Code of Massachusetts Regulations
760 CMR - HOUSING AND LIVABLE COMMUNITIES, EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF
Title 760 CMR 53.00 - Alternative Housing Voucher Program
Section 53.02 - Definitions

Appropriate Unit Size - A unit size assigned so that it will not be necessary for persons of the opposite sex, other than husband and wife, to occupy the same bedroom, except that children under the age of six, shall be expected to share a bedroom. A unit size shall be assigned so as not to require use of the living room for sleeping purposes.

Ceiling Rent - the Ceiling Rent shall be the maximum amount of rent payable for a unit occupied by a Participant. The Department shall, from time to time, issue a Schedule of Ceiling Rents.

Contract Rent - the total monthly rent specified in a lease, a Request for Program Payment and a Voucher Payment Contract for a Contract Unit, occupied by a Participant. The Contract Rent includes the value of the Voucher paid by the LHA, and the amount of the Participant's share of rent.

Contract Unit - a unit occupied by a Participant for which the Participant submits a Request for Program Payment, enters into a lease with the owner, and for which the Owner or Owner's Agent and LHA sign a Voucher Payment Contract.

Department - the Department of Community Affairs (DCA), or any successor agency.

Family Applicant - a household consisting of:

(a) two or more persons who will live regularly in the unit as a primary residence:

1. whose income and resources are available to meet the family's needs; and

2. are either related by blood, marriage, or operation of law, or have otherwise evidenced a stable family relationship.

(b) a single individual.

A member of a household shall be considered to be living regularly with the Family Applicant if temporarily absent for reasons such as hospitalization, duty assignment, employment, school attendance in another location, or temporarily in the custody of the Department of Social Services.

Handicapped Person - a person who meets the definition of handicapped person of low income appearing at M.G.L. c. 121B, §1 and 760 CMR 5.00.

Local Housing Agency (LHA) - a Local Housing Authority, a Regional Non-Profit Corporation or other entity under contract to the Department to administer the Alternative Housing Voucher Program.

Local Housing Authority - a public body politic and corporate created pursuant to M.G.L. c. 121B or equivalent earlier or special law.

Participant - one or more persons certified as collectively eligible for the Alternative Housing Voucher Program who are listed by the LHA as authorized to reside together in one unit which will be his/her or their Primary Residence, and for which Voucher payments are made.

Primary Residence - principal home (domicile) occupied by a household member not less than nine months of the year.

Program - Alternative Housing Voucher Program (AHVP).

Rent - payments pursuant to a lease or other agreement for the Participant's occupancy of a Contract Unit. Rent does not include payments made by the Participant separately for the cost of heat, cooking fuel, and/or electricity.

Suitable Permanent Housing - A unit located by the Participant to which the Participant would transition from the Program.

Suitable Unit - a dwelling unit for which a Voucher Payment Contract is to be entered into. The unit must be:

(a) intended solely for occupancy by the Participant and as the Participant's primary residence;

(b) of an appropriate unit size for the Participant;

(c) in compliance with Article II of the State Sanitary Code (including lead paint laws, whenever the Household includes a child under the age of six years), State Building Code and other applicable laws;

(d) rented at an amount not to exceed the applicable Ceiling Rents.

Voucher Holder - a household which has been accepted into the Program and to which a Voucher has been issued. When the Household locates a Suitable Unit, executes a lease, and the LHA begins making Voucher payments, the Voucher Holder becomes a Participant.

Voucher Payment - an amount paid by an LHA to an Owner or Owner's Agent which represents the difference between the total rent for a unit and the Participant's share, as determined by the LHA. The Voucher Payment shall be specified in the Voucher Payment Contract.