Rent Reasonableness Assessment

• Rent Reasonableness (RR) is the HUD mandated process that housing authorities use to ensure that HCV program participants pay a “reasonable” amount of rent to owners
• “Reasonable” is defined as what a knowledgeable consumer will pay for rent in a particular rental market

• To assure that program participants pay rents that are comparable for the market
• To assure that program rents do not adversely affect the jurisdictional rental market
• To ensure effective disbursement of agency HAP dollars

• Before execution of a HAP Contract
• Before granting a requested increase in rent to owner
• If there is a 5% FMR decrease
• Whenever HUD requires

The Rent Reasonableness assessment establishes that the proposed Owner Rent is:

• Comparable to similar unassisted units in the marketplace
• Comparable to similar unassisted units on the premises of large multi-family properties
• The Nelrod Company, CMHA's Rent Reasonableness provider, is pleased to provide an opportunity for Hamilton County owners to add their unassisted rental market comparables to CMHA's  comparables database.
  • The rental information must be for market rate unassisted units.
  • All information will be verified by Nelrod staff.
  • All decisions regarding adding comparables are at the discretion of Nelrod staff.  CMHA cannot guarantee that the information you submit will be added.

Click here to add rental market comparables for unassisted units. (The User ID is user and the password is user)

An owner is not obligated to lease a unit that CMHA determines is not “rent reasonable”.  Owners may:

• Decline to lease unit to HCV participant -or-
• Choose to lower the rent to meet rent reasonableness guidelines

Property owners are allowed one contract rent adjustment per year after the initial term of the lease has ended. In accordance with HUD regulations, Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority must ensure that the contract rent amount is reasonable for the unit being assisted.

CMHA uses a software system to conduct such reasonable rent assessments. The system is periodically updated with market trends on unassisted units meeting the same characteristics of units participating on the program. When running comparability, CMHA must consider location, size, quality, unit type, age of unit, amenities, housing services, maintenance and utilities to be provided by the owner. Which means there is a chance rent may need to be reduced due to changes in the rental market. At all times during tenancy, the rent to owner may not exceed the rent amount most recently determined by CMHA.

Since CMHA must perform rent reasonable assessments prior to any contract rent increase or decrease, the agency is unable to retroactively process a rent adjustment prior to date of the most recent rent reasonable assessment.