HUD Releases Income Limits for Fiscal Year 2019

HUD recently released fiscal year 2019 income limits that determine eligibility for HUD housing programs including Public Housing, PBRA Section 8, Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher, and Section 202/Section 811 PRAC. The release comes after a delay due to the partial government shutdown earlier this year. The income limits can be found at www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/il.html#2019. They became effective as of April 24, 2019.

Income limits are set by HUD to determine the eligibility of applicants for HUD’s assisted housing programs. Section 8 Fair Market Rent (FMR) area definitions are used to develop median family income estimates for each metropolitan area and non-metropolitan county. HUD income limits are calculated for every FMR area with adjustments for family size and for areas that have unusually high or low income-to-housing-cost relationships.

Low-income families are defined as families whose incomes don’t exceed 80 percent of the median family income for the area. Very low-income families are defined as families whose incomes don’t exceed 50 percent of the median family income for the area. Income limits for non-metropolitan areas may not be less than limits based on the state non-metropolitan median family income level.

All new certifications effective April 24 or later will include the new income limits. Managers should remember that income limits are considered only at move-in and, in very limited cases, at the initial certification [HUD Handbook 4350.3, par. 3-4]. Income limit changes don’t affect current residents’ eligibility for the HUD Multifamily Housing programs (Section 8, PRAC, etc.) when that resident is already receiving subsidy/housing assistance.

If you’ve already extended a unit offer and your new resident’s income exceeds the new income limit, you can still honor that move-in. According to HUD’s RHIIP ListServ #293, if a unit becomes available and an applicant is selected from the waiting list, is processed for eligibility, and meets all eligibility requirements at the time of processing, the applicant is eligible to move in to the unit even if new income limits have been published. If this situation applies, be sure to document the household file appropriately.