HUD HCV Guidebook § 4

HUD establishes income limits by family size for the area in which each PHA is located. These income limits
are used to determine the family’s eligibility for the program and are published annually in a HUD Notice and
are generally effective on the date of publication. The income limits are available on HUD USER website.

To be eligible for the program, a family must18 be either very low income (generally 50% of area median
income); OR low-income (generally 80% of area median income) and meet one of the following additional
criteria:
     • Continuously assisted under the public housing, housing choice voucher, project-based rental
          assistance, or other housing program under the Housing Act of 1937. Non-purchasing households in
          the following homeownership programs: HOPE 1, HOPE 2, or other HUD-assisted multifamily home
          ownership programs covered under 24 CFR § 284.173;
     • Displaced as a result of the prepayment of a mortgage or voluntary termination of a mortgage
          insurance contract on “eligible low-income housing,” as defined in 24 CFR § 248.101. Note that
          these displaced families are also eligible if they have moderate income (between 80 and 95 percent
          of median area income).
     • A criterion set by the PHA to address essential local housing needs. For example, a PHA may
          administer its HCV program in a jurisdiction that offers locally-funded assisted housing to low-income
          families. The PHA may include a policy in its administrative plan stating the low-income limit will be
          applied when determining income eligibility for families transitioning from locally-funded assisted
          housing.