How to Calculate (and sometimes lower) Rent in HUD Housing

Posted on by sleepygirl

Calculating Rent

The rules on this page do not apply to all forms of low income housing. These rules apply to Housing Vouchers, Public Housing, and apartments funded by HUD. Most rules also apply to USDA rural rental assistance.

How Rent Works

🌸 When you live in subsidized housing, you pay part of the rent and the Housing Authority pays the rest.

🌸 The amount you pay is called the “tenant payment.” For example, let’s say you rent a house for $1000. If your tenant payment is $100, then you pay $100 and the Housing Authority pays $900. If your tenant payment is $500, then you pay $500 and the Housing Authority pays $500.

How Much Is My Tenant Payment?

🌸 The tenant payment will be calculated to be 30% of your household income.

🌸 For example, if your income is $700 per month, then you pay roughly $210 including utilities. Or roughly $100 plus utilities.

🌸 That’s the simple formula. If you want the more exact details: How Much Rent Do I Pay?

🌸 But wait! In certain situations, your share of rent may be even lower than 30%. On the other hand, in some situations, it can be higher! Below is a list of policies that can cause your tenant payment to go up or down.

30 Policies That Lower Your Share of Rent

One: Help with Moving In

You may face some fees when you first move in, including: copies of birth certificates, state IDs, security deposits, and utility deposits. In some cases there are programs that can assist with this. Learn more here: How to Escape Move-In Fees

Two: One Time or Occassional Income

Must HUD programs have special rules that they will not count money that is “Temporary, non-recurring, or sporadic”. For example, if someone is giving you money every month, that would count as income and your rent will be higher. But if you inherit a bunch of money at once or if someone gives you a gift from time to time, this won’t count as income.

HUD doesn’t define what “sporadic” or “temporary” means, but some housing programs have created a definition in their administrative plan.

Three: Automatic Deductions

Your Housing Authority will automatically lower the amount of rent you pay if you have dependents (works out to about $10 per month per dependent). You also get a deduction if you are disabled (again, $10).  

Four: Medical Expenses

If you are disabled or elderly, you can deduct medical expenses from rent calculations. Here’s How to Document Medical Expenses

Five: Other Health Expenses

A lot of things count as medical expenses. All kinds of things you never considered: What Counts as a Medical Expense?

Six: Health and Medical for Other People You Live With

If you are disabled or elderly, you can deduct medical expenses for your children or for others in your household…. even if those people are not disabled or elderly. Weird! Who Gets Medical Expense Deductions? (Tip: Not Who You Think!)

Seven: Requests for Extra Bedrooms

In certain situations, you can request additional bedrooms as a disability accommodation. This does not actually change the amount of rent you pay, but it does give you extra bedrooms. If you have a voucher, it also gives you a larger voucher for a higher amount. Learn more about How to Request an Additional Bedroom

Eight: If Your House Has Too Many Bedrooms

If the number of bedrooms on your voucher is lower than the number of bedrooms in your house, this can raise the amount of rent you pay. Four reasons this can happen (plus four possible solutions) Four Reasons Why Number of Bedrooms Can Be Different

Nine: Internet Essentials

Internet Essentials offer $10/month internet for people who live in Section 8 or some other forms of HUD housing. It is exactly what it says it is: $10 and no strings attached.

If internet essentials is not in your area, check out AT&T Access and ConnectAll. Here’s a list of other programs offering discounted internet and here’s another great article on How to Get $5 Internet.

Ten: If You Can’t Get Discounted Internet

If you can’t sign up because you are already a customer, don’t give up hope, look here: $10 Internet & The 90 Day Waiting Period

Eleven: Live-in Aides

If you are disabled and need help, a live-in aide can live with you. Your aide will not pay rent and their income will not be included in rent calculations. How to Get a Live-In Aide 

Twelve: Live-in Aides & Bedrooms

You may request an additional bedroom for your aide. In most cases, this is given automatically when the aide is approved. The amount of rent you pay will not change. How Do Bedrooms Work For Live In Aides?

Thirteen: Live-in Aides & Other Programs

If you have a live in aide, there are may be other rules and programs that can help you. There are special regulations for utilities, food stamps, taxes, and more. Ten Secrets for People with Live-In Aides

Fourteen: Other Utility Programs

Low Income Heating Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) can lower your utility bills and will not impact your rent. Liheap is sometimes available even if the utilities are included in your rent. Other types of utility assistance (not Liheap) may count as income. Find out more about utility programs on this page: How to Be Poor in America

Fifteen: PASS Plans

If you are receiving SSI or SSDI and you participate in a PASS plan, your portion of the rent may be much lower. PASS plans can be used by people who are working, or people going to school with a work-related goal. The goal of PASS is to transition to full-time work and off benefits.

Sixteen: Student Financial Aid

Student loans do not count. Scholarships amounts used just for tuition do not count. Other types of financial aid counts in some circumstances and not others. Income regulations. In some housing programs, going to school part time is allowed, but full time would could cause someone to be ineligible for housing.

Seventeen: Children

Earnings from children under age 18 do not count.

Earnings from children age 18+ may not count, if child is full time student.

Child care expenses can be excluded from income if the child care allows a family member to do any of the following: work, look for work, participate in training or education.

If your child has unearned income, this will count. For example, child support and SSI will count.

Eighteen: Removing Fees

If you requested a disability accommodation and this led to you paying higher rent or having extra fees: Can a Landlord Charge for My Accommodation?.

You may be able to request removing fees for accommodations such as paying rent late, having an emotional support animal, breaking lease early, or getting a designated parking spot.

Nineteen: Special Program for Working

If someone in your household is working, your portion of the rent can be much lower if you participate in a self-sufficiency programs.

Twenty: Another Special Program for Working

If you are you start earning more money through work, there is a special program that can keep your rent from increasing. Earned Income Disallowance.

This program is available to people who were previously unemployed, or to people who are participating in a job training or self-sufficiency program, or to people who received TANF. For public housing, anyone can participate in this program. For housing vouchers and other HUD programs, the person working must be someone with disabilities.

Earned Income Disallowance laws: https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/24/5.617 and https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/24/960.255

Twenty Two: Increased Utility Allowance

If you have a disability-related need for higher a higher utility allowance, you can request this as a disability accommodation. This will lower your portion of the rent. How to Request Disability Accommodations

Twenty Three: Animals

If you have a service animal, or an emotional support animal, in most cases, you cannot be charged pet fees or pet deposits: Sample Letters and Guides (Assistance Animals).

Twenty Four: Gifts and Fundraising

If someone is giving you gifts or paying your bills, this may or may not count as income for HUD. Gift Rules for HUD Housing

Twenty Five: Other Kinds of Income

HUD has many other income exclusions, including Food Stamps, Liheap Utility Assistance, Americorp Payments, and a long list of (mostly obscure) other programs. Here’s a list of other things that don’t count as income.

Twenty Six: Minimum Rent

Some buildings charge a minimum rent – often $25 or $50. Even if you have no income, you may still be charged a minimum. In some cases, you can request a hardship exemption: Letter Requesting No Minimum Rent

Tip: If your rent payment is $0, the minimum rent may be being deducted from your utility check. You may not be aware it is happening. If you find out it is happening, you can request the exemption.

Twenty Seven: Utility Allowance

If utilities are not included in your lease, you will automatically get a utility allowance. This will lower the amount of rent you pay somewhat (maybe not enough to cover all your actual utility bills, though). Learn more about How Payment Standards Work

Twenty Eight: Gifts into ABLE Accounts

Gifts into an ABLE account do not count as income, even if they are ongoing, regular contributions. https://www.hud.gov/sites/dfiles/OCHCO/documents/2019-09pihn.pdf

Twenty Nine: Disability Assistance Deduction

This applies if one person in the house is working and one person in the house is disabled. Can be the same person or different people! Learn more: Disability Assistance Expenses Deductions (HUD Housing)

Thirty: Disability Accommodations

In some cases, reasonable accommodation requests can lower your share of rent. This can happen if your rent is above payment standard or if your voucher has less bedrooms than your home: Disability Accommodations that Can Lower Your Rent

Bonus Way #1

If someone in the household has developmental disabilities and receives care through a Medicaid or IHSS program: How to Exclude Income from IHSS and Medicaid Homecare

Bonus Way #2

If your income drops, at any point, you can: Request to Change Your Rent

If that doesn’t work: If Your Income Lowers and Your Housing Worker Refuses to Lower Rent

Still Too High?

There may be other reasons why your rent is too high. If you can figure out the reason, you might be able to figure out a solution.

Special Rules for Assets

🌸 Your assets will also raise your rent. But only a very tiny amount! The HUD rules for assets are quite generous. Here’s how it works: HUD will multiply your countable assets by .06%. That’s a factor of .0006. Then they will count it as income and apply the rule counting 30%. Then they divide by 12 months. Unless you are a millionaire, it is unlikely to have a great impact.

🌸 Special Needs Trusts: According to HUD Regulations, funds in a Special Needs Trust are not counted as income or assets in most cases. However, some Housing Authorities have set up their own (evil) rules, counting them as income. Some tenants have taken their Housing Authorities to court over these rules (and won!)

🌸 ABLE Accounts – Special Accounts for people who first became disabled before age 26. Do not count as income or assets.

Rent Above 30%

There are a few situations where the rent you pay might be more than 30% of your income:

🌸 You couldn’t find a place within the price range of your voucher, so you chose a more expensive apartment and the Housing Authority is allowing you to pay the extra.

🌸 Your landlord raised your rent while you were living there, and your Housing Authority agreed to let you stay if you paid more.

🌸 Your housing authority changes their policy on bedroom size or payment standards in your area dropped down.

🌸 The number of bedrooms in your apartment is different than the number of bedrooms on your voucher.

🌸 In some cases, reasonable accommodation requests can address these issues: Disability Accommodations that Can Lower Your Rent

🌸 You are in a Moving to Work Housing Authority These Housing Authorities do not follow the same rules written above.

Having Problems?

🌸 If you want more details on how your rent was calculated, try requesting a copy of your Family Report. Some Housing Authorities will automatically send this to you each year.

🌸 If you continue to have problems: How to Get Help or File Complaints for Housing Problems

Learn More

🌸 If you have a Housing Choice Voucher, the amount of rent you pay will be different than the amount of rent your landlord receives. Take a look here: How High Can the Rent Be if I Have a Housing Voucher?

🌸 How does everything above work when you put it all together? Meet Jane and Sally (Section 8 Rent Example)

Policies

🌸 Calculating Rent for Public Housing & Multi Family Housing

🌸 Income Inclusions & Exclusions for Vouchers (HUD policy)

🌸 Calculating Income and Rent for Vouchers (starting on page 13)

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26 thoughts on “How to Calculate (and sometimes lower) Rent in HUD Housing”

  1. I have NO INCOME and am disabled and my social security is pending so if ,my rent is $598.so what’s the amount should I be paying Thur HUD or and SEC.8 thank you and GOD BLESS and STAY WELL 🙏🤗😇

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  2. Another one to check and correct:

    “Three: Automatic Deductions

    You say “…You also get a deduction if you are disabled (again, $14).”

    I don’t think that is correct. (See below.)
    The disability deduction is a) $400/yr per household and b) is deducted from the Total Household Gross Income. (So if you don’t pay the 30% on that amount, you save $120/yr, amortized over 12 mos. that works out to $10/mo.)

    From HUD Rent Calculation Worksheet
    03. $480.00 FOR EACH DEPENDENT Dependents, including household members under the age of 18,
    elderly dependents, handicapped, disabled, or full-time students, but not the family head, spouse or
    foster children

    14. $400 FOR ANY ELDERLY OR DISABLED FAMILY MEMBER This allowance is provided to any family
    whose head, spouse, or sole member is at least 62 years of age OR is handicapped/disabled.
    (ONLY ONE DEDUCTION PER FAMILY/HOUSEHOLD PER YEAR)

    See also:

    Click to access HCV_Guidebook_Calculating_Rent_and_HAP_Payments.pdf

    …and look what I just found–a nifty “Sec 8 Made Simple” Powerpoint: http://www.ncdhhs.gov/media/10686/download

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  3. More refinements suggestions:

    * Two: One Time or Occassional Income
    “Occasional” (spelling typo)

    You say: “Must HUD programs have special rules that they will not count money that is “Temporary, non-recurring, or sporadic”. For example, if someone is giving you money every month, that would count as income and your rent will be higher. But if you inherit a bunch of money at once or if someone gives you a gift from time to time, this won’t count as income.”

    Since many public housing managers aren’t familiar with all the details of CFR 964 (or whichever section has this…it’s been awhile, I may have forgotten) I suggest adding the link to the HUD rule so people can print it out and take it to their leasing manager if needed. Also, it’s always good to read it for yourself and get familiar with it.

    This is a really overlooked, but potentially quite advantageous exception. I suggest being more explicit: “If someone gives you money every month…you will pay about 30% of that as rent, but if they gave you the same total amount “sporadically” (say on your birthday, at Christmas, and perhaps some other random date), in different “random” amounts, that might be considered sporadic, so it would not be counted as income and you would not have to pay 30% of it toward rent. Example: Naive Nancy gets $1200/yr in steady $100/mo increments from a relative or from a steady part-time job. She has to declare it and it is included in her total household income, so she pays $30/mo of it in rent. Savvy Sasha also gets $1200/yr, but asks her relative to give it to her in sporadic disbursements two or three times a year, say $600 + $125 +$475. Clever Clara works “temp” on and off, as her health allows, earning different amounts, but only in two or three months each year…her income is “temporary, non-recurring, sporadic”. Savvy Sasha and Clever Clara have the same $1200/yr extra income as Naive Nancy, but their income is not included in their rent calculation, so their rent does not go up and they save $360/yr (30% of $1200)!.

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  4. This is a serious issue…that I haven’t seen addressed anywhere. HUD”s “household annual income” results are extremely flawed. They can claim a household has more annual income than it actual has (which is something that should not be possible) by thousands of dollars. My local HUD is ignoring paystub’s with year-to-date income amounts.

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  5. This is a serious issue…that I haven’t seen addressed anywhere. HUD”s “household annual income” results are extremely flawed. They can claim a household has more annual income than it actual has (which is something that should not be possible) by thousands of dollars. My local HUD is ignoring paystub’s with year-to-date income amounts.

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  6. If my daughter paid me for babysitting for 2 months at 50 a week I pay 30 percent of my income in rent. And then in March she lost her job and then I couldn’t babysit anymore do I owe back rent for that. I’m on disability and live in section 8 housing

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  7. my name is Andre Jerome Clayborn, I am a 58 year old veteran, disabled, with glaucoma, and homeless, I do receive government assistance but am in desperate need of a place to call my own, from a efficiency to a two bedroom home would be greately appreciated, if in any way you can help me, it would truly be a blessing. thank you.

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  8. I am working on getting adult child dependent disability. I am currently on SSI. I am going to report the change in income when approved. Will it still be 30%? Also if I get a bonus for the time that passes for approval, will I need to report that to section 8?

    Like

  9. Wow, great information. I was also looking for an affordable HUD housing accommodation in NYC a few months ago, and all I can say is that this information is really helpful. But it’s still difficult for the first time. I somehow got it done with the help of APT212 ( I think you know it) — rental marketplace in NYC.

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  10. i live in Illinois, is your rent based on 30% of your annual income or 30% of your monthly income. And can overtime be figured in on this. Also, what is the child credit.

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      1. So I’m on section 8 my monthly income is $1,168 and I have 4 kids, it’s suppose to be $480 for each dependent so how the hell Em I paying $169, (currently backed up ) when I was working I was making more money and only paid 160.

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  11. If I got paid 75 a month from job in income. How would I calculate it to see how much extra I’ll be paying a month in Section 8? I have not accepted the job yet.

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  12. This blog is a wealth of information. I am always telling people: You might think you don’t need this now, but trust me, you will. Bookmark it.

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      1. I gave a voucher that doesn’t allow me to qualify for certain section 8 apt.my voucher may go as high as 890 without utility and 835 with utility included please advise me on how i can qualify for apt that may run 895 or 900 at most

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  14. Hi and thanks for all the information. I have asked repeatedly for a written breakdown of how my share of a section 8 rent
    voucher is calculated. I have followed the formula and my rent share just does not seem right.

    My county housing worker says that this cannot be done under any circumstances and that is not something that they can prove/ verify. I can’t find an independant third party to do it either. There are no free housing help centers in my county or the one next to us.
    Any ideas as to where I can have my rent amount verified?

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    1. This is the form some of our readers receive from their HAs which shows breakdown of figures: https://www.hud.gov/sites/documents/50058.PDF

      Perhaps you can make a written request for a copy of this form from your file?

      If they won’t give it to you, perhaps contact supervisors or HUD field office?
      https://howtogeton.wordpress.com/get-help-or-file-complaints-for-hud-housing-problems-disability/

      Do you know if your landlord is setting the rent within payment standard. That is the most common reason why someone’s monthly payment can wind up being higher then expected.

      hope this helps.

      Like

  15. Hi,
    Great and comprehensive article. I’ve never seen this topic so clearly written about. I have a quick question. I have a section 8 voucher in NYC. I’m paying a large sum of my limited income to paying off credit card debt that was incurred due to a surgery. After paying that debt and my basic bills, there’s little left to survive on, let alone pay rent with. My portion of the rent is not calculated with debt as a factor. Is there a way that this debt could be considered by NYCHA to reduce my portion of rent?

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    1. Hello.

      You’ve asked and excellent question. I believe that regular payments on past due medical bills, can count as a medical expense.

      In this case, I am not sure how you would demonstrate that the payment is for medical bills if it is going to a general credit card payment. You might be able to document and show that the bills were incurred due to medical debt?

      Even if you do get this approved as a medical expense, I should warn you that it won’t lower your rent payment dramatically. It will have a small impact.

      I will also share a link below, some of our readers have been successful in negotiating down medical debt, but if you have already paid the bill and now need to pay off the credit card, then I’m guessing it’s too late for that one?

      It also might be helpful to know that credit card companies cannot garnish your Social Security check. There is more information about this in the link below. Many of our readers report that could not pay off their medical debt, and eventually the debt just expired. Of course, if someone has other assets or income aside from Social Security then the credit card company can pursue that.

      If you are having a problem getting approved for an apartment due to medical debt, you can request an accommodation to have an exception to their credit policy by showing that the debt is related to your disability. In any kind of building that is funded through HUD, this request should be granted. For other types of private building the landlord might not granted, but maybe they will.

      Hope this helps:
      https://howtogeton.wordpress.com/how-to-deal-with-debt-disability/

      Like

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