HUD Ends the Hold Harmless Policy on its Section 8
Income Limits
On May 12, 2010, HUD posted a
Pre-publication Draft
of Final Notice on Ending the Hold-Harmless Policy for Section 8 Income
Limits. According to this pre-publication notice,
HUD will eliminate the hold-harmless policy in estimating Section 8 income
limits.
Beginning with the 2010 income limits, HUD's Hold Harmless Policy will end
which will allow the Section 8 income limits to decrease.
Decreases will be limited to a 5% maximum and increases will be limited to
the greater of 5% or twice the change in national median family income
increase or decrease. For example, if the national estimate of median family
income increased by 3% from the previous year, local income limits could
change by up to 6%.
HUD also announced that rents used in its HOME Investment Partnerships
program (HOME) will
continue to be held harmless and that income limits for rural housing
programs will continue their current hold-harmless policy, based on
different area definitions.
The income limits for Multifamily Tax Subsidy Programs
(MTSPs which include Tax Credit and
Tax-Exempt Bond Programs) will continue to follow
the formulas set out in the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008
(HERA or H.R. 3221).
Specifically, HERA provides that Area Median Gross Incomes
(AMGIs)
will be held harmless and not be less than the previous year's AMGI. In
addition, the HERA Special Income Limit policy for MTSP projects affected by
HUD's Hold Harmless Policy in 2007 and 2008 continues to apply.
This is a pre-publication notice which means it must still be officially
published in the Federal Register. Prior to the publication of this notice,
HUD had requested public comments regarding their proposed changed to end
this policy. The pre-publication notice, summarizes the comments received
and HUD's responses.
It is expected that now that this decision has been made, the 2010 Income
Limits for HUD and MTSP Programs will be released shortly.
Click here for
a copy of the Pre-publication Notice |
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