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7004-9024 - Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program
| Account | Description | FY2010 GAA |
FY2011 House 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7004-9024 | Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program For a program of rental assistance for low-income families and elderly persons through mobile and project-based vouchers; provided, that rental assistance shall only be paid under a program to be known as the Massachusetts rental voucher program; provided further, that the income of the households shall not exceed 200 per cent of the federal poverty level; provided further, that the department may award mobile vouchers to eligible households currently occupying project-based units that shall expire due to the non-renewal of project-based rental assistance contracts; provided further, that the department, as a condition of continued eligibility for vouchers and voucher payments, may require disclosure of social security numbers by participants and members of participants' households in the Massachusetts rental voucher program for use in verification of income with other agencies, departments and executive offices; provided further, that any household in which a participant or member of a participant's household shall fail to provide a social security number for use in verifying the household's income and eligibility shall no longer be eligible for a voucher or to receive benefits from the voucher program; provided further, that the vouchers shall be in varying dollar amounts and shall be set by the department based on considerations, including, but not limited to, family size, composition, income level and geographic location; provided further, that notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the monthly dollar amount of each voucher shall be the department-approved total monthly rent of the unit less the monthly amount paid for rent by the household; provided further, that notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the use of rent surveys shall not be required in determining the amounts of the mobile vouchers or the project-based units; provided further, that any household which is proven to have caused intentional damage to its rental unit in an amount exceeding 2 month's rent during any 1-year lease period shall be terminated from the program; provided further, that the department shall pay agencies an administrative fee per voucher per month to be determined by the department for the costs of administering the program; provided further, that subsidies shall not be reduced for the cost of accommodating the cost of the inspections; provided further, that notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, each household holding a project-based voucher shall pay at least 30 per cent but not more than 40 per cent of its income as rent and each household holding a mobile voucher shall pay at least 30 per cent but not more than 40 per cent of its income as rent; provided further, that the department shall establish the amounts of the mobile vouchers and the project-based vouchers so that the appropriation in this item is not exceeded by payments for rental assistance and administration; provided further, that the department shall not enter into commitments which shall cause it to exceed the appropriation set forth in this item; provided further, that the households holding mobile vouchers shall have priority for occupancy of the project-based dwelling units in the event of a vacancy; provided further, that the department may impose certain obligations for each participant in the Massachusetts rental voucher program through a 12-month contract which shall be executed by the participant and the department; provided further, that these obligations may include, but shall not be limited to, job training, counseling, household budgeting and education, as defined in regulations adopted by the department and to the extent these programs are available; provided further, that each participant may be required to undertake and meet these contractually established obligations as a condition for continued eligibility in the program; provided further, that for continued eligibility, each participant shall execute this 12-month contract on or before September 1, 2010, if the participant's annual eligibility recertification date occurs between June 30, 2010, and September 1, 2010, and otherwise on or before the annual eligibility recertification date; provided further, that any participant who is over the age of 60 years or who is disabled may be exempted from any obligations unsuitable under particular circumstances; provided further, that the department may assist housing authorities, at their written request, in the immediate implementation of a homeless prevention program utilizing alternative housing resources available to them for low-income families and the elderly by designating participants in the Massachusetts rental voucher program as at risk of displacement by public action through no fault of their own; provided further, that participating local housing authorities may take all steps necessary to enable them to transfer mobile voucher program participants from the Massachusetts rental voucher program into another housing subsidy program; and provided further, that funding provided in this item shall be in addition to $2,700,000 in funding from the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency |
29,997,061 | 32,700,000 |
Increased funding to meet projected need.
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