§ 236.735 - Rental assistance payments and rental charges.

(a) Amount of rental assistance payments. The rental assistance contract shall provide that the payment on behalf of a Qualified Tenant shall not exceed the difference between the Gross Rent and the Total Tenant Payment.

(b) Total tenant payment for qualified tenants who first receive rental assistance on or after May 1, 1983. Notwithstanding § 236.55(b), the Total Tenant Payment payable for these Qualified Tenants shall be the highest of the following amounts, rounded to the nearest dollar:

(1) 30 percent of Adjusted Monthly Income as defined in subpart A;

(2) 10 percent of one-twelfth of Annual Income as defined in subpart A;

(3) If the family receives Welfare Assistance from a public agency and a part of such payments, adjusted in accordance with the family's actual housing costs, is specifically designated by such agency to meet the family's housing costs, the monthly portion of such payments which is so designated. If the family's Welfare Assistance is ratably reduced from the standard of need by applying a percentage, the amount calculated under this paragraph (b)(3) shall be the amount resulting from one application of the percentage.

(c) Total tenant payment for qualified tenants who were receiving rental assistance on April 30, 1983 and whose assistance has been continuous thereafter. Notwithstanding § 236.55(b), the Total Tenant Payment for these Qualified Tenants shall be calculated in accordance with paragraph (b) of this section, except that instead of 30 percent, the percentage applied to Adjusted Monthly Income shall be as follows:

Effective date of recertification	Percentage
May 1, 1983 to Sept. 30, 1983	27
Oct. 1, 1983 to Sept. 30, 1984	28
Oct. 1, 1984 to Sept. 30, 1985	29
Oct. 1, 1985 and after	30

(d) Special conditions. (1) For the purposes of this section, a Qualified Tenant whose initial lease was effective before May 1, 1983 includes the following: A Qualified Tenant that resided in a unit assisted under the Rental Assistance Programs or Rent Supplement Program on April 30, 1983, and whose assistance under those programs has been continuous thereafter; and a family that resided in a unit with the benefit of section 8 Housing Assistance Payments on July 31, 1982 and whose participation in the section 8, Rent Supplement or the Rental Assistance Payment Program has been continuous thereafter. A Qualified Tenant or family shall not be disqualified if, after that date, it moved from one unit to another unit in the same project. For these purposes, units in buildings located on adjacent sites and managed as one project will be considered part of the same project even if they have separate project numbers and separate mortgages.

(2) Notwithstanding paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, the Total Tenant Payment payable by a Qualified Tenant who continues to receive assistance in the same project shall not be increased by more than 10 percent during any 12-month period as a result of application of the percentages in paragraph (c) of this section, and application of the revised definitions in §§ 236.2 and 236.3. However, this 10 percent limit does not apply to Families subject to paragraph (b)(3) of this section, provided that the welfare agency includes as the housing component of the Family's grant an amount equal to their entire rent payment, without reduction. The Total Tenant Payment may be increased by more than 10 percent during any 12-month period to the extent that the portion of such increase above 10 percent is attributable to increases in income or changes in family composition or family circumstances that are unrelated to the factors set out in this paragraph (d)(2).

(e) Utility reimbursement. Where applicable, the Utility Reimbursement shall be paid to the Qualified Tenant. If the tenant and the utility company consent, the owner may pay the Utility Reimbursement jointly to the Qualified Tenant and the utility company, or directly to the utility company.

[51 FR 21862, June 16, 1986]