Eligibility Requirements for Housing Choice Vouchers

Family members who declare citizenship or national status will not be required to provide additional documentation unless the PHA receives information indicating that an individual’s declaration may not be accurate.

Please Note: THA will never use the information collected to report a family (or its members), of any possible unlawful presence in the U.S. to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

The PHA will not provide assistance to a family before the verification of at least one family member.

When a PHA determines that an applicant family does not include any citizens, nationals, or eligible noncitizens, following the verification process, the family will be sent a written notice within 10 business days of the determination.

The notice will explain the reasons for the denial of assistance, that the family may be eligible for proration of assistance, and will advise the family of its right to request an appeal to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), or to request an informal hearing with the PHA. The informal hearing with the PHA may be requested in lieu of the USCIS appeal, or at the conclusion of the USCIS appeal process.

The notice must also inform the applicant family that assistance may not be delayed until the conclusion of the USCIS appeal process, but that it may be delayed pending the completion of the informal hearing process.

The PHA will verify the status of applicants at the time other eligibility factors are determined.

An independent student will not be considered when determining the student’s eligibility if all of the following four criteria are met:

1. The individual is of legal contract age under state law.
2. The individual has established a household separate from his/her parents for at least one year prior to application for occupancy or the individual meets the U.S. Department of Education’s definition of independent student.
3. The individual was not claimed as a dependent by his/her parents pursuant to IRS regulations, as demonstrated on the parents’ most recent tax forms.
4. The individual provides a certification of the amount of financial assistance that will be provided by his/her parents. This certification must be signed by the individual providing the support and must be submitted even if no assistance is being provided.

Parents: For purposes of student eligibility restrictions, the definition of parents includes biological or adoptive parents, stepparents (as long as they are currently married to the biological or adoptive parent), and guardians (e.g., grandparents, aunt/uncle, godparents, etc).

Veteran: A veteran is a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service and who was discharged or released from such service under conditions other than dishonorable.

For any student who is subjected to the eligibility restrictions and who does not satisfy the definition of independent student in this section, the PHA will determine the income eligibility of the student’s parents as follows:

• If the student’s parents are married and living together, the PHA will obtain a joint income declaration and certification of joint income from the parents.
• If the student’s parent is widowed or single, the PHA will obtain an income declaration and certification of income from that parent.
• If the student’s parents are divorced or separated, the PHA will obtain an income declaration and certification of income from each parent.
• If the student has been living with one of his/her parents and has not had contact with or does not know where to contact his/her other parent, the PHA will require the student to submit a certification under penalty of perjury describing the circumstances and stating that the student does not receive financial assistance from the other parent. The PHA will then obtain an income declaration and certification of income from the parent with whom the student has been living or had contact.

The PHA will admit an otherwise-eligible family who was evicted from federally-assisted housing within the past 5 years for drug-related criminal activity, if the PHA is able to verify that the household member who engaged in the criminal activity has completed a supervised drug rehabilitation program approved by the PHA, or the person who was involved in the drug-related criminal activity, is no longer living in the household and that person can provide proof of another residence.

“Currently engaged in” is defined as any use of illegal drugs during the previous twelve months.

Please Note: Marijuana is a federally controlled substance and THA prohibits admission to its housing programs for any household with a member who the THA determines is illegally using a controlled substance. THA has the option to deny assistance or terminate specific marijuana users rather than the entire household for both applicant and existing tenants when appropriate. THA has discretion to determine, on a case-by-case basis, the appropriateness of program termination of existing residents for the use of medical marijuana.

In determining reasonable cause, the PHA will consider all credible evidence, including but not limited to, any record of convictions, arrests, or evictions of household members related to the use of illegal drugs or the abuse of alcohol. A conviction will be given more weight than an arrest. The PHA will also consider evidence from treatment providers or community-based organizations providing services to household members.

THA will deny assistance to any household that has ever been convicted of drug-related activity for the production or manufacture of methamphetamine.

THA will deny assistance to any household that has a household member who is subject to a registration requirement under a state sex offender registration program. THA will use a national registry to check for sex-offender status.

Please Note: The HUD VASH program requirements may differ; in those cases THA will follow such program requirements.

If any household member is currently engaged in, or has engaged in any of the following criminal activities, within the past five years, the family will be denied assistance:

• Drug-related criminal activity
  • The illegal manufacture, sale, distribution, or use of a drug, or the possession of a drug with intent to manufacture, sell, distribute or use the drug [24 CFR 5.100].
• Violent criminal activity
  • Any criminal activity that has as one of its elements the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force substantial enough to cause, or be reasonably likely to cause, serious bodily injury or property damage.
  • Criminal activity that may threaten the health, safety, or right to peaceful enjoyment of the premises by other residents or persons residing in the immediate vicinity.
    • “Immediate vicinity” means within a three-block radius of the premises.
  • Criminal activity that may threaten the health or safety of property owners and management staff, and persons performing contract administration functions or other responsibilities on behalf of the PHA (including a PHA employee or a PHA contractor, subcontractor, or agent).

Evidence of such criminal activity includes, but is not limited to:

• Any conviction for drug-related or violent criminal activity within the past 5 years.
• Any arrests for drug-related or violent criminal activity within the past 5 years.
• Any record of eviction from public or privately-owned housing as a result of criminal activity within the past 5 years.
• A conviction for drug-related or violent criminal activity will be given more weight than an arrest for such activity.

THA reserves the right to deny assistance to households who have committed serious crimes more than 5 year ago. Examples of serious crimes include but are not limited to: homicide, pattern of criminal activity, felony assault, arson, or any other crimes that could threaten the health, safety or right to peaceful enjoyment of other persons in the immediate vicinity.

In making its decision to deny assistance, the PHA will consider the factors discussed in Section 3-III.E. Upon consideration of such factors, the PHA may, on a case-by-case basis, decide not to deny assistance.

The PHA will not deny assistance to an otherwise eligible family because the family previously failed to meet its obligations under the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program.

The PHA will deny assistance to an applicant family if:

• The family does not provide information that the PHA or HUD determines is necessary in the administration of the program.
• The family does not provide complete and true information to the PHA.
• Any family member has been evicted from federally-assisted housing in the last five years.
• Any PHA has ever terminated assistance under the program for any member of the family.
• Any family member has committed fraud, bribery, or any other corrupt or criminal act in connection with any federal housing program.
• The family owes rent or other amounts to any PHA in connection with the HCV, Certificate, Moderate Rehabilitation or public housing programs, unless the family repays the full amount of the debt prior to being selected from the waiting list.
• If the family has not reimbursed any PHA for amounts the PHA paid to an owner under a HAP contract for rent, damages to the unit, or other amounts owed by the family under the lease, unless the family repays the full amount of the debt prior to being selected from the waiting list.
• The family has breached the terms of a repayment agreement entered into with the PHA, unless the family repays the full amount of the debt covered in the repayment agreement prior to being selected from the waiting list.
• A family member has engaged in or threatened violent or abusive behavior toward PHA personnel or anyone acting on behalf of the housing authority.
  • “Abusive or violent behavior” includes verbal as well as physical abuse or violence. Use of racial epithets, or other language, written or oral, that is customarily used to intimidate may be considered abusive or violent behavior.
  • “Threatening” refers to oral or written threats or physical gestures that communicate intent to abuse or commit violence.

In making its decision to deny assistance, the PHA will consider the factors discussed in Section 3-III.E. Upon consideration of such factors, the PHA may, on a case-by-case basis, decide not to deny assistance.

The PHA will perform a criminal background check through local law enforcement for every household member over the age of 16.

If the results of the criminal background check indicate that there may be past criminal activity, but the results are inconclusive, the PHA will request information from an external screening company.

PHAs are required to perform criminal background checks necessary to determine whether any household member is subject to a lifetime registration requirement under a state sex offender program in the state where the housing is located, as well as in any other state where a household member is known to have resided.

If the PHA proposes to deny assistance based on a criminal record or on sex offender registration information, the PHA must notify the household of the proposed action and must provide the subject of the record and the applicant a copy of the record and an opportunity to dispute the accuracy and relevance of the information prior to a denial of admission.

The PHA will not conduct additional screening to determine an applicant family’s suitability for tenancy.

The owner is responsible for screening and selection of the family to occupy the owner’s unit. The PHA must inform the owner that screening and selection for tenancy is the responsibility of the owner. An owner may consider a family’s history with respect to factors such as: payment of rent and utilities, caring for a unit and premises, respecting the rights of other residents to the peaceful enjoyment of their housing, criminal activity that is a threat to the health, safety or property of others, and compliance with other essential conditions of tenancy.

The PHA will inform owners of their responsibility to screen prospective tenants, and will provide owners with the required known name and address information, at the time of the initial HQS inspection or before. The PHA will not provide any additional information to the owner, such as tenancy history, criminal history, etc.

The PHA will use the concept of the preponderance of the evidence as the standard for making all admission decisions.

• Preponderance of the evidence: Evidence which is of greater weight or more convincing than the evidence which is offered in opposition to it; that is, evidence which as a whole shows that the fact sought to be proved is more probable than not. Preponderance of the evidence may not be determined by the number of witnesses, but by the greater weight of all evidence.

The PHA will consider the following factors prior to making its decision:

• The seriousness of the case, especially with respect to how it would affect other residents
• The effects that denial of assistance may have on other members of the family who were not involved in the action or failure
• The extent of participation or culpability of individual family members, including whether the culpable family member is a minor or a person with disabilities, or (as discussed further in section 3-III.G) a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking
• The length of time since the violation occurred, the family’s recent history and the likelihood of favorable conduct in the future
• In the case of drug or alcohol abuse, whether the culpable household member is participating in or has successfully completed a supervised drug or alcohol rehabilitation program or has otherwise been rehabilitated successfully
  • The PHA will require the applicant to submit evidence of the household member’s current participation in or successful completion of a supervised drug or alcohol rehabilitation program, or evidence of otherwise having been rehabilitated successfully.

As a condition of receiving assistance, a family may agree to remove the culpable family member from the application. In such instances, the head of household must certify that the family member will not be permitted to visit or to stay as a guest in the assisted unit.

After admission to the program, the family must present evidence of the former family member’s current address upon PHA request.

If the family indicates that the behavior of a family member with a disability is the reason for the proposed denial of assistance, the PHA will determine whether the behavior is related to the disability. If so, upon the family’s request, the PHA will determine whether alternative measures are appropriate as a reasonable accommodation. The PHA will only consider accommodations that can reasonably be expected to address the behavior that is the basis of the proposed denial of assistance.

The family will be notified of a decision to deny assistance in writing within 10 business days of the determination.

If based on a criminal record or sex offender registration information, an applicant family appears to be ineligible the PHA will notify the family in writing of the proposed denial and provide a copy of the record to the applicant and to the subject of the record.

The family will be given 10 business days to dispute the accuracy and relevance of the information. If the family does not contact the PHA to dispute the information within that 10-day period, the PHA will proceed with issuing the notice of denial of admission. A family that does not exercise their right to dispute the accuracy of the information prior to issuance of the official denial letter will still be given the opportunity to do so as part of the informal review process.

Notification

The PHA acknowledges that a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking may have an unfavorable history (e.g., a poor credit history, a record of previous damage to an apartment, a prior arrest record) that would warrant denial under the PHA’s policies. Therefore, if the PHA makes a determination to deny assistance to an applicant family, the PHA will include in its notice of denial the VAWA information described in section 16 IX. C of this plan and will request that an applicant wishing to claim protection under VAWA notify the PHA within 10 business days.

Documentation/Victim Documentation

If an applicant claims the protection against denial of assistance that VAWA provides to victims of domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking, the PHA will request in writing that the applicant provide documentation supporting the claim.