HUD Seeks Public Comment in Notice of Advance Rule Making on Use of Small Area Fair Market Rent For Vouchers.

Expect to see formal publication in Federal Register soon as Notice cleared OMB review on May 26, HERE.  

HUD Small Area Rent web page already HAS copy of this Advance Rule Making doc HERE. 

HUD will be soliciting public comments on key issues including: 

Measurement of undue voucher concentration: What poverty rate and concentration level should be used in determining the criteria for selecting SAFMR areas

What percentage of an area’s rental stock should be above and below the FMR?

Program scale: In terms of number or percentage of metropolitan-area vouchers (which is roughly 1.9 million), what should be the size of the SAFMR program

PHA or metropolitan-wide: Should SAFMRs apply to all PHAs in a metropolitan area,or only to PHAs that display a pattern of HCV tenant concentration in high-poverty census tracts?

Voluntary participation: Should a PHA be allowed to use SAFMRs even if the PHA or the underlying metropolitan area would not qualify for the use of SAFMRs?

PBV Use of SAFMRs: Should SAFMRs be applied to PBVs at least for future PBV projects?

Success Rate Payment Standards: In addition to using Small Area FMRs as a tool to alleviate concentrations of voucher tenants in high poverty areas, should Small Area FMRs also be used in areas that qualify for success rate payment standards?

Relevant PHA Experience: What information do PHAs currently using SAFMRs (Dallas area and SAFMR Demonstration PHAs), or other PHAs that have used SAFMRs for helping set Housing Choice Voucher payment standards (such as PHAs in the Moving to Work Demonstration) have regarding their use of Small Area FMRs?

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.