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HRA / Household selection

Lesson 6: Household eligibility and income verification

14 practice questions · Sources reviewed October 4, 2026

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Make a determination, not an estimate

The HRA household income ceiling is at or below eighty percent of Area Median Family Income under the applicable program definition and income-limit table. Use the correct location, household size, effective date and method. A neighbor's eligibility or a remembered county number cannot establish this household's eligibility. Save the actual table and calculation used, supporting documents, signatures and determination date.

Household eligibility and income verification: four decision stagesDefine: Identify household, location, applicable method and current income-limit table.; Verify: Gather and reconcile income, ownership, occupancy, taxes and debt evidence.; Calculate: Document included and excluded amounts, signatures and submission requirements.; Refresh: Recheck timing and changed conditions before grant execution or loan closing.01Define02Verify03Calculate04Refresh
Household eligibility and income verification: use each stage with its evidence before advancing.
  1. Define. Identify household, location, applicable method and current income-limit table.
  2. Verify. Gather and reconcile income, ownership, occupancy, taxes and debt evidence.
  3. Calculate. Document included and excluded amounts, signatures and submission requirements.
  4. Refresh. Recheck timing and changed conditions before grant execution or loan closing.

The current 23.26(10) selects Annual Income under 24 CFR 5.609 with the stated HUD income and exclusion references. It also specifies that the Single Family HOME program will implement applicable HOTMA requirements no later than January 1, 2027. That future outer deadline does not prove which implementation instructions apply to today's file. Confirm TDHCA's current single-family HOME guidance and forms. Do not import multifamily implementation notices or an AYBR income method by assumption.

Account for the household and its income

Identify who lives in the home and apply the controlling household and income rules. Gather source documentation for relevant income, expected changes, benefits, employment and assets as required by the applicable method. Record why an item was included or excluded. Do not assume every bank deposit is income or every benefit is excluded. Resolve inconsistent information and retain the explanation; do not simply choose the lower amount.

The HRA income certification is signed by the Administrator and household members age eighteen and older. Under 23.31(a)(5), when income is within $3,000 of the eighty-percent AMFI limit, all income documentation must accompany the reservation. This is a submission requirement, not permission to use weak support for other households. Keep a complete support file even when all of it is not uploaded in a particular submission.

Recheck the timing of assistance

Section 23.26(11) requires an updated income determination when certification is more than six months before the Date of Assistance. Track the grant execution or loan-closing event that supplies that date. A reservation prepared while a certification was fresh may later require an update. Calendar the recertification check before scheduling assistance, and follow applicable guidance for changes discovered sooner.

For a fictional practice case, assume the correct published limit is $60,000 and the calculated income is $58,200. The household is $1,800 below the limit, so the special submission requirement applies. The example's limit is invented for arithmetic; it is not a real county table. A second calculation should verify the method and the distance from the actual limit before staff signs the certification.

Verify ownership and principal residence

Eligibility also requires the appropriate ownership and principal-residence evidence. Review the deed or other permitted ownership instrument, the household's actual occupancy and the required certification. Life estates, inherited interests, manufactured-home ownership records and other arrangements need review under the applicable rules; staff should not declare them acceptable or unacceptable solely by label. Title professionals and TDHCA resolve document-specific questions.

Check taxes and existing debt. Current taxes or a specifically allowed and current arrangement must be documented under 20.7. The owner must be current on applicable mortgage and home-equity obligations before assistance; additional lien restrictions apply when HRA assistance is a loan. A payment-plan claim without evidence of the required agreement and payment status is insufficient. Do not advise a household to stop making payments while waiting for HRA.

Resolve special eligibility issues expressly

Use the current PRWORA household-status and SAVE items in the HRA checklist as applicable. The research identifies questions about the nonprofit verification exception; it does not establish a blanket GCHS HRA election. Get written program direction rather than assuming an AYBR election or a nonprofit exemption settles the federal HOME process. Collect and protect only the records actually required.

Review insurance, disaster or other assistance for duplication affecting the proposed costs. Record the source, purpose, amount and treatment in the project budget. Do not create an unsupported categorical ban on prior assistance or an invented asset cap. If an eligibility issue is unresolved, hold the determination and assign a reviewer. The result should state the criterion, the evidence, the applicable version and the conclusion for this household.

Work the case

A household was certified seven months before its scheduled grant execution. Its income was only $1,800 below the applicable limit.

Review the decision

Update the income determination before assistance because the certification exceeds six months. Obtain the required signatures and complete source support. Because the income is within $3,000 of the limit, include all required income documentation with the reservation package and follow TDHCA instructions for an updated submission.

Apply it in the file

Authorities for this lesson

Practice questions

1. What is the HRA income ceiling?

  1. At or below 120 percent AMFI
  2. At or below 80 percent AMFI
  3. Any income if a house is unsafe
  4. Only households with no income

2. Which income method does current 23.26(10) identify?

  1. Whatever amount the applicant prefers
  2. Only taxable income on a pay stub
  3. Annual Income under 24 CFR 5.609
  4. Only last month's bank balance

3. Does the January 2027 HOTMA deadline prove current operational implementation?

  1. Yes, all old forms are automatically void
  2. Yes, multifamily notices control every HRA case
  3. Yes, staff can choose either method
  4. No

4. When does a certification need updating under 23.26(11)?

  1. When more than six months before assistance
  2. Only after final construction
  3. Only if the contractor changes
  4. Never after reservation preparation

5. Whose signatures are specified on the HRA income certification?

  1. Only the contractor
  2. Administrator and household adults age 18 or older
  3. Only the youngest occupant
  4. Only the title company

6. Income is $1,800 below the 80 percent limit. What special submission applies?

  1. Skip source documentation
  2. Treat the household as over income
  3. Include all income documentation
  4. Double the published limit

7. An example uses a fictional $60,000 limit. How may staff use it?

  1. As the current Harris County limit
  2. As every household's legal threshold
  3. As proof of federal approval
  4. To practice arithmetic only

8. Two income documents conflict. What should staff do?

  1. Reconcile and document the difference
  2. Always use the lower figure
  3. Discard the higher figure
  4. Average them without explanation

9. What does a claimed tax payment plan require?

  1. Only the owner's verbal assurance
  2. Review of the permitted arrangement and current status
  3. No documentation if income is low
  4. Automatic exclusion from the program

10. Can staff copy GCHS's AYBR SAVE election into HRA without review?

  1. Yes, because both are housing programs
  2. Yes, because a staff member remembers it
  3. No
  4. Yes, if the property is rural

11. What establishes principal residence?

  1. Only an applicant's preferred mailing address
  2. Only a contractor's invoice
  3. Only an old course worksheet
  4. The required evidence and certification

12. Should staff invent an asset cap when one is not established?

  1. No
  2. Yes, use AYBR's figure automatically
  3. Yes, use the home's assessed value
  4. Yes, let each reviewer choose

13. What should be reviewed about other assistance?

  1. Only whether the check was deposited
  2. Purpose, amount and overlap with proposed costs
  3. Only its bank's name
  4. Nothing if it came from insurance

14. What should staff do with an unresolved eligibility issue?

  1. Mark eligible to reserve a place
  2. Hide it from the submission
  3. Hold the determination and assign review
  4. Ask the contractor to decide

Glossary

AMFI
Area Median Family Income.
Annual Income
Income determined using the applicable program method.
HOTMA
Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act.
Date of Assistance
The applicable grant execution or loan-closing date.
Principal residence
The household home meeting the program occupancy requirement.
Duplication of benefits
Overlapping assistance for the same eligible need or cost.
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