3-15 Program versus Project Eligibility

• A. Program eligibility determines whether applicants are eligible for assistance.

• B. Project eligibility establishes whether applicants are eligible to reside in the specific project to which they have applied. Three things may affect the match

HUD Occupancy Handbook 3-43 06/09 Chapter 3: Eligibility for Assistance and Occupancy

Section 2: Project Eligibility between an applicant and the applicant’s eligibility for occupancy in a particular project:

1. The extent to which all or some of the units in a project are designated for specific family types, such as those who are elderly or disabled;

2. The project-specific occupancy standards established by the owner, the family size, and the unit sizes available in the project; and

3. In some instances, a family’s intention to lease using a housing-choice voucher subsidy that may be used in some projects and not in others.

• C. Although individual programs often serve more than one tenant population, individual projects might not.

• D. There are multiple steps in determining the match between a project’s eligibility requirements and a particular applicant’s eligibility to live in the project. Steps to review applications are:

  1. Confirm the eligibility rules for the project;

  2. Determine the applicant family type in relation to project eligibility rules;

  3. Determine the current occupancy of project units in relation to the populations intended to be served;

  4. Compare the applicant’s characteristics in relation to the availability of units; and

  5. Decide the appropriate response to the applicant: (1) meets eligibility and unit available, (2) meets eligibility but unit not available, or (3) does not meet eligibility.