1. Project eligibility requirements. — HUD Handbook 4350.3 REV-1 — Occupancy Requirements of Subsidized Multifamily Housing Programs

a. Project specific requirements. If the property is designated for a special population, such as elderly or disabled, the owner must define population served.
- b. Citizenship/immigration status requirements. The owner must describe how citizenship/immigration requirements are implemented, including policies regarding verification of citizenship (if any).
- c. Social security number (SSN) requirements. Requirements for disclosing and providing verification of SSNs.

Income limits (including economic mix for Section 8 properties). The income limit schedule used for the property must be identified (i.e., very low- or low-income. The specific maximum annual income amounts need not be included).
Procedures for taking applications and selecting from the waiting list.
- a. Taking applications. The plan must include policies for taking preapplications (if applicable) and applications.
- b. Preferences. The plan must define each preference adopted for use in the property and any rating, ranking, or combining of the preferences the owner has established that will affect the order in which applicants are selected from the waiting list. The plan should also describe the acceptable sources of information to verify the qualification for preferences.

REMINDER: Owners implementing state, local, or residency preferences must have prior HUD approval.

c. Income-targeting. For Section 8 properties only, the plan must describe the procedures used by the owner to meet the incometargeting requirements, if applicable. This description must explain how and when applicants will be “skipped over” in favor of housing an extremely low-income household and how their applications will be treated when they are skipped.

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d. Applicant screening criteria. The plan must describe the property’s standards used to screen for information on drugrelated or criminal activity (including registration as a sex offender) and use of the EIV Existing Tenant Search, as well as the other screening activities implemented by the owner (e.g., rental history).
e. Procedures for rejecting ineligible applicants. The plan must describe the circumstances under which the owner may reject an applicant for occupancy or assistance. If the owner establishes a policy to consider extenuating circumstances in cases when applicants would normally be rejected but have circumstances that indicate the family might be an acceptable future tenant, such a policy must also be described in the plan.

Occupancy standards. Standards used by the owner to determine appropriate unit size, and procedures to place families on the lists for more than one unit size, must be included in the plan.
Unit transfer policies, including procedures for selecting between applicants on the waiting list and current tenants who need:
- a. A unit transfer because of family size;
- b. A new unit because of changes in family composition;

c. A deeper subsidy (Rent Supplement, RAP, or Section 8 assistance);
- d. A unit transfer for a medical reason certified by a doctor; or
- e. A unit transfer based on the need for an accessible unit.

Policies to Comply with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, The Fair Housing Act Amendments of 1988 and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
- a. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance from HUD.
- b. The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing and housing related transactions based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability and familial status. It applies to housing, regardless of the presence of federal financial assistance.
- c. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin in any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance from HUD.

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Policy for opening and closing the waiting list. The methods of advertising used to announce opening and closing of the waiting list should be described.
Eligibility of students. The plan must include the requirements for determining eligibility of students enrolled at an institution of higher education.
*VAWA protections (applicable to the Section 8 program only). The plan, as well as House Rules where applicable, must include policies and procedures covering the VAWA protections. Owner policies must support or assist victims of domestic violence, dating violence or stalking and protect victims, as well as members of their family, from being denied housing or from losing their HUD assisted housing as a consequence of domestic violence, dating violence or stalking.
- (a) Owners must provide notice to Section 8 tenants of their rights and obligations under VAWA.
- (b) Certification of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence or Stalking.
  - (1) Owners must provide tenants the option to complete the Certification of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence or Stalking, form HUD-91066. The certification form may be made available to all eligible families at the time of admission or, in the event of a termination or start of an eviction for cause proceeding, the certification may be enclosed with the appropriate notice, directing the family to complete, sign and return the form within fourteen (14) business days. The owner may extend this time period at his/her discretion.
  - (2) Alternately, in lieu of the certification form or in addition to it, owners may accept:
    - (i) A federal, state, tribal, territorial, or local police record or court record, or

(ii) Documentation signed by an employee, agent, volunteer of a victim service provider, an attorney, or medical professional from whom the victim has sought assistance in addressing domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking or, the effects of the abuse in which the professional attests under penalty of perjury under 28 U.S.C 1746 to the professional’s belief that the incident or incidents are bona fide incidents of abuse, and the victim of domestic violence, dating violence or stalking has signed or attested to the documentation.

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(3) Owners are not required to demand that an individual produce official documentation or physical proof of an individual’s status as a victim of domestic violence, dating violence or stalking in order to receive the protections of the VAWA. Owners, at their discretion, may provide assistance to an individual based solely upon the individual’s statement or other corroborating evidence. Owners are encouraged to carefully evaluate abuse claims as to avoid conducting an eviction based on false or unsubstantiated accusations.
(4) Owners should be mindful that the delivery of the certification form to the tenant via mail may place the victim at risk, e.g., the abuser may monitor the mail. Therefore, in order to mitigate risks, owners are encouraged to work with the tenant in making acceptable delivery arrangements, such as inviting them into the office to pick up the certification form or making other discreet arrangements.
(c) Confidentiality of Information.

The identity of the victim and all information provided to owners relating to the incident(s) of domestic violence, dating violence or stalking must be retained in confidence by the owner and must not be entered into any shared database or provided to a related entity, except to the extent that the disclosure is:

(1) Requested or consented to by the individual in writing;
(2) Required for use in an eviction proceeding; or
(3) Otherwise required by applicable law.

The HUD-approved certification form provides notice to the tenant of the confidentiality of the form and the limits thereof.

(d) Retention of information.

Owners must retain all documentation relating to an individual’s domestic violence, dating violence or stalking in a separate file that is kept in a separate secure location from other tenant files.

(e) VAWA Lease Addendum.

Owners must have tenants sign the VAWA lease addendum, form HUD-91067 (see Chapter 8 for requirements on issuance of modifications to the model lease).

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NOTE: See the Glossary for definitions for domestic violence, dating violence, stalking and immediate family member.*