Section 8 policy change
Changes in income and mid-year rent
increases
Reporting
changes in income
All families are required to report
changes in income as they occur. Up to this point, SHA has
always lowered a family’s rent when a family reports a
decrease in income, but has not increased rent as income has
increased until the family’s next annual review.
Now, it is more important than ever
for families to report all changes in household income
within 10 days.
Rent
increases
SHA will recalculate a family’s
share of rent when a family has an increase in income of at
least $100 a month.
Families must report new income to
SHA within 10 days of receiving it, and then SHA will notify
them of the new rent amount. Generally, the new rent amount
takes effect 30 days after SHA notifies the family of the
change.
Rent decreases
Households that request an increase in subsidy because
of loss of employment are now required to submit an
eligibility determination from Employment Security for
unemployment benefits when they request the rent
reduction. Their unemployment benefits will be used in
the new calculation of their rent share.
When did
this change affect households?
This policy went into effect for all
income changes reported after October 1, 2003.
Families must be very careful to report
new income as soon as they receive it, so that their rent
can be changed in a timely manner. If they fail to report new
income when they receive it, the family will have to repay
any excess subsidy that SHA paid on their behalf from the
time they received their new income to the time of their
next annual review. If the overpayment is so large that the
family cannot repay it within a reasonable amount of time,
the family risks losing their voucher.
All reports of income changes must be
made in writing.
Other
Section 8 cost savings proposals
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