HUD Handbook 4350.3 § 4-16
Creating and Maintaining Waiting Lists (HUD Occupancy Handbook 4350.3 REV-1 CHG-4)
HUD guidance — not codified law
In Force
Verified 9/24/2026 · Next check 10/1/2026
effective 9/24/2026FederalSection 8 HCVOperative Text
HUD Handbook 4350.3 § 4-16
A. Key Requirements
1. Receiving and recording the application. Upon receipt of an application
for tenancy or assistance, the owner must indicate on the application the
date and time received. This may be accomplished by either using a date
and time stamp or by writing and initialing the date and time received. The
owner must then either process the applicant for admission, place the
applicant on the waiting list or, based on a preliminary eligibility
determination, reject the applicant. Examples of applicants who might be
rejected based upon a preliminary eligibility determination include a 35-
year old individual applying for a unit in a Section 202 PRAC property, a
household of eight applying to a property with only efficiency and one-
bedroom units, and an applicant with income that is $7,000 over the
income limit.
2. Preferences. Owners must collect information about the preferences for
which the applicant qualifies so that they are able to select applicants
from the waiting list in accordance with preferences established for the
property. (See paragraph 4-6 for additional information about
preferences.)
3. Providing notice. The owner must provide notice of closing of the
waiting list.
B. Opening and Closing the Waiting List
Owners should monitor the vacancies in their properties and their waiting lists
regularly to ensure that there are enough applicants to fill the vacancies.
Furthermore, owners should monitor their waiting list to make sure that they do
not become so long that the wait for a unit becomes excessive.
1. Closing waiting lists.
a. The waiting list may be closed for one or more unit sizes when the
average wait is excessive (e.g., one year or more).
b. When the owner closes the list, the owner must advise potential
applicants that the waiting list is closed and refuse to take
additional applications.
c. When the owner decides to no longer accept applications, the
owner must also publish a notice to that effect in a publication
likely to be read by potential applicants. The notice must state the
reasons for the owner’s refusal to accept additional applications.
2. Opening waiting lists.
a. When the owner agrees to accept applications again, the notice of
this action must be announced in a publication likely to be read by
potential applicants in the same manner (if possible, in the same
publications) as the notification that the waiting list was closed.
The notifications should be extensive, and the rules for applying
and the order in which applications will be processed should be
stated.
b. Advertisements should include where and when to apply and
should conform to the advertising and outreach activities
described in the Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing Plan.
C. Determining an Applicant’s Preliminary Eligibility
1. Owners should make a preliminary eligibility determination before putting
a household on the waiting list.
a. The owner reviews the application to ensure that there are no
obvious factors that would make the applicant ineligible.
b. If a preliminary screening indicates that a family is eligible for
tenancy, but units of appropriate size are not vacant, the owner
must place the family on the waiting list for the property and notify
the family when a suitable unit becomes available. A final
eligibility determination is made at the time the unit is available.
(See discussion of unit size determinations in paragraph 3-23.)
c. Using this system, the owner avoids performing the eligibility
determination twice before admitting the applicant to the property,
but the result may be that applicants placed on the waiting list may
ultimately be found to be ineligible.
2. *If the preliminary screening indicates that a family is eligible for tenancy
but SSNs have not been disclosed and verification of the SSN provided
for the applicant and all of the applicant’s household members, the owner
must place the family on the waiting list and notify the family when a
suitable unit becomes available. However, the applicant must disclose
and provide verification of a SSN for all household members before they
can be admitted. See Chapter 3, Paragraph 3-9 for more information on
disclosing and verifying SSNs.*
3. Alternatively, owners may choose to place applicants on the waiting list
after making a more in-depth eligibility determination. If a property’s
waiting list is short, this approach can be a good practice to help place
applicants quickly when they reach the top of the waiting list. However, if
an applicant remains on the waiting list for an extended period of time, the
owner will need to complete another full determination once the applicant
reaches the top of the list.
4. If an applicant is otherwise eligible for tenancy but no appropriate size unit
exists in the property, the owner must reject the application. (See
paragraph 4-9 for more information about rejecting applicants.)
5. Applicants who are obviously not eligible for tenancy must be rejected.
(See paragraph 4-9.)
D. Creating Waiting Lists
To ensure that applicants are appropriately and fairly selected for the next
available unit, it is essential for owners to maintain waiting lists with appropriate
information taken from the application for tenancy.
1. Plan of list maintenance. In order to ensure that all applicants are treated
fairly, the tenant selection plan must describe how the waiting list is
maintained.
2. Updates of waiting list. Keeping the waiting list as up-to-date as possible
will help reduce errors and minimize the administrative resources
expended on processing information regarding applicants who are
ineligible or no longer interested in residing in the property.
a. Owners may periodically update their waiting lists.
b. Owners may require applicants to contact the property every six
months in order to stay on the waiting lists.
3. Data included on the waiting list. The waiting list must include the
following data taken from the application:
a. Date and time the applicant submitted an application;
b. Name of head of household;
c. Annual income level (used to estimate levels for income-targeting,
i.e., extremely low-income, very low-income, and low-income)
(See discussion of income limits in paragraph 3-6);
d. Identification of the need for an accessible unit, including the need
for accessible features;
e. Preference status; and
f. Unit size.
NOTE: See Figure 4-5 for a sample waiting list format.
4. Excluding data from the waiting list. While additional information, such as
race/ethnicity, gender, and family size is collected on pre-applications and
applications and retained in property files, it is good practice to avoid
including these types of data on the property waiting list. This information
is not directly relevant to tenant selection and might result in
discrimination against some applicants.
5. Applicant presence on multiple waiting lists. An applicant may be on
multiple waiting lists (or waiting for more than one unit size). Based upon
the application dates and times and qualification for preferences (if used),
placement on these multiple lists may vary.
Figure 4-5: Sample Waiting List Format
Need for Com- Removed/
Income Move-in Preference
Time of Head of Accessible ment/ Rejected
Date of Applica- House- Unit Level Date Type
Unit Contact Date
Applica- Size
tion hold ELI VLI LI Y N
tion
10:30 AM Working
family
Mary
2 X X preference;
12/3/01 Tate
Elderly
preference
1:00 PM
Hiroshi
2 X X
12/4/01 KiharaSource: Legislative text reproduced verbatim
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Current
Sep 24, 2026
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