How to Report Income and Other Changes

Tips for reporting changes:

• Use the Income Change Form, available on our website or by calling our Info Line, to report all changes.
• Remember that, due to the number of changes we receive, it may take several weeks to process the change.
• If your income went up, you can expect your rent to go up, too. Budget about a third of your increased income for rent.

What kinds of changes should I report to the Housing Authority?

You are required to report all changes to income, assets, or family composition (people moving in and out of your household) to the Housing Authority.

If you have any documentation that helps to verify the change, like a benefit letter or a pay stub, please submit a copy with the form. This will help us process the change more quickly.

Please be specific and thorough. Include dates and dollar amounts. If you lost a job, but started receiving unemployment, report both changes.

Failure to report changes could result in the requirement to repay subsidy, or termination from the program. See our Program Fraud Q&A for more information.

What kinds of income changes should I report?

Increase in income: If the income of anyone in your household goes up for any reason, including a raise, a new job, an increase in benefits or child support, financial help from a friend or family member, work for cash, or any other reason, you must report it to the Housing Authority immediately.

Decrease in income: If the income of anyone in your family goes down, due to a cut in hours at work, losing a job, a reduction in benefits, or for any other reason, you must report it immediately.

Generally, your rent is not lowered until after you have reported the decrease, even if the decrease happened much earlier. Therefore, the sooner you report any changes, the better.

Changes to assets: Any changes to your family’s assets, including settlements, real estate, gifts of cash or property, trusts, bank accounts, etc. must be reported.

How do I report changes to my family composition?

You must receive our written permission before moving someone into your household. Use the “Application to Add New Members to the Household” Form.

You must also report birth, adoption, and court-awarded custody, and all other changes on this form.

All adults must pass the Housing Authority screening, and there are limits on the additional bedrooms we will grant for people you add.

You must also get your landlord’s permission before moving someone in.

If someone moves out of your household, please report this to us immediately as well. Use the “Request to Remove Members from the Household” form.

These changes could affect your rent, so it is important that we know about them immediately.

What happens after I report a change?

Due to the high volume of changes we receive, it could be several weeks before we are able to process the changes you send us.

• Please don’t call immediately to ask if we received the information you mailed or faxed. These calls only slow down the time it takes to review the information, and the person answering the phone may not have access to your file.
• Changes are processed in the order we receive them.
• If we are missing any documentation from you, we will notify you by letter.
• Once we have all the information, we will verify the changes by directly contacting employers, agencies, banks, etc. Changes may take longer to process depending on how quickly they respond.
• If your rent is adjusted, you will receive a rent change notice by mail.

Are there any changes I am not required to report?

No, there is no such thing as a change that you are not required to report to us.

Please don’t assume that we already know about a change to your income or family composition just because we are a government agency.

It is your responsibility to report all changes involving everyone in your household to us in writing. Failure to do so may be considered program fraud.