What’s Hot with HOTMA? 4 Key Points To Note

To help you out, we’ve created this article which includes an overview of four key points that will impact property management. We will also provide recommendations for further reading because, let’s be real, you probably don’t want to read 5,000 words right now!

1. Reducing income reviews

To make it easier for PHAs to stay on top of interim re-examinations, HOTMA implements an adjusted income increase/decrease threshold. This means that if a resident's income changes, you will only need to conduct an interim re-examination if that change results in a 10% or more increase or decrease in their income.

2. Streamlining verifications

To reduce friction in the verification process, housing providers can now use data from other programs to determine income. For example, you could use insights from other federal benefits programs for re-examinations.

Residents will also only have to sign the consent form once rather than every year. And HOTMA eliminates the requirement for PHAs to use EIV to verify tenant employment and income information during an interim reexamination… which means way less paperwork (yay).

3. Increase in standard deductions

One of the major changes introduced by HOTMA is an increase in standard deductions. This will impact:

Families with a head, co-head, or spouse who is elderly or a person with a disability
Veterans’ aid and attendant care

These figures will be adjusted to match inflation on an annual basis.

4. Asset changes

HOTMA raises the imputed asset threshold from $5,000 to $50,000 to allow families to build wealth more easily. At the same time, however, new asset limits are being introduced.

These will mean that:

There will be a $100,000 asset limit for eligibility and continued assistance.
Families will be ineligible for assistance if they own real property suitable for occupancy.
Retirement accounts and educational savings accounts will not be considered a net family asset.

And there will be another admin win as HOTMA will allow residents to self-certify net assets if they are estimated to be at or below $50,000.

Important PSA

As HOTMA changes come into effect, it’s crucial to inquire whether your PMS has a roadmap in place to prepare to become compliant… (And if you want to find out more about what we’re doing here at FORTRESS, just get in touch.)

Where to learn more:

If you’re having loads of fun reading about the new regulations, check out these resources:

Also keep an eye on our page for more HOTMA content coming soon.