HUD HCV Guidebook § 5.9

The receiving PHA has the option to administer the subsidy for the initial PHA or to absorb the portable family
into its own HCV program. The receiving PHA may absorb the family into its own program provided it has
funding available under its ACC to do so and such a decision will not result in over-leasing for the Calendar
Year.75
Other factors a receiving PHA may want to consider in making the decision to administer or absorb include:
          •   Leasing Rate: If the receiving PHA has a low utilization rate, absorbing incoming portable families
              will increase the utilization rate. If the
              receiving PHA has a high utilization
              rate, it may prefer to use its own                       Cooperative Agreements
              housing assistance funds to serve
              families on its waiting list.
          •   The Administrative Cost of Billing: For    Sometimes, PHAs in neighboring jurisdictions
              the receiving PHA, absorbing is            make cooperative portability agreements. In
              generally the most cost-effective          locations where movement is in both directions,
              approach.                                  these agreements may consist of semi-annual
          •   Proximity of the Initial PHA: Some         reviews of portability contracts that result in
              PHAs routinely bill for vouchers from      each PHA absorbing an equal number of HAP
              nearby agencies with whom they have
              established relationships, but prefer      contracts. The remaining vouchers, which
              to absorb families moving from             represent the imbalance in movement, will
              locations where staff have not             continue to be administered.
              previously worked with the PHA.
          •   Economy in Numbers: Some PHAs
              choose to absorb families from locations from which they receive few incoming portability families
              in order to reduce the number of PHAs they must bill.
Although a receiving PHA notifies the initial PHA of its intent to absorb an incoming family early in the
portability process, a PHA does not technically “absorb” a family into its program until the receiving PHA
executes a HAP contract on behalf of the family in the receiving PHA’s jurisdiction. False processing of
portability paperwork (sham portability moves) to address a PHA’s utilization or leasing problems is prohibited.
If the family does not move to a different unit and is not placed under a HAP contract in the receiving PHA’s
jurisdiction, the receiving PHA cannot absorb the family.
A PHA that decides to administer a voucher may decide to absorb that voucher at some point in the future.
Many agencies, having opted to administer housing vouchers during a time when leasing rates were high and
local sentiment favored using housing assistance funds for families from the local waiting list, reversed those
decisions when housing markets tightened, leasing rates slowed and the PHAs faced low utilization rates. It is
not necessary to wait for a recertification or other anniversary date to absorb an administered voucher. In
cases where the receiving PHA decides to absorb a family after it has been billing the initial PHA for that
family, the receiving PHA must76 send form HUD-52665 to the initial PHA. The receiving PHA selects option 8
under Part II-B of such form.
When an applicant family leases up under portability, the receiving PHA’s decision to administer the subsidy or
absorb the family will determine which PHA counts the family for income targeting purposes. If the receiving
PHA bills the initial PHA, the family will be included in the initial PHA’s income targeting calculations; if the

75
     24 CFR § 982.355(d)
76
     PIH Notice 2016-09(10)(k)

Moves and Portability                                                                                   19

receiving PHA absorbs, it will include the family in its admissions when calculating the percentage of extremely
low-income families.