A HOPWA grantee may elect streamlined income determinations for families on fixed income, applying a COLA each year with third-party verification of all income every 3 years

hopwa.recertification.streamlined_income_determination_for_fixed_income_families · v1.0.0

A grantee MAY ELECT to apply a STREAMLINED INCOME DETERMINATION to families receiving fixed income, which for this purpose means periodic payments at reasonably predictable levels from Social Security, SSI or SSDI; federal, state, local or private pension plans; annuities, other retirement benefit programmes, insurance policies, disability or death benefits or similar periodic receipts; or any other source subject to a verifiable cost-of-living adjustment or current rate of interest. The method turns on a 90 PERCENT threshold. WHERE 90 PERCENT OR MORE of a family's unadjusted income is fixed income, the grantee applies a COLA to the fixed-income sources, provided the family certifies BOTH that 90 percent or more of its unadjusted income is fixed AND that its fixed-income sources have not changed from the previous year; non-fixed income may, but need not, be adjusted. WHERE LESS THAN 90 PERCENT is fixed income, the grantee must still apply a COLA to each fixed source and must determine all other income the ordinary way. The COLA or interest rate must be the one applying to that specific source and available from a public source or from tenant-provided third-party-generated documentation; where neither exists the grantee must obtain third-party verification of the amounts. And the streamlining is bounded: FOR ANY INCOME DETERMINED UNDER A STREAMLINED DETERMINATION THE GRANTEE MUST OBTAIN THIRD-PARTY VERIFICATION OF ALL INCOME AMOUNTS EVERY 3 YEARS.

Confidence

high

Effective from

2024-01-01

Consequence model

agency finding with cure

Last reviewed

2026-08-31