RD’s Office of Multifamily Housing released the following information on December 8, 2022. (Also see CARH’s Broadcast Email of November 17, 2022):
Multifamily Stakeholders,
On October 13, 2022, the Social Security Administration announced an 8.7% increase in Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for 2023. They estimated that this adjustment will result in an average Social Security benefit increase of $140 per month in January 2023. This amount of benefit increase would require interim income recertifications for a significant number of tenants in the Rural Housing Service Multifamily portfolio, creating substantial administrative burden for property owners and management agents. Accordingly, on October 27, 2022, we issued an interim GovDelivery requesting owners and management agents to hold processing and submission of interim recertifications for Social Security recipients until further Federal Register Notice.
On December 6, 2022, Rural Development published a Notice in the Federal Register announcing a temporary exception to the tenant income recertification requirements for the Section 515 Rural Rental Housing (RRH) Program and Section 514 Off-Farm Labor Housing (FLH) Program. The Agency is temporarily waiving the interim income recertification requirement for tenants whose monthly household income has increased by more than $100 but less than $200. During the period of time this waiver is in place, tenants will not be required to process a tenant certification form unless their household income changes by $200 or more per month. This temporary waiver will be effective through calendar year 2023, expiring on December 31, 2023.
This temporary waiver does not apply to or change the requirements for annual renewal certifications. This temporary waiver also does not change the requirement for owners and management agents to process an interim recertification if the tenant requests one for an income change of $50 or more.
A copy of this GovDelivery notice and the Federal Register notice must be provided to all tenants and must be posted in property common areas. Tenants of Section 514 or Section 515 properties may contact property management with any questions. Owners or management agents may reach out to their Rural Housing Service Multifamily Servicing Specialist with questions.
Sincerely,
Nancie-Ann Bodell
Deputy Administrator for Multifamily Housing