Skip to Main Content
menu
menu

HCV Program Overview

Roles and Responsibilities of Key Program Players

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the arm of the federal government that is accountable for public housing programs, has four major responsibilities:

  • Interpret housing legislation;
  • Allocate annual appropriations for housing assistance payment funds;
  • Provide technical assistance to Housing Authorities; and
  • Monitor PHA compliance with program requirements

The Housing Authority serves as the contract administrator for HUD and has four broad areas of responsibility:

  • Determine initial and continued eligibility of families;
  • Certify that the units meet federal Housing Quality Standards (HQS);
  • Pay Housing Assistance to landlords; and
  • Monitor compliance with federal and state rules.

The Landlord has the following major responsibilities:

  • Tenant selection and screening;
  • Compliance with the Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) Contract;
  • Maintain the unit in accordance with the federal Housing Quality Standards;
  • Collect the tenant portion of the rent and enforce the lease

The Family's responsibilities are:

  • To abide by the requirements of the lease, pay rent on time, not damage the unit beyond normal wear and tear;
  • To provide income and family information to TGHA;
  • To cooperate with TGHA in inspections and reexaminations.

State Laws

State landlord and tenant rights and responsibilities are found under Arkansas Code of Laws, Title 27. These laws remain applicable under the Housing Choice Voucher Program. As a landlord, you should be familiar with these laws. You can obtain this information by visiting arkleg.state.ar.us.

Housing Choice Voucher Program Relationships 

Voucher – The voucher is the contractual document between the Housing Authority and the program participant. The voucher sets forth the family obligations under the program and violation of these obligations can result in termination of assistance.

The voucher "size" refers to the number of bedrooms which the family is eligible to rent. Generally the size is based on two people per bedroom with some exceptions.

HAP Contract – The Housing Assistance Payment contract is the contractual relationship between the Housing Authority and the Landlord. The HAP contract sets forth the obligations of the owner and the Housing Authority under the program including:

  1. The owner cannot charge the tenant for any additional rent amount beyond the amount approved by the Housing Authority.
  2. The owners must maintain the unit at all times in compliance with the federal housing quality standards.
  3. The owner cannot charge the tenant for any portion of the housing assistance payment if the housing authority "holds" or "abates" the payment for non-compliance with the terms of the HAP contract.
  4. The Housing Authority is obligated to make timely payments to the owner based on availability of funding.
  5. The HAP contract terminates automatically if the tenant vacates the unit but the owner may retain the HAP payment for the month in which the tenant vacated.

Lease – The lease agreement is the contractual relationship between the landlord and the tenant. The Housing Authority does not provide the lease; is not a party to the lease; and cannot enforce the lease. Lease enforcement is the sole responsibility of the landlord or his/her management agent.

The voucher contains a family obligation that requires the family to "not commit any serious or repeated violations of the lease." If a family repeatedly violates the lease, they can lose their housing assistance. However, the Housing Authority can only take action against the tenant if the landlord provides adequate documentation of lease violations.

Rent Limits, Tenant Rent, and Housing Assistance Payments

HUD defines rent as the amount of rent charged for the unit plus an allowance for any essential utilities paid by the tenant. The amount of rent that a landlord can charge for a unit under the Housing Choice Voucher program is capped by the following factors:

  1. Market Comparability – The Housing Authority is required to conduct a rent reasonableness comparability analysis for each unit based on other similar non-subsidized units in the area.
  2. Payment Standards – HUD publishes Fair Market Rents (FMR's) by bedroom size on an annual basis for each area of the country. The Housing Authority establishes payment standards between 90% and 110% of the HUD published FMR's. The payment standards represent the maximum amount of subsidy that the Housing Authority will pay for the size of the family's voucher. Payment standards are "gross" rents and include the rent charged by the owner plus an allowance for any utilities paid by the tenant.
  3. Affordability – The tenant may rent a unit above the payment standards but cannot pay more than 40% of their monthly adjusted income for their portion of the rent.
  4. Unassisted Rent – The rent charged to the voucher tenant cannot exceed the amount charged for the same unit or other units if a multi-family property, to non-voucher tenants.

Tenant Rent – The tenant portion of the rent is calculated based on 30% of monthly adjusted income as defined by federal regulations. When the allowance allotted for tenant paid utilities is greater than the tenant rent, the tenant pays zero to the landlord and receives a utility reimbursement payment.

Maximum Rent Limits – If the rent charged by the owner plus the allowance for tenant paid utilities is greater than the payment standard for the size of the voucher, the tenant has to pay the entire amount above the payment standard. If this amount of tenant rent calculated per the HUD formula plus any additional amount above the payment standard results in more than 40% of the tenants' monthly adjusted income, the Housing Authority cannot approve the rent even if it is "reasonable."

Maximize Rent Potential - Generally you should only rent to families with a voucher size equivalent to the size of your rental unit. The maximum subsidy the family can receive is based on the size of their voucher so if they are trying to rent a unit larger than their voucher it may not pass the affordability test (tenant can pay no more than 40% of their monthly income).