Affordable and public housing glossary of terms
Affordable and public housing organizations face many unique challenges – from adapting to regulatory and policy updates year after year to managing ever-increasing demand. Subsidized housing professionals are expected to keep a lot of information in their heads at all times, including a litany of industry-specific terminology.
MRI Software has you covered. Whether your subsidized housing organization is onboarding new talent or just in need of a quick reference sheet, the following glossary of terms can make any housing professional’s day easier.
General Terminology
Affordable Housing: In general, housing for which the occupant(s) is/are paying no more than 30% of his or her income for gross housing costs, including utilities. However, some jurisdictions define affordable housing based on other, locally determined criteria.
Annual Contribution Contract (ACC): Annual contracts with Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) for payments toward rent, financing debt service, and financing for modernization.
Difficult Development Area (DDA): Any area designated by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary as an area that has high construction, land, and utility costs relative to the area median gross income.
Housing Information Portal (HIP): The HIP system is designed to reduce administrative burden on housing authorities in the collection of HUD-50058 tenant data, public housing building and unit inventory data, and Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) information. It also allows MTW Expansion PHAs to submit the MTW Supplement to the Annual PHA Plan and TDHEs to submit household information for the Tribal HUD VASH program.
Inclusionary Zoning: A local zoning ordinance that requires or encourages a developer to either include affordable housing as part of a development or to contribute to a fund for such housing. In some cases, the bylaw may provide incentives such as increased density or expedited permitting in exchange for the affordable housing or contribution.
National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate (NSPIRE): NSPIRE is a method for conducting and processing inspections of HUD-assisted housing developed by HUD’s Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC). NSPIRE aims to improve confidence in HUD’s ability to keep properties in compliance by accurately assessing the condition of a unit, implementing streamlined inspection processes, and prioritizing the health and safety of residents.
Public Housing Agency (PHA): Any state, county, municipality, or other governmental entity or public body that is authorized to engage or assist in the development or operation of low-income housing under the U.S. Housing Act of 1937.
Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA): Assistance provided to low and very low-income families in obtaining decent, safe, and sanitary housing in private accommodations. HUD makes up the difference between what they can afford and the approved rent for an adequate housing unit.
Tenant Rental Assistance Certification System (TRACS): TRACS is a HUD computer system developed to improve program management and financial control over the Office of Multifamily Housing Programs’ rental assistance programs by updating manual procedures to include automated processes and controls.
Waiting List: A formal record of applicants for housing assistance and/or assisted housing units that identifies the applicant’s name, date and time of application, selection preferences claimed, income category, and the need for an accessible unit. The waiting list may be kept in either a hard copy or in a digital format. Whichever method is used to maintain the waiting list, the owner must establish a method of documenting the appropriate selection of applicant names from the list.
Agencies
Federal Housing Administration (FHA): The FHA provides mortgage insurance on loans made by FHA-approved lenders throughout the United States and its territories. The FHA is the largest insurer of mortgages in the world, insuring mortgages on single-family, multifamily, and manufactured homes and hospitals.
Government Sponsored Enterprise (GSE): These are financial services created by Congress to support the flow of credit into targeted economic sectors. Examples of HUD-regulated GSEs include Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were chartered by Congress to create a secondary market for residential mortgage loans.
Housing Finance Agency (HFA): State or local agencies responsible for financing and preserving low and moderate-income housing within a state.
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD): Established in 1965, HUD’s mission is to increase homeownership, support community development, and increase access to affordable housing free from discrimination.
Congressional Acts and Laws
Community Reinvestment Act (CRA): This act prohibits lending institutions from discriminating against low and moderate-income and minority neighborhoods. In addition, the CRA imposes an affirmative obligation on banks to serve these communities. Banks must proactively assess community needs, conduct outreach campaigns in all communities, and consult with community stakeholders in developing financing options for affordable housing and economic development activities.
Fair Housing Act: A 1968 act of the United States Congress (amended in 1974 and 1988) providing the HUD Secretary with fair housing enforcement and investigation responsibilities. This law prohibits discrimination in all facets of the homebuying process on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability.
Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016 (HOTMA): Signed into law in 2016, HOTMA makes numerous changes to the statutes governing HUD’s rental assistance programs, including Section 8 and public housing, with the goal of streamlining administration and easing the burden on private owners and PHAs. The changes under HOTMA touch upon multiple areas, including standards for income determination, resident self-certification, and interim reexaminations.
Moving to Work (MTW): This is a federal demonstration program administered by HUD that allows participating PHAs greater flexibility in how they use federal funds, with the goal of testing innovative strategies to better meet the needs of low-income families. As of 2025, more than 100 PHAs are part of the MTW program.
Subsidized Housing Programs
Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG): This program was created under the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 and provides grant funds to local and state governments to develop viable urban communities by providing decent housing with a suitable living environment and expanding economic opportunities to assist low and moderate-income residents. The CDBG ended up replacing several categorical grant programs, such as the Model Cities program, the Urban Renewal program, and the Housing Rehabilitation Loan and Grant program.
HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME): Provides formula grants to states and localities that communities use — often in partnership with local nonprofit groups — to fund a wide range of activities that build, buy, and/or rehabilitate affordable housing for rent or homeownership, or to provide direct rental assistance to low-income people.
Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program: This is HUD’s largest program, providing rental assistance to roughly 1.5 million low-income households. Eligible tenants pay 30% of adjusted income toward rent and utilities, and the balance of the Contract Rent is paid by the PHA that administers the HCV program. Most HCVs remain with the tenant after move-out and are called “tenant-based.” Others remain with the property after move-out and are called “project-based.”
Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) Program: Authorized by Congress under the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2012, the RAD Program allows PHAs and owners of other HUD-assisted properties to convert units from their original sources of HUD rental assistance to project-based Section 8 contracts. Properties that convert under this process are no longer restricted from securing private sources of capital financing, and the owners are therefore enabled to address deferred maintenance issues that have caused public housing and other HUD rental stock to deteriorate nationwide.
Section 202: Provides capital advances to finance the construction, rehabilitation, or acquisition of structures that will serve as supportive housing for very-low-income elderly persons, including the frail elderly, and provides rent subsidies for the projects to help make them affordable.
Section 8 Management Assessment Program (SEMAP): Measures the performance of the PHAs that administer the HCV program in 14 key areas. SEMAP helps HUD to monitor and assist PHAs that need the most improvement.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program: The HUD-VASH Program combines HUD’s HVC rental assistance with VA case management and supportive services to help homeless veterans and their families find and maintain stable housing.
LIHTC Terms
Compliance Period: Beginning with the first taxable year of the credit period, the compliance period is the 15-year period over which a project must continue to satisfy the various LIHTC requirements in order to avoid tax credit recapture.
Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC): A tax incentive intended to increase the availability of low-income housing. The program provides an income tax credit to owners of newly constructed or substantially rehabilitated low-income rental housing projects.
Metrics
Area Median Income (AMI): Estimated median income, adjusted for family size, by metropolitan area or county in non-metro areas. The AMI for any given location is updated annually by HUD and used as the basis of eligibility for most housing assistance programs.
Fair Market Rent (FMR): Primarily used to determine payment standard amounts for the HCV program, to determine initial renewal rents for some expiring project-based Section 8 contracts, and to determine initial rents for housing assistance payment contracts in the Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy program. It also serves as a rent ceiling in the HOME rental assistance program.
Income Limit (IL): This measure helps determine the eligibility of applicants for HUD’s assisted housing programs. The major assisted housing programs currently active are the Public Housing program, the Section 8 Housing Assistance Payments program, Section 202 housing for the elderly, and Section 811 housing for persons with disabilities. PHAs sometimes use specialized software to help streamline the eligibility process.
Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA): A geographic region defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that consists of a core urban area with a population of at least 50,000 people, and adjacent counties that have a high degree of social and economic integration with the urban core, typically measured by commuting patterns. MSAs are used by federal agencies and researchers for statistical purposes, such as analyzing economic activity, population trends, and urban development.
Qualified Census Tract (QCT): Any census tract (or equivalent geographic area defined by the Census Bureau) in which at least 50% of households have an income less than 60% of the area median gross income or have a poverty rate of at least 25%.
With all the information subsidized housing operators are expected to know, simply getting through a day can be overwhelming. If you’re looking for a solution that can help you stay on top of the latest regulations and get time back to focus on what matters most, contact us today.
