Note: The AE/CA shall not lower the comparable market rents in the RCS to reflect any…

• D. Adjusting the RCS.

Contracts eligible for the Auto OCAF will have the RCS adjusted automatically to reflect the increased operating costs, as recognized by HUD in the Notice of Certain Operating Cost Adjustment Factors published annually in the Federal Register. Those not eligible

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Chapter Two – Published March 2023

for the Auto OCAF (i.e. EPC contracts) must be adjusted manually using the annual OCAF. Further details on adjusting the RCS are found in the iREMS Guide.

• E.

• HUD Required RCS.

1. The Satellite Office/Regional Center Director may require one additional rent comparability study during each 5-year period of an Option One or Two contract renewal, if s/he believes the OCAF adjusted comparable market rent is not an accurate reflection of the market.

2. Under Option One and Two the owner is required to submit a new RCS every five-years. However, in cases where the five-year life cycle of the RCS does not currently align with a multiyear contract’s five-year life cycle an owner does not need to obtain another RCS until the time when the multiyear contract reaches the end of it five-year life cycle. In such cases, any rent adjustment during the years when a project has an aged RCS will be limited to the OCAF. The owner must obtain a new RCS at the end of the contract’s five-year life cycle.

3. Notwithstanding any other renewal instructions, an owner seeking to terminate a Section 8 HAP contract early and renew that contract under the same or a different option, or renew an existing contract for more than 5 years must submit a new RCS. This is true even if a previous RCS is less than 5 years old.

Note: A RCS is NOT required at initial or subsequent renewal of an Option Four contract unless the project is renewing using the criteria in Section 6-1. B.2.