The earned income disallowance is closed to new families and lapses on 1 January 2030

ph.income_calculation.earned_income_disallowance_closed_and_sunsetting · v1.0.0

The earned income disallowance in 24 CFR 960.255 now applies only to a family that was receiving the disallowance on 31 December 2023, or that is eligible to receive the Jobs Plus program rent incentive under the Jobs Plus FY2023 notice of funding opportunity or earlier appropriations distributed through prior Jobs Plus notices. The section will lapse on 1 January 2030. For a family still within it, the PHA must exclude from annual income, for the 12-month period beginning on the date a member of a qualified family is first employed or the family first experiences an increase in annual income attributable to employment, any increase in that member's income as a result of employment over that member's baseline income; and for the following 12-month period must exclude at least 50 percent of any such increase. The disallowance is limited to a lifetime 24-month period, a maximum of 12 months at full exclusion and 12 months at the phase-in, running from the initial exclusion. It does not apply for purposes of admission, including income eligibility and income targeting. As an alternative to the disallowance a PHA may provide individual savings accounts for public housing residents paying an income-based rent, under a written policy that advises the family the option exists, deposits at the family's option the amount that would otherwise have been payable as rent, restricts withdrawals to purchasing a home, education costs, moving out of assisted housing or another PHA-authorised economic self-sufficiency purpose, holds the account in an interest-bearing investment with the net interest credited to the family and no fee charged, reports the account status to the family at least annually, and pays the balance less amounts owed to the PHA when the family moves out.

Confidence

high

Effective from

2024-01-01

Consequence model

agency finding with cure

Last reviewed

2026-08-30