4-14 Taking Applications for Occupancy

• A. Key Requirements

  1. Application. Anyone who wishes to be admitted to an assisted property or placed on a property’s waiting list must complete an application. In addition to providing applicants the opportunity to complete applications at the project site, owners may also send out and receive applications by mail. Owners shall accommodate persons with disabilities who, as a result of their disabilities, cannot utilize the owner’s preferred application process by providing alternative methods of taking applications.

  2. Applicant certification. The application must include a signature from the applicant certifying the accuracy and completeness of information provided. See the discussion in Chapter 5, Section 3 for information about the Privacy Act and disclosure requirements.

  3. Supplemental Information to Application for Assistance. The application must include as an attachment, form HUD-92006, Supplement to Application for Federally Assisted Housing. See D below for instructions on use of this form.

  4. The applicant provides self-certification of their race and ethnicity for data collection by using form HUD-27061-H (Exhibit 4-3). Completing this form is optional and there is no penalty for not completing it. Owners should not complete the form on behalf of the tenant. When the applicant chooses not to self certify race or ethnicity, a notation that the applicant chose not to provide the race and ethnicity certification may be placed in their file.

• B. Contents of Application

  1. Although HUD does not prescribe an application format, a written application form used to initiate verification of eligibility factors should include the following data:

     • a. Household characteristics – name, sex, age, disability status (only where necessary to establish eligibility) of each household member, need for an accessible unit, and race/ethnicity of head of household;

     • b. General household contact information – address, phone number;

     • c. Identification of the approved preferences, if HUD approval is required, for which the household qualifies (only if preferences are used at the property);

     • d. Source(s) and estimate(s) of household’s anticipated annual income and assets;

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  - e. Citizenship declaration (see Exhibit 3-5) and verification consent forms (see Exhibit 3-6).  (This is not required for 221(d)(3) BMIR (without Section 8 or any other assistance), 202 (without Section 8), 202 PAC, 202 PRAC, and 811 PRAC properties that have no other subsidy); 

  - f. Marketing information to understand how the applicant heard about the property; and 

  - g. Screening information – prior landlords, credit, and drug and criminal history, consistent with the property’s tenant selection policies. 

2. *The owner’s application must request the following information from applicants.

• a. Whether the applicant or any member of the applicant’s household, is subject to State lifetime sex offender registration in any state.

  - b. Listing of states where the applicant and members of the applicant’s household have resided. 
  
  - c. Disclosure of SSNs for the applicant and for all members of the applicant’s household, except those household members who do not contend eligible immigration status. 
  
  - d. Information from applicants who were age 62 or older as of January 31, 2010, and who do not have a SSN, if they were receiving HUD rental assistance at another location on January 31, 2010.  This information is needed in order for the owner to verify whether the applicant qualifies for the exemption from disclosing and providing verification of a SSN. 
  

  3. The owner must include as an attachment to the application form HUD92006, Supplement and Optional Contact Information for HUD-Assisted Housing Applicants, Supplement to Application for Federally Assisted Housing.*

• C. Types of Applications

Owners may choose to use a "full" application form, requiring all the detailed information needed to make a determination of eligibility, or a shorter preapplication form.

1. If an applicant will be placed on a waiting list, as opposed to being immediately offered a unit, the owner may use a pre-application (brief form of application), which provides the minimum information needed to determine if the applicant should be put on the waiting list.

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2. If only a preliminary application has been completed, a full application should be completed at the time a unit is available so that the owner has enough information to determine the applicant's eligibility completely.

• D. * Supplement to Application for Federally Assisted Housing

Section 644 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 requires owners to provide applicants, as a part of their application for housing, the option to include information on an individual or organization that may be contacted to assist in providing any delivery of services or special care to applicants who become tenants and to assist with resolving any tenancy issues arising during tenancy.