[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 248 (Tuesday, December 28, 1999)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 72722-72723]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-33500]
[[Page 72721]]
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Part II
Department of Housing and Urban Development
_______________________________________________________________________
24 CFR Part 888
Fair Market Rents for Section 8 Housing Assistance Payments Program, FY
2000; Rule
Federal Register / Vol. 64, No. 248 / Tuesday, December 28, 1999 /
Rules and Regulations
[[Page 72722]]
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
24 CFR Part 888
[Docket No. FR-4496-N-03]
Fair Market Rents for the Section 8 Housing Assistance Payments
Program--Fiscal Year 2000
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HUD.
ACTION: Notice of Final Fiscal Year (FY) 2000 Fair Market Rents (FMRs)
for manufactured home spaces.
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SUMMARY: FMRs for the rental of manufactured home spaces in the Section
8 housing choice voucher program are now generally 40 percent of the
applicable Section 8 existing housing program FMR for a two-bedroom
unit, rather than 30 percent. This reflects the change in the statute
(section 545 of the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of
1998) which provides that the rent for the space with respect to which
assistance payments are to be made shall include tenant-paid utilities.
This change was made effective in the recent Federal Register
(October 21, 1999; publication, ``Section 8 Tenant-Based Assistance;
Statutory Merger of Section 8 Certificate and Voucher Programs; Housing
Choice Voucher Program; Final Rule'') which revised 24 CFR 888.113.
EFFECTIVE DATE: November 22, 1999.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gerald Benoit, Office of Public and
Indian Housing, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Room 4210,
451 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20410, telephone (202) 708-0477.
For technical information on the development of schedules for specific
areas or the method used for the rent calculations, contact Alan Fox,
Economic and Market Analysis Division, Office of Economic Affairs,
telephone (202) 708-0590, Extension 5863 (e-mail: [email protected]).
Hearing-or speech-impaired persons may use the Telecommunications
Devices for the Deaf (TTY) by contacting the Federal Information Relay
Service at 1-800-877-8339. (Other than the ``800'' TTY number,
telephone numbers are not toll free.)
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 8 of the United States Housing Act
of 1937 (the Act) (42 U.S.C. 1437f) authorizes housing assistance to
aid lower income families in renting decent, safe, and sanitary
housing. Housing assistance payments are limited by FMRs established by
HUD for different areas. In the voucher program, the FMR is used to
determine the ``payment standard'' (the maximum monthly subsidy) for
assisted families (see Sec. 982.503). In general, the FMR for an area
is the amount that would be needed to pay the gross rent (shelter rent
plus utilities) of privately owned, decent, safe, and sanitary rental
housing of a modest (non-luxury) nature with suitable amenities. The
FMR for the rent of manufactured home spaces (``pad rent'') is
referenced in Sec. 888.113(e) and Sec. 982.623 of the housing choice
voucher program rule.
Manufactured Home Space Surveys
FMRs for the rental of manufactured home spaces in the Section 8
housing choice voucher program are generally 40 percent of the
applicable Section 8 existing housing program FMR for a two-bedroom
unit. HUD accepts public comments requesting modifications of these
FMRs where 40 percent of the FMRs is thought to be inadequate. In order
to be accepted as a basis for revising the manufactured home space
FMRs, comments must contain statistically valid survey data that show
the 40th percentile space rent (including the cost of utilities) for
the entire FMR area. Manufactured home space FMR revisions are
published as final FMRs in Schedule D. Once approved, the revised
manufactured home space FMRs establish new base year estimates that are
updated annually using the same data used to update the other FMRs.
Other Matters
Environmental Impact
A Finding of No Significant Impact with respect to the environment
as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321-
4374) is unnecessary, since the Section 8 Rental Certificate Program is
categorically excluded from the Department's National Environmental
Policy Act procedures under 24 CFR 50.20(d).
Regulatory Flexibility Act
The undersigned, in accordance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act
(5 U.S.C. 605(b)), hereby certifies that this notice does not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities,
because FMRs do not change the rent from that which would be charged if
the unit were not in the Section 8 Program.
Federalism Impact
The General Counsel, as the Designated Official under section 6(a)
of Executive Order 13132, Federalism, has determined that this notice
will not involve the preemption of State law by Federal statute or
regulation and does not have Federalism implications. The Fair Market
Rent schedules do not have any substantial direct impact on States, on
the relationship between the Federal government and the States, or on
the distribution of power and responsibility among the various levels
of government.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance program numbers are
14.855, Section 8 Rental Voucher Program and 14.857, Section 8 Rental
Certificate Program.
Accordingly, the Fair Market Rent Schedules, which will not be
codified in 24 CFR Part 888, are amended as follows:
Dated: December 17, 1999.
Andrew M. Cuomo,
Secretary.
Fair Market Rents for the Section 8 Housing Assistance Payments
Program
Schedules B and D--General Explanatory Notes
1. FMRs for Manufactured Home Spaces
FMRs for manufactured home spaces in the Section 8 housing choice
voucher program are 40 percent of the two-bedroom Section 8 existing
housing program FMRs, with the exception of the areas listed in
Schedule D whose manufactured home space FMRs have been modified on the
basis of public comments. Schedule D has been revised to reflect the
new 40 percent standard; exceptions that were less than 40 percent of
the current FMR have been eliminated, because the area would be better
off using 40 percent of the FMR. Once approved, the revised
manufactured home space FMRs establish new base-year estimates that are
updated annually using the same data used to estimate the Section 8
existing housing FMRs. The FMR area definitions used for the rental of
manufactured home spaces in the Section 8 housing choice voucher
program are the same as the area definitions used for other FMRs.
4. Arrangement of FMR Areas and Identification of Constituent Parts
a. The exception FMRs for manufactured home spaces in Schedule D
are listed alphabetically by State, followed by metropolitan areas and
then nonmetropolitan counties.
[[Page 72723]]
Schedule D: FY 2000 40th Percentile Fair Market Rents For Manufactured
Home Spaces in the Section 8 Choice Housing Program: Areas With Approved
Exceptions Above 40 Percent of 2-Bedroom FMR
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Space rent
Area name including
utilities
------------------------------------------------------------------------
California:
Los Angeles, CA......................................... $383
Orange County, CA....................................... 468
Riverside-San Bernardino, CA............................ 304
San Diego, CA........................................... 423
San Jose, CA............................................ 489
Colorado:
Boulder-Longmont, CO.................................... 344
Denver, CO.............................................. 327
Maryland:
Hagerstown, MD.......................................... 220
Minnesota:
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI............................. 275
Nevada:
Reno, NV................................................ 289
New York:
Dutchess County, NY..................................... 371
Newburgh, NY-PA......................................... 349
Rochester, NY........................................... 245
Utica-Rome, NY.......................................... 220
Oregon:
Portland-Vancouver, OR-WA............................... 284
Deschutes County, OR.................................... 259
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Areas listed here have approved mobile home space rents higher than 40
percent of the 2 bedroom Fair Market Rent for the area.
[FR Doc. 99-33500 Filed 12-27-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-32-P