HUD Implements $5M Set-Aside for TPVs in Low-Vacancy Areas

HUD issued a joint notice implementing the use of the $5 million set-aside included in the FY 2018 appropriations for tenant protection vouchers (TPVs) for low-income households who may have to pay more than 30 percent of their adjusted incomes for rent if they live in certain HUD-assisted multifamily housing in low-vacancy areas. The $5 million is a set-aside from the $85 million FY18 appropriation for all TPVs.

The joint notice includes Notice H 2019-02 from the Office of Multifamily Housing Programs and PIH 2019-01 from the Office of Public and Indian Housing. To be eligible for TPVs, one of two potential “triggering” events must either have taken place in the five years prior to an owner submitting a request for set-aside TPVs or are expected to take place within 180 days. The two potential triggering events are the maturing of mortgages or the expiration of affordability restrictions at various Section 236, 331(d)(3) Below Market Interest Rate (BMIR), or Section 202 Direct Loan properties.

Under the TPV set-aside, tenant protection vouchers may be either enhanced vouchers (EVs) or project-based vouchers (PBVs). Also, a project must be in a HUD-identified low-vacancy area. New with this notice, HUD will publish an updated list of low-vacancy areas for the period of July 1 to June 30 each year. For applications submitted before this notice, a property will be in a low-vacancy area if it was on HUD’s FY17 or FY18 low-vacancy lists.