Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 760 CMR - HOUSING AND LIVABLE COMMUNITIES, EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF › Title 760 CMR 53.00 - Alternative Housing Voucher Program › Section 53.02 - Definitions

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
Appropriate Unit Size - A unit size assigned so that it will not be
				necessary for persons of the opposite sex, other than husband and wife, to occupy
				the same bedroom, except that children under the age of six, shall be expected to
				share a bedroom. A unit size shall be assigned so as not to require use of the
				living room for sleeping purposes.
Ceiling Rent - the Ceiling Rent shall be the maximum amount of rent
				payable for a unit occupied by a Participant. The Department shall, from time to
				time, issue a Schedule of Ceiling Rents.
Contract Rent - the total monthly rent specified in a lease, a
				Request for Program Payment and a Voucher Payment Contract for a Contract Unit,
				occupied by a Participant. The Contract Rent includes the value of the Voucher paid
				by the LHA, and the amount of the Participant's share of rent.
Contract Unit - a unit occupied by a Participant for which the
				Participant submits a Request for Program Payment, enters into a lease with the
				owner, and for which the Owner or Owner's Agent and LHA sign a Voucher Payment
				Contract.
Department - the Department of Community Affairs (DCA), or any
				successor agency.
Family Applicant - a household consisting of:
(a) two or more persons who will live regularly in the unit as a
				primary residence:
1. whose income and resources are available to meet the family's
				needs; and
2. are either related by blood, marriage, or operation of law, or
				have otherwise evidenced a stable family relationship.
(b) a single individual.
A member of a household shall be considered to be living regularly
				with the Family Applicant if temporarily absent for reasons such as hospitalization,
				duty assignment, employment, school attendance in another location, or temporarily
				in the custody of the Department of Social Services.
Handicapped Person - a person who meets the definition of
				handicapped person of low income appearing at M.G.L. c. 121B, §1 and
				760 CMR 5.00.
Local Housing Agency (LHA) - a Local Housing Authority, a Regional
				Non-Profit Corporation or other entity under contract to the Department to
				administer the Alternative Housing Voucher Program.
Local Housing Authority - a public body politic and corporate
				created pursuant to M.G.L. c. 121B or equivalent earlier or special law.
Participant - one or more persons certified as collectively eligible
				for the Alternative Housing Voucher Program who are listed by the LHA as authorized
				to reside together in one unit which will be his/her or their Primary Residence, and
				for which Voucher payments are made.
Primary Residence - principal home (domicile) occupied by a
				household member not less than nine months of the year.
Program - Alternative Housing Voucher Program (AHVP).
Rent - payments pursuant to a lease or other agreement for the
				Participant's occupancy of a Contract Unit. Rent does not include payments made by
				the Participant separately for the cost of heat, cooking fuel, and/or
				electricity.
Suitable Permanent Housing - A unit located by the Participant to
				which the Participant would transition from the Program.
Suitable Unit - a dwelling unit for which a Voucher Payment Contract
				is to be entered into. The unit must be:
(a) intended solely for occupancy by the Participant and as the
				Participant's primary residence;
(b) of an appropriate unit size for the Participant;
(c) in compliance with Article II of the State Sanitary Code
				(including lead paint laws, whenever the Household includes a child under the age of
				six years), State Building Code and other applicable laws;
(d) rented at an amount not to exceed the applicable Ceiling
				Rents.
Voucher Holder - a household which has been accepted into the
				Program and to which a Voucher has been issued. When the Household locates a
				Suitable Unit, executes a lease, and the LHA begins making Voucher payments, the
				Voucher Holder becomes a Participant.
Voucher Payment - an amount paid by an LHA to an Owner or Owner's
				Agent which represents the difference between the total rent for a unit and the
				Participant's share, as determined by the LHA. The Voucher Payment shall be
				specified in the Voucher Payment Contract.