Sign in to Fortress OSWhat is Section 8 ?
Section 8 is the federal rental assistance program that pays part of a household's rent to a private owner. It runs in two forms: a voucher the household carries to a unit it chooses, and project-based assistance attached to a specific building under a contract with HUD.
The household pays what HUD calls the Total Tenant Payment, or TTP. HUD pays the rest as a housing assistance payment. Under 24 CFR 5.628, TTP is the highest of four amounts: 30% of monthly adjusted income, 10% of monthly income, the welfare rent in as-paid localities, and the minimum rent. For project-based Section 8 the minimum rent is fixed at $25 by regulation.
Adjusted income is annual income minus the deductions in 24 CFR 5.611. A 2026 Multifamily certification uses the pre-HOTMA figures: $480 per dependent, $400 for an elderly or disabled family, unreimbursed medical costs above 3% of annual income for elderly or disabled families, and childcare that lets an adult work, look for work, or go to school.
Two details send back more files than any others. Carry the pieces to the penny and round only the totals to the dollar, per the TRACS MAT User Guide. And do not cap TTP at gross rent. The rule that TTP must be below gross rent is an admissions screen at move-in, not a ceiling on the number. When a sitting household's TTP reaches gross rent, the assistance payment falls to zero and assistance is terminated.
Recertification runs on a fixed calendar. HUD requires reminder notices at least 120, 90, and 60 days before the anniversary date, with a cutoff on the 10th day of the 11th month after the last annual recertification.
Example
A household has $10,000 in annual income and $400 in allowances, so adjusted income is $9,600. Monthly adjusted income is $800, and 30% of that is $240. Monthly income is $833.33, and 10% of that is $83.33. TTP is the higher figure, $240. With contract rent of $916 and a $72 utility allowance, gross rent is $988, so the assistance payment is $748 and the household pays $168.
Why Section 8 matters
Section 8 is the largest source of rental assistance in the country, and the math decides what a property gets paid every month. An error in one certification follows the file through every recertification after it, so it surfaces at audit as a pattern rather than a one-off.
Related terms
- HOTMAHOTMA, the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016, is a federal law that changes how HUD programs count income and assets.
- TRACSTRACS, the Tenant Rental Assistance Certification System, is the HUD system that receives tenant certifications and subsidy payment requests for Multifamily housing programs.
- EIVEIV, the Enterprise Income Verification system, is HUD's database of tenant employment and income data drawn from federal wage and benefit records.
- LIHTCLIHTC, the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, is a federal tax credit that pays developers to build and keep rental housing affordable.
How Fortress handles it
Sources
- 24 CFR § 5.628 - Total tenant payment
- 24 CFR § 5.611 - Adjusted income
- 24 CFR § 5.630 - Minimum rent
- HUD Handbook 4350.3 REV-1 - Occupancy Requirements of Subsidized Multifamily Housing Programs
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