7-12 Processing Interim Recertifications

• A. When a tenant requests an interim recertification or when a tenant reports changes in income or other circumstances as required, the owner must take the following steps when processing an interim recertification.

  1. Interview the tenant to obtain information on the reported change. The owner must also review and ask if there have been other changes to family composition, income, assets, or allowances since the most recent certification.

  2. Obtain third-party verification of the income or other facts reported as changed since the last recertification and maintain documentation in the tenant file. (See Chapter 5, Section 3 for more information about verification.)

  3. *The EIV system must be used at the time a tenant reports a change in employment or income to determine if any information has been provided by the employer or if the tenant had unreported income. However, because of the delay in reporting requirements by state agencies, EIV may not contain data that can be used to verify employment or income for use in processing interim recertifications in instances where tenants report a change in employment or income. In these cases, the owner will need to use another method of verification.input any changes to the tenant’s income or other characteristics in the owner’s software program and print the HUD-50059.

  4. Document the resulting changes in the tenant’s rent and assistance payment by obtaining signatures on the HUD-50059 from the head, cohead, and spouse and all other adult family members. Maintain copy with original signatures in the tenant file. Provide the tenant with a separate copy.

  5. After obtaining tenant and owner representative signatures, electronically transmit interim recertification to the Contract Administrator or HUD to update the tenant information in TRACS.

• B. Owners must take the following steps upon learning that a tenant failed to report a change in income or family composition, as stated in the lease.

HUD Multifamily Occupancy Handbook Chapter 7: Recertification, Unit Transfers, and Gross Rent Changes

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Section 2: Interim Recertification

4350.3 REV-1

1. Tenant notification. When owners learn that a tenant has experienced a change in family income or composition listed in paragraph 7-11 A, they must immediately notify the tenant in writing of his or her responsibility to provide information about such changes. This includes the owner using the EIV New Hires Report in accordance with their written policies and learning that the tenant, or a member of the tenant’s household, has new employment. (The owner must have policies in place to use the New Hires Report at least quarterly. See Chapter 9, Enterprise Income Verification (EIV). The owner’s notice must:

   • a. Refer the tenant to the lease clause that requires the interim recertification;

   • b. Give the tenant 10 calendar days to respond to the notice; and

   • c. Inform the tenant that his or her rent may be raised to the market rent if the 10-day deadline is not met.

NOTE: See Exhibit 7-7 for a sample letter.

2. Timely tenant response. If the tenant responds to the notice and supplies the required information within 10 days, the owner must process the request in accordance with subparagraph A above and implement any resulting rent changes in accordance with paragraphs 7-13 C and D.

3. Tenant fails to respond within 10 calendar days of notice. If the tenant fails to respond within the 10 calendar days, the owner must require the tenant to pay market rent as of the first rent period following the 10-day notice period. (See sample notice provided in Exhibit 7-8.) If the tenant subsequently submits the required information, the owner must reduce the tenant’s rent on the first of the following month. In a Section 202 PRAC or 811 PRAC project, the owner may evict the tenant for noncompliance with the lease requirement to report changes in family income or composition.