HUD HCV Guidebook § 5

Introduction
The HCV Form HUD-52646, commonly referred to as the voucher, is the family’s authorization to search for
housing. The voucher can be issued to the family only after the PHA has determined the family is eligible to
participate in the HCV program and has conducted an oral briefing and provided the family with an
information packet on the program. The voucher specifies the unit size for which the family qualifies at the
time of issuance. This unit size is used to determine the amount of assistance the PHA will pay to the owner
on behalf of the family. The voucher includes both the date of voucher issuance and date of expiration. The
voucher contains a brief description of how the program works and explains the family obligations under the
program.
The voucher is evidence that the PHA has determined the family to be eligible for the program and plans to
subsidize the family if the family selects a unit that can be approved under program requirements. However,
the PHA is under no obligation to either the family or the owner to approve a tenancy and the voucher does
not give the family any right to participate in the PHA’s HCV program. The family becomes a participant in the
PHA’s HCV program when the HAP contract between the PHA and the owner takes effect.
While the voucher is not a guarantee that the family will become a participant in the program, successfully
housing families is the program’s primary goal. To effectively manage their HCV programs, PHAs need to

31
     PIH Notice 2014-25, Over Subsidization in the Housing Choice Voucher Program

balance voucher utilization and family success rates. See Section 7 of this chapter on Assisting Families
During the Housing Search.
The PHA will want to issue enough HCVs to:
     •    Meet its leasing schedule if a new allocation is received;
     •    Utilize its’ unit months available or budget authority, including reserves;
     •    Replace expired vouchers; and
     •    Account for families who have left the program, thereby making vouchers (known as turnover
          vouchers) available for use by new families.
Regardless of the number of outstanding vouchers, the PHA must32 always issue a voucher if necessary to
move an overcrowded participating family or a participating family living in unsafe/exigent safety violation(s)
housing where the owner refuses to make repairs (abatement).
The PHA must33 receive information verifying that the applicant is eligible within 60 days before the PHA
issues a voucher to the applicant. Verifications used to establish eligibility and level of benefits may be no
more than 120 days old as of the date they are received. For more information on the verification
requirements, see Notice PIH 2023-27.
The family must34 date and sign the voucher. It is industry practice that the family signs two vouchers, with
the second being retained in the family’s file.

Over-Issuance
Over-issuing vouchers (that is, issuing more vouchers than could be supported under the PHA’s Annual
Contributions Contract (ACC) if all of the vouchers resulted in HAP contracts) can be a useful tool for improving
and maintaining a high leasing rate. By over-issuing, a PHA can compensate for the number of issued
vouchers that will not result in the execution of a HAP contract.
However, over-issuing requires the PHA to closely monitor and track voucher success rates. A PHA’s success
rate is the percentage of vouchers it has issued to families in a year that result in an actual lease-up. Only
with good success rate data can a PHA judge the degree it can overissue without committing itself to more
units than can be assisted using the PHA’s available annual budget authority. PHAs are prohibited from using
current year annual budget authority or HAP reserves (net restricted assets) to lease over-allocated unit
months leased.
In some cases, over-issuing vouchers could result in the PHA rescinding a voucher when more applicant
families successfully lease up under the program than previously anticipated. The PHA should have a written
policy as to how these families will be treated35. For example, the family may be retained in a verified pool of
applicants and issued a voucher when funding becomes available, or the family may be returned to the top of
the waiting list.

32
   24 CFR 982.403(a)(1)
33
   24 CFR 982.201(e)
34
   Form HUD-52646, line 6
35
   24 CFR 982.54

When to Issue
Although the PHA may issue the voucher independently or in conjunction with the in-person briefing session,
the industry best practice is for the PHA to issue the family the voucher at the conclusion of the briefing
session. This is an efficient approach to reducing the number of times the family needs to return to the PHA
office to complete additional paperwork.