The Notice, issued November 15, supersedes and replaces the guidance provided in Notice PIH 2015-13 and clarifies HUD’s interpretation of the statutory amendment related to flat rents. This Notice serves as a guidance to the final rule on Streamlining Administrative Regulations for Public Housing, Housing Choice Voucher, Multifamily Housing, and Community Planning and Development Programs (81 FR 12354, published on March 8, 2016).

The Notice is applicable to PHAs operating a Public Housing program, however, Moving to Work PHAs may use different requirements, depending on the terms of their MTW Plan.

Exception Timeframe:

From the effective date of the current fiscal year’s FMRs, PHAs have 90 days to either implement new FMR-based flat rents or submit an exception request. In a typical year, this would mean that a PHA will have until December 31 to either update its flat rents based on the new FMRs, or submit an exception request.

PHAs may request an exception flat rent by sending an email to flatrentexceptionrequests@hud.gov with the following information attached:

  • The address including unit number(s) and AMP number(s) of the unit or property for which the PHA is seeking an exception flat rent;
  • A market analysis; and
  • The proposed flat rent schedule.