Department of Housing and Urban Development October 5, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Section 8(c)(1) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (USHA) requires the Secretary to publish FMRs periodically, but not less than annually, adjusted to be effective on October 1 of each year. This notice publishes the FMRs for the Housing Choice Voucher, the Moderate Rehabilitation, the project-based voucher, and any other programs requiring their use. Today's notice provides final FY 2013 FMRs for all areas that reflect the estimated 40th and 50th percentile rent levels trended to April 1, 2013. The FY 2013 FMRs are based on using 5-year, 2006-2010 data collected by the American Community Survey (ACS). These data are updated by one-year recent-mover 2010 ACS data using areas where statistically valid one-year ACS data are available. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rent and utility indexes are used to further update the data from 2010 to the end of 2011. HUD continues to use ACS data in different ways depending on the availability of two- bedroom standard-quality and recent-mover sample data for its FMR area or a larger geographic area such as the Core-Based Statistical Area (CBSA) or state nonmetropolitan area. The final FY 2013 FMR areas are based on current Office of Management and Budget (OMB) metropolitan area definitions and include HUD modifications that were first used in the determination of FY 2006 FMR areas. Changes to the OMB metropolitan area definitions through December 2009 are incorporated; there have been no further changes to metropolitan area definitions. OMB has announced that new metropolitan area definitions will be released in 2013. HUD will incorporate these changes during the process to calculate proposed FMRs following the release of the new definitions. The final FY 2013 FMRs in this notice reflect two changes in the methodology used to calculate FMRs. First, HUD has updated the bedroom ratios used to calculate 0, 1, 3 and 4 bedroom FMRs based on the two- bedroom FMR. Bedroom ratios were last updated using the decennial 2000 Census. Because the 2010 Census did not collect rents, the new bedroom ratios are constructed using 2006-2010 5 year ACS data. The methodology for calculating the bedroom ratios is very similar to the method used when the bedroom ratios were based on 2000 decennial Census long-form data. Second, a new trend factor calculation methodology has been used for the FY 2013 FMRs, which HUD stated would be implemented in its proposed FY 2012 FMR publication on August 19, 2011 (76 FR 52058). This trend factor is based on national gross rent data and will change annually.