Section 982.54 - Administrative Plan(a) The PHA must adopt a written administrative plan that establishes local policies for administration of the program in accordance with HUD requirements. The administrative plan and any revisions of the plan must be formally adopted by the PHA Board of Commissioners or other authorized PHA officials. The administrative plan states PHA policy on matters for which the PHA has discretion to establish local policies.(b) The administrative plan must be in accordance with HUD regulations and requirements. The administrative plan is a supporting document to the PHA Plan (part 903 of this title) and must be available for public review. The PHA must revise the administrative plan if needed to comply with HUD requirements.(c) The PHA must administer the program in accordance with the PHA administrative plan.(d) The PHA Administrative Plan must cover all the PHA's local policies for administration of the program, including the PHA's policies on the following subjects (see 24 CFR 983.10 for a list of subjects specific to the project-based voucher (PBV) program that also must be included in the Administrative Plan of a PHA that operates a PBV program): (1) Selection and admission of applicants from the PHA waiting list, including any PHA admission preferences, procedures for removing applicant names from the waiting list, and procedures for closing and reopening the PHA waiting list;(2) Issuing or denying vouchers, including PHA policy governing the voucher term and any extensions of the voucher term. If the PHA decides to allow extensions of the voucher term, the PHA administrative plan must describe how the PHA determines whether to grant extensions, and how the PHA determines the length of any extension.(3) Any special rules for use of available funds when HUD provides funding to the PHA for a special purpose (e.g., desegregation), including funding for specified families or a specified category of families;(4) Occupancy policies, including:(i) Definition of what group of persons may qualify as a "family";(ii) Definition of when a family is considered to be "continuously assisted";(iii) Standards for denying admission or terminating assistance based on criminal activity or alcohol abuse in accordance with § 982.553 , or other factors in accordance with §§ 982.552 , 982.554 , and 982.555 ; and(iv) Policies concerning residency by a foster child, foster adult, or live-in aide, including defining when PHA consent for occupancy by a foster child, foster adult, or live-in aide must be given or may be denied;(5) Encouraging participation by owners of suitable units located outside areas of low income or minority concentration;(6) Assisting a family that claims that illegal discrimination has prevented the family from leasing a suitable unit;(7) Providing information about a family to prospective owners;(8) Disapproval of owners;(10) Family absence from the dwelling unit;(11) How to determine who remains in the program if a family breaks up;(12) Informal review procedures for applicants;(13) Informal hearing procedures for participants;(14) Payment standard policies, including: (i) The process for establishing and revising payment standards, including whether the PHA has voluntarily adopted the use of Small Area Fair Market Rents (SAFMRs);(ii) A description of how the PHA will administer decreases in the payment standard amount for a family continuing to reside in a unit for which the family is receiving assistance (see § 982.505(c)(3) ); and(iii) If the PHA establishes different payment standard amounts for designated areas within its jurisdiction, including exception areas, the criteria used to determine the designated areas and the payment standard amounts for those designated areas. (See § 982.503(a)(2) ). All such areas must be described in the PHA's Administrative Plan or payment standard schedule;(15) The method of determining that rent to owner is a reasonable rent (initially and during the term of a HAP contract);(16) Special policies concerning special housing types in the program (e.g., use of shared housing);(17) Policies concerning payment by a family to the PHA of amounts the family owes the PHA;(18) Policies concerning interim redeterminations of family income and composition, the frequency of determinations of family income, and income-determination practices, including whether the PHA will accept a family declaration of assets;(19) Restrictions, if any, on the number of moves by a participant family (see § 982.354(c) );(20) Approval by the Board of Commissioners or other authorized officials to charge the administrative fee reserve;(21) Procedural guidelines and performance standards for conducting required HQS inspections, including: (i) Any deficiency that the PHA has adopted as a life-threatening deficiency that is not a HUD-required life-threatening deficiency.(ii) For PHAs that adopt the initial inspection non-life-threatening deficiency option: (A) The PHA's policy on whether the provision will apply to all initial inspections or a portion of initial inspections.(B) The PHA's policy on whether the provision will be applied to only some inspections and how the units will be selected.(C) The PHA's policy on using withheld HAP funds to repay an owner once the unit is in compliance with HQS.(iii) For PHAs that adopt the alternative inspection provision:(A) The PHA's policy on how it will apply the provision to initial and periodic inspections.(B) The specific alternative inspection method used by the PHA.(C) The specific properties or types of properties where the alternative inspection method will be employed.(D) For initial inspections, the maximum amount of time the PHA will withhold HAP if the owner does not correct the HQS deficiencies within the cure period, and the period of time after which the PHA will terminate the HAP contract for the owner's failure to correct the deficiencies, which may not exceed 180 days from the effective date of the HAP contract.(iv) The PHA's policy on charging a reinspection fee to owners.(22) The PHA's policy on withholding HAP for units that do not meet HQS (see § 982.404(d)(1) );(23) The PHA's policy on assisting families with relocating and finding a new unit (see § 982.404(e)(3) );(24) The PHA's policy on screening of applicants for family behavior or suitability for tenancy;(25) Whether the PHA will permit a family to submit more than one Request for Tenancy Approval at a time (see § 982.302(b) ); and(26) In the event of insufficient funding, taking into account any cost-savings measures taken by the PHA, a description of the factors the PHA will consider when determining which HAP contracts to terminate first (e.g., prioritization of PBV HAP contracts over tenant-based HAP contracts or prioritization of contracts that serve vulnerable families or individuals).60 FR 34695, July 3, 1995, as amended at 60 FR 45661, Sept. 1, 1995; 61 FR 27163, May 30, 1996; 63 FR 23859, Apr. 30, 1998; 64 FR 26641, May 14, 1999; 64 FR 49658, Sept. 14, 1999; 64 FR 56911, Oct. 21, 1999; 66 FR 28804 , May 24, 2001; 80 FR 8245 , Feb. 17, 2015; 80 FR 50572 , Aug. 20, 2015; 81 FR 80582 , Nov. 16, 2016 81 FR 80582 , 1/17/2017; 89 FR 38294 , 6/6/2024 Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 2577-0169