Section 8 Annual Recertification: What to Report and When

Federal regulation (24 CFR § 982.516) requires your PHA to review your household's income and composition on two separate schedules:

1. Annual Reexamination — at least once every 12 months, your PHA re-verifies your household's full income, assets, and composition, usually through third-party sources (employer, Social Security, EIV system) rather than taking your word alone. This resets your household's income limit standing and your rent share for the coming year.

2. Interim Reexamination — a mid-year review triggered by a specific change. Under HOTMA, a PHA must conduct an interim reexamination once your household's adjusted income has increased by 10% or more since your last certification (with an exception for ordinary wage increases — see below). Many PHAs still require reporting smaller changes too — that part is set locally.

Under 24 CFR § 982.551, any information you give your PHA must be "true and complete," and you're obligated to promptly tell them about significant household changes. In practice, that generally covers:

• Any increase in household income — a raise, a new job, new or increased benefits
• Someone moving into or out of the household (including a birth, adoption, or a roommate)
• A change of address, even within the same unit's household composition
• Anything specifically listed in the "Family Obligations" notice your PHA gave you when you received your voucher

Your PHA's own notice of family obligations is the authoritative list for your household — it's worth keeping a copy and re-reading it, since requirements can vary by agency.

The Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act (HOTMA) changed how interim reexaminations work across HUD's rental assistance programs. HUD originally set a January 1, 2025 compliance date, then postponed the income-and-assets provisions — including these interim-reexamination rules — to July 1, 2025 via Notice PIH 2024-38, to give PHAs' IT systems more time to catch up. That deadline has now passed, so the rules below are in effect everywhere.

• If your adjusted income increases by 10% or more since your last certification, your PHA must process an interim reexamination and, eventually, a rent adjustment.
• Increases in earned income (wages) generally don't trigger a mandatory interim on their own, unless there was already an interim decrease earlier in that certification period.
• If the change happens within about 3 months of your next scheduled annual reexamination, the PHA can often just fold it into that annual review instead of running a separate interim.
• PHAs may also offer a streamlined process for households whose income is 90% or more "fixed" (Social Security, SSI, pensions) — applying a published cost-of-living adjustment instead of re-verifying every source annually, with full third-party verification only every 3 years.

Sources: HUD Notice PIH 2024-38, HUD Exchange — HOTMA resources, and 24 CFR § 982.516.

Housing Choice Voucher (tenant-based Section 8): there is no rule that terminates your voucher the moment your income rises above the limit. As your income rises, the subsidy portion HUD pays your landlord shrinks and your share of the rent grows — potentially up to 100% of the contract rent. There's an indirect endpoint, though: under 24 CFR § 982.455, the Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) contract between your PHA and your landlord terminates automatically 180 days after the last actual subsidy payment. So if your income stays high enough that HUD's share runs at $0 for a full 180 days, the HAP contract — and your assisted tenancy under it — can end that way, even though nothing "terminated your voucher" directly for having income above the limit.

Public housing (a different program, same agency): HOTMA added a separate "over-income" rule (24 CFR § 960.507) for households living in public housing units, where exceeding the limit for 24 consecutive months can lead to a non-subsidized lease or termination of tenancy. That specific 24-month rule does not apply to Housing Choice Voucher holders.

Unreported income changes typically surface at your next annual reexamination or through HUD's income-verification systems, which cross-check reported income against other federal records. Under 24 CFR § 982.552, a PHA can deny or terminate assistance for a family that has violated its family obligations — which includes submitting false, incomplete, or untimely information. In practice this can mean owing retroactive rent back to when the change should have been reported, and in cases of deliberate concealment, referral for program fraud. If you're unsure whether something needs to be reported, the safer move is almost always to report it and let your PHA tell you whether it changes anything.

Documents PHAs commonly ask for at annual or interim review:

• Recent pay stubs (usually the most recent 30-60 days) for every working household member
• Social Security / SSI / pension award letters, if applicable
• Bank statements showing current asset balances
• Proof of any other regular income (child support, unemployment, self-employment records)
• Updated household composition — anyone who moved in or out since your last review

How often does my income get rechecked on Section 8?

By federal regulation, your Public Housing Authority (PHA) must reexamine your household income and composition at least once a year ("annual reexamination"). On top of that, HOTMA added a rule requiring a mid-year "interim reexamination" once your adjusted income rises by 10% or more — though PHAs generally don't count a raise or other earned-income increase toward that 10% trigger unless an earlier interim reduction already happened in the same certification period. Below the 10% threshold, whether you need to report at all is up to your PHA's written policy.

Do I have to report a raise or new job right away?

It depends on your PHA's administrative plan. Federally, you're only guaranteed to trigger a mandatory interim recertification once your income has grown by 10% or more. Many PHAs still require families to report any change in income or household composition within a set number of days (commonly 10-30) regardless of size, because your total household income and composition must always be reported accurately. Your PHA sets the reporting deadline, not HUD, so check its policy.

What happens if my income goes above the limit while I have a voucher?

For the Housing Choice Voucher (tenant-based Section 8) program, there's no rule that terminates your voucher the moment your income rises above the qualifying limit. Instead, as your income goes up, the subsidy HUD pays on your behalf shrinks and your share of the rent increases — potentially up to the full contract rent. There is an indirect endpoint, though: under 24 CFR § 982.455, the Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) contract between your PHA and your landlord terminates automatically 180 days after the last actual subsidy payment, so if your income stays high enough that the subsidy runs at $0 for a full 180 days, the HAP contract — and your assisted tenancy under it — can end that way. (This is separate from the public housing program's 24-consecutive-month 'over-income' rule under 24 CFR § 960.507, which does not apply to Housing Choice Vouchers.)

What counts as a change I need to report?

Typically: any increase in household income (new job, raise, new benefits), a decrease in income if you want your rent portion lowered, a household member moving in or out, a birth or adoption, a change of address, or anything your PHA's family obligations policy specifically lists (24 CFR § 982.551 requires that any information you give the PHA be "true and complete"). Your PHA's notice of family obligations, given when you got your voucher, lists exactly what they require — keep that document.

What happens if I don't report a change?

Unreported income increases are usually caught at your next annual reexamination or through HUD's income-verification systems, and the PHA can charge you retroactive rent back to when the change should have been reported. Under 24 CFR § 982.552, a PHA may deny or terminate assistance for a family that has violated its family obligations — including submitting false or incomplete information — so repeated or intentional non-reporting is treated as a serious program violation, not just a paperwork issue.

Will my rent go up immediately if I report a raise?

No — PHAs are required to give advance written notice, typically at least 30 days, before a rent increase from a reported income change takes effect. A reported decrease in income, by contrast, is often applied sooner (immediately or retroactively, per PHA policy), since that works in the tenant's favor.

Is the process different if I only have Social Security or a pension?

Often, yes. HUD's rules allow PHAs to use a streamlined process for households whose income is 90% or more fixed (Social Security, SSI, pensions, and similar sources): instead of re-verifying every dollar every year, the PHA applies the government's published cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to the fixed portion and only re-verifies with a third party every 3 years. Ask your PHA whether you qualify for this streamlined schedule.