760 Mass. Reg. 5.11
The Housing Situation Priority Policy issued by the Department sets out the criteria to be used by LHAs to determine the Priority to be granted to the applications of Homeless Applicants. The Priority of an application on the LHA waiting list shall be initially set by the Statewide Online Application System based on the unverified Housing Situation that is claimed by the applicant on the application form. When an application nears the top of an LHA's waiting list, the LHA shall require the applicant to provide verification of the Housing Situation that was claimed on the application. If the applicant fails to submit all documentation necessary to verify the Housing Situation that was claimed on the application within ten business days of the LHA's request for verification, then the application will be granted Priority 7 Standard. If at any subsequent time the applicant submits verification of the previously claimed Housing Situation, the LHA will grant the verified Priority as of the date and time of the applicant's initial claim. If an applicant submits documentation that fails to verify any criteria of the claimed Housing Situation Priority, then the LHA shall deny the Priority and inform the applicant of the right to appeal the determination pursuant to 760 CMR 5.13.
An applicant may claim or delete an existing claim of Housing Situation Priority at any time. Any grant of a claimed Priority by an LHA shall be made only after verification of the circumstances that meet the criteria for the Priority as set out in the Housing Situation Priority Policy. Any change to an application's Priority, including the grant or denial of a Priority, that is made by an LHA shall only affect the position of the application on that LHA's waiting list for the program for which the applicant is being considered at that LHA.
The DHCD Housing Situation Priority Policy shall be posted at all times on DHCD's website at https://www.mass.gov/orgs/housing-and-community-development and in the LHA's administrative office where applications are received and shall be a public record.
760 CMR 5.11