Determination of Housing Assistance Payments
HAP is the rent subsidy that the Housing Authority pays to a landlord on the tenant's behalf. There are four factors that determine how the Housing Authority calculates the HAP:
- Subsidy Standards
- Payment Standards
- TTP
- Gross Rent
Subsidy Standards
The subsidy standards are used to determine the maximum rent subsidy for the Housing Choice Voucher. For the purpose of determining subsidy standards, the voucher size will be assigned so that the head of household and his / her spouse, is allocated one bedroom. All remaining members are allocated one bedroom for every two family members, as specified in the section "Determining Voucher Size". The Housing Authority does not determine who shares a bedroom.
Families requesting reasonable accommodation due to disability should check with the Section 504 Coordinator.
Request for live-in-aide:
- The live-in-aide must be at least 18 ;ears old, and provide a social security card and/or a government issued identification.
- The live-in-aide will be required to sign a Statement of Understanding which outlines the policies governing the live-in-aide status.
- Your Case Worker will guide through the process of requesting a live-in-aide.
Payment Standards
A payment standard is an amount established by HA's based on HUD's published Fair Market Rents for each market area and for unit size. The unit size means number of bedrooms in the unit.
The family may select a different size unit than the voucher size listed on the Housing Choice Voucher. The family may choose to rent a smaller size unit as long as the unit is within the maximum occupancy level under the HQS. HUD defines maximum occupancy level as two persons per bedroom/sleeping room. A living room may be counted as a sleeping room.
The payment standard does not necessarily equal "Rent to Owner". The payment standard is the lower of:
- The payment standard for the voucher size listed on the Housing Choice Voucher; or
- The payment standard for the size of the unit rented by the family
Once the payment standard is determined, the HHA uses the payment standard to calculate the monthly housing assistance payment for a family.
The current payment standards can be found here.
Total Tenant Payment
The TTP is the greater of:
- 30% of the family's monthly adjusted income
- 10% of the monthly gross income
- Minimum rent ($50.00)
In most cases, the TTP is 30% of the family's monthly adjusted income. Adjusted income means your gross income minus the HUD allowable deductions.
Gross Rent
Gross rent is the rent to owner plus any utility allowance. The utility allowance is based on the utilities that the tenant is responsible for paying. The most recent Utility Allowance Schedule is included in this packet.
Mixed family
Eligibility for federal housing assistance is limited to US Citizens and applicants who have eligible immigration status.
A mixed family is eligible for prorated assistance. Prorated assistance is a calculation of subsidy based on the number of members who are citizens or have eligible immigration status. As a result mixed families will pay a larger amount towards rent than the Total Tenant Payment listed on their Housing Choice Voucher.
