Updated HOME Program and NHTF Program Rent and Income Limits Now Available
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently released the FY2025 rent and income limits for the HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program and the National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF) Program. You can find the new limits on Minnesota Housing’s Multifamily Rent and Income Limits webpage. Per HUD, these limits have an effective date of June 1, 2025, and cannot be used until this date. You must continue using the FY2024 income limits until June 1, 2025.
Program regulations do not require properties to increase rents to match the new limits. However, if FY2025 income or rent limits have decreased from last year’s limits, the new, lower limits must be used starting June 1, 2025. Note that owners are not required to lower rents below those in effect at the time of project commitment.
Questions?
Contact Tere Hopponen at tere.hopponen@state.mn.us or your assigned Compliance Officer.
Updated Housing Tax Credit and HOME/NHTF Compliance Guides and Forms Now Available
On May 22, 2025, Minnesota Housing’s board of directors approved updates to the Housing Tax Credit (HTC) Compliance Guide and the HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program/National Housing Trust Fund (NHTF) Program Compliance Guide. The updated guides are now available on our Documents, Forms and Resources webpage.
In addition to the substantive updates listed below, both guides were reorganized and edited to remove redundancies, provide clarity, and improve accessibility. Redline versions are available upon request.
The purpose of the HTC Compliance Guide is to set forth the procedures to be followed by Minnesota Housing and the owners of HTC projects to comply with the requirements of Section 42 and the associated Treasury Regulations.
The HOME/NHTF Compliance Guide covers HOME Targeted, HOME Rental Rehabilitation, and HOME Affordable Rental Preservation Programs, and the federal NHTF Program and is designed to assist owners and their agents to plan and maintain compliance with the regulatory requirements associated with the utilization of these funds in multifamily properties.
HTC Compliance Guide
Substantive updates for the HTC Compliance Guide include:
- Clarifying that the HTC Compliance Guide does not provide guidance for the State Housing Tax Credit Program and Contribution Fund. This was added to avoid confusion between these similarly named programs that operate very differently. (Introduction)
- Replacing references to and requirements of the U.S. Department Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Uniform Physical Inspection Standards (UPCS) with the National Standards for Physical Inspection of Real Estate (NSPIRE). This includes incorporating NSPIRE’s minimum affirmative habitability requirements. HUD replaced UPCS with NSPIRE in late 2023 and compliance staff began inspecting all properties using the new standards in 2024. (Section 4.04)
- Providing guidance for tenant income and methods for certifying and verifying income and income from assets pursuant to the Housing Opportunities Through Modernization Act (HOTMA). (Chapter 6) Also see list of updated occupancy forms, below,
- Referring to July 1, 2025, or such later date as determined by HUD for full HOTMA implementation. (Chapter 6)
- Adding new language defining permissible and impermissible applicant and tenant fees, defining what constitutes a separate fee for purposes of tenant facilities included in tax credit eligible basis and guidance for when fees will be treated as rent. (Section 5.01)
- Adding new requirement for 120 days’ notice to tenants if an owner increases rent more than 5%. This change has an effective date of November 1, 2025. Examples were included to provide clarity as to when the provision applies and what must be done if an owner fails to provide the tenant with sufficient notice. The Resident Notification Letter and HTC Lease Rider were also updated to conform with this new provision. (Section 5.01)
- Adding new lease requirements to include the Minnesota Housing Attachment to HUD’s Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Lease Addendum. This attachment incorporates required VAWA provisions that HUD has not yet updated in its VAWA Lease Addendum. The Resident Notification Letter and HTC Lease Rider were updated to conform with this new provision. Use these updated forms for all new leases and lease renewals. (Section 5.03)
- Replacing the annual monitoring fees and utility allowance review fees with a reference to the Multifamily Loan Programs and HTC Program Fee Schedule that is now the central spot for all program fees in the Multifamily Division, and increasing the review fee for the additional work staff must perform when reviewing utility allowances that involve submetering systems. (Section 4.07 and Chapter 9)
HOME/NHTF Compliance Guide
Substantive changes to the HOME/NHTF Compliance Guide include:
- Allowing HOME rents to exceed applicable HOME rent limit when a household is also assisted with project-based or tenant-based rental assistance, per the 2025 HOME rule after April 20, 2025. (Section 1.02)
- Allowing Low HOME units paired with HTC to comply with Low HOME rent limits if rent does not exceed the applicable HTC rent limit, per the 2025 HOME rule after April 20, 2025. (Section 1.02)
- Clarifying HUD’s requirement that selection of qualified applicants must be from a written waiting list in the chronological order of their application, insofar as is practicable. (Section 3.01)
- Replacing references to and requirements of HUD’s UPCS with HUD’s new inspection standard, NSPIRE. This includes incorporating NSPIRE’s minimum affirmative habitability requirements. (Section 5.01)
- Providing guidance for tenant income and methods for certifying and verifying income and income from assets pursuant to HOTMA. (Section 3.08) Also see list of updated occupancy forms, below.
- Referring to July 1, 2025, or such later date as determined by HUD for full HOTMA implementation. (Section 3.08)
- Adding new language defining permissible and impermissible applicant and tenant fees and guidance for when fees will be treated as rent. (Section 1.05)
- Adding new language per the 2025 HOME rule that requires 60-days minimum notice of rent increase. (Section 1.07)
- Adding new language prohibiting rent increases more than once annually. This is consistent with language already in the HTC Compliance Guide. (Section 1.07)
- Adding new requirement for 120 days’ notice to tenants if an owner increases rents more than 5%. This change has an effective date of November 1, 2025. Examples were included to provide clarity as to when the provision applies and what must be done if an owner fails to provide the tenant with sufficient notice. The HOME/NHTF Lease Addendum was updated to add these provisions. Use this updated form for all new leases and lease renewals. (Section 1.07)
- Adding new lease requirement to include the Minnesota Housing Attachment to VAWA Lease Addendum. This attachment incorporates required VAWA provisions that HUD has not yet updated in its VAWA Lease Addendum. Use this updated form for all new leases and lease renewals. (Section 3.02)
- Allowing use of the Public Housing Agency utility allowance after April 20, 2025, per 2025 HOME rule. (Section 1.08)
- Adding Legal Addendum.
Occupancy Forms
New and updated occupancy forms include:
- Affidavit of Student Financial Assistance: new form; recommended by National Council of State Housing Agencies
- Asset Self-Certification Worksheet: new form; recommended by National Council of State Housing Agencies, for use by management to calculate cash value of assets and determine if self-certification can be used
- Asset Self-Certification: new form; replaces Under $5000 Asset Certification, recommended by National Council of State Housing Agencies and can be used for HOME, NHTF, MARIF and HOPWA
- Bank Verification: updated form; removes 6-month average balance
- Certification of Zero Income: updated form; recommended by National Council of State Housing Agencies
- Household Demographic Information: updated form; adds HUD’s sub-racial categories
- Head of Household and Household Member Demographic Information: updated form; adds HUD’s sub-racial categories
- HOME/NHTF Form22 Lease Addendum: updated form; adds once-annual rent increase limit and 120-day notice of rent increases over 5%
- Resident Notification Letter and Housing Tax Credit Lease Rider: updated form; adds 120-day notice of rent increases over 5%
- Housing Support Rental Assistance Calculation Worksheet: updated form; reflects changes for HOME and NHTF
- Income and Asset Calculation Worksheet: updated form; for use by management to calculate income and income from assets when assets exceed the HUD imputed asset amount
- Pension/Annuity Verification: updated form; removes information related to treatment as an asset
- Student Status Verification: new form; recommended by National Council of State Housing Agencies
- Sworn Income and Asset Statement: new form; replaces Household Questionnaire
- Tenant Income Certification: updated form; recommended by National Council of State Housing Agencies, may be used in lieu of the Tenant Income Certification Form generated in PORT
These forms are now available on our Occupancy Forms webpage.
Property Online Reporting Tool not yet HOTMA-Ready
HOTMA-related updates for the Property Online Reporting Tool (PORT) are in process. We will notify owners and managers when this work is complete. If you have completed certifications and recertifications consistent with the changes resulting from HOTMA (including using the updated HUD passbook rate) you must wait to enter unit events or submit them via XML upload in PORT until the updates have been completed. Otherwise, the gross annual household income will not calculate correctly or the XML upload will reject your submission.
For properties that use PORT’s summary certification, you may continue to report unit events. This includes properties that were not funded with Minnesota Housing’s HTC, HOME, NHTF, Housing Opportunities for Persons with Aids (HOPWA), and Minnesota Affordable Rental Investment Fund (MARIF) funds.
About Minnesota Housing
Minnesota Housing, the state’s housing finance agency, works to provide access to safe, stable and accessible housing Minnesotans can afford in a community of their choice. In 2024, the Agency distributed $1.96 billion in resources and served 73,650 households. Visit our website to learn more.
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