Establishing a More Effective Fair Market Rent (FMR) System; Using Small Area Fair Market Rents (SAFMRs) in Housing Choice Voucher Program Instead of the Current 50th Percentile FMRs; Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

Section 8(c)(1) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (USHA) requires HUD to publish Fair Market Rents (FMRs) periodically, but not less than annually, adjusted to be effective on October 1 of each year. Some examples of uses of FMRs are to determine payment standard amounts for the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, to establish a limit on the amount of rent to owner for project-based vouchers, to determine initial and renewal rents for some new and expiring project-based Section 8 contracts, to determine initial rents for housing assistance payment (HAP) contracts in the Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy program (Mod Rehab), and to serve as a rent ceiling in the HOME rental assistance program. This document announces HUD's intention to amend HUD's FMR regulations applicable to the HCV program (24 CFR part 888) to provide HCV tenants with subsidies that better reflect the localized rental market, including subsidies that would be relatively higher if they move into areas that potentially have better access to jobs, transportation, services, and educational opportunities. Specifically, this document requests public comments on the use of small area FMRs (SAFMRs) for the HCV program within certain metropolitan areas. Small areas FMRs vary by ZIP code and support a greater range of payment standards than can be achieved under existing regulations.