The owner must retain copies of all completed applications together with any related correspondence for three years. For each family selected for admission, the owner must submit one copy of the completed and signed application to the HUD field office (in the case of private-owner/PHA projects, the owner simultaneously must send a copy of the form to the PHA). Housing assistance payments will not be made on behalf of an admitted family unit after this copy has been received by the HUD field office (or, in the case of private-owner/PHA projects, until the copy has been received by the PHA with a certification by the owner that the owner has sent a copy to HUD).
24 C.F.R. §884.214