A Guide to Payment Standards, Rent Reasonableness, and More for D.C. Voucher Holders
By: Nick Adjami and Halle Ostoyich
May 22, 2024
This resource is designed for voucher holders seeking information about affordability notices, payment standards, and the rent reasonableness process.
If you are a government official or housing policy professional looking for information about DCHA’s rent reasonableness assessment process and how it negatively impacts voucher holders, see our blog.
If you’ve just been given a housing voucher, you might have a lot of questions about how to find a new home, like:
- How much will I pay toward rent each month?
- What is the maximum amount of rent the voucher will pay?
- Does the amount the voucher will pay vary depending on what neighborhood I’m looking in?
This guide is designed to answer those questions. First, let’s get acquainted with the information you’ve been given.
Affordability Notice and Payment Standard
At the voucher briefing, you were given a paper titled: Family Seeking Housing Affordability Notice. This Notice lists the Maximum Subsidy DCHA will pay for a unit anywhere in D.C. based on your voucher size. This amount, which includes rent plus utilities, is known as the payment standard.
The Notice also lists a Maximum Gross Rent range. This is the maximum rent amount that you might be approved for, depending on what percent of your household’s monthly income goes toward rent. DCHA expects households with vouchers to pay 30% of their income to rent. The Maximum Gross Rent for a household paying 30% of their income to rent is the lower of the two numbers given in the Maximum Gross Rent range on the Notice. However, DCHA allows households to pay up to 40% of their income to rent. The top number in the Maximum Gross Rent Range is the maximum rent amount you can be approved for if your household pays 40% of its income to rent.
At the very top of the paper next to your name, DCHA has calculated 30% and 40% of your household’s income for you, so you can assess for yourself whether you feel you can afford to pay more than 30% of your household’s monthly income to rent. If your household’s income is zero, you will just see one number given as the Maximum Gross Rent.
Finally, the Notice includes a section for you to calculate your Maximum Contract Rent, which is the Maximum Gross Rent minus the amount of utilities you are responsible for. This calculation will determine your utility allowance.
You must find a unit that is less expensive than the higher of the two numbers given as your Maximum Gross Rent amount. DCHA will not approve you for a property if the rent is higher than that number. However, even if you find a unit for rent below the Maximum Gross Rent amount, DCHA is not guaranteed to approve it. To be approved, the housing authority must confirm that the unit is priced fairly based on its location, number of bedrooms, square footage, and features. This is the rent reasonableness determination.
Rent Reasonableness
DCHA conducts rent reasonableness assessments to ensure the amount the landlord is charging for the unit is fair. DCHA will not approve a HAP contract until they determine that a unit is rent reasonable. To be found to be rent reasonable, a unit cannot exceed the rent charged to non-voucher holders for comparable units in the same “market area” or neighborhood.
DCHA must make a rent reasonableness determination prior to initial approval of a unit, as well as whenever an owner requests a rent adjustment. In those cases, the agency says it will attempt to determine whether the requested increase is reasonable within 14 days.
The rent reasonableness assessment considers several factors, including:
- The location and age of the unit
- The unit size including the number of rooms and square footage of rooms
- The type of unit including construction type (e.g., single family, duplex, garden, low-rise, high-rise)
- The quality of the units including the quality of the original construction, maintenance and improvements made
- Any amenities, services, and utilities included in the rent
DCHA uses a third-party company, AffordableHousing.com, to determine whether units are rent reasonable. Unfortunately, this tool is not available to the public, though some case managers may have access. To get an estimate as to whether a unit you are interested in is likely to be approved by for rent reasonableness, DCHA encourages you to use one of AffordableHousing.com’s tools. In the top toolbar on the website, click “Owners” and then “Market Rent Estimator.” Then input the property’s address and bedroom size and the site will populate a chart. According to DCHA, if the unit’s rent is at or below the amount given in the fourth column of the chart, the unit is likely to be deemed rent reasonable. However, it’s important to note that this is not a final determination regarding a unit’s reasonableness. Only DCHA can make the final determination of whether a unit is reasonable after a Request for Tenancy Approval (or “RFTA”) packet has been submitted.
Individuals who would like additional assistance with their housing search, and especially individuals who have specific accessibility needs related to a disability, can reach out to DCHA’s Housing Navigators. The Housing Navigators can likely help you run a rent reasonableness assessment for a unit you are interested in prior to the submission of an RFTA packet. This may help you save time and money by indicating whether the unit is likely to be approved by DCHA before you apply. To get in contact with a Housing Navigator to request assistance with this process, you can call the DCHA mainline at (202) 535-1000, and request to be connected with a Housing Navigator or other individual who can assist you with running a rent reasonableness assessment.
Request for Tenancy Approval (RFTA) Packet
Once you find and get approved for a unit, the landlord will submit a RFTA packet to DCHA. In order for DCHA to approve the packet and proceed with the lease-up process, the unit must be affordable (meaning it is at or below the payment standard amount), pass inspection, and be determined to be rent reasonable.
Once DCHA receives the RFTA packet and conducts the rent reasonableness assessment, the unit will either be deemed rent reasonable or not. If it is deemed rent reasonable, below the payment standard, and it passes inspection, the agency will issue a HAP contract and you will be allowed to move in. If the unit is not deemed rent reasonable, DCHA will notify the landlord of the maximum rent amount that the agency would approve for the unit based on the results of the assessment. The owner can submit additional information about comparable units in the market area if they believe that the assessment amount is lower than it should be. The owner must submit this information within five business days of DCHA’s request for information or of the owner’s request to submit additional information.
Clearly, DCHA’s rent reasonableness process is complicated for renters to navigate. The Equal Rights Center is advocating for increased transparency from DCHA and improvements to the tool it uses to conduct rent reasonableness assessments (read our blog on the topic). In the meantime, we hope this guide helps you navigate the process and more quickly find a home that DCHA will approve.
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The ERC is a civil rights organization that identifies and seeks to eliminate unlawful and unfair discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations in its home community of Greater Washington DC and nationwide. The ERC’s core strategy for identifying unlawful and unfair discrimination is civil rights testing. When the ERC identifies discrimination, it seeks to eliminate it through the use of testing data to educate the public and business community, support policy advocacy, conduct compliance testing and training, and, if necessary, take enforcement action. For more information, please visit www.equalrightscenter.org.
