Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 168 / Thursday, August 31, 2023 / Notices 60223 

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND 

URBAN DEVELOPMENT 

[Docket No. FR–7065–N–02] 

60-Day Notice of Proposed Information 

Collection: Build America Buy America 

Waiver Form, OMB Control No.: 2511– 

0002 

AGENCY: Office of the Chief Financial 

Officer, HUD. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: HUD is seeking approval from 

the Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) for the information collection 

described below. In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act, HUD is 

requesting comment from all interested 

parties on the proposed collection of 

information. The purpose of this notice 

is to allow for 60 days of public 

comment. 

DATES: Comments Due Date: October 30, 

2023. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit comments regarding 

this proposal. Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection can be sent 

within 60 days of publication of this 

notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/ 

PRAMain. Find this particular 

information collection by selecting 

‘‘Currently under 60-day Review—Open 

for Public Comments’’ or by using the 

search function. Interested persons are 

also invited to submit comments 

regarding this proposal by name and/or 

OMB Control Number and should be 

sent to: Colette Pollard for a copy of the 

proposed forms or other available 

information, Department of Housing and 

Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW, 

Room 8210, Washington, DC 20410– 

5000; telephone 202–402–5534 (this is 

not a toll-free number) or email: 

PaperworkReductionActOffice@

hud.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Colette Pollard, Reports Management 

Officer, REE, Department of Housing 

and Urban Development, 451 7th Street 

SW, Washington, DC 20410; email; 

Colette.Pollard@hud.gov or telephone 

202–402–0306. This is not a toll-free 

number. 

HUD welcomes and is prepared to 

receive calls from individuals who are 

deaf or hard of hearing, as well as 

individuals with speech or 

communication disabilities. To learn 

more about how to make an accessible 

telephone call, please visit https://

www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/ 

telecommunications-relay-service-trs. 

Copies of available documents 

submitted to OMB may be obtained 

from Ms. Guido. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

notice informs the public that HUD is 

seeking approval from OMB for the 

information collection described in 

Section A. 

A. Overview of Information Collection 

Title of Information Collection: Build 

America Buy America Waiver Form. 

OMB Approval Number: 2511–0002. 

Type of Request: New Collection. 

Description of the need for the 

information and proposed use: The 

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development (HUD) requests a 6-month 

PRA Emergency approval pursuant to 

the Build America, Buy America 

(BABA) Act, whereby HUD may waiver 

grantees’ application of a Buy America 

preference due to public interest, 

nonavailability, or unreasonable cost. 

Respondents: Federal Government; 

State, Local, or Tribal Government. 

Information collection Number of 

respondents 

Frequency of 

response 

Responses 

per annum 

Burden 

hour per 

response 

Annual 

burden hours 

Hourly 

cost per 

response 

Annual 

cost 

HUD—27054e ............................................... 5,000.00 1.00 5,000.00 1.00 5,000.00 $0.00 $0.00 

Total ....................................................... ........................ ........................ ........................ ........................ 5,000.00 0.00 0.00 

B. Solicitation of Public Comment 

This notice is soliciting comments 

from members of the public and affected 

parties concerning the collection of 

information described in Section A on 

the following: 

(1) Whether the proposed collection 

of information is necessary for the 

proper performance of the functions of 

the agency, including whether the 

information will have practical utility; 

(2) The accuracy of the agency’s 

estimate of the burden of the proposed 

collection of information; 

(3) Ways to enhance the quality, 

utility, and clarity of the information to 

be collected; and 

(4) Ways to minimize the burden of 

the collection of information on those 

who are to respond; including through 

the use of appropriate automated 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology, e.g., permitting 

electronic submission of responses. 

HUD encourages interested parties to 

submit comment in response to these 

questions. 

C. Authority 

Section 3507 of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 

Chapter 35 

Daniel Ballard, 

Acting Deputy Chief Financial Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2023–18778 Filed 8–30–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4210–67–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND 

URBAN DEVELOPMENT 

[Docket No. FR–6401–N–02] 

Fair Market Rents for the Housing 

Choice Voucher Program, Moderate 

Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy 

Program, and Other Programs; Fiscal 

Year 2024 

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant 

Secretary for Policy Development and 

Research, U.S. Department of Housing 

and Urban Development (HUD). 

ACTION: Notice of fiscal year (FY) 2024 

Fair Market Rents (FMRs). 

SUMMARY: Section 8(c)(1) of the United 

States Housing Act of 1937 (USHA), as 

amended by the Housing Opportunities 

Through Modernization Act of 2016 

(HOTMA), requires the Secretary to 

publish FMRs not less than annually, 

adjusted to be effective on October 1 of 

each year. This notice describes the 

methods used to calculate the FY 2024 

FMRs and enumerates the procedures 

for Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) and 

other interested parties to request 

reevaluations of their FMRs as required 

by HOTMA. 

DATES: 

Comment Due Date: October 2, 2023. 

Effective Date of Revised FMRs: 

October 1, 2024, unless HUD receives a 

valid request for reevaluation of specific 

area FMRs as described below. 

ADDRESSES: HUD invites interested 

persons to submit comments regarding 

the FMRs and to request reevaluation of 

the FY 2024 FMRs. Communications 

must refer to the above docket number 

and title and should contain the 

information specified in the ‘‘Request 

for Public Comments and FMR 


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60224 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 168 / Thursday, August 31, 2023 / Notices 

1HUD also calculates and posts 50th percentile 

rent estimates for the purposes of Success Rate 

Payment Standards as defined at 24 CFR 982.503(e) 

(estimates available at: https://www.huduser.gov/ 

portal/datasets/50per.html). 

2 88 FR 41118. 

3 42 U.S.C. 1437f. 

Reevaluations’’ section. There are two 

methods for submitting public 

comments: 

1. Electronic Submission of 

Comments. Interested persons may 

submit comments or reevaluation 

requests electronically through the 

Federal eRulemaking Portal at https://

www.regulations.gov. HUD strongly 

encourages commenters to submit 

comments or reevaluation requests 

electronically. Electronic submission of 

comments or reevaluation requests 

allows the author maximum time to 

prepare and submit a comment or 

reevaluation request, ensures timely 

receipt by HUD, and enables HUD to 

make them immediately available to the 

public. Comments or reevaluation 

requests submitted electronically 

through the https://www.regulations.gov 

website can be viewed by other 

submitters and interested members of 

the public. Commenters or reevaluation 

requestors should follow instructions 

provided on that site to submit 

comments or reevaluation requests 

electronically. 

2. Submission of Comments by Mail. 

Members of the public may submit 

comments or requests for reevaluation 

by mail to the Regulations Division, 

Office of General Counsel, Department 

of Housing and Urban Development, 

451 7th Street SW, Room 10276, 

Washington, DC 20410–0500. Due to 

security measures at all Federal 

agencies, however, submission of 

comments by standard mail often results 

in delayed delivery. To ensure timely 

receipt of comments or reevaluation 

requests, HUD recommends that 

comments or requests submitted by 

standard mail be submitted at least two 

weeks in advance of the deadline. HUD 

will make comments or reevaluation 

requests received by mail available to 

the public at https://

www.regulations.gov. 

Note: To receive consideration as public 

comments or reevaluation requests, 

comments or requests must be submitted 

through one of the two methods specified 

above. Again, all submissions must refer to 

the docket number and title of the notice. 

No Facsimile Comments or 

Reevaluation Requests. HUD does not 

accept facsimile (FAX) comments or 

requests for FMR reevaluation. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

technical information on the 

methodology used to develop FMRs or 

a listing of all FMRs, please call the 

HUD USER information line at 800– 

245–2691 or access the information on 

the HUD USER website at https://

www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/ 

fmr.html. 

Questions related to the use of FMRs 

or voucher payment standards should 

be directed to the respective local HUD 

program staff or the Office of Public and 

Indian Housing Customer Service 

Center at https://www.hud.gov/ 

program_offices/public_indian_

housing/about/css. Questions on how to 

conduct FMR surveys may be addressed 

to the electronic mailbox for the 

Program Parameters and Research 

Division at pprd@hud.gov. 

Electronic Data Availability. This 

Federal Register notice will be available 

electronically from the HUD User page 

at https://www.huduser.gov/portal/ 

datasets/fmr.html. Federal Register 

notices also are available electronically 

from https://www.federalregister.gov/, 

the U.S. Government Printing Office 

website. Complete documentation of the 

methods and data used to compute each 

area’s FY 2024 FMRs is available at 

https://www.huduser.gov/portal/ 

datasets/fmr.html#2024_query. FY 2024 

FMRs are available in a variety of 

electronic formats at https://

www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/ 

fmr.html, including in PDF and 

Microsoft Excel. Small Area FMRs for 

all metropolitan FMR areas are available 

in Microsoft Excel format at: https://

www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/ 

smallarea/index.html. For informational 

purposes, HUD also publishes 50th 

percentile rents for all FMR areas at 

https://www.huduser.gov/portal/ 

datasets/50per.html. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

Section 8 of the USHA (42 U.S.C. 

1437f) authorizes housing assistance to 

aid lower-income families in renting 

safe and decent housing. Housing 

assistance payments are limited by 

FMRs established by HUD for different 

geographic areas. In the Housing Choice 

Voucher (HCV) program, the FMR is the 

basis for determining the ‘‘payment 

standard amount’’ used to calculate the 

maximum monthly subsidy for an 

assisted family. See 24 CFR 982.503. 

HUD also uses the FMRs to determine 

initial renewal rents for some expiring 

project-based Section 8 contracts, initial 

rents for housing assistance payment 

contracts in the Moderate Rehabilitation 

Single Room Occupancy program, rent 

ceilings for rental units in both the 

HOME Investment Partnerships program 

and the Emergency Solution Grants 

program, calculation of maximum 

award amounts for Continuum of Care 

recipients and the maximum amount of 

rent a recipient may pay for property 

leased with Continuum of Care funds, 

and calculation of flat rents in Public 

Housing units. In general, the FMR for 

an area is the amount that a tenant 

would need to pay the gross rent 

(shelter rent plus utilities) of privately 

owned, decent, and safe rental housing 

of a modest (non-luxury) nature with 

suitable amenities. The FMR is also 

used to determine the Performance 

Based Contract Administration Fee in 

Multifamily Housing. HUD’s FMR 

calculations represent HUD’s best effort 

to estimate the 40th percentile gross 

rent 1 paid by recent movers into 

standard quality units in each FMR area. 

In addition, all rents subsidized under 

the HCV program must meet reasonable 

rent standards. 

On June 23, 2023, HUD published a 

notice of Proposed Changes to the 

Methodology Used for Calculating Fair 

Market Rents.2 For FY 2024 FMRs, HUD 

is implementing the proposed changes 

described in that notice. The first affects 

how HUD determines the ‘‘recent mover 

adjustment factor’’ to meet its regulatory 

objective of setting the FMR from the 

distribution of rental units occupied by 

recent movers. The second change 

affects how HUD inflates the recent 

mover rent to the most recent full 

calendar year using a Gross Rent 

Inflation Adjustment Factor. The 

methodology used in each of these steps 

is described in more detail in the 

following section. 

II. Procedures for the Development of 

FMRs 

Section 8(c)(1) of the USHA,3 as 

amended by HOTMA (Pub. L. 114–201, 

enacted July 29, 2016), requires the 

Secretary of HUD to publish FMRs not 

less than annually. Section 8(c)(1)(A) 

states that each FMR ‘‘shall be adjusted 

to be effective on October 1 of each year 

to reflect changes, based on the most 

recent available data trended so the 

rentals will be current for the year to 

which they apply. . . .’’ Section 

8(c)(1)(B) requires that HUD publish, 

not less than annually, new FMRs on 

the World Wide Web or in any other 

manner specified by the Secretary, and 

that HUD must also notify the public of 

when it publishes FMRs by Federal 

Register notice. After notification, the 

FMRs ‘‘shall become effective no earlier 

than 30 days after the date of such 

publication,’’ and HUD must provide a 

procedure for the public to comment 

and request a reevaluation of the FMRs 

in a jurisdiction before the FMRs 


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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 168 / Thursday, August 31, 2023 / Notices 60225 

4HUD’s margin of error test requires that the 

margin of error of the ACS estimate is less than half 

the size of the estimate itself. 

5For FY 2024, the three years of ACS data in 

question are 2018, 2019 and 2020. HUD adjusts the 

2018 and 2019 data to be denominated in 2020 

dollars using the growth in Consumer Price Index 

(CPI)-based gross rents measured between 2018 and 

2020. 

6To be used in the three-year average calculation, 

the 5-year estimates must be minimally statistically 

qualified; that is, the margin of error of the 

estimates must be less than half the size of the 

estimate. 

7The ACS is not conducted in the Pacific Islands 

(Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and American 

Samoa) or the US Virgin Islands. As part of the 2010 

Decennial Census, the Census Bureau conducted 

‘‘long-form’’ sample surveys for these areas. HUD 

uses the results gathered by this long form survey 

for the FY 2024 FMRs. 

become effective. Consistent with the 

statute, HUD is issuing this notice to 

notify the public that FY 2024 FMRs are 

available at https://www.huduser.gov/ 

portal/datasets/fmr.html and will 

become effective on October 1, 2023. 

This notice also provides procedures for 

FMR reevaluation requests. 

III. FMR Methodology 

This section provides a brief overview 

of how HUD computes the FY 2024 

FMRs. 

For complete information on how 

HUD derives each area’s FMRs, see the 

online documentation at https://

www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/ 

fmr.html#2024_query. 

A. Geographic Area Definitions 

The FY 2024 FMRs are based on the 

updated metropolitan area definitions 

published by the Office of Management 

and Budget (OMB) on September 14, 

2018 and first incorporated by the 

Census Bureau into the 2019 American 

Community Survey (ACS) data, and the 

corresponding FY 2022 FMRs. On July 

21, 2023, OMB published Bulletin No. 

23–01 which contains revisions to 

metropolitan area definitions. However, 

the Census Bureau has not yet 

incorporated these revisions into the 

data available to HUD, and therefore 

HUD is not using these new definitions 

for FY 2024. 

B. Base Year Rents 

For FY 2024 FMRs, HUD uses the U.S. 

Census Bureau’s 5-year ACS data 

collected between 2017 and 2021 as the 

‘‘base rents’’ for the FMR calculations. 

These data are the most current ACS 

data available at the time that HUD 

calculates the FY 2024 FMRs. HUD 

pairs a ‘‘margin of error’’ test 4 with an 

additional requirement based on the 

number of survey observations 

supporting the estimate to improve the 

statistical reliability of the ACS data 

used in the FMR calculations. The 

Census Bureau does not provide HUD 

with an exact count of the number of 

observations supporting the ACS 

estimate; rather, the Bureau provides 

HUD with categories of the number of 

survey responses underlying the 

estimate, including whether the 

estimate is based on more than 100 

observations. Using these categories, 

HUD requires that, in addition to 

meeting the ‘‘margin of error’’ test, ACS 

rent estimates must be based on at least 

100 observations to be used as base 

rents. 

For areas in which the 5-year ACS 

data for two-bedroom, standard quality 

gross rents do not pass the statistical 

reliability tests (i.e., have a margin of 

error ratio greater than 50 percent or 

fewer than 100 observations), HUD will 

use an average of the base rents over the 

three most recent years 5 (provided that 

there is data available for at least two of 

these years),6 or if such data are not 

available, using the two-bedroom rent 

data within the next largest geographic 

area. For a metropolitan subarea, the 

next largest area is its containing 

metropolitan area. For a nonmetropolitan area, the next largest area 

is the State non-metropolitan portion. 

C. Recent-Mover Factors 

Following the assignment of the 

standard quality two-bedroom rent 

described above, HUD applies a recentmover factor to these rents. HUD 

calculates the recent-mover factor as the 

change between the 5-year 2017–2021 

standard quality two-bedroom gross rent 

and the 1-year 2021 recent mover gross 

rent for the recent mover factor area. 

HUD does not allow recent-mover 

factors to lower the standard quality 

base rent; therefore, if the 5-year 

standard quality rent is larger than the 

comparable 1-year recent mover rent, 

HUD sets the recent-mover factor to 1. 

When the recent-mover factor is greater 

than one and calculated for the same 

geographic area as the base rent, HUD is, 

in effect, replacing the base rent with 

the recent-mover rent for that area. 

Newly for FY 2024, HUD is modifying 

the definition of ‘‘recent mover’’ used in 

determining the 2021 recent mover 

gross rent as described above. To make 

its recent mover adjustment as reflective 

of current market conditions as possible, 

HUD first considers the rents of 

households who moved into their unit 

only in the current ACS year. For ACS 

2021, this means that the maximum 

length of time for a household to have 

lived in its current unit and still be 

considered a recent mover under this 

definition would be 11 months. This 

differs from HUD’s prior practice of 

considering rents from householders 

who moved into their unit in either the 

current year or prior year. 

However, restricting the ACS universe 

to recent movers limits the sample size 

supporting the resulting estimates, 

potentially harming the statistical 

reliability of those estimates. HUD 

applies the same two statistical 

reliability checks to each ACS recent 

mover estimate as it does for the base 

rent estimate. First, the estimate must be 

supported by at least 100 sample cases 

from the ACS. Second, the estimate 

must have a margin of error that is 

smaller than half the estimate itself. 

These criteria also apply for the new, 

single-year definition of recent movers. 

For areas without an ACS estimate 

meeting these criteria, HUD next checks 

the estimate tabulated from two-year 

recent movers, following its prior 

methodology. 

D. Other Rent Survey Data 

HUD calculates base rents for the 

insular areas using data collected during 

the 2010 decennial census of American 

Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, 

and the Virgin Islands beginning with 

the FY 2016 FMRs.7 HUD updates the 

2010 base year data to 2021 using the 

growth in national ACS data for the FY 

2024 FMRs. Note that while the 2010 

decennial census also included Guam, 

HUD uses the result of a more recent 

rent survey in calculating the FMRs for 

Guam, as discussed in the following 

paragraph. HUD is working with the 

Census Bureau to provide special 

tabulations of the 2020 Island Area 

Census and hopes to include these data 

in FY 2025 FMRs. 

HUD does not use ACS data to 

establish the base rent or recent-mover 

factor in cases where it has locally 

collected survey data which are more 

recent than the 2021 ACS. For larger 

metropolitan areas that have valid ACS 

one-year recent-mover data, survey data 

may not be any older than the mid-point 

of the calendar year for the ACS oneyear data. Since the ACS one-year data 

used for the FY 2024 FMRs is from 

2021, larger areas with valid one-year 

recent mover data may not use other 

survey data collected before June 30, 

2021 for the FY 2024 FMRs. Areas 

without statistically reliable 1-year ACS 

data may continue to use local survey 

data until the mid-point of the 5-year 

ACS data is more recent than the local 

survey. For FY 2024 FMRs, the 

following are Metropolitan Statistical 

Areas (MSAs), HUD Metro FMR Areas, 

or non-metropolitan counties that have 

FMRs based on local ad hoc surveys: 


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• HUD uses survey data from 2019 to 

calculate the FMRs for Kauai County, 

HI; and Guam. 

• HUD uses survey data from 2021 to 

calculate the FMRs for Abilene, TX 

MSA; Asheville, NC HUD Metro FMR 

Area; Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MANH HUD Metro FMR Area; BremertonSilverdale, WA MSA; Iron County, UT; 

Knox County, ME; Lincoln County, ME; 

New York, NY HUD Metro FMR Area; 

Portland, ME HUD Metro FMR Area; 

Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA 

MSA; San Diego-Carlsbad, CA MSA; 

Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA MSA; 

Transylvania County, NC; and Waldo 

County, ME. 

• HUD uses survey data from 2022 to 

calculate the FMRs for Grand RapidsWyoming, MI HUD Metro FMR Area; 

Hawaii County, HI; Hood River County, 

OR; Salinas, CA MSA; Seattle-Bellevue, 

WA HUD Metro FMR Area; and Wasco 

County, OR. 

• HUD uses survey data from 2023 to 

calculate the FMRs for San Benito 

County, CA HUD Metro FMR Area; and 

Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA MSA. 

E. Gross Rent Inflation Adjustment 

Factors 

The ACS recent mover rent estimates 

as described above produce a rent value 

that is ‘‘as of’’ 2021. In the past, HUD 

has updated the latest ACS-based rent 

estimates with one year of gross rent 

inflation measured with the 23 local or 

4 regional CPI components rent of 

primary residence and household fuels 

and utilities depending on the location 

of the FMR area. For FY 2023, HUD 

augmented the CPI methodology by 

including available private data sources 

along with CPI data in calculating a 

weighted average gross rent inflation 

factor that was used to update the ACSbased ‘‘as of’’ 2020 rent through 2021. 

HUD applied a weight of 60 percent to 

the average of the change in private data 

sources and 40 percent to the annual 

change in CPI gross rents. In places 

without sufficient private rent data 

sources, the actual inflation adjustment 

process solely used regional CPI data. 

For FY 2024, HUD is continuing to 

augment CPI rent inflation data with 

private sources of rent data to create a 

gross rent inflation adjustment factor. 

Recent research has indicated that there 

is a substantial lag in the overall CPI 

rent of primary residence index’s ability 

to capture changes in recent mover 

rents, and that private rent measure are 

often better at capturing such changes 

quickly. The private measures of rent 

used by HUD are the RealPage average 

effective rent per unit, Moody’s 

Analytics REIS average market rent, 

CoStar Group average effective rent, 

CoreLogic, Inc. single-family combined 

3-bedroom median rent, ApartmentList 

Rent Estimate, and Zillow Observed 

Rent Index. 

In calculating a measure of inflation 

from these data, HUD first takes the 

annual average of each statistic, then its 

year-to-year change. HUD then takes the 

mean of changes from all available 

sources for each area. Next, HUD takes 

an average of this private-sector measure 

of rent inflation with rent inflation as 

captured by the CPI for the area, where 

the private-sector measure is weighted 

at approximately 55.8 percent and the 

CPI rent inflation measure is weighted 

at approximately 44.2 percent. HUD has 

determined these weights by comparing 

the national average of the private rent 

changes and changes in CPI rent of 

primary residence to changes in the 

national average of recent mover rents 

from the ACS from 2017 through 2021. 

HUD weights the private data averages 

and overall CPI rent of primary 

residence in such a way as to minimize 

the root mean squared error between the 

resulting average and the ACS recent 

mover rents. For future FMRs, HUD will 

update the weights by adding the most 

recent years of ACS recent mover rents, 

private rent data, and CPI rent of 

primary residence to the analysis. 

HUD uses a local measure of private 

rent inflation for markets that are 

covered by at least three of the six 

available sources of private rent data. 

HUD combines this local measure of 

rent inflation with either the local 

metropolitan area CPI rent of primary 

residence for the 23 areas where such 

data exist, or the regional CPI rent in 

areas without a local index. 

Unlike in FY 2023, for areas without 

at least three of the six private rent data 

sources available, HUD uses a regional 

average of private rent inflation factors 

alongside the regional CPI rent of 

primary residence using the nationally 

derived weights described above. HUD 

constructs the regional average by taking 

the rental unit weighted average of the 

change in rents of each area in a region 

that does have private rent data 

coverage. This ensures that smaller 

areas which are not covered by the 

private sources directly still have 

current rental market conditions taken 

into account in the calculation of the 

rent inflation factor for such areas. 

Finally, HUD averages the result of 

this step with the year-to-year change in 

the CPI housing fuels and utilities index 

for the area in order to make the 

resulting inflation measure reflective of 

gross rents. The results of this step are 

gross rent estimates that are ‘‘as of’’ 

2022. 

F. Trend Factor Forecasts 

Following the application of the 

appropriate gross rent inflation factor, 

HUD trends the gross rent estimate from 

2022 to FY 2024 using a trend factor 

which is based on local or regional 

forecasts of CPI gross rent data. HUD 

derived a trend factor for each Class A 

CPI area and Class B/C CPI region using 

time series models based on national 

inputs (National Input Model or NIM), 

local inputs (Local Input Model or LIM) 

and historical values of the predicted 

series (Pure Time Series—PTS). HUD 

chose the actual model used for each 

CPI area’s trend factor based on which 

model generates the lowest Root Mean 

Square Error (RMSE) statistic and 

applied the trend factors to the 

corresponding FMR areas. HUD 

established the type of model for each 

forecast (NIM, LIM, or PTS) for the FY 

2020 FMRs and is keeping it constant 

for 5 years. HUD will reassess the model 

selections during the calculation of the 

FY 2025 FMRs. More details on the 

trend factor forecasts are available in the 

June 5, 2019, Federal Register notice (84 

FR 26141) and are available at https:// 

www.federalregister.gov/documents/ 

2019/06/05/2019-11763/proposedchanges-to-the-methodology-used-forestimating-fair-market-rents. 

G. Bedroom Rent Adjustments 

HUD updates the bedroom ratios used 

in the calculation of FMRs annually. 

The bedroom ratios HUD uses in the 

calculation of FY 2024 FMRs are 

calculated from three, five-year ACS 

data series (2015–2019, 2016–2020, and 

2017–2021). HUD only uses estimates 

with a margin of error ratio of less than 

50 percent. If an area does not have 

reliable estimates in at least two of the 

previous three ACS releases, HUD uses 

the bedroom ratios for the area’s larger 

parent geography. 

HUD uses two-bedroom units for its 

primary calculation of FMR estimates. 

This is generally the most common size 

of rental unit and, therefore, the most 

reliable to survey and analyze. After 

estimating two-bedroom FMRs, HUD 

calculates bedroom ratios for each FMR 

area which relate the prices of smaller 

and larger units to the cost of twobedroom units. To ensure an adequate 

distributional fit in these bedroom ratio 

calculations for individual FMR areas, 

HUD establishes bedroom interval 

ranges which set upper and lower limits 

for bedroom ratios nationwide, based on 

an analysis of the range of such intervals 

for all areas with large enough samples 

to permit accurate bedroom ratio 

determinations. 


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8As mentioned above, HUD applies the interval 

ranges for the three-bedroom and four-bedroom 

FMR ratios prior to making these adjustments. In 

other words, the adjusted three- and four-bedroom 

FMRs can exceed the interval ranges but the 

unadjusted FMRs cannot. 

9As established in the interim rules 

implementing the provisions of the Quality Housing 

and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 (Title V of the 

FY 1999 HUD Appropriations Act; Pub. L. 105–276) 

in 24 CFR 982.604. 

10 81 FR 80567. 

In the calculation of FY 2024 FMR 

estimates, HUD sets the bedroom 

interval ranges as follows: efficiency 

FMRs are constrained to fall between 

0.68 and 0.87 of the two-bedroom FMR; 

one-bedroom FMRs must be between 

0.76 and 0.89 of the two-bedroom FMR; 

three-bedroom FMRs (prior to the 

adjustments described below) must be 

between 1.12 and 1.30 of the twobedroom FMR; and four-bedroom FMRs 

(again, prior to adjustment) must be 

between 1.24 and 1.58 of the twobedroom FMR. Given that these interval 

ranges partially overlap across unit 

bedroom counts, HUD further adjusts 

bedroom ratios for a given FMR area, if 

necessary, to ensure that higher 

bedroom-count units have higher rents 

than lower bedroom-count units within 

that area. 

HUD also further adjusts the rents for 

three-bedroom and larger units to reflect 

HUD’s policy to set higher rents for 

these units.8 This adjustment is 

intended to increase the likelihood that 

the largest families, who have the most 

difficulty in leasing units, will be 

successful in finding eligible program 

units. The adjustment adds 8.7 percent 

to the unadjusted three-bedroom FMR 

estimates and adds 7.7 percent to the 

unadjusted four-bedroom FMR 

estimates. 

HUD derives FMRs for units with 

more than four bedrooms by adding 15 

percent to the four-bedroom FMR for 

each extra bedroom. For example, the 

FMR for a five-bedroom unit is 1.15 

times the four-bedroom FMR, and the 

FMR for a six-bedroom unit is 1.30 

times the four-bedroom FMR. Similarly, 

HUD derives FMRs for single-room 

occupancy units by subtracting 25 

percent from the zero-bedroom FMR 

(i.e., they are set at 0.75 times the zerobedroom (efficiency) FMR).9

H. Minimum FMRs 

All FMRs are subject to a minimum 

rent based on State or national nonmetropolitan area median rent. HUD 

calculates a population-weighted 

median two-bedroom FMR across all 

non-metropolitan counties or countyequivalents of each State, which, for the 

purposes of FMRs, is the State 

minimum rent. State-minimum rents for 

each FMR area are available in the FY 

2024 FMR Documentation System, 

available at https://www.huduser.gov/ 

portal/datasets/fmr.html#2024_query. 

HUD also calculates the population 

weighted median FMR rent across all 

non-metropolitan areas of the country, 

which, for the purposes of FMRs, is the 

national non-metropolitan rent. For FY 

2024, the national non-metropolitan 

rent is $905. The applicable minimum 

rent for a particular area is the lower of 

the State or national non-metropolitan 

median. Each area’s two-bedroom FMR 

must be no less than the applicable 

minimum rent. 

I. Limit on FMR Decreases 

Within the Small Area FMR final rule 

published on November 16, 2016,10

HUD amended 24 CFR 888.113 to 

include a limit on the amount that 

FMRs may annually decrease. The 

current year’s FMRs resulting from the 

application of the bedroom ratios, as 

discussed in section (E) above, may be 

no less than 90 percent of the prior 

year’s FMRs for units with the same 

number of bedrooms. Accordingly, if the 

current year’s FMRs are less than 90 

percent of the prior year’s FMRs as 

calculated by the above methodology, 

HUD sets the current year’s FMRs equal 

to 90 percent of the prior year’s FMRs. 

For areas where use of Small Area FMRs 

in the administration of their voucher 

programs is required, the FY 2024 Small 

Area FMRs may be no less than 90 

percent of the FY 2023 Small Area 

FMRs. For all other metropolitan areas, 

the FY 2024 Small Area FMRs may be 

no less than 90 percent of the greater of 

the FY 2023 metropolitan area wide 

FMRs or the applicable FY 2023 Small 

Area FMR. 

PHAs operating in areas where the 

calculated FMR is lower than the 

published FMR (i.e., those areas where 

HUD has limited the decrease in the 

annual change in the FMR to 10 

percent) may request payment standards 

below the basic range (24 CFR 

982.503(d)) and reference the 

‘‘unfloored’’ rents (i.e., the unfinalized 

FMRs calculated by HUD prior to 

application of the 10-percent-decrease 

limit) depicted in the FY 2024 FMR 

Documentation System (available at: 

https://www.huduser.gov/portal/ 

datasets/fmr.html#2024_query). 

J. Methodology Appendix 

To derive the weights used for the 

private shelter rent inflation factors and 

the CPI rent of primary residence, HUD 

compared the national average private 

rent inflation rates and CPI rent of 

primary residence inflation rates to the 

national average increase in ACS recent 

mover rents. While private rent data and 

ACS recent mover rents measure rent 

inflation for recent movers, the CPI rent 

of primary residence measures rent 

inflation across all rental units, and 

while ACS recent mover rents and CPI 

rent of primary residence originate from 

representative samples, private rent data 

inflation is derived from large samples 

of rents that are not constructed to be 

fully representative of the rental stock. 

To temper any potential bias arising 

from the non-representativeness of the 

private data sources, HUD constructs a 

weighted average of private rent data 

and CPI rent of primary residence that 

minimizes the root mean squared error 

between the weighted average changes 

in private rent data and CPI rent of 

primary residence compared to the 

changes in national average ACS recent 

mover rents for the years 2017 through 

2021. Since 2020 ACS recent mover rent 

data are not available, HUD interpolates 

a value for 2020 by assuming the rate of 

increase was constant from 2019 to 

2021. The resulting weights are 

approximately 55.8 percent private rent 

data and 44.2 percent CPI rent of 

primary residence. 

2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 Weights 

Average Private Change ........................................... 3.34% 3.62% 1.11% 7.59% Private—0.558388. 

ACS National Recent Mover Change ........................ 5.24% 4.06% 7.34% 7.34% CPI RPR—0.441612. 

CPI RPR .................................................................... 3.62% 3.71% 3.12% 2.25% 

Weighted Avg of CPI RPR and Private Change ....... 3.46% 3.66% 2.00% 5.23% 

Squared Error ............................................................ 3E–04 2E–05 3E–03 4E–04 

Minimum Possible RMSE .......................................... 3.01% 


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11For example, for FY 2024 Small Area FMRs, 

HUD averages the gross rents from 2019, 2020, and 

2021 5-Year ACS estimates. The 2019 and 2020 

gross rent estimates would be adjusted to 2021 

dollars using the metropolitan area’s gross rent CPI 

adjustment factors. 12 88 FR 41118. 

HUD will use these values of the 

weights for the FY 2024 FMRs and will 

perform the same analysis including 

new data for purposes of setting weights 

each year, e.g., for FY2025 FMRs, 2022 

ACS recent mover rents, 2022 private 

rent data and 2022 CPI rent of primary 

residence would be included in the 

analysis to set the weights. Thus, the 

weights for private rent data and CPI 

rent of primary residence in the gross 

rent inflation adjustment factors will 

vary based on such reanalysis in future 

versions of FMRs. 

IV. Small Area FMRs 

HUD lists Small Area FMRs for all 

metropolitan areas in the Small Area 

FMR Schedule. Metropolitan PHAs 

operating in areas where the use of 

Small Area FMRs is not mandated 

should contact their local HUD field 

office to request approval for using 

Small Area FMRs in the operation of 

their Housing Choice Voucher program. 

HUD calculates Small Area FMRs 

directly from the standard quality gross 

rents provided to HUD by the Census 

Bureau for ZIP Code Tabulation Areas 

(ZCTAs) when such data are statistically 

reliable. The ZCTA two-bedroom 

equivalent 40th percentile gross rent is 

analogous to the standard quality base 

rents set for metropolitan areas and nonmetropolitan counties. For each ZCTA 

with statistically reliable gross rent 

estimates, using the expanded test of 

statistical reliability first used in FY 

2018 (i.e., estimates with margins of 

error ratios below 50 percent and based 

on at least 100 observations), HUD 

calculates a two-bedroom equivalent 

40th percentile gross rent using the first 

statistically reliable gross rent 

distribution data from the following 

data sets (in this order): two-bedroom 

gross rents, one-bedroom gross rents, 

and three-bedroom gross rents. If either 

the one-bedroom or three-bedroom gross 

rent data are used because the twobedroom gross rent data are not 

statistically reliable, HUD converts the 

one-bedroom or three-bedroom 40th 

percentile gross rent to a two-bedroom 

equivalent rent using the bedroom ratios 

for the ZCTA’s parent metropolitan area. 

To increase stability to these Small Area 

FMR estimates, HUD averages the latest 

three years of gross rent estimates.11

For ZCTAs without usable gross rent 

data by bedroom count, HUD calculates 

Small Area FMRs using the rent ratio 

method. To calculate Small Area FMRs 

using a rent ratio, HUD divides the 

median gross rent across all bedrooms 

for the ZCTA by the similar median 

gross rent for the metropolitan area of 

the ZCTA. If a ZCTA does not have 

reliable rent data at the all-bedroom 

level, HUD will then check to see if the 

ZCTA borders other ZCTAs that 

themselves have reliable rent data. If at 

least half of a ZCTA’s ‘‘neighbors’’ have 

such data, HUD will use the weighted 

average of those estimates as the basis 

for the Small Area FMR rather than a 

county proxy, where the weight is the 

length of the shared boundary between 

the ZCTA and its neighbor. In small 

areas where the neighboring ZCTA 

median gross rents are not statistically 

reliable, HUD substitutes the median 

gross rent for the county containing the 

ZIP code in the numerator of the rent 

ratio calculation. HUD multiplies this 

rent ratio by the current two-bedroom 

FMR for the metropolitan area 

containing the small area to generate the 

current year two-bedroom FMR for the 

small area. 

HUD continues to use a rolling 

average of ACS data in calculating the 

Small Area FMR rent ratios. HUD 

believes coupling the most current data 

with previous year’s data minimizes 

excessive year-to-year variability in 

Small Area FMR rent ratios due to 

sampling variance. Therefore, for FY 

2024 Small Area FMRs, HUD has 

updated the rent ratios to use an average 

of the rent ratios calculated from the 

2015–2019, 2016–2020, and 2017–2021 

5-year ACS estimates. 

HUD limits each two-bedroom Small 

Area FMR to be no more than 150 

percent of the two-bedroom FMR for the 

metropolitan area where the ZIP code is 

located. 

V. Response to Comments on Proposed 

Changes to FMR Calculation 

On June 23, 2023, HUD published a 

notice of Proposed Changes to the 

Methodology Used for Calculating Fair 

Market Rents.12 In response to this 

notice HUD received 25 public 

comments. The following sections 

respond to these comments. 

a. Public Comments Supporting the 

Proposed Changes to the Methodology 

Used for Calculating FMRs 

The majority of commenters 

supported both of HUD’s proposed 

changes to the FY 2024 FMR calculation 

methodology, specifically: (1) retaining 

and expanding the use of rent inflation 

factors calculated by private sector data 

sources and (2) changing the ‘‘recent 

mover’’ definition from a maximum of 

23 months to 11 months. Commenters 

stated that these changes are likely to 

produce FMRs that are more accurate 

because the private data sources are 

updated more recently than the CPI and 

because rents for tenants who have 

moved within the past year are more 

reflective of current rental prices. 

Several commenters also mentioned the 

importance of capturing the high rate of 

inflation. 

There were no commenters opposed 

to the ‘‘recent mover’’ redefinition, 

although one commenter expressed 

concern that it could increase volatility. 

There were also no commenters 

expressly opposed to the expanded use 

of private data, although some 

commenters expressed concerns about 

insufficient transparency into the 

companies’ methodologies and into 

HUD’s selection criteria. 

Several commenters applauded HUD 

for the methodological changes 

implemented in FY 2023, noting that 

FMRs were significantly more reflective 

of real market conditions last year than 

in the past. 

HUD Response: Partially in response 

to the supportive comments, HUD is 

retaining and expanding the use of 

private rent inflation data in its FMR 

calculation. HUD consistently strives for 

transparency in its FMR calculation by 

maintaining an online lookup tool that 

shows the component factors of each 

area’s FMR calculation. HUD is 

committed to further research on the 

various methodologies used by private 

companies and making this research 

publicly available. 

b. Public Comments Recommending 

Additional Changes or Alterations to the 

Proposed Changes to the Methodology 

Used for Calculating FMRs 

i. Suggestions To Further Expand Usage 

of Private or Alternative Data Sources 

While most commenters expressed 

support for the expanded use of private 

data as proposed for FY 2024, several 

commenters recommended that HUD 

expand its use even further in FY 2025. 

One commenter recommended that 

HUD replace the use of 5-year ACS data 

with private data since this accounts for 

80% of FMR areas. Another 

recommended that HUD augment the 

gross rent CPI data used in the Trend 

Factor calculation with private data, 

(which they had also recommended in 

their public comment submitted for FY 

2023). Another commenter 

recommended additional private or 

alternative data sources for HUD to 

consider including in FY 2025 

calculations. Another commenter 

expressed concern that HUD has 


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provided insufficient justification for its 

three private data sources standard. 

Another requested further clarification 

from HUD on HUD’s selection criteria 

for private data sources. 

ii. Request for More Transparency in 

Private Data 

Multiple commenters expressed 

concern that there is insufficient 

transparency into the methodologies 

used by the private companies in 

calculating rental rates. 

iii. Request That FMR Calculation Be 

More Localized 

Two commenters requested that local 

data sources, specifically the University 

of Southern California Lusk Center for 

Real Estate, University of California Los 

Angeles Lewis Center for Regional 

Policy Studies, and the New York City 

Housing and Vacancy Survey 

(NYCHVS), be added to the private data 

as alternative sources. Another 

commenter requested that local PHAs be 

allowed to set their own FMRs in order 

to properly account for hyperlocal 

conditions, while another suggested that 

FMRs instead be set ‘‘within the state 

based on local conditions.’’ A 

commenter recommended that HUD 

consider basing its inflation adjustment 

on smaller geographic areas for rental 

markets with many submarkets, such as 

Los Angeles. 

HUD Response: The private rental 

data available to HUD do not represent 

the entirety of the rental market. The 

data sources are in some cases based on 

online rental listings or consist of 

surveys of large multifamily properties. 

Research has shown that despite these 

limitations, the changes in rent reported 

by these sources are similar to the 

change in rent from the overall rental 

market. Therefore, HUD is comfortable 

using these sources as a source of the 

shelter rent inflation rate for markets 

where such data are available. However, 

they cannot be used to establish the base 

rent for each area, as they do not 

provide a 40th percentile rent statistic, 

and if they did, such a statistic would 

not be drawn from a representative 

sample of the entire rental market as is 

the case with gross rent estimates from 

the ACS. 

HUD is aware that, given the 

limitations in the CPI rent of primary 

residence as a measure of recent mover 

rents, there are concerns in continuing 

to rely on that series in the trend factor. 

However, given the complexities of 

forecasting, HUD has not arrived an 

alternative methodology. Moreover, 

until very recently, both the overall CPI 

rent of primary residence and the CPI 

new tenant repeat rent index showed 

similar rates of inflation, suggesting that 

convergence in the future is a 

reasonable assumption. 

As previously stated, HUD 

consistently strives for transparency in 

its FMR calculation by maintaining an 

online lookup tool that shows the 

component factors of each area’s FMR 

calculation. HUD is committed to 

further research on the various 

methodologies used by private 

companies and making this research 

publicly available. In some cases, the 

proprietary nature of the data and 

methodologies used by various 

companies limit the ability of HUD to 

provide transparency. 

With respect to alternative data 

sources, interested parties may submit 

any survey or comprehensive rental 

market study that provides a 40th 

percentile rent estimate for recent 

movers that is more current than the 

year of the ACS for consideration to 

HUD. In the case of the New York 

Housing and Vacancy Survey however, 

the most recent data are from 2017. 

c. Public Comments That Address 

Alternative FMR Calculations and the 

Determination of FMR Amounts 

i. Comments Concerning the FMR 

Amounts 

Multiple commenters indicated that 

FMR values have historically been too 

low, and continue to be too low, causing 

individuals and families to be unable to 

find housing. On the other hand, some 

commenters indicated that high FMR 

values have negatively affected tenant 

ability to afford units when flat rents are 

set to 80% of FMRs. 

ii. Comments Suggesting Alternative 

FMR Calculation Methodologies 

Multiple commenters suggested 

alternative methodologies for HUD to 

use in calculating FMRs that differ 

significantly from current methods. One 

commenter encouraged the use of a 

‘‘Fair and Reasonable’’ approach in the 

setting of FMR amounts, rather than the 

method currently used to set FMR rates. 

One commenter lamented that Public 

Housing Authorities have had difficulty 

serving tenants amidst rising rental 

prices and recommended that PHAs be 

allowed to determine the rental rates for 

their own jurisdiction based on a ‘‘rent 

reasonableness’’ standard, their budget, 

and their total number of assigned 

vouchers. Another commenter 

recommended that HUD factor vacancy 

rates into its FMR calculations, although 

they did not expand on how it should 

be factored in. A commenter 

recommended that HUD fundamentally 

change the FMR calculation from an 

estimate of current rents in the area to 

instead be based on ‘‘what the near-term 

rent needs to be to attract the private 

capital necessary to create the type of 

housing that is desired’’ in 

neighborhoods that ‘‘lack affordable 

housing units but face strong demand 

from local residents.’’ One commenter 

recommended that HUD adopt an 

Island-Wide FMR specifically for Puerto 

Rico to increase administrative 

efficiency. Another commenter 

recommended that HUD reconsider its 

use of 40th percentile rent limits; if 

voucher holders are unable to secure 

rental housing at this rate, the 

commenter suggested that PHAs have 

the discretion to incorporate the use of 

50th percentile rent levels instead. 

HUD Response: In setting the overall 

level of the FMR, HUD must balance the 

interests of ensuring that families have 

an adequate choice of decent and safe 

housing while seeking to maximize the 

number of families who can receive 

assistance. HUD’s current regulations 

set the FMR at the 40th percentile rent, 

a statistic which is below the average 

rent in each area, to achieve this 

balance. With respect to the Voucher 

program, there are numerous ways in 

which the payment standard can exceed 

the FMR, including exception payment 

standards and success rate payment 

standards. 

With respect to flat rents, there are 

numerous options for PHAs in 

circumstances where the FMR is too 

high for an appropriate flat rent, such as 

the use of Small Area FMRs or 

conducting a rent comparability study. 

HUD periodically conducts research 

on potential improvements to the 

voucher program. For example, several 

PHAs who participate in the Moving to 

Work demonstration have conducted 

their own rental market studies and 

determined their own payment 

standards rather than rely on the FMR. 

The Department is committed to 

continuing to evaluate this and other 

research and determine the best 

approach to determining rental subsidy 

rates. 

It is not clear that setting higher FMRs 

would increase housing supply, as the 

largest barrier to the creation of new 

affordable housing in many areas is land 

use restrictions. Instead, setting FMRs 

higher based on a desire to attract new 

capital would likely lead to undue 

subsidy capture by current landlords. 

HUD is committed to working with 

stakeholders in Puerto Rico regarding 

what the appropriate level of geography 

is for determining Fair Market Rent 

areas. To date, HUD has received little 

feedback on this issue. 


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13Although there are no longer 50th percentile 

FMRs, HUD must calculate 50th percentile rents for 

the Success Rate Payment Standard under 24 CFR 

982.503(e). 

d. Public Comments Regarding 

Suggestions for the Methodology Used 

for Calculating FMRs After FY 2024 

One commenter recommended that 

for areas that use SAFMRs, HUD replace 

the three private data sources standard 

with either a minimum population or 

rental unit count, as these areas may 

have the requisite population/unit 

density. 

One commenter recommended that 

rather than using a minimum of three 

private data sources, HUD use only data 

from the two private providers— 

CoreLogic and Zillow—that have an 

established relationship with the CPI 

according to the BLS/Fed study. 

Another commenter recommended that 

HUD continue to follow up on the BLS/ 

Fed study with a longitudinal study to 

observe the accuracy of FMR calculation 

methods with private sector data. 

One commenter who supported both 

of HUD’s proposals recommended that 

HUD increase transparency by 

producing a new annual report detailing 

national FMR statistics in the aggregate 

(i.e., percent of areas where FMRs did 

not pass statistical reliability checks). 

One commenter tentatively supports 

the use of private data, but requests that 

the sources be required to release their 

coverage areas and methodology for 

public comment; this commenter also 

tentatively supports the redefinition of 

‘‘recent mover’’ but is concerned that it 

may increase volatility and suggests that 

HUD incorporate additional safeguards 

in general against year-over-year 

volatility. 

HUD Response: With respect to the 

use of only CoreLogic and Zillow, note 

that the BLS/Fed study did not examine 

the other data sources available to HUD. 

HUD has replicated the correlations 

among the additional sources and the 

CPI NTRR as was done in the study and 

feels that the results justify including 

the additional sources. Additionally, the 

BLS/Fed study considered only national 

changes in rent. At the local level, rent 

data are more volatile and including 

additional data sources reduces some of 

this volatility. HUD does intend to 

continue tracking the relationship 

among private sources of rent data and 

the CPI NTRR subject to the latter’s 

availability. 

With respect to transparency, HUD 

would be willing to provide aggregate 

statistics on the various adjustment 

categories that FMR areas are subject to; 

however, with many such adjustments it 

is not clear which would be most salient 

for users. Interested parties are invited 

to comment on this in response to this 

notice. 

On the issue of geographic coverage, 

HUD only uses private sources in cases 

where the geographic coverage closely 

matches HUD’s FMR area definitions. 

HUD agrees that volatility is a concern 

in setting FMRs and making 

methodology changes. At the same time, 

rental markets themselves may be 

genuinely volatile and therefore FMRs 

may exhibit some degree of volatility by 

virtue of being accurately calculated. 

VI. Request for Public Comments and 

FMR Reevaluations 

HUD accepts public comments on the 

methods HUD uses to calculate FY 2024 

FMRs and requests for reevaluation of 

FMRs for specific areas for 30 days after 

the publication of this notice. HUD 

lacks the resources to conduct local 

surveys of rents to address comments 

filed regarding the FMR levels for 

specific areas. PHAs may continue to 

fund such surveys independently, as 

specified below, using ongoing 

administrative fees or their 

administrative fee reserve if they so 

choose. HUD continually strives to 

calculate FMRs that meet the statutory 

requirement of using ‘‘the most recent 

available data’’ while also serving as an 

effective program parameter. 

FMR Reevaluations 

42 U.S.C. 1437f(c)(1)(B) includes the 

following: ‘‘The Secretary shall establish 

a procedure for public housing agencies 

and other interested parties to comment 

on such fair market rentals and to 

request, within a time specified by the 

Secretary, reevaluation of the fair 

market rentals in a jurisdiction before 

such rentals become effective.’’ 

PHAs or other parties interested in 

requesting HUD’s reevaluation of their 

area’s FY 2024 FMRs, as provided for 

under section 8(c)(1)(B) of USHA, must 

follow the following procedures: 

1. By the end of the 30-day comment 

period, PHAs or other parties must 

submit reevaluation requests through 

https://www.regulations.gov/ or directly 

to HUD as described in the Addresses 

section above. The area’s PHA or, in 

multi-jurisdictional areas, PHA(s) 

representing at least half of the voucher 

tenants in the FMR area, must agree that 

the reevaluation is necessary. 

2. The requestor(s) must supply HUD 

with data more recent than the 2021 

ACS data used in the calculation of the 

FY 2024 FMRs. HUD requires data on 

gross rents paid in the FMR area for 

occupied standard quality rental 

housing units. Occupied recent mover 

units (defined as those who moved in 

the past 24 months, although a shorter 

definition may also be used at the 

requestors discretion) provide the best 

data. The data delivered must be 

sufficient for HUD to calculate a 40th 

and 50th percentile two-bedroom gross 

rent.13 Should this type of data not be 

available, requestors may gather this 

information using the survey guidance 

available at https://www.huduser.gov/ 

portal/datasets/fmr/NoteRevisedArea

SurveyProcedures.pdf and https://

www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr/ 

PrinciplesforPHA-ConductedArea

RentSurveys.pdf. 

3. Areas where valid reevaluation 

requests are submitted may continue to 

use FY 2023 FMRs, or may use the FY 

2024 FMRs. Commenters should 

indicate whether they wish to maintain 

the FY 2023 or implement the FY 2024 

FMR during the revaluation period as 

part of their reevaluation request. 

Following the comment period, HUD 

will post a list, at https://

www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/ 

fmr.html, of the areas requesting 

reevaluations where FY 2023 FMRs 

remain in effect. 

4. PHAs or other parties must supply 

data for reevaluations to HUD no later 

than Friday January 5, 2024. All survey 

responses of rental units gathered as 

part of the survey efforts should be 

delivered to HUD. In addition to the 

survey data, HUD requires a current 

utility schedule to evaluate the survey 

responses. Finally, HUD encourages 

PHAs to evaluate their survey data to 

ensure the survey supports their 

request. Should PHAs or their 

contractors undertake this evaluation, 

HUD requests that this analysis also be 

submitted. 

HUD will use the data delivered by 

January 5, 2024 to reevaluate the FMRs 

and following the reevaluation, will 

post revised FMRs in April of 2024 with 

an accompanying Federal Register 

notice stating the revised FMRs are 

available, which will include HUD’s 

responses to comments filed during the 

comment period for this notice. By 

January 12, 2024, HUD will post at 

https://www.huduser.gov/portal/ 

datasets/fmr.html a listing of the areas 

that requested FMR reevaluations and 

continued effect of the FY2023 FMRs 

but did not deliver data, making the FY 

2024 FMRs effective in these areas. HUD 

will incorporate any data supporting a 

change in FMRs supplied after January 

5, 2024 into FY 2025 FMRs. Questions 

on how to conduct FMR surveys may be 

addressed to the Program Parameters 

and Research Division at pprd@hud.gov. 


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For small metropolitan areas without 

one-year ACS data and nonmetropolitan counties, HUD has 

developed a method using mail surveys 

that is discussed on the FMR web page: 

https://www.huduser.gov/portal/ 

datasets/fmr.html#survey_info. This 

method allows for the collection of as 

few as 100 one-bedroom, two-bedroom, 

and three-bedroom units. 

Other survey methods are acceptable 

in providing data to support 

reevaluation requests if the survey 

method can provide statistically 

reliable, unbiased estimates of gross 

rents paid of the entire FMR area. In 

general, recommendations for FMR 

changes and supporting data must 

reflect the rent levels that exist within 

the entire FMR area and should be 

statistically reliable. 

PHAs in non-metropolitan areas are 

required to get 100 eligible survey 

responses, which means they should 

have at least 5,000 rental units. PHAs 

may conduct surveys of groups of nonmetropolitan counties to increase the 

number of rental units that are 

surveyed, but HUD must approve all 

county-grouped surveys in advance. 

HUD cautions that the resulting FMRs 

may not be identical for the counties 

surveyed; each individual FMR area 

will have a separate FMR based on the 

relationship of rents in that area to the 

combined rents in the cluster of FMR 

areas. In addition, HUD advises that in 

counties where FMRs are based on the 

combined rents in the cluster of FMR 

areas, HUD will not revise their FMRs 

unless the grouped survey results show 

a revised FMR statistically different 

from the combined rent level. 

Survey samples should preferably be 

randomly drawn from a complete list of 

rental units for the FMR area. If this is 

not feasible, the selected sample must 

be drawn to be statistically 

representative of the entire rental 

housing stock of the FMR area. Surveys 

must include units at all rent levels and 

be representative by structure type 

(including single-family, duplex, and 

other small rental properties), age of 

housing unit, and geographic location. 

The current 5-year ACS data should be 

used as a means of verifying if a sample 

is representative of the FMR area’s 

rental housing stock. Staff from HUD’s 

Program Parameters and Research 

Division will work with PHAs in areas 

requesting re-evaluations to provide the 

minimum number of survey cases 

required to ensure that data submitted 

for re-evaluation represent a statistically 

valid sample. 

A PHA or contractor that cannot 

obtain the recommended number of 

sample responses after reasonable 

efforts should consult with HUD before 

abandoning its survey; in such 

situations, HUD may find it appropriate 

to relax normal sample size 

requirements, but in no case will fewer 

than 100 eligible cases be considered. 

Calculating Small Area FMRs Using 

Rent Distributions 

Since FY 2016, HUD has provided 

guidance and data on how to provide 

data-supported comments on Small 

Area FMRs using HUD’s special 

tabulations of the distribution of gross 

rents by unit bedroom count for ZIP 

Code Tabulation Areas. HUD has not 

received any such requests since 2017 

and is therefore discontinuing the 

publication of these data. 

VII. Environmental Impact 

This notice involves the 

establishment of FMR schedules, which 

do not constitute a development 

decision affecting the physical 

condition of specific project areas or 

building sites. Accordingly, under 24 

CFR 50.19(c)(6), this notice is 

categorically excluded from 

environmental review under the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321). 

Accordingly, the Fair Market Rent 

Schedules, which will not be codified in 

24 CFR part 888, are available at https:// 

www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/ 

fmr.html. 

Solomon Greene, 

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for 

Policy Development and Research. 

Fair Market Rents for the Housing 

Choice Voucher Program 

Schedule B—General Explanatory Notes 

Arrangement of FMR Areas and 

Identification of Constituent Parts 

a. The Metropolitan and NonMetropolitan FMR Area Schedule lists 

FMRs alphabetically by state, by 

metropolitan area and by nonmetropolitan county within each state 

and are available at https://

www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/ 

fmr.html. 

b. The schedule lists the constituent 

counties (and New England towns and 

cities) included in each metropolitan 

FMR area immediately following the 

listings of the FMR dollar amounts. All 

constituent parts of a metropolitan FMR 

area that are in more than one state can 

be identified by consulting the listings 

for each applicable state. 

c. The schedule lists two nonmetropolitan counties alphabetically on 

each line of the non-metropolitan 

county listings. 

d. Similarly, the schedule lists the 

New England towns and cities included 

in a non-metropolitan county 

immediately following the county name. 

[FR Doc. 2023–18402 Filed 8–30–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4210–67–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[BLM_MT_FRN_MO# 4500172578] 

Public Meeting for the Missouri Basin 

Resource Advisory Council 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Federal Land Policy and Management 

Act and the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act of 1972, the U.S. 

Department of the Interior, Bureau of 

Land Management (BLM) Missouri 

Basin Resource Advisory Council (RAC) 

will meet as follows. 

DATES: The Missouri Basin RAC will 

meet on September 18, 2023, from 10 

a.m. to 4 p.m. Mountain Time (MT) and 

on September 19, 2023, from 8 a.m. to 

1 p.m. MT. 

ADDRESSES: The meetings will take 

place at the BLM Miles City Field 

Office, 111 Garryowen Road, Miles City, 

MT 59301. To accommodate broader 

participation, the meetings will provide 

both in-person and virtual attendance 

options. Individuals that prefer to 

participate virtually must contact the 

RAC coordinator by September 14 to 

request a link. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mark Jacobsen, Missouri Basin RAC 

Coordinator, BLM Eastern Montana/ 

Dakotas District Office, 111 Garryowen 

Road, Miles City, MT 59301; telephone: 

(406) 233–2831; email: mjacobse@

blm.gov. 

Individuals in the United States who 

are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or 

have a speech disability may dial 711 

(TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access 

telecommunications relay services. 

Individuals outside the United States 

should use the relay services offered 

within their country to make 

international calls to the point-ofcontact in the United States. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 15- 

member council advises the Secretary of 

the Interior, through the BLM, on a 

variety of planning and management 

issues associated with public land 

management in central and eastern 

Montana, and North and South Dakota. 

At this meeting, agenda topics will 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1