telephone, cable or satellite television service, and internet service should be excluded; that the asking rent is not more than the rents currently being charged by the same owner for comparable unassisted units; and the rent comparability should be based on rents paid for similar units in the same general location that are also generally similar in terms of the overall quality of housing provided. Rents will be considered even if asking rent is above the average “reasonable” rent for three comparable units as long as the asking rent is less than $50 more than the average, allowing a slightly higher than the individual comparable units to assist the participant in accessing housing in the rental market. Documentation of Rent Comparison and Determination of Rent Reasonableness Such determination of rent reasonableness must be documented on the Rent Reasonableness Certification Form. The Form shall record a comparison of no less than three unassisted units in the same general location of the selected unit, applying the above factors. Rent Increases In the event that a landlord requests a rent increase during lease renewal, Trust approval is dependent upon a PHCD rent reasonableness comparison that supports the increase in rent. Housing Quality Standards (HQS) Requirements HQS Standards Prior to being approved for a rent subsidy, a unit must be inspected to ensure it meets federal Housing Quality Standards (HQS). Thereafter, the unit must conform to the HQS as long as the unit is receiving a rental subsidy. The federal HQS can be found in Attachment B. PHCD Responsibility for Inspections Under agreement between the Homeless Trust and Miami-Dade Public Housing and Community Development (PHCD), PHCD is responsible for conducting all HQS inspections on behalf of the PSH RA Program utilizing qualified personnel trained to conduct HQS inspections. Housing Inspectors must: treat participants, landlords and Housing Navigators/Specialists with great courtesy and professionalism; take into consideration the health and/or physical limitations of program participants when scheduling and conducting inspections. For example, Housing Inspectors should wait a prudent amount of time after knocking on the
telephone, cable or satellite television service, and internet service should be excluded; that the asking rent is not more than the rents currently being charged by the same owner for comparable unassisted units; and the rent comparability should be based on rents paid for similar units in the same general location that are also generally similar in terms of the overall quality of housing provided. Rents will be considered “reasonable” even if asking rent is above the average rent for three comparable units as long as the asking rent is less than $50 more than the average, allowing a slightly higher than the individual comparable units to assist the participant in accessing housing in the rental market. Documentation of Rent Comparison and Determination of Rent Reasonableness Such determination of rent reasonableness must be documented on the Rent Reasonableness Certification Form. The Form shall record a comparison of no less than three unassisted units in the same general location of the selected unit, applying the above factors. Rent Increases In the event that a landlord requests a rent increase during lease renewal, Trust approval is dependent upon a PHCD rent reasonableness comparison that supports the increase in rent. Housing Quality Standards (HQS) Requirements HQS Standards Prior to being approved for a rent subsidy, a unit must be inspected to ensure it meets federal Housing Quality Standards (HQS). Thereafter, the unit must conform to the HQS as long as the unit is receiving a rental subsidy. The federal HQS can be found in Attachment B. PHCD Responsibility for Inspections Under agreement between the Homeless Trust and Miami-Dade Public Housing and Community Development (PHCD), PHCD is responsible for conducting all HQS inspections on behalf of the PSH RA Program utilizing qualified personnel trained to conduct HQS inspections. Housing Inspectors must: treat participants, landlords and Housing Navigators/Specialists with great courtesy and professionalism; take into consideration the health and/or physical limitations of program participants when scheduling and conducting inspections. For example, Housing Inspectors should wait a prudent amount of time after knocking on the
psh-ra-manual-working-draft.docx