TBRA Payments

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Under the HOME regulations pertaining to tenant-based rental assistance, PJs have some discretion in the amount of subsidy they provide on behalf of a tenant.

The subsidy can be no greater, however, than the difference between a PJ-established rent standard and 30 percent of the household's monthly "adjusted income."

PJs must establish rent standards for each unit size (by number of bedrooms) that are:
locally determined based on local market conditions, or not greater than the HUD-published Existing Housing Fair Market Rent (FMR) or the HUD-approved Area Exception Rent.

Click here for current Existing Housing Fair Market Rent data published by HUD. Contact your local HUD Field Office for Area Exception Rent data.

PJs must also establish minimum tenant contributions to rent for the TBRA program.
PJs can use either the Section 8 Rental Certificate or Rental Voucher Program as models for determining the level of PJ subsidy. Alternatively, PJs can establish their own methodology for determining the level of HOME subsidy -- provided it conforms with the basic regulatory requirements at 24 CFR 92.209.

Click on the key words above to learn how the PJ subsidy is calculated under each Section 8 model.

Section 8 Rental Certificate Model

The Section 8 Rental Certificate Program assumes a fixed tenant payment - that is, the tenant's share of housing costs, or total tenant payment (TTP), is calculated by formula. The formula for computing TTP under the Certificate Program requires a tenant to pay the greatest of:

	30 percent of monthly "adjusted income";
	10 percent of monthly "annual (gross) income"; or
	Welfare rent (which applies only to welfare recipients in as-paid localities).

Under a HOME TBRA program, the PJ would then pay the difference between the tenant's share - the TTP -- and the approved rent for the unit selected by the tenant.

Consider the following example:

The Cleavers have been issued a 2-bedroom HOME TBRA coupon. Their annual and adjusted incomes are $22,500 and $18,300, respectively. They find an apartment that rents for $725 (including utilities).

The Cleavers must pay the greater of:

30% of monthly adjusted income $458 ($18,300/12 months) x .30

OR

10% of monthly annual income $188 ($22,500/12 months) x .10

The PJ must then pay the difference between the tenant's share and the approved rent.

Section 8 Rental Voucher Model

Using the Section 8 Rental Voucher Program assumes a fixed payment from the PJ toward a unit's rent. The maximum PJ subsidy is calculated first, then the tenant pays the difference between the PJ subsidy and the approved rent for the unit.
Using the Rental Voucher method, a PJ:

1. establishes its rent standards by unit size for the TBRA program as a whole,
   
2. determines 30 percent of the tenant's monthly "adjusted income"

The difference between these figures is the maximum amount the PJ will pay toward the rent for the unit selected by the tenant.
However, a minimum tenant payment of 10 percent of the tenant's monthly "annual (gross) income" is required.

Consider the following example:

The Cleavers have been issued a 2-bedroom HOME TBRA coupon. Their annual and adjusted incomes are $22,500 and $18,300, respectively. (Thirty percent of their monthly adjusted income is $458, and 10 percent of their monthly annual income is $188.) They find an apartment that rents for $800 (including utilities). The PJ's rent standard is $775.

In this example, the Cleavers pay more than 30 percent of their monthly adjusted income for housing because they selected a unit that rents for more than the PJ's rent standard.

Had the Cleavers found a very inexpensive unit, the requirement that the family pay at least 10% of monthly annual income might apply.

However, The Cleavers must pay at least 10% of their monthly annual income, or $188, toward the rent. The PJ's contribution would therefore be reduced by $5.