On August 29, HUD released Notice PIH 2023-23 (HA), which adds two new eligible uses of Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV) service fees. These include:
- Assisting clients with rental arrears if those arrears are a barrier to leasing a unit. This assistance may either be paid directly to the landlord or to the family; if provided to the family, the HA must verify the arrears were paid. Agencies cannot use the EHV service fee to cover arrears owed to any HA or closely-affiliated entity.
- A new subcategory for services “that support EHV families in fulfilling their family obligations,” such as accessing case management, remedying a lease violation (for example, repairing tenant-caused property damage), or retrieving vital documents. Consult the notice for additional examples of eligible expenses.
Beyond these two additions, the notice provides clarifying language regarding other eligible service fee uses, including:
- Adding “storage expenses” and “lock change fees” as eligible moving expenses.
- Explicitly stating that “housing mobility services to encourage moves to high opportunity neighborhoods” are eligible housing search expenses.
- Allowing HAs to limit owner incentives to those with accessible units or who are willing to modify a unit to meet accessibility needs.
PHADA reminds HAs that they must update their administrative plans should they opt to expand the eligible uses of EHV service fees.