Program Requirements
24 C.F.R. Part ..., Subpart E
in effectEffective: 2024-07-01ECFRa6dd2f3f13d3e71 Income Targeting
ECFRf448ea7bbdfb69a Eligible and Prohibited Activities
24 C.F.R. § 92.200 Private-public partnership.
Each participating jurisdiction must make all reasonable efforts to maximize participation by the private sector in accordance with section 221 of the Act.
24 C.F.R. § 92.201 Distribution of assistance.
(a) Local. (1) Each local participating jurisdiction must, insofar as is feasible, distribute HOME funds geographically within its boundaries and among different categories of housing need, according to the priorities of housing need identified in its approved consolidated plan.
(2) The participating jurisdiction may only invest its HOME funds in eligible projects within its boundaries, or in jointly funded projects within the boundaries of contiguous local jurisdictions which serve residents from both jurisdictions. For a project to be jointly funded, both jurisdictions must make a financial contribution to the project. A jurisdiction's financial contribution may take the form of a grant or loan (including a loan of funds that comes from other federal sources and that are in the jurisdiction's control, such as CDBG program funds) or relief of a significant tax or fee (such as waiver of impact fees, property taxes, or other taxes or fees customarily imposed on projects within the jurisdiction).
(b) State. (1) Each State participating jurisdiction is responsible for distributing HOME funds throughout the State according to the State's assessment of the geographical distribution of the housing needs within the State, as identified in the State's approved consolidated plan. The State must distribute HOME funds to rural areas in amounts that take into account the non-metropolitan share of the State's total population and objective measures of rural housing need, such as poverty and substandard housing, as set forth in the State's approved consolidated plan. To the extent the need is within the boundaries of a participating unit of general local government, the State and the unit of general local government shall coordinate activities to address that need.
(2) A State may carry out its own HOME program without active participation of units of general local government or may distribute HOME funds to units of general local government to carry out HOME programs in which both the State and all or some of the units of general local government perform specified program functions. A unit of general local government designated by a State to receive HOME funds from a State is a State recipient.
(3)(i) A State that uses State recipients to perform program functions shall ensure that the State recipients use HOME funds in accordance with the requirements of this part and other applicable laws. The State may require the State recipient to comply with requirements established by the State or may permit the State recipient to establish its own requirements to comply with this part.
(ii) The State shall conduct such reviews and audit of its State recipients as may be necessary or appropriate to determine whether the State recipient has committed and expended the HOME funds in the United States Treasury account as required by § 92.500, and has met the requirements of this part, particularly eligible activities, income targeting, affordability, and matching contribution requirements.
(4) A State and local participating jurisdiction may jointly fund a project within the boundaries of the local participating jurisdiction. The State may provide the HOME funds to the project or it may provide the HOME funds to the local participating jurisdiction to fund the project.
(5) A State may fund projects on Indian reservations located within the State provided that the State includes Indian reservations in its consolidated plan.
24 C.F.R. § 92.202 Site and neighborhood standards.
(a) General. A participating jurisdiction must administer its HOME program in a manner that provides housing that is suitable from the standpoint of facilitating and furthering full compliance with the applicable provisions of title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d—2000d-4), the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq., E.O. 11063 (3 CFR, 1959-1963 Comp., p. 652), and HUD regulations issued pursuant thereto; and promotes greater choice of housing opportunities.
(b) New rental housing. In carrying out the site and neighborhood requirements with respect to new construction of rental housing, a participating jurisdiction is responsible for making the determination that proposed sites for new construction meet the requirements in 24 CFR 983.55(e)(2) and (3).
24 C.F.R. § 92.203 Income determinations.
(a) Methods of determining annual income. The HOME program has income targeting requirements for the HOME program and for HOME projects. Therefore, the participating jurisdiction must determine each family is income eligible by determining the family's annual income.
(1) If a family is applying for or living in a HOME-assisted rental unit, and the unit is assisted by a Federal or State project-based rental subsidy program, then a participating jurisdiction must accept the public housing agency, owner, or rental subsidy provider's determination of the family's annual income and adjusted income under that program's rules.
(2) If a family is applying for or living in a HOME-assisted rental unit, and the family is assisted by a Federal tenant-based rental assistance program (e.g., housing choice vouchers, etc.), then a participating jurisdiction may accept the rental assistance provider's determination of the family's annual income and adjusted income under that program's rules.
(3) In all other cases, the participating jurisdiction must calculate annual income in accordance with paragraphs (b) through (e) of this section and calculate adjusted income in accordance with paragraph (f) of this section.
(b) Required documentation for annual income calculations. (1) For families who are tenants in HOME-assisted housing and not receiving HOME tenant-based rental assistance, the participating jurisdiction must initially determine annual income using the method in paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section. For subsequent income determinations during the period of affordability, the participating jurisdiction may use any one of the following methods in accordance with § 92.252(h):
(i) Examine at least 2 months of source documents evidencing annual income (e.g., wage statement, interest statement, unemployment compensation statement) for the family.
(ii) Obtain from the family a written statement of the amount of the family's annual income and family size, along with a certification that the information is complete and accurate. The certification must state that the family will provide source documents upon request.
(iii) Obtain a written statement from the administrator of a government program under which the family receives benefits and which examines each year the annual income of the family. The statement must indicate the tenant's family size and state the amount of the family's annual income; or alternatively, the statement must indicate the current dollar limit for very low- or low-income families for the family size of the tenant and state that the tenant's annual income does not exceed this limit.
(2) For all other families (i.e., homeowners receiving rehabilitation assistance, homebuyers, and recipients of HOME tenant-based rental assistance), the participating jurisdiction must determine annual income by examining at least 2 months of source documents evidencing annual income (e.g., wage statement, interest statement, unemployment compensation statement) for the family.
(c) Defining income for eligibility. When determining whether a family is income eligible, the participating jurisdiction must use one of the following two definitions of “annual income”:
(1) Annual income as defined at §§ 5.609(a) and (b) of this title (except when determining the income of a homeowner for an owner-occupied rehabilitation project, the value of the homeowner's principal residence may be excluded from the calculation of net family assets, as defined in § 5.603 of this title); or
(2) Adjusted gross income as defined for purposes of reporting under Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form 1040 series for individual Federal annual income tax purposes.
(d) Using income definitions. The participating jurisdiction may use only one definition of annual income for each HOME-assisted program (e.g., downpayment assistance program) that it administers and only one definition for each rental housing project. A participating jurisdiction may use either of the definitions of “annual income” permitted in paragraph (c) of this section. For rental housing projects containing units assisted by a Federal or State project-based rental subsidy program or for rental housing projects where a participating jurisdiction is accepting a public housing agency, owner, or rental assistance provider's determination of annual and adjusted income for tenants receiving Federal tenant-based rental assistance, the participating jurisdiction must calculate annual income in accordance with paragraph (c)(i) of this section so that only one definition of annual income is used in the rental housing project.
(e) Determining family composition and projecting income. (1) The participating jurisdiction must calculate the annual income of the family by projecting the prevailing rate of income of the family at the time the participating jurisdiction determines that the family is income eligible. Annual income includes income from all persons in the household, except live-in aides, foster children, and foster adults. Income or asset enhancement derived from the HOME-assisted project shall not be considered in calculating annual income. Families may use the certification process in § 5.618 of this title to certify that their net family assets are below the threshold for imputing income used in § 5.609(a)(2) of this title, as applicable. Families using the certification process in § 5.618 of this title that are homeowners applying for an owner-occupied rehabilitation project may also exclude the value of the homeowner's principal residence from the calculation of their Net Family Assets for purposes of the certification. For families living in HOME-assisted rental housing units, any rental assistance provided to the family under a Federal tenant-based rental assistance program or any Federal or State project-based rental subsidy provided to the HOME rental housing unit shall not be counted as tenant income for purposes of determining annual income.
(2) The participating jurisdiction is not required to re-examine the family's income at the time the HOME assistance is provided, unless more than six months has elapsed since the participating jurisdiction determined that the family qualified as income eligible.
(3) The participating jurisdiction must follow the requirements in § 5.617 of this title when making subsequent income determinations of persons with disabilities who are tenants in HOME-assisted rental housing or who receive HOME tenant-based rental assistance. This paragraph (e)(3) will lapse on January 1, 2026.
(f) Determining Adjusted Income. (1) The three cases where a participating jurisdiction must calculate a tenant's adjusted income are as follows:
(i) A participating jurisdiction must calculate the adjusted income of a family receiving tenant-based rental assistance to determine the amount of assistance in accordance with § 92.209(h). To calculate the family's adjusted income for a family in tenant-based rental assistance, the participating jurisdiction must apply the deductions in § 5.611(a) of this title and may choose to grant financial hardship exemptions in accordance with the process described in §§ 5.611(c) through (e) of this title.
(ii) A participating jurisdiction must calculate a tenant's adjusted income if the tenant is living in a Low HOME Rent unit and is subject to the provisions of § 92.252(b)(2)(i). To calculate a family's adjusted income to determine the Low HOME Rent in accordance with § 92.252(b)(2)(i), a participating jurisdiction must apply the deductions in § 5.611(a) of this title and may choose to grant financial hardship exemptions in accordance with the process described in §§ 5.611(c) through (e) of this title.
(iii) A participating jurisdiction must calculate a tenant's adjusted income if the tenant is over-income, and rent must be recalculated in accordance with § 92.252(i)(2). To calculate the family's adjusted income for an over-income family, the participating jurisdiction must apply the deductions in § 5.611(a) of this title.
(2) If a unit is assisted by a Federal or State project-based rental subsidy program, then a participating jurisdiction is not required to calculate the family's adjusted income and must accept the public housing agency, owner, or rental subsidy provider's determination of adjusted income under that program's rules.
24 C.F.R. § 92.204 Applicability of requirements to entities that receive a reallocation of HOME funds, other than participating jurisdictions.
(a) Jurisdictions other than participating jurisdictions and community housing development organizations receiving competitive reallocations from HUD are subject to the same requirements in subpart E (Program Requirements), subpart F (Project Requirements), subpart K (Program Administration), and subpart L (Performance Reviews and Sanctions) of this part as participating jurisdictions, except for the following:
(1) Subpart E (Program Requirements): the matching contribution requirements in § 92.218 through § 92.221 do not apply.
(2) Subpart K (Program Administration):
(i) Section 92.500 (The HOME Investment Trust Fund) does not apply. HUD will establish a HOME account in the United States Treasury and the HOME funds must be used for approved activities. A local account must be established for program income. HUD will recapture HOME funds in the HOME Treasury account by the amount of:
(A) Any funds that are not committed within 24 months after the last day of the month in which HUD notifies the entity of HUD's execution of the HOME Investment Partnership Agreement;
(B) Any funds that are not expended within five years after the last day of the month in which HUD notifies the entity of HUD's execution of the HOME Investment Partnership Agreement; and
(C) Any penalties assessed by HUD under § 92.552.
(ii) Section 92.502 (Program disbursement and information system) applies, except that references to the HOME Investment Trust Fund mean HOME account and the reference to 24 CFR part 58 does not apply. In addition, § 92.502(c) does not apply, and instead, compliance with Treasury Circular No. 1075 (31 CFR part 205) and 2 CFR 200.305 is required.
(iii) Section 92.503 (Program income, repayments, and recaptured funds) applies, except that program income may be retained provided the funds are used for eligible activities in accordance with the requirements of this section.
(3) Section 92.504 (Participating jurisdiction responsibilities; written agreements; on-site inspections) applies, except that the written agreement must ensure compliance with the requirements in this section.
(4) Section 92.508 (Recordkeeping) applies with respect to the records that relate to the requirements of this section.
(5) Section 92.509 (Performance reports) applies, except that a performance report is required only after completion of the approved projects.
(b) The requirements in subpart H (Other Federal Requirements) of this part apply as written, except that jurisdictions and community housing development organizations receiving reallocations from HUD must comply with affirmative marketing requirements, labor requirements, and lead-based paint requirements, applicable to participating jurisdictions.
(c) Subpart B (Allocation Formula), subpart C (Consortia; Designation and Revocation of Designation as a Participating Jurisdiction), and subpart G (Community Housing Development Organizations) of this part do not apply.
(d) Subpart A (General) applies, except that for the definitions of commitment, program income, and subrecipient, “participating jurisdiction” means jurisdiction or community housing development organization receiving the competitive reallocation.
Source: eCFRURL: https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2024-07-01/title-24.xmlFetched: 7/26/2026
