(a) Tenant-based rental assistance (TRA). Tenant-based rental assistance provides grants for rental assistance which permit participants to choose housing of an appropriate size in which to reside. Participants retain the rental assistance if they move. Where necessary to facilitate the coordination of supportive services, grant recipients may require participants to live in a specific area for their entire period of participation or in a specific structure for the first year and in a specific area for the remainder of their period of participation. Recipients may not define the area in a way that violates the Fair Housing Act or the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The term of the grant between HUD and the grant recipient for TRA is five years.

(b) Project-based rental assistance (PRA). Project-based rental assistance provides grants for rental assistance to the owner of an existing structure, where the owner agrees to lease the subsidized units to participants. Participants do not retain rental assistance if they move. Rental subsidies are provided to the owner for a period of either five or ten years. To qualify for ten years of rental subsidies, the owner must complete at least $3,000 of eligible rehabilitation for each unit (including the unit's prorated share of work to be accomplished on common areas or systems), to make the structure decent, safe and sanitary. This rehabilitation must be completed with in 12 months of the grant award.

(c) Sponsor-based rental assistance (SRA). Sponsor-based rental assistance provides grants for rental assistance through contracts between the grant recipient and sponsor organizations. A sponsor may be a private, nonprofit organization or a community mental health agency established as a public nonprofit organization. Participants reside in housing owned or leased by the sponsor. The term of the grant between HUD and the grant recipient for SRA is five years.

(d) Moderate rehabilitation for single room occupancy dwellings (SRO). (1) The SRO component provides grants for rental assistance in connection with the moderate rehabilitation of single room occupancy housing units. Resources to initially fund the cost of rehabilitating the dwellings must be obtained from other sources. However, the rental assistance covers operating expenses of the rehabilitated SRO units occupied by homeless persons, including debt service to retire the cost of the moderate rehabilitation over a ten-year period.

(2) SRO housing must be in need of moderate rehabilitation and must meet the requirements of 24 CFR 882.803(a). Costs associated with rehabilitation of common areas may be included in the calculation of the cost for assisted units based on the proportion of the number of units to be assisted under this part to the total number of units.

(3) SRO assistance may also be used for efficiency units selected for rehabilitation under this program, but the gross rent (contract rent plus any utility allowance) for those units will be no higher than for SRO units (i.e., 75 percent of the 0-bedroom Moderate Rehabilitation Fair Market Rent).

(4) The requirements regarding maintenance, operation, and inspections described in 24 CFR 882.806(b)(4) and 882.808(n) must be met.

(5) Governing regulations. Except where there is a conflict with any requirement under this part or where specifically provided, the SRO component will be governed by the regulations set forth in 24 CFR part 882, subpart H.

(a) Eligible activity. S+C grants may be used for providing rental assistance for housing occupied by participants in the program and administrative costs as provided for in paragraph (e) of this section, except that the housing may not be currently receiving Federal funding for rental assistance or operating costs under other HUD programs. Recipients may design a housing program that includes a range of housing types with differing levels of supportive services. Rental assistance may include security deposits on units in an amount up to one month's rent.

(b) Amount of the grant. The amount of the grant is based on the number and size of units proposed by the applicant to be assisted over the grant period. The grant amount is calculated by multiplying the number of units proposed times the applicable Fair Market Rent (FMR) of each unit times the term of the grant.

(c) Payment of grant. (1) The grant amount will be reserved for rental assistance over the grant period. An applicant's grant request is an estimate of the amount needed for rental assistance. Recipients will make draws from the reserved amount to pay the actual costs of rental assistance for program participants. For TRA, on demonstration of need, up to 25 percent of the total rental assistance awarded may be spent in any one of the five years, or a higher percentage if approved by HUD, where the applicant provides evidence satisfactory to HUD that it is financially committed to providing the housing assistance described in the application for the full five-year period.

(2) A recipient must serve at least as many participants as shown in its application. Where the grant amount reserved for rental assistance over the grant period exceeds the amount that will be needed to pay the actual costs of rental assistance, due to such factor as contract rents being lower than FMRs and participants are being able to pay a portion of the rent, recipients may use the remaining funds for the costs of administering the housing assistance, as described in paragraph (e) of this section, for damage to property, as described in paragraph (f) of this section, for covering the costs of rent increases, or for serving a great number of participants.

(d) Vacancies. (1) If a unit assisted under this part is vacated before the expiration of the occupancy agreement described in § 582.315 of this part, the assistance for the unit may continue for a maximum of 30 days from the end of the month in which the unit was vacated, unless occupied by another eligible person. No additional assistance will be paid until the unit is occupied by another eligible person.

(2) As used in this paragraph (d), the term “vacate” does not include brief periods of inpatient care, not to exceed 90 days for each occurrence.

(e) Administrative costs. (1) Up to eight percent of the grant amount may be used to pay the costs of administering the housing assistance. Recipients may contract with another entity approved by HUD to administer the housing assistance.

(2) Eligible administrative activities include processing rental payments to landlords, examining participant income and family composition, providing housing information and assistance, inspecting units for compliance with housing quality standards, and receiving into the program new participants. This administrative allowance does not include the cost of administering the supportive services or the grant (e.g., costs of preparing the application, reports or audits required by HUD), which are not eligible activities under a S+C grant.

(f) Property damage. Recipients may use grant funds in an amount up to one month's rent to pay for any damage to housing due to the action of a participant.

(a) Matching rental assistance with supportive services. (1) To qualify for rental assistance grants, an applicant must certify that it will provide or ensure the provision of supportive services, including funding the services itself if the planned resources do not become available for any reason, appropriate to the needs of the population being served, and at least equal in value to the aggregate amount of rental assistance funded by HUD. The supportive services may be newly created for the program or already in operation, and may be provided or funded by other Federal, State, local, or private programs in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 11403b. This statute provides that a recipient may use funds from any source, including any other Federal source (but excluding the specific statutory subtitle from which S+C funds are provided), as well as State, local, and private sources, provided that funds from the other source are not statutorily prohibited to be used as a match.

(2) Only services that are provided after the execution of the grant agreement may count toward the match.

(3) It is the responsibility of the recipient to ensure that any funds or services used to satisfy the matching requirements of this section are eligible under the laws governing the funds or services to be used as matching funds or services for a grant awarded under this program.

(b) Availability to participants. Recipients must give reasonable assurances that supportive services will be available to participants for the entire term of the rental assistance. The value of the services provided to a participant, however, does not have to equal the amount of rental assistance provided that participant, nor does the value have to be equal to the amount of rental assistance on a year-to-year basis.

(c) Calculating the value of supportive services. In calculating the amount of the matching supportive services, applicants may count:

(1) Salaries paid to staff of the recipient to provide supportive services to S+C participants;

(2) The value of supportive services provided by other persons or organizations to S+C participants;

(3) The value of time and services contributed by volunteers at the rate of $10.00 an hour, except for donated professional services which may be counted at the customary charge for the service provided (professional services are services ordinarily performed by donors for payment, such as the services of health professionals, that are equivalent to the services they provide in their occupations);

(4) The value of any lease on a building used for the provision of supportive services, provided the value included in the match is no more than the prorated share used for the program; and

(5) The cost of outreach activities, as described in § 582.325(a) of this part.

(a) Current occupants. Current occupants of the real property are not eligible for assistance under this part. However, as described in § 582.335, persons displaced as a direct result of acquisition, rehabilitation, or demolition for a project under the S+C program are eligible for and must be provided relocation assistance at Uniform Relocation Act levels.

(b) Amount of assistance provided within a jurisdiction. HUD will limit the amount of assistance provided within the jurisdiction of any one unit of local government to no more than 10 percent of the amount available.

(c) Faith-based activities. (1) Organizations that are religious or faith-based are eligible, on the same basis as any other organization, to participate in the S+C program. Neither the Federal government nor a State or local government receiving funds under S+C programs shall discriminate against an organization on the basis of the organization's religious character or affiliation.

(2) Organizations that are directly funded under the S+C program may not engage in inherently religious activities, such as worship, religious instruction, or proselytization as part of the programs or services funded under this part. If an organization conducts such activities, the activities must be offered separately, in time or location, from the programs or services funded under this part, and participation must be voluntary for the beneficiaries of the HUD-funded programs or services.

(3) A religious organization that participates in the S+C program will retain its independence from Federal, State, and local governments, and may continue to carry out its mission, including the definition, practice and expression of its religious beliefs, provided that it does not use direct S+C funds to support any inherently religious activities, such as worship, religious instruction, or proselytization. Among other things, faith-based organizations may use space in their facilities to provide S+C-funded services, without removing religious art, icons, scriptures, or other religious symbols. In addition, an S+C-funded religious organization retains its authority over its internal governance, and it may retain religious terms in its organization's name, select its board members on a religious basis, and include religious references in its organization's mission statements and other governing documents.

(4) An organization that participates in the S+C program shall not, in providing program assistance, discriminate against a program beneficiary or prospective program beneficiary on the basis of religion or religious belief.

(5) If a State or local government voluntarily contributes its own funds to supplement federally funded activities, the State or local government has the option to segregate the Federal funds or commingle them. However, if the funds are commingled, this section applies to all of the commingled funds.

(d) Maintenance of effort. No assistance received under this part (or any State or local government funds used to supplement this assistance) may be used to replace funds provided under any State or local government assistance programs previously used, or designated for use, to assist persons with disabilities, homeless persons, or homeless persons with disabilities.

(a) Applicants that are States or units of general local government. The applicant must have a HUD-approved complete or abbreviated consolidated plan, in accordance with 24 CFR part 91, and must submit a certification that the application for funding is consistent with the HUD-approved consolidated plan. Funded applicants must certify in a grant agreement that they are following the HUD-approved consolidated plan. If the applicant is a State, and the project will be located in a unit of general local government that is required to have, or has, a complete consolidated plan, or that is applying for Shelter Plus Care assistance under the same Notice of Fund Availability (NOFA) and will have an abbreviated consolidated plan with respect to that application, the State also must submit a certification by the unit of general local government that the State's application is consistent with the unit of general local government's HUD-approved consolidated plan.

(b) Applicants that are not States or units of general local government. The applicant must submit a certification by the jurisdiction in which the proposed project will be located that the jurisdiction is following its HUD-approved consolidated plan and the applicant's application for funding is consistent with the jurisdiction's HUD-approved consolidated plan. The certification must be made by the unit of general local government or the State, in accordance with the consistency certification provisions of the consolidated plan regulations, 24 CFR part 91, subpart F.

(c) Indian tribes and the Insular Areas of Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands. These entities are not required to have a consolidated plan or to make consolidated plan certifications. An application by an Indian tribe or other applicant for a project that will be located on a reservation of an Indian tribe will not require a certification by the tribe or the State. However, where an Indian tribe is the applicant for a project that will not be located on a reservation, the requirement for a certification under paragraph (b) of this section will apply.

(d) Timing of consolidated plan certification submissions. Unless otherwise set forth in the NOFA, the required certification that the application for funding is consistent with the HUD-approved consolidated plan must be submitted by the funding application submission deadline announced in the NOFA.