Fiscal Year 2020 Fair Market Rents Released

September 19, 2019  

Fiscal Year 2020 Fair Market Rents Released

HUD has published the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Fair Market Rents (FMRs), which are now released only on huduser.gov, under a provision of the Housing Opportunities Through Modernization Act of 2016 (HOTMA), enacted July 29, 2016. The FY 2020 FMRs will be effective October 1, 2019, unless there is a request for reevaluation by September 30, 2019. The Federal Register notice contains the procedures for such reevaluation requests. These FMRs are used in the Housing Choice Voucher, the Moderate Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy, and the project-based voucher programs, as well as other programs that require location-specific economic data.

In general, the FMR for an area is the amount that would be needed to pay the gross rent (shelter rent plus utilities) of privately owned, decent, and safe rental housing of a modest (non-luxury) nature with suitable amenities and is set at the 40th percentile of the distribution of gross rents. The FMRs are calculated using the U.S. Census Bureau's 5-year American Community Survey data collected between 2013 and 2017, a "recent mover factor based on 1-year American Community Survey data from 2017," the Consumer Price Index, and trend factor forecasts. This year, HUD is replacing the national trend factor with local and regional trend factors in order to improve the accuracy of the FMRs. Additional calculations are made to adjust for the number of bedrooms. FMRs are subject to state or national minimums and to a limit on year-to-year decreases. Additionally, some public housing agencies use Small Area FMRs, which are calculated for ZIP Codes within Metropolitan Areas.

Section 8(c)(1) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 requires the Secretary of HUD to publish FMRs periodically, but not less than annually, to be effective on October 1 of each year. The tables, documentation system, a copy of the preamble, and additional information related to the FY 2020 FMRs are available from HUD User at www.huduser.gov/datasets/fmr.html.

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