HUD HCV Guidebook § 3

Each applicant for assistance under the HCV program must14 meet HUD’s definition of family. A family
includes15, but is not limited to, regardless of marital status, actual or perceived sexual orientation, or gender
identity, the following:
1) A single person, who may be an elderly person, displaced person, disabled person, near-elderly person, or
    any other single person;
2) A group of persons residing together, and such group includes, but is not limited to:
    a) A family with or without children. A child temporarily absent from the home due to placement in foster
         care must16 be considered in determining family composition and size. A family that consists of a
         pregnant woman only, and no other persons, must17 be treated as a two-person family.

9
  24 CFR § 5.230; § 982.551(b); § 5.233
10
   24 CFR § 5.216(h)(1); 24 CFR § 982.551(b)(3)
11
   24 CFR § 5.905(a)(1)
12
   24 CFR § 5.903(b)(1)
13
   24 CFR § 982.54(d)(4)(i)
14
   24 CFR § 5.233; PIH Notice 2018-18 Administrative Guidance for Effective and Mandated Use of the Enterprise
Income Verification (EIV) System, pg. 3
15
   24 CFR § 5.403; 42 USC 1437a(b)(3)
16
   24 CFR § 5.403 Family(2)(i)
17
   24 CFR § 982.402(b)(5)

b) An elderly family, which is defined as a family whose head, co-head, spouse, or sole member is at least
      62 years of age. It may include two or more persons, each of whom are at least 62, living together; or
      one or more persons who are at least 62 living with one or more live-in aides.
   c) A near-elderly family, which is defined as a family whose head, co-head, spouse, or sole member is at
      least 50 years of age but below the age of 62; or two or more persons, each of whom are between the
      ages of 50 and 62, living together; or one or more persons who are between the ages of 50 and 62
      living with one or more live-in aides.
   d) A disabled family, which means a family whose head, co-head, spouse, or sole member, is a person
      with disabilities; or two or more persons with disabilities living together; or one or more persons with
      disabilities living with one or more live-in aides.
      i) A person with disabilities means a person who:
           (1) Has a disability as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 423(d)(1);
           (2) Has a physical, mental or emotional impairment that is expected to be of long-continued and
               indefinite duration, substantially impedes his or her ability to live independently, and is of such
               a nature that ability to live independently could be improved by more suitable housing
               conditions; or
           (3) Has a developmental disability as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 15002(8) (formerly codified in 42
               U.S.C. § 6001).
      ii) Important considerations:
           (1) The meaning of a person with disabilities does not exclude persons who have the disease of
               acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or any conditions arising from the etiologic agent
               for AIDS.
           (2) The meaning of a person with disabilities does not include a person whose disability is based
               solely on any drug or alcohol dependence (for eligibility purposes).
           (3) A person who qualifies as a person with disabilities also qualifies as an individual with
               handicaps, as defined in 24 C.F.R. § 8.3, for purposes of reasonable accommodation and
               program accessibility for persons with disabilities.
           (4) The terms disability and a person with disabilities are used in two contexts – for civil rights
               protections, and for program eligibility purposes. Each use has specific definitions.
               (a) When used in context of protection from discrimination or improving the accessibility of
                    housing, the civil rights-related definitions apply (see 24 CFR § 8.3; 24 CFR § 100.201; 28
                    CFR §§ 35.104,108).
               (b) When used in the context of eligibility under the HCV program, the program eligibility
                    definitions apply
   e) A displaced family, which is a family in which each member or the sole member is a person displaced
      by governmental action, or whose dwelling has been extensively damaged or destroyed as a result of a
      disaster declared or otherwise formally recognized under Federal disaster relief laws.
   f) A remaining member of a tenant family, which is a family member of an assisted tenant family who
      remains in the unit when other members of the family have left the unit.