Chapter Titles and Descriptions

Chapter I
  • Title: General Information
  • Description: Provides background and general information pertaining to the Housing Choice Voucher Program.
Chapter II
  • Title: Waiting List Management
  • Description: Maintaining an up-to-date and well-managed waiting list.
Chapter III
  • Title: Selecting Names / Voucher Issuance
  • Description: Selecting names from the waiting list, required documents, criminal screening, required certifications and authorizations, briefing sessions, expanding housing opportunities, EHS procedures, and issuance of the voucher.
Chapter IV
  • Title: Income
  • Description: Allowances, assets, expenses, verifications and calculations.
Chapter V
  • Title: Denials
  • Description: Denials of assistance to an applicant.
Chapter VI
  • Title: Initial Contracts
  • Description: Explains procedures for the completion of initial rental assistance contracts between the applicant and MSHDA.
Chapter VII
  • Title: Rent Reasonableness / Comparables
  • Description: Ensuring rent is reasonable in relation to the rents currently being charged for comparable units on the private unassisted market, and not in excess of rents currently being charged by the owner for comparable unassisted units.
Chapter VIII
  • Title: Annual Re-Examinations
  • Description: Information regarding Annual Re-examination procedures that apply to Housing Choice Vouchers, the Moderate Rehabilitation Program, Single Room Occupancy Program and project-based vouchers that were converted from HCV by MSHDA to its HCV project-based voucher allocation.
Chapter IX
  • Title: Interim Re-Examinations
  • Description: Certain changes in household income or family status generate a need for processing interim re-examinations.
Chapter X
  • Title: Moves
  • Description: Information regarding a family moving to a different unit.
Chapter XI
  • Title: Landlord Issues
  • Description: This chapter contains uniform procedures regarding landlords who participate in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program.
Chapter XII
  • Title: Remaining Tenants / Separating Families
  • Description: Remaining tenant situations resulting from issues such as medical issues or family break-up
Chapter XIII
  • Title: Absences From Unit
  • Description: Families are required to notify MSHDA before they move out of a unit and give MSHDA information about any family absence from the unit.
Chapter XIV
  • Title: Terminations
  • Description: This policy outlines when participants in the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program must be terminated.
Chapter XV
  • Title: Transfers
  • Description: Moves within Michigan.
Chapter XVI
  • Title: Portability
  • Description: Moves outside of Michigan.
Chapter XVII
  • Title: Resonable Accommodations
  • Description: Provides guidelines on how persons with disabilities would request a resonable accomodation providing them equal opportunity to the Housing Choice Voucher program.
Chapter XVIII
  • Title: Special Programs
  • Description: Provides description of special programs operating within the Housing Voucher Programs division.
Chapter XIX
  • Title: Affordable Assistance Housing Program
  • Description: Program developed to address the lack of affordable housing for elderly and/or disabled clients who are forced to remain or enter nursing home facilities because they cannot afford suitable housing.
Chapter XX
  • Title: Enhanced Voucher
  • Description: MSHDA provides enchanced vouchers to qualified residents affected by owner or U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) actions resulting in a Housing Conversion action.
Chapter XXI
  • Title: Homeless Assistance Recovery Program
  • Description: Provides a waiting list preference for homeless households for rental subsidy through MSHDA's statewide Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program.
Chapter XXII
  • Title: Project-Based Vouchers
  • Description: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) allows a Public Housing Authority (PHA) to allocate up to 20% of the Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV) ot a Project Based Voucher (PBV) program provided it does not contributed to additional concentrations of extremely low income familes in certain properties or neighborhoods.
Chapter XXIII
  • Title: Mainstream Program
  • Description: The Mainstream Voucher Program assists persons with disabilities in locating suitable and accessible housing.
Chapter XXIV
  • Title: Family Unification Program
  • Description: The FUP is intended to reunite families that have been separated through the foster care system and lack of adequate housing is the major barrier preventing the reunification.
 Chapter XXV
  • Title: EIV Security
  • Description: The Enterprise Income Verification System (EIV) is utilized by Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) to verify tenant income.
Chapter XXVI
  • Title: Mediations and Informal Hearings
  • Description: Mediations are offered to participants who fail to report, or under-report annual income so the participant has an opportunity to refute findings of income discrepancies and avoid an informal hearing. Informal Hearings are utilized to resolve participant disputes with MSHDA without legal action and, if applicable, to correct errors.
Chapter XXVII
  • Title: Freedom of Information Requests
  • Description: A request for documents is subject to FOIA when the request is in writing; and addressed to a public body such as MSHDA.
Chapter XXVIII
  • Title: Processing Tenant Repayment Agreements
  • Description: This policy explains procedures for processing Tenant Repayment Agreements with a tenant who has incurred a debt while an active tenant on the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program.
Chapter XXIX
  • Title: Fraud
  • Description: Policy created to aid in the prevention of fraudulant activity related to MSHDA's Housing Choice Voucher program.
Chapter XXX
  • Title: Authorized Members of the Household, Visitors/Guests
  • Description: All household members must be eligible and approved by the MSHDA to receive assistance under the Housing Choice Voucher Program.