TITLE 10. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

PART 1. TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY AFFAIRS

CHAPTER 23. SINGLE FAMILY HOME PROGRAM

SUBCHAPTER E. TENANT-BASED RENTAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (the Department) proposes amendments to 10 TAC Chapter 23, Single Family Home Program, §23.50 Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) General Requirements. The rule amendments clarifies that a 60-month limitation on assistance does not apply to persons with disabilities that meet certain criteria.

FISCAL NOTE. Mr. Bobby Wilkinson, Executive Director, has determined that, for each year of the first five years the amendment to the rule is in effect, enforcing or administering the amendment does not have any foreseeable implications related to costs or revenues of the state or local governments.

GOVERNMENT GROWTH IMPACT STATEMENT. Mr. Wilkinson also has determined that, for the first five years the amendment would be in effect:

1. The proposed amendment to the rule will not create or eliminate a government program;

2. The proposed amendment to the rule will not require a change in the number of employees of the Department;

3. The proposed amendment to the rule will not require additional future legislative appropriations;

4. The proposed amendment to the rule will result in neither an increase nor a decrease in fees paid to the Department;

5. The proposed amendment to the rule will not create a new regulation;

6. The proposed amendment to the rule will not repeal an existing regulation;

7. The proposed amendment to the rule will not increase or decrease the number of individuals subject to the rule's applicability; and

8. The proposed amendment to the rule will neither positively nor negatively affect this state's economy.

PUBLIC BENEFIT/COST NOTE. Mr. Wilkinson also has determined that, for each year of the first five years the amendment to the rule is in effect, the public benefit anticipated as a result of the action will be conformance to statutory requirements. There will not be any economic cost to any individual required to comply with the amendment.

ADVERSE IMPACT ON SMALL OR MICRO-BUSINESSES OR RURAL COMMUNITIES. The Department has determined that there will be no economic effect on small or micro-businesses or rural communities.

REQUEST FOR PUBLIC COMMENT. All comments or questions in response to this action may be submitted in writing from April 25, 2025, to May 26, 2025. Written comments may be submitted to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, Single Family and Homeless Programs, P.O. Box 13941, Austin, Texas 78711-3941, or email HOME@tdhca.texas.gov. ALL COMMENTS MUST BE RECEIVED BY 5:00 pm Central Daylight Time, May 26, 2025.

STATUTORY AUTHORITY. The proposed amendment is made pursuant to Tex. Gov't Code §2306.053, which authorizes the Department to adopt rules.

Except as described herein the proposed amendment affects no other code, article, or statute.

§ 23.50. Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) General Requirements.

(a) Households assisted under the general set-aside must participate in a self-sufficiency program, as described in the Administrator's policies and procedures.

(b) The amount of assistance will be determined using the HUD Housing Choice Voucher method.

(c) Late fees are not an eligible HOME cost. Late fees incurred for the subsidy portion of rent must be paid by the Administrator from a non-HOME funding source.

(d) A Household certifying to zero income must also complete a questionnaire that includes a series of questions regarding how basic hygiene, dietary, transportation, and other living needs are met.

(e) The minimum Household contribution toward gross monthly rent must be ten percent of the Household's adjusted monthly income. The maximum Household contribution toward gross monthly rent at initial occupancy is limited to 40 percent of the Household's gross monthly income.

(f) Activity funds are limited to:

(1) Rental subsidy: Each rental subsidy term is limited to no more than 24 months. Total lifetime assistance to a Household may not exceed 36 months cumulatively, except that a maximum of 24 additional months of assistance, for a total of 60 months cumulatively may be approved if:

(A) the Household has applied for a Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher, HUD Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities, HUD Section 811 Project Rental Assistance Demonstration, or HUD Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program, and is placed on a waiting list during their TBRA participation tenure; and

(B) the Household has not been removed from the waiting list for the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher, HUD Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities, HUD Section 811 Project Rental Assistance Demonstration, or HUD Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program due to failure to respond to required notices or other ineligibility factors; or

(C) the Administrator submits documentation evidencing that:

(i) no Public Housing Authority within a 50 mile radius of the Household's address during their participation in TBRA has opened their waitlist during the term of the Household's participation in TBRA, or has excluded the Household's application for placement on the waiting list for any reason other than eligibility or failure to respond to required notices, such as a randomized drawing of applications that may be placed on the waitlist; and

(ii) no waiting list was opened during the term of the Household's participation in TBRA for any HUD Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities, HUD Section 811 Project Rental Assistance Demonstration, or HUD Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program located within a 50 mile radius of the Household's address during their participation in TBRA; or

(iii) the Household is not eligible for placement on a waiting list for any HUD Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities, HUD Section 811 Project Rental Assistance Demonstration, or HUD Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program located within a 50 mile radius of the Household's address during their participation in TBRA; and

(D) the Household has not been denied participation in the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher, HUD Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities, HUD Section 811 Project Rental Assistance Demonstration, or HUD Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program while they were being assisted with HOME TBRA; and

(E) the Household did not refuse to participate in the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher, HUD Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities, HUD Section 811 Project Rental Assistance Demonstration, or HUD Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program when a voucher was made available.

(3) [ (2) ] Security deposit: no more than the amount equal to two month's rent for the unit.

(4) [ (3) ] Utility deposit in conjunction with a TBRA rental subsidy.

(g) The payment standard is determined at the Date of Assistance. The payment standard utilized by the Administrator must be:

(1) The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published Small Area Fair Market Rent (SAFMR) for any area in which a SAFMR is available. In areas where an SAFMR is not published by HUD, the payment standard must be the HUD-published Fair Market Rent (FMR) for the county. HUD-published SAFMRs and FMRs will become effective for the HOME Program on January 1 of each year following publication;

(2) For a HOME-assisted unit, the current applicable HOME rent; or

(3) The Administrator may submit a written request to the Department for approval of a different payment standard. The request must be evidenced by a market study or documentation that the PHA serving the market area has adopted a different payment standard. An Administrator may request a Reasonable Accommodation as defined in §1.204 of this Title for a specific Household if the Household, because of a disability, requires the features of a specific unit, and units with such features are not available in the Service Area at the payment standard.

(h) Administrator must not approve a unit if the owner is by consanguinity, affinity, or adoption the parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, sister, or brother of any member of the assisted Household, unless the Administrator determines that approving the unit would provide Reasonable Accommodation for a Household member who is a Person with Disabilities. This restriction against Administrator approval of a unit only applies at the time the Household initially receives assistance under a Contract or Agreement, but does not apply to Administrator approval of a recertification with continued tenant-based assistance in the same unit.

(i) Administrators must maintain Written Policies and Procedures established for the HOME Program in accordance with §10.802 of this Title, except that where the terms Owner, Property, or Development are used Administrator or Program will be substituted, as applicable. Additionally, the procedures in subsection (j) of this section (relating to the Violence Against Women Act (if in conflict with the provisions in §10.802 of this Title) will govern).

(j) Administrators serving a Household under a Reservation Agreement may not issue a Certificate of Eligibility to the Household prior to reserving funds for the Activity without prior written consent of the Department.

(k) Administrators are required to comply with regulations and procedures outlined in the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), and provide tenant protections as established in the Act.

(1) An Administrator of Tenant-Based Rental Assistance must provide all Applicants (at the time of admittance or denial) and Households (before termination from the Tenant-Based Rental Assistance program or from the dwelling assisted by the Tenant-Based Rental Assistance Coupon Contract) the Department's "Notice of Occupancy Rights under the Violence Against Women Act", (based on HUD form 5380) and also provide to Households "Certification of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, or Stalking" (HUD form 5382) prior to execution of a Rental Coupon Contract and before termination of assistance from the Tenant-Based Rental Assistance program or from the dwelling assisted by the Tenant-Based Rental Assistance coupon contract.

(2) Administrator must notify the Department within three days when tenant submits a Certification of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, or Stalking and/or alternate documentation to Administrator and must submit a plan to Department for continuation or termination of assistance to affected Household members.

(3) Notwithstanding any restrictions on admission, occupancy, or terminations of occupancy or assistance, or any Federal, State or local law to the contrary, Administrator may "bifurcate" a rental coupon contract, or otherwise remove a Household member from a rental coupon contract, without regard to whether a Household member is a signatory, in order to evict, remove, terminate occupancy rights, or terminate assistance to any individual who is a recipient of TBRA and who engages in criminal acts of physical violence against family members or others. This action may be taken without terminating assistance to, or otherwise penalizing the person subject to the violence.

The agency certifies that legal counsel has reviewed the proposal and found it to be within the state agency's legal authority to adopt.

Filed with the Office of the Secretary of State on April 10, 2025.

TRD-202501193

Bobby Wilkinson

Executive Director

Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs

Earliest possible date of adoption: May 25, 2025

For further information, please call: (512) 475-3959