SFHA says it avoided HUD recapture, issued vouchers and placed 6,500 on HCV waitlist after 52,000 applicants

At the Housing Authority Board meeting Feb. 8, senior analyst Joe Mueller presented the 2023 leasing-plan year-end report, saying SFHA reconciled HUD reserves and spent down funds to avoid recapture.

Mueller said HUD adjusted the reserves subject to recapture from about $17.8 million to $26.2 million; SFHA’s year-to-date expenditures out of reserves were $26.7 million, which staff said should avoid recapture. He described voucher issuance, project-based voucher (PBV) admissions and a major HCV waitlist opening: "There should say that we received over 52,000 applications, not 55,000," he corrected on the record, and said 6,500 applicants were randomly selected for placement on the HCV waitlist.

Mueller also detailed PBV activity: 677 new admissions reduced roughly $9.4 million in HAP reserves, and HUD approved 400 new PBVs for 2023, of which 258 were executed in 2023 and the rest will finalize in 2024. Staff said they raised payment standards for HCVs; an expedited interim reexamination for households identified as rent burdened resulted in an average additional $77 per month for each qualifying household.

Commissioners asked about communications to applicants and multiple ways to confirm placement on the waitlist; SFHA staff said applicants received email, physical letters and can check a portal with confirmation numbers. Staff noted they can produce a ledger to show which city programs provided direct subsidies but do not currently compile a program-level ledger for reporting.