Compliance in HOME Rental Projects:
A Guide for Property Owners

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HUD-2009 HOMERental PO

Compliance in HOME Rental Projects: A Guide for Property Owners helps owners of HOME-assisted properties comply with the HOME Program’s ongoing affordability requirements. It describes the specific regulatory requirements that apply to HOME-assisted rental properties during the period of affordability. Further, it provides tools for owners and property managers—in the form of checklists, forms, and sample documents—to facilitate the day-to-day rental management of HOME-assisted properties.

Some property owners/managers are subject to additional rules, beyond the HOME requirements, due to the use of other funding in a project's acquisition or development. This guide highlights and identifies common areas of confusion when HOME is used in combination with other typical sources (such as low-income housing tax credits and project-based rental subsidies) and nontraditional property types (such as group homes and single-room occupancy housing).

HUD is providing this guidance to property owners and their managers to help them comply with HOME requirements. HUD evaluated how well owners of HOME-assisted properties carried out their obligations during the affordability period and issued its findings in Study of the Ongoing Affordability of HOME Program Rents. HUD found that two years after project completion, most HOME-assisted properties were in compliance with long-term affordability requirements. Nonetheless, in some instances, compliance with HOME rules occurred by happenstance—it was not the result of effective management systems developed and established by owners. The study also found that the owners of units that were not in compliance were often confused about the HOME requirements. They frequently did not know how to carry out the property management tasks that would ensure compliance, such as how to determine rents, use utility allowances, or change rents when a tenant’s income increased over the allowable HOME limit. For owners of properties with additional sources of public investment, there was often additional confusion about how to apply different program rules to the same property. Compliance in HOME Rental Projects: A Guide for Property Owners addresses the key areas of confusion identified in this HUD study.