The Trainer — September 2014
Holding Effective Certification Meetings; Preventing Subsidy Abuse When Household Member Moves Out
In this month’s feature, we discussed meeting with households to certify their eligibility for housing assistance. HUD requires managers to cover a long list of topics during the initial certification meeting. But site staff may be poorly prepared or may not cover all the required information. Also, site staff may not inform applicants about their responsibilities in the right way. As a result, you won’t get all the information you need to properly and accurately certify applicants, and applicants may not understand their duties. We reviewed all the topics required by HUD to discuss at the certification meeting.
In this issue’s Compliance article, we discussed how the departure of a household member can bring about changes that affect a household’s subsidy as well as other aspects of its placement at your site. HUD expects you to stay on top of such changes so that your households are paying the correct amount of rent and your assisted units are fully and appropriately occupied. We explained how to get the information you need and comply with HUD requirements when a household member moves out.
QUIZ
QUESTION #1
All household members must attend the certification meeting. True or false?
a. True.
b. False.
QUESTION #2
You should hold certification meetings behind closed doors, in an office or a conference room, rather than in a lobby or waiting area. True or false?
a. True.
b. False.
QUESTION #3
You should discuss eligibility factors, income, and assets early on in the certification meeting. True or false?
a. True.
b. False.
QUESTION #4
If an adult household member reports having no income, he doesn’t have to sign any verification consent forms. True or false?
a. True.
b. False.
QUESTION #5
Although the HUD lease requires households to notify you when a member moves out, you don’t necessarily have to perform an interim recertification at that time. True or false?
a. True.
b. False.
QUESTION #6
The move-out of a household member will always lower the household’s rent, because you no longer are including the former member’s income in your rent calculation. True or false?
a. True.
b. False.
QUESTION #7
After a household member moves out, you cannot require the household to move to a smaller unit. True or false?
a. True.
b. False.
ANSWERS & EXPLANATIONS
QUESTION #1
Correct answer: b
False. Only household members age 18 and older must attend the certification meeting.
QUESTION #2
Correct answer: a
True. Holding certification meetings in open areas may violate HUD’s requirement that you ensure the confidentiality of information that applicants and residents give you.
QUESTION #3
Correct answer: a
True. You’re likelier to get full and complete answers to these important questions early in the meeting while applicants are feeling fresh, rather than later, when they may have become bored with the process.
QUESTION #4
Correct answer: b
False. All adults regardless of whether they report income must sign and date the HUD-required verification consent forms.
QUESTION #5
Correct answer: b
False. When you are advised by a household that a member is moving out, you must do an interim recertification to obtain the information you need, such as the name, birth date, and Social Security number of the person moving out and an effective date of the change, as well as the household’s acknowledgement that their rent amount may change and that they could be required to move to a different unit at your site.
QUESTION #6
Correct answer: b
False. In some cases, the household’s rent will increase if the departed member qualified for allowances that no longer can be applied for the household. Any allowances the former member may have had due to age, disability, or medical expenses, for instance, can’t be applied to the household’s total rent calculation after the move-out.
QUESTION #7
Correct answer: b
False. You must abide by your site’s occupancy standards. So, after the household’s size and composition have changed with a move-out, the household could be too small or not have the appropriate make-up to live in the unit it currently occupies—and you can require the remaining household members to move to a more appropriate unit.