HUD Handbook 4350.3 § 4-15

A.       Overview

                 Once unit size and preference order is determined, owners must select
                 applicants from the waiting list in chronological order to fill vacancies. The owner

then determines eligibility (if that has not already been done), performs tenant
                 screening (see Section 4 of this chapter), and decides whether the applicant can
                 be housed based on income-targeting requirements.

        B.       Nondiscrimination When Matching Applicants to Available Units

                 Although an owner may establish preferences to admit households with specific
                 characteristics from the waiting list, the owner must never base applicant
                 selection or denial of assistance upon:

                 1.       Membership in a socio-economic class (e.g., welfare recipients, single
                          parent households) or lack of membership in the sponsoring organization;

                 2.       Familial status;

                 3.       Race, color, religion, sex, or national origin of household members;

                 4.       Whether the household has a member with a specific disability (unless
                          restricted by program statute);

                 5.       Family size (However, if the family size requires a unit size that does not
                          exist in the property, the family must be denied assistance. See
                          paragraph 4-9.); and

                 6.       Age (unless restricted by program statute).

        C.       Matching Family Characteristics with Available Units

                 In selecting a family to occupy a particular unit, the owner may match certain
                 family characteristics with the type of unit available.

                 1.       Matching families to units according to family size and number of
                          bedrooms is not only acceptable but also necessary to comply with
                          occupancy standards and local codes.

                 2.       Owners must first offer units with special accessibility features to families
                          that include persons with disabilities requiring such features.

        D.       Section 8 Units: Extremely Low-Income Targeting Requirements and
                 Tenant Selection

                 1.       When an extremely low-income applicant is needed to achieve targeting
                          requirements, and the next applicant on the waiting list has income above
                          the extremely low-income limit, that applicant must be returned to the
                          waiting list. When the owner is ready to house an applicant with income
                          above the extremely low-income limit, this applicant can be served.

2.       A notation must be made on the waiting list indicating why this applicant
                          has been returned to the list rather than housed or withdrawn. The owner
                          will then look for the first extremely low-income applicant on the list
                          needing the appropriate bedroom size and qualifying for the top-ranked
                          preference, if preferences are used by the project.

        E.       Restrictions on Applicant Selection Based on Income

                 Owners may not select families for unit/property occupancy in an order
                 inconsistent with the waiting list in order to house relatively higher-income
                 families. However, an owner may select a family for occupancy of a property or
                 unit based on its extremely low-income status in order to satisfy income-targeting
                 requirements. (See paragraph 4-5 on income-targeting for details.)

        F.       Matching Single Persons to Units

                 Single persons are eligible families (if they meet all eligibility criteria for the
                 property). However, single persons may not be placed on the two-bedroom
                 waiting list or occupy a unit with two or more bedrooms except a person with a
                 disability who needs the larger unit as a reasonable accommodation or an elderly
                 person who has a verifiable need for a larger unit. Also a displaced person may
                 be placed on the waiting lists for two-bedroom or larger units if no one-bedroom
                 units are available. See paragraph 3-23.G for more information about assigning
                 units larger than required.