HOTMA Compliance HQ

HOTMA FAQ

Last Updated: August 5, 2026

NCHM has created a HOTMA FAQ page dedicated to answering questions directly from the industry. This includes questions that are raised during our HOTMA Compliance training courses. This FAQ is updated weekly so click the button below to check out the most recent questions, answered by NCHM experts.

Attendees learn all the details of HOTMA and its impacts on nearly all compliance regulations. This includes:

• Clarifications on the inclusion of income for day laborers, independent contractors, and seasonal employees
• A revision to the definitions of foster children and foster adults, which will exclude their income and assets from being counted for a household
• A rule that public housing participants are no longer considered participants of the program once their income exceeds a location-specific amount for twenty-four consecutive months, which may lead to termination of tenancy
• Changes to interim recertification rules, including policies that greatly favor the resident when it comes to reporting increases in earned income
• A prohibition on assisting families who own real property in which they could feasibly live
• The prohibition of residency at assisted properties for households whose net family assets total $100,000 or more
• An increased cap on the threshold at which point the passbook savings rate must be applied to determine imputed income from assets – from $5,000 to $50,000
• The right to self-certify net assets for households with less than $50,000 in assets
• A new asset exclusion for IRAs and other retirement accounts
• The potential for the dependent deduction amount to change each year to adjust for inflation (this will also impact the income inclusion caps on earned full-time student dependents’ incomes and on adoption assistance payments)
• Adjustments to the minimum threshold for the inclusion of qualified medical and disability assistance expenses from 3% to 10% of annual income
• An increase of the elderly family deduction from $400 to $525, which also may change year-over-year
• Changes to how frequently certain EIV reports must be run
• Many more, smaller changes

HOTMA Compliance Session Agenda

• A brief history on the US Housing Act of 1937
• A comparison of the pre- and post-HOTMA world
• How to apply new regulations surrounding: Income, Assets, Deductions, Certifications, Reporting & Forms, and Over-Income Families in Public Housing