HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) recently added two more chapters to its ongoing revision of the “Housing Choice Voucher Program Guidebook.” PIH also revised a previously updated chapter. The two new chapters are “Calculating Rent and Housing Assistance Payments (HA)” and “Reexaminations.” Revisions were made to “Eligibility Determination and Denial of Assistance.” Seven more chapter updates are in the works.
PIH began revising the guidebook earlier in the year (see Memo, 6/17). The purpose of the revised guidebook is to inform public housing agencies (PHAs), households, and other stakeholders about how the voucher program is administered. It will contain regulatory requirements, PIH Notices, Federal Register notices, and other forms of guidance issued by HUD.
Because program policies and procedures change over time, the guidebook chapters will be active documents on HUD’s website. Individual chapters will be amended as policies are refined. The revised guidebook will have footnote citations whenever the word “must” is used. In many policy areas, HUD allows PHAs the flexibility to make local policy decisions, so it is important to note when HUD requires a policy to be adopted.
The Housing Choice Voucher Guidebook webpage is at: https://bit.ly/2XbzFEO
More information about vouchers is on page 4-1 of NLIHC’s 2019 Advocates’ Guide.