and document this information in the same method used at admission. For any admissions after June 25, 2001 (the effective date of the Screening and Eviction for Drug Abuse and Other Criminal Activity final rule), if the recertification screening reveals that the tenant or a member of the tenant’s household is subject to a lifetime sex offender registration requirement, or that the tenant has falsified information or otherwise failed to disclose his or her criminal history on their application and/or recertification forms, the Housing Authority will pursue eviction of the household.

If a family is about to be evicted from housing based on either the criminal check or the sex offender registration program, the applicant will be informed of this fact and given an opportunity to dispute the accuracy of the information before the eviction occurs.”

7. Section 28.2.E.3 Preservation Prepayments / Characteristics of Enhanced Voucher Assistance / Effect of Family Unit Size Limitation – Initial Issuance

Section should read: “The XYZ Housing Authority will issue the family an enhanced voucher based on its Subsidy Standards, not on the actual size of the unit the family is currently occupying. However, if the family wishes to stay in the property, but is living in an oversized unit, the enhanced voucher family must move to an appropriate size unit in the property if one is available. To the extent there are more over-housed families than appropriate size units available at any time, the XYZ Housing Authority will determine based on family circumstances (age, frailty, etc.) which families will be required to move.

If there is no appropriate size unit currently available for the family in the project, the XYZ Housing Authority will execute a voucher HAP contract on behalf of the family for the oversized unit, provided the rent is reasonable and the unit complies with all other voucher program requirements such as the housing quality standards.The enhanced voucher housing subsidy calculation will be based on the gross rent for the oversized unit. The subsidy calculation will continue to be based on the gross rent (including subsequent rent increases) for the oversized unit[1] until an appropriate size unit in the project becomes available for occupancy by the family.

The owner must immediately inform the PHA and the family when an appropriate size unit will become available in the project. When an appropriate size unit becomes available, the enhanced voucher family residing in the oversized unit must move to the appropriate size unit in a reasonable time (as determined by the XYZ Housing Authority) to continue to receive enhanced voucher assistance. The family and owner will enter into a new lease and the housing authority will execute a new voucher HAP contract with the owner for the appropriate size unit. The enhanced voucher subsidy calculation is based on the gross rent for the appropriate size unit.

If an over-housed enhanced voucher family refuses to move to the appropriate size unit, the XYZ Housing Authority will recalculate the family’s housing assistance payment for the oversized unit based on the normally applicable voucher subsidy formula using the applicable payment standard established by the XYZ Housing Authority for its voucher program. The family will be responsible for any amount of the gross rent not covered by the housing assistance payment.

The effective date of the housing assistance payment contract for the oversized unit will not be earlier than the expiration date of the term of the family voucher. The family will be responsible for the full rent of the unit prior to the effective date of the housing assistance payment contract.