Federal programs & compliance
HOTMA
Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016 — rewrote HUD income, asset and recertification rules via amendments to 24 C.F.R. Part 5.
Definition
HOTMA is the 2016 statute that modernized income examinations and asset rules across HUD's assisted-housing programs. HUD implemented the core income and asset sections by amending 24 C.F.R. Part 5: an inflation-indexed $100,000 asset cap on admission to Section 8 and public housing (plus restrictions for households owning suitable real property), a higher threshold before asset income is imputed, revised deductions — the medical-expense threshold moving from 3% to 10% of income with hardship phase-ins — and streamlined recertifications for fixed-income households.
Compliance dates were extended repeatedly while HUD systems and handbooks caught up; Handbook 4350.3 lags the regulation, and HUD's transition guidance governs where they conflict.
Why it matters in an underwrite
HOTMA moves both sides of assisted NOI: asset caps and property restrictions change who qualifies, revised deductions change what tenants pay, and streamlined fixed-income recerts cut administrative cost. On an acquisition of an assisted asset, ask which HOTMA elements the manager has actually implemented — files certified mid-transition are where findings cluster, and repayment exposure for over-subsidized units follows the owner.
Sources & related guides
See also
See the term in the law itself
Read the controlling text in the Code Library, or ask the AI how it applies to your project.
Last reviewed 2026-07-29. General information, not legal advice.