Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 760 CMR - HOUSING AND LIVABLE COMMUNITIES, EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF › Title 760 CMR 49.00 - Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program › Section 49.05 - Determination of the Voucher Payment

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
(1) The administering
			 agency shall establish each participant's net income as defined in 760 CMR 49.05.
			 The amount of a participant's voucher payment shall be established in administrative
			 guidance published by the Department. Appropriate unit size shall be determined on
			 the basis of the size and composition of the participant's household in accordance
			 with the definition in
			 760 CMR
			 49.02.
(2) Each MRVP participant holding a mobile or
			 project based voucher shall pay a minimum of 30% of net household income toward rent
			 or such greater or lesser percentage as may be required pursuant to the MRVP budget
			 line item governing program administration in any fiscal year. The Department may,
			 and to the extent required by the then-current MRVP budget line item shall, issue
			 administrative guidance setting a maximum percentage of net household income that
			 may be applied toward rent.
(3) When the
			 amount of the voucher payment for a participant has been determined in accordance
			 with 760 CMR 49.05(1), a voucher payment will be sent each month to the owner of the
			 contract unit in which the participant lives, and the remainder of the contract rent
			 shall be paid to the owner by the participant.
(4) The amount of the voucher payment shall equal
			 the monthly contract rent minus the participant's share of rent calculated in
			 accordance with 760 CMR 49.05(2).
(5)
			 For the purpose of determining the amount of a voucher payment, a participant's net
			 income shall be determined as follows, unless otherwise required by the MRVP budget
			 line item Language governing program administration in any fiscal year:
(a)
Gross Income
. A
			 participant's gross income means the income from all sources of the head of
			 household and each additional member of the household, which is anticipated to be
			 received during the 12 months following admission or redetermination of household
			 income.
(b)
Inclusions in
			 Gross Household Income
. Gross household income shall be the total of
			 the following items:
1. One half of the earned
			 income of household member who is the dependent of another household member and who
			 is 18, 19 or 20 years of age shall be included in a participant's gross
			 income.
2. The full amount, before any
			 payroll deductions, of wages and salaries, overtime pay, commissions, fees, tips and
			 bonuses, and other compensation for personal services.
3. Income from the operation of a business or
			 profession by each self-employed household member after deduction for the ordinary
			 and necessary expenses of the business or profession. The deductible expenses of the
			 business or profession shall not exceed 85% of the gross receipts of the business or
			 profession. Deductible expenses of the business or profession shall not include rent
			 or utilities paid for the participant's contract unit if the business or profession
			 is located in the participant's contract unit.
4. Income of any kind from real or personal
			 property including rent, dividends, and interest. Amortization of capital
			 indebtedness and depreciation shall not be deducted in computing net income. Any
			 realization of taxable capital gain on sale or transfer of an investment or other
			 real or personal property shall be included in income. If the household has
			 marketable real or personal property with a fair market value exceeding $5,000.00
			 (excluding any automobile used as the primary means of transportation by one or more
			 household members), gross household income shall include actual income derived from
			 any such property.
5. Periodic payments
			 received from Social Security, annuities, retirement funds, and pensions, individual
			 retirement accounts, and other similar types of periodic payments of retirement
			 benefits, excluding non-taxable amounts which constitute return of capital and are
			 specifically identified as such by payer.
6. Payments in lieu of earnings, such as
			 unemployment compensation; Supplemental Security Income (SSI); Social Security
			 Disability Income (SSDI); and benefits in
lieu
of earnings under
			 disability insurance, health and accident insurance or workers' compensation. An
			 unallocated lump sum settlement or similar payment all or partly on account of lost
			 wages resulting from an injury shall be equitably allocated to reflect a monthly
			 payment on account of lost wages for the period during which the recipient is likely
			 to be disabled from the injury and the recipient will be deemed to receive such a
			 monthly payment each month during the continuance of his or her disability until the
			 allocated funds are deemed exhausted. Payments from the government, subsequently
			 reimbursed to the government, are not to be included as income.
7. Regularly recurring contributions or gifts
			 received from non-household members; to be regularly recurring a contribution or
			 gift must occur at least twice a year for two or more years, provided that a
			 contribution or gift in excess of $2,000.00 which occurs once a year from year to
			 year for two or more years shall also be deemed to be regularly recurring.
8. Regular payments of public assistance,
			 excluding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
9. Payments received for the support of a minor,
			 such as payments for child support, foster care, social security, or public
			 assistance, including payments nominally made to a minor for his or her support but
			 controlled for his or her benefit by a household member who is responsible for his
			 or her support.
10. Lottery winnings,
			 gambling winnings and similar receipts.
11. Receipts of principal and income from the
			 trustee of a trust, and receipts of income from the executor or administrator of an
			 estate or from some other fiduciary.
12.
			 Alimony or payment for separate support.
13. Any other source of income not explicitly
			 excluded under 760 CMR 49.05(5)(c).
(c)
Exclusions from Gross Household
			 Income
. Gross household income shall not include any of the following
			 items:
1. Earned income of a working child younger
			 than 18 years old.
2. Gifts which are
			 not regularly recurring.
3. Amounts
			 (including lump-sums), which are specifically received for the cost of medical care,
			 or which are made to compensate for personal injury or damage to or loss of property
			 under health, accident or liability insurance, workers' compensation, judgments or
			 settlements of claims, insofar as these payments do not compensate for loss of
			 income for a period when the recipient was or would be a participant.
4. Amounts of educational scholarships or stipends
			 for a student at an educational institution, including amounts paid for these
			 purposes to part-time students, whether paid directly to the student or the
			 educational institution, and amounts paid by the United States Government to a
			 veteran for use in paying tuition, fees, or the cost of books, to the extent that
			 such payments are so used.
5. The
			 special pay to a member of the armed forces on account of service in a war
			 zone.
6. Relocation payments made
			 pursuant to state or federal law.
7.
			 Payments received from the Social Security Administration program known as the Plan
			 to Attain Self Sufficiency (PASS), provided that recipient fulfills all PASS program
			 requirements.
8. Benefits received under
			 the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
9. Funds and payments received by participants or
			 volunteers in programs pursuant to AmeriCorps, City Year, the Segal AmeriCorps
			 Education Award, and the
Domestic Volunteer Service Act
of 1973 or
			 similar programs approved by the Department.
10. The increased amount of income earned from
			 employment by one or more household members if the increase in earned income
			 otherwise would result in a rent increase provided that:
a. The household's income has been derived, at
			 least in part, from Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Emergency
			 Assistance to the Elderly, Disabled and Children (EAEDC), SSI, SSDI or successor
			 program for each of the previous 12 months;
b. The household's increased earned income has
			 been accompanied by a decrease in the amount of TANF, EAEDC, SSI, SSDI, or public
			 assistance from a successor program; and
c. At the commencement of this exclusion the
			 recipient of such public assistance would have remained eligible for such assistance
			 if the income had not been earned. This earned income exclusion shall be in effect
			 for one continuous 12 month period, regardless of any changes or gaps in employment
			 during that period. This exclusion may be exercised by the participant when a
			 household member has procured either full or part-time employment. It shall be
			 within the participant's sole discretion whether or not to exercise this one-time
			 income exclusion.
11.
			 Payments for a household member in association with participation in a
bona
			 fide
program providing training for employment, approved by the Department
			 or sponsored or administered by a government agency.
12. Wages and/or salary earned by a full-time
			 student, as defined in
			 760 CMR
			 49.02:
Full-time
			 Student
.
13. Income of a
			 live-in PCA, who is paid for the fair value of his or her services to a household
			 member with a disability and whose income is not available for the needs of any
			 household member, provided that the PCA shall be required to substantiate that he or
			 she receives wages for the fair value of his or her services and that such income is
			 not available for the needs of any household member.
14. Inheritances and life insurance proceeds. This
			 exclusion does not apply to post-death interest paid on inheritances or insurance
			 proceeds.
15. Total Disability Veterans
			 Compensation. Amounts received from the United States Government by unemployable
			 disabled veterans on account of such disability which occurred in connection with
			 military service.
a. Total Disability veterans
			 Compensation that is in excess of $1,800 per month shall be excluded. No deductions
			 shall be applied against the amounts over $1,800 per month that are
			 excluded.
b. If an AA had, prior to
			 October 6, 2016, exercised its discretion to exclude Total Disability Veterans
			 Compensation in excess of $1,800 per year, such AA may, in its discretion, continue
			 to exclude all of such amounts or it may increase the rent by no more than 10% per
			 year, until it is equal to the rent as calculated with the exclusion required by 760
			 CMR 49.05(5)(c)15.a. If the AA exercises its discretion to exclude more than the
			 amount required by 760 CMR 49.05(5)(c)15.a., no deductions shall be applied against
			 Total Disability Veterans Compensation.
16. A return of capital on sale or transfer of an
			 investment or of other real or personal property.
17. Wages and/or salary earned by a participant 62
			 years of age or older, or other household member, 62 years of age or older, not to
			 exceed the total amount which would have been earned by a person working 20 hours
			 per week at the minimum wage specified in M.G.L. c. 151,
			 §1.
(d)
Net
			 Income
. A participant's net income is gross income less the following
			 deductions up to, but not exceeding, an aggregate amount equal to the participant's
			 net income. In no event shall participant's net income be less than zero:
1. A deduction of 5% of the gross income of a
			 participant household whose head is at least 62 years of age or where the head of
			 household or a household member is disabled.
2. For a participant with a mobile voucher who is
			 responsible for the cost of heat separate from rent, a deduction for heat calculated
			 in accordance with administrative guidance published by the Department.
3. Payments for necessary medical expenses
			 (including co-payment amounts) which are not covered by insurance or otherwise
			 reimbursed, provided that such expenses are in excess of 3% of annual gross
			 household income and are paid by household members. Payments for medical health
			 insurance are considered medical expenses.
4. Payments for the care of child(ren) or of a
			 sick or incapacitated household member provided that the administering agency shall
			 have determined the payments to be necessary for the employment of another household
			 member who would otherwise have provided such care.
5. Child support, separate support, and/or alimony
			 paid under court order or court ordered agreement by a household member for the
			 support of a minor child, spouse, or ex-spouse, not residing with the
			 household.
6. Non-reimbursable payments
			 of tuition and fees of vocationally related post-secondary education of a household
			 member who is not a full-time student.
7. Non-reimbursable payments for reasonable and
			 necessary housekeeping or personal care services for a household member with a
			 disability who as a result of the disability is physically unable to perform the
			 housekeeping or personal care services provided that no household member is
			 reasonably available to perform these services.
8. Travel expense, in excess of the cost of the
			 least expensive available transportation, for a household member with a disability
			 who as a result of the disability is unable to use the least expensive available
			 transportation and who uses the least expensive transportation practical in
			 connection with necessary activities which cannot be performed by another household
			 member.