HOTMA Partial Implementation Guidance
Effective immediately, owners and agents are required to follow the guidance outlined in the Rent Override One-Pager released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). An owner who implements portions of the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016 (HOTMA) prior to the release of Tenant Rental Assistance Certification System (TRACS) version 203A must utilize the “rent override” function in TRACS if a family’s HOTMA-calculated tenant rent differs from their pre-HOTMA calculated tenant rent. This requirement applies to, but is not limited to, the passbook rate. Refer to HUD’s HOTMA FAQ document for more information.
Please note that beginning May 1, any vouchers not using the rent override function under partial HOTMA implementation, including the passbook rate, will result in a fatal error and will require correction and resubmission. Minnesota Housing will no longer manually change the passbook rate in our software to bypass errors.
In addition, owners who implement HOTMA prior to the release of TRACS version 203A must annotate tenant files with the following information:
- Which HOTMA provisions were implemented
- How the family’s income, assets, and mandatory deductions were determined under the implemented HOTMA provisions
- If applicable, what the tenant rent would have been under the pre-HOTMA rules, and the HOTMA tenant rent amount that was entered using the “rent override” function
These requirements will be monitored during the Management and Occupancy Review (MOR) process.
Contact your TRACS Data Analyst for TRACS related questions or your Housing Management Officer for MOR related questions.
HUD Transition from TRACS 202D to 203A Postponed
At this time, the transition from TRACS 202D to 203A has been postponed indefinitely. We will communicate the updated timeline as soon as it's available.
Questions? Visit HUD's TRACS webpage or contact your TRACS Data Analyst.
New HUD Guidance on Minnesota Supplementary Assistance Program Special Diet Allowance
On November 30, 2020, HUD released a Memorandum regarding the treatment of benefits received through the Minnesota Supplementary Assistance Program (MSA) that are provided for “medically prescribed diets if the cost of such dietary needs cannot be met through some other maintenance benefit”. This is often referred to as a special diet allowance.
Because Minnesota makes MSA special diet allowance available specifically for the cost of state determined medical expenses, HUD has determined that the MSA special diet allowance meets the income exclusion found in HUD Handbook 4350.3 Exhibit 5-1, Income Exclusions (4):
- Amounts received by the family that are specifically for, or in reimbursement of, the cost of medical expenses for any family member.
HUD instructs owners to exclude this MSA special diet benefit from income calculations and to correct any previous certifications in which this benefit was included in income. Any underpaid subsidy will be credited to the tenant.
