8-24 Reimbursement to Tenant for Overpayment of Rent

A. If, at the time of recertification, there is an Income Discrepancy Report in EIV that reflects a decrease of $2,400 or more in wage, unemployment and/or Social Security income reported in EIV and the wage, unemployment and/or Social Security income reported in TRACS for the period of income used for the discrepancy analysis, the owner must investigate the discrepancy.

B. If, after investigating the discrepancy, the owner determines that an error was made in calculating the tenant’s income (e.g., third party verification not obtained, third party verification received but an error was made in calculating the tenant’s income) and the income was over-reported, the owner must complete corrections to the prior certification(s) affected by the income change. Once the corrections have been made, the owner must determine the difference between the amount of rent the tenant paid and the rent that the tenant should have paid.

C. The owner must discuss the discrepancy in income reported with the tenant.

1. The owner must provide the tenant with written notification, which includes:

   • a. A notice of the change in rent, effective retroactively to when the error occurred;

   • b. The new monthly rent the tenant is required to pay;

   • c. The amount of the overpayment of rent due to the tenant; and

   • d. A form for the tenant to execute and return to the owner stating whether the tenant wishes to:

     • (1) Receive a full, immediate refund; or

     • (2) Apply the overpayment to future monthly rent payments.