Public Housing Agency Accountability
Over 3,600 PHAs administer 850,000 Public Housing units and over 2.3 million Housing Choice Vouchers. Combined, these programs fund over $43 billion on an annual basis to help house low-income Americans. PHAs have significant financial, regulatory, and community obligations with a high degree of accountability to the public. The PHA Accountability Dashboard helps the public better understand the performance of these agencies and programs at a national, state, and local level.
The Public Housing Agency (PHA) Accountability Dashboard provides an overview of Public Housing (PH) and Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) programs, including occupancy, leasing, funding, shortfall awards, SEMAP and PHAS performance scores and designation, and monitorship/receivership status. The dashboard’s data is sourced from HUDCAPS, VMS and the IMS/PIC system. Much of the dashboard’s data is sourced daily; however, voucher leasing and budget utilization data must be submitted monthly by the PHA resulting in an approximately 2-month delay between the reporting period and the data’s availability.
The PHA Accountability Dashboard
The PHA Accountability dashboard is accessible both internally to HUD employees and externally to the public. The public facing dashboard is embedded below and accessible online.
The date of the current dashboard data may be found on the dashboard pages.
PHAS and SEMAP Resources
The Public Housing Assessment System (PHAS) and the Section 8 Management Assessment Program (SEMAP) are systems HUD uses to assess PHA performance. The PHAS system is used to measure an agency’s performance in managing its low-rent public housing program, while the SEMAP system is used to management performance of the housing choice voucher program.
- Read more about SEMAP at 24 CFR Part 985 – Section 8 Management Assessment Program (SEMAP)
- Read more about PHAS at 24 CFR Part 900 —Public Housing Assessment System
Public Housing Program Shortfall
HUD’s Public Housing Operating Fund Shortfall program provides financial assistance to Public Housing Agencies experiencing or at risk of experiencing a financial shortfall.
HUD defines a “financial shortfall” as an instance in which a PHA has an amount less than the equivalent of three months of operating expenses held in reserve. Thus, the shortfall program targets PHAs with the lowest months of Public Housing reserves and then allocates the funding to raise PHAs reserves up to three months of operating expenses. These funds are intended to cover eligible operating costs and sustain the PHA’s routine operations. The total amount of shortfall funding available is determined annually by Congress and can vary across funding years. If the demand for Shortfall Funding among PHAs is greater than the supply of funds available, not all PHAs that are eligible for Shortfall Funding will receive funding.
At the onset of the funding process, HUD identifies PHAs experiencing financial stress based on the amount of funds that they hold in reserves to determine their Shortfall eligibility. After identifying the PHAs eligible for Shortfall funding for that year, PHAs are notified of their shortfall eligibility and an eligibility list is posted on the Operating Fund’s webpage to ensure that all impacted PHAs are fully informed about the availability of shortfall funding. To receive shortfall funding, PHAs on the eligibility list must submit a completed application to apply for that year’s Shortfall funding via the Public Housing Portal. PHAs may only submit one application, as the shortfall methodology will be applied based on the availability of Congressionally allocated funds.
Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program Shortfall
When a PHA’s HCV Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) expenses are on track to exceed its available budget authority plus any available HAP reserves, the PHA is considered to have a funding shortfall. A funding shortfall is evidence that the PHA’s funding, policy, and leasing decisions have created an extreme risk that the PHA will have to terminate assistance for families. While, in some cases, funding or market factors beyond the PHA’s control contribute to shortfall, a funding shortfall may indicate the PHA is not properly and effectively administering the program and has inadequate financial oversight and planning.
Congress generally makes available some limited resources for HUD to assist PHAs in addressing shortfalls. However, PHAs administering the program must manage their programs within their annual budget authority (plus any available reserves, if necessary) and PHAs should not assume that shortfall funds will be available in their financial planning process.
The PHA Accountability Dashboard shows the amount each PHA received in HCV shortfall in 2025. Soon HUD will update the dashboard to include 2026 shortfall awards.
Contact Us
If you have questions regarding the PHA Accountability dashboard, please send an email to [email protected].
Report Fraud, Waste, and Abuse
HUD’s Office of the Inspector General accepts reports of fraud, waste, abuse, or mismanagement in HUD or HUD-funded programs from HUD employees, contractors, and the public. For more information on how to report, visit www.hudoig.gov
You may also send an email to [email protected].