CARH’S BROADCAST E-MAIL – Regulatory Alert

March 9, 2015

In December, CARH informed members that due to the 2014 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L 113-76) ,which defines extremely low-income families as very low-income families whose income does not exceed the greater of the federal poverty guidelines as published by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), HUD had decided to delay the Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 Income Limits until HHS published the 2015 poverty guidelines so the Income Limits would not have to be adjusted twice.

On March 6, 2015, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released FY 2015 income limits.  These income limits went into effect on the same day.  Click here for links to median family income, income limits and accompanying information and tables from HUD.

Income limits are set by HUD to determine the eligibility of applicants for HUD’s assisted housing programs. Section 8 Fair Market Rent (FMR) area definitions are used to develop median family income estimates for each metropolitan area and non-metropolitan county. HUD income limits are calculated for every FMR area with adjustments for family size and for areas that have unusually high or low income-to-housing-cost relationships.

Low-income families are defined as families whose incomes do not exceed 80 percent of the median family income for the area. Very low-income families are defined as families whose incomes do not exceed 50 percent of the median family income for the area. Income limits for non-metropolitan areas may not be less than limits based on the State non-metropolitan median family income level. The Secretary of Agriculture is to be consulted prior to establishing income limits for rural areas, since these limits also apply to certain Rural Development programs.

Under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-289), income limits used to determine qualification levels as well as set maximum rental rates for projects funded with Section 42 Low-Income Housing Tax credits (LIHTC) or Section 142 tax exempt private equity bonds are now calculated and presented separately from the Section 8 income limits.  These projects should use the Multifamily Tax Subsidy Project Income Limits which can be found by clicking here.

Beginning with FY2010 income limits, HUD eliminated its hold harmless policy but limits all annual decreases to five percent and limits all annual increase to five percent or twice the change in the national median family income, whichever is greater. HOME Investment Partnerships program (HOME) rents continue to be held harmless and income limits for rural housing programs continue their current hold harmless policy at the request of the Rural Housing Service because these limits are based on area definitions and program rules specified by the Rural Housing Service.