Chapter I: General Information


Section C: Key Program Documents

1. Annual Contributions Contract (ACC)
  • The Annual Contributions Contract (ACC) is a written contract between HUD and a PHA.
  • Under the ACC, HUD agrees to make payments to the PHA, over a specified term, for Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) to owners and for the PHA administrative fee.
  • The ACC specifies the maximum payment over the ACC term.
  • The PHA agrees to administer the program in accordance with HUD regulations and requirements.
  • The ACC does not specify how many units are to be funded. The PHA makes that projection in their budget documents.
  • HUD’s commitment to make payments for each funding increment in the PHA program constitutes a separate ACC.
  • Commitments for all funding increments in a PHA program are listed in one consolidated contractual document called the Consolidated Annual Contributions Contract (Consolidated ACC).
  • A single Consolidated ACC covers funding for the PHA tenant-based assistance program.
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2. Program Funding
  • Congress approves funding and appropriates moneys to HUD. HUD reserves a portion of the funds and allocates the remainder to PHAs as either new funding increments or renewals of expiring funding increments. Currently, the typical funding increment is for one year.
  • Traditionally, new funding has been distributed on a fair-share formula and is disbursed through a competitive application process. HUD issues a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) and reviews applications from PHAs based on the criteria defined in the NOFA. Funding is provided for HAPs and administrative fees. A tenant contribution is assumed.
  • Before the PHA receives funding, the PHA and HUD must sign an ACC.
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3. Fees

Administrative Fees

  • PHAs receive administrative fees from HUD to fund program administration. Each year PHAs project the amount of fees to be earned and submit a budget to HUD for approval. Essentially there are three types of fees: preliminary fees, ongoing fees, and other fees to cover the costs associated with, for example, coordinating Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) or conducting an audit.

Preliminary Fees

  • A preliminary fee is a one-time fee used to cover program expenses that the PHA has incurred to lease up new units.
  • PHAs may receive $500 for each new unit leased, but only in the first year of administering the HCV program. Any amounts not earned remain in the ACC for later use. Previously, preliminary fees were available for units in all new funding increments.

Ongoing Fees

  • Ongoing administrative fees are used to cover ongoing program costs such as salaries and supplies.
  • An ongoing fee may be received for each unit which is under HAP contract on the first day of the month
  • Effective October 1, 1998, ongoing administrative fees are based on 7.65% of a HUD-determined base amount for a PHA’s first 600 units and 7% of the base amount for each additional unit over 600.
  • This new fee structure, established by the Reform act of 1998, applies to the Moderate Rehabilitation Program (MRP) including Single Room Occupancy (SRO) and Shelter Plus Care, the new HCV Program, and to remaining pre-merger certificates.
  • HUD adjusts the base amount by using the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Other Administrative Fees

HUD may approve special fees for other extraordinary costs. Other fees that may be paid to PHAs are as follows:

  1. Housing Conversion Fees
    1. PHAs are entitled to receive reimbursement for their out-of-pocket expenses up to $250 per unit that is occupied at the time HUD awards HCVs to the PHA for a housing conversion action such as owner prepayment of a mortgage, opt-outs, property disposition actions, and enforcement actions.
  2. Hard-to-House Fees
    1. HUD will pay $75 hard-to-house fees for the extra effort required to assist large families, and families with disabled members, locate suitable housing. The hard-to-house fee is paid each time an eligible family moves to a new unit.
    2. Families for which hard-to-house fees are paid include families with three or more minors and families including a disabled person.
  3. Lead-Based Paint Testing and Assessment Fees
    1. PHAs can receive $150 for an initial lead-based paint clearance test required when there is deteriorated paint in a unit occupied by a family with a child under the age of six.
    2. HUD will also pay a fee up to $350 each time a PHA conducts a risk assessment in a unit occupied by a child under age six identified by the local health department, or other medical provider, as having an Environmental Intervention Blood-Lead Level (EIBLL).
  4. Increase and Decrease of Fees
    1. HUD may reduce fees for units owned by the PHA to reflect reasonable costs for administration, or if the PHA is not doing its job properly.
    2. HUD may increase the fee if necessary, to reflect the higher costs of administering small programs and programs operating over large geographic areas.
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4. Administrative Plan

General Information

  • The Administrative Plan is the PHA’s principal statement of the policies to be used in the administration of the HCV Section 8 program.
  • The PHA must adopt a written administrative plan that establishes local PHA policies for administration of the program in accordance with HUD requirements.
  • The Administrative Plan must be revised to comply with HUD requirements.
  • The Administrative Plan and revisions must be formally adopted by the PHA Board of Commissioners or other authorized PHA officials, is a supporting document to the PHA plan, and must be available for public review.
  • The written Administrative Plan does not have to be approved by HUD, but must be available for audit.
  • The purpose of the plan is to prevent misunderstandings between PHA staff, landlords and program participants, to avoid lawsuits, and provide consistency.
  • The PHA must comply with all equal opportunity requirements imposed by contract and federal law.

Contents of the Administrative Plan

The PHA Administrative Plan must cover PHA policies on these subjects:

  1. Applicant selection from the waiting list, preferences, procedures for removing applicant names from the waiting list, and closing and reopening the waiting list.
  2. Issuing or denying vouchers, including PHA policy governing voucher term, and any extensions or suspension of the voucher term.
  3. Special rules for special purpose funding.
  4. Definition of family and definition of continuously assisted.
  5. Outreach to owners outside areas of low income or minority concentration.
  6. Assistance to families who claim illegal discrimination prevents them from leasing a suitable unit.
  7. Family information to be provided to prospective owners.
  8. Owner disapproval.
  9. Subsidy standards.
  10. Family absence from unit.
  11. Split households.
  12. Informal review procedures for applicants.
  13. Informal hearing procedures for participants.
  14. Process for establishing and revising voucher payment standards.
  15. Method of determining that rent to owner is a reasonable rent initially and during the term of the HAP.
  16. Choice whether to offer particular special housing types.
  17. Special policies on special housing types (shared housing).
  18. Policies concerning payments by a family to the PHA of amounts the family owes to the PHA.
  19. Interim re-determinations of family income and composition.
  20. Restrictions, if any, on the number of moves a participant can make.
  21. Approval by Board or other authorized officials to charge the Administrative fee reserves.
  22. PHA screening of applicants for participant behavior or suitability for tenancy.
  23. Standards for denying admission or terminating assistance based on criminal activity or alcohol abuse in accordance with 24 CFR 982.553.
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5. PHA Plan
  • The Public Housing Reform Act of 1998 requires PHAs to periodically undertake a comprehensive planning process that addresses all aspects of their operation. The PHA is required to develop a plan for the agency in consultation with its HCV program participants and its public housing residents, if the PHA administers public housing, and to offer the broader community the opportunity for review and comment. The product of these activities is the PHA plan that is submitted to HUD prior to the beginning of each PHA fiscal year. The PHA plan also includes related planning and policy documents that are made available to the public on an ongoing basis.
  • The PHA plan consists of two documents:
    1. A Five-Year Plan that describes the mission of the PHA, its long term goals, and quantifiable objectives for achieving the mission; and
    2. An Annual Plan that provides details about the PHA’s participants, programs and services, and its strategy for addressing operational concerns, residents’ needs, programs, and services for the upcoming fiscal year.
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6. Submission of the PHA Plan
  • The actual submission to HUD is made electronically, in the form of responses entered into a comprehensive “question and answer” template.
  • The PHA plan is submitted to HUD 75 days before the start of each PHA fiscal year. Prior to submitting the plan to HUD, the PHA must conduct a public hearing to discuss the plan and invite public comment. The PHA must publish a notice of the availability of the plan and the details of the public hearing no later than 45 days before the hearing. (NOTE: MSHDA’s plan must be submitted by April 17th.)
  • PHAs that have HCVs only, as well as high performing PHAs and PHAs that operate 250 or fewer public housing units, may submit a streamlined PHA Annual Plan. The items required in the streamlined PHA plan are listed in the instructions that accompany the PHA plan template.

The Five-Year Plan

The PHAs’ five-year plan states the PHA’s mission for serving the needs of low-income, very low-income, and extremely low-income families in the PHA’s jurisdiction, and lists the goals and objectives which will be used to measure the agency’s success in fulfilling the mission.

The Annual Plan

PHAs administering the HCV program must provide responses for the following elements of the PHA annual plan. These are the only required elements of the annual plan. Where the information requested is contained in the PHA’s administrative plan, the PHA may refer to the administrative plan which must be attached to the annual plan.

  • Statement of housing needs.
  • Statement of financial resources.
  • Statement of the PHA’s policies that govern eligibility, selection, and admissions.
  • PHA’s rent determination policies.
  • Statement of the PHA’s operation and management.
  • Statement of the PHA’s procedures for informal reviews and hearings.
  • Homeownership programs administered by the PHA.
  • Statement of the PHA’s community services and self-sufficiency programs.
  • Civil rights certification.
  • Results of the PHA’s annual audit.
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7. Resident Advisory Board
  • PHAs, including PHAs that operate only the HCV program, must establish one or more resident advisory boards to participate in the development of the PHA plan. The resident advisory board, whether newly formed or previously existing, must assist the PHA in the development of the PHA plan and make recommendations in the development of the plan. The PHA must consider the comments and recommendations of the resident advisory board in preparing the final PHA annual plan.
  • If the PHA has a HCV program, the PHA must ensure that the resident advisory board has a reasonable representation of families receiving assistance under the program, and that a reasonable process is undertaken to choose this representation. Where resident councils do not exist that would adequately reflect and represent the residents assisted by the PHA, the PHA may appoint additional resident advisory boards or board members. The PHA must provide reasonable notice to residents and urge that they form resident councils that comply with the tenant participation regulations.
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8. Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) Contract (HUD 52641)

The HAP Contract is executed between the PHA and the owner. The contract specifies the rights and responsibilities of the owner and the PHA. The PHA agrees to HAP to the owner in return for compliance with program rules

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9. Tenancy Addendum (HUD 52641A)

The Tenancy Addendum is included both in the HAP Contract and in the Lease between the owner and tenant.

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10. Housing Choice Voucher (HUD 52646)

The Voucher is issued by the PHA to an applicant selected for admission to the voucher program. The document authorizes the participant to look for a unit and specifies PHA and family rights and responsibilities during the period of the participant’s participation.

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11. Lease

The Lease is provided by the owner and executed between the owner and the participant. A copy of the executed Lease is provided to the PHA.

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