HUD HCV Guidebook § 11

The following terms are used in this chapter:
Administrative Fee is a fee paid by HUD to the PHA for administration of the program.
Administrative Plan is a plan that describes PHA policies for administration of the tenant-based programs.
Admission is the point when the family becomes a participant in the program. The date used for this purpose
is the effective date of the first HAP contract for a family (first day of initial lease term) in a tenant-based rental
assistance program.
Applicant (Applicant Family) is a family that has applied for admission to a program but is not yet a participant
in the program.
Family is a person or group of persons, as determined by the PHA consistent with 24 C.F.R. 5.403, approved
to reside in a unit with assistance under the program.
Family Rent-to-Owner in the voucher program, is the portion of rent to owner paid by the family.
Family Share is the portion of rent and utilities paid by the family.
Gross Rent is the sum of the rent to owner plus any utility allowance.
Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is the monthly assistance payment by a PHA, which includes: (1) a
payment to the owner for rent to the owner under the family's lease; and (2) an additional payment to the
family if the total assistance payment exceeds the rent to owner.
HAP Contract means housing assistance payments contract between the owner and the PHA.
Housing Quality Standards (HQS) refers to the minimum quality standards developed by HUD in accordance
with 24 CFR 5.703 for the HCV program, including any variations approved by HUD for the PHA under 24 CFR
5.705(a)(3).
Initial Rent-to-Owner refers to the rent to owner at the beginning of the HAP contract term.

98
     24 CFR 982.309(a)
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     24 CFR 982.308(d)(3)

Jurisdiction is the area in which the PHA has authority under State and local law to administer the program.
Lease is a written agreement between an owner and a tenant for the leasing of a dwelling unit to the tenant.
The lease establishes the conditions for occupancy of the dwelling unit by a family.
In cooperative housing, a written agreement between a cooperative and a member of the cooperative. The
agreement establishes the conditions for occupancy of the member's cooperative dwelling unit by the
member's family with housing assistance payments to the cooperative under a HAP contract between the
cooperative and the PHA. For purposes of 24 CFR 982.4, the cooperative is the Section 8 “owner” of the unit,
and the cooperative member is the Section 8 “tenant.”
National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate (NSPIRE) are HUD’s approach to defining and
assessing housing quality. See the NSPIRE homepage and webpages for more information.
Owner is any person or entity with the legal right to lease or sublease a unit to a participant.
Participant (Participant Family) is a family that has been admitted to the PHA program and is currently
assisted in the program. The family becomes a participant on the effective date of the first HAP contract
executed by the PHA for the family (first day of initial lease term).
Payment Standard is the maximum monthly assistance payment for a family assisted in the voucher program
(before deducting the total tenant payment by the family).
Portability means renting a dwelling unit with Section 8 tenant-based assistance outside the jurisdiction of the
initial PHA.
Reasonable Rent is a rent to owner that is not more than rent charged:
    •   For comparable units in the private unassisted market; and
    •   For comparable unassisted units in the premises.
Rent-to-Owner is the total monthly rent payable to the owner under the lease for the unit. Rent to owner
covers payment for any housing services, maintenance, and utilities that the owner is required to provide and
pay for.
Subsidy Standards are standards established by a PHA to determine the appropriate number of bedrooms
and amount of subsidy for families of different sizes and compositions.
Suspension (Tolling) is stopping the clock on the term of a family's voucher, for such period as determined by
the PHA, from the time when the family submits a request for PHA approval of the tenancy until the time when
the PHA approves or denies the request.
Tenant is the person or persons (other than a live-in aide) who executes the lease as lessee of the dwelling
unit.
Voucher Holder is a family holding a voucher with an unexpired term (search time).
Voucher (Rental Voucher) is a document issued by a PHA to a family selected for admission to the voucher
program. This document describes the program and the procedures for PHA approval of a unit selected by the
family. The voucher also states obligations of the family under the program.
Waiting List Admission is an admission from the PHA waiting list.