Median Gross Rents are used to determine when HUD will procure a third party rent comparability study (RCS) in conjunction with Section 8 Project-based Rental Assistance rent setting.  Section 9-14 of the Section 8 Renewal Policy Guide provides instructions for comparing the median rents as derived by an owner’s appraiser in a RCS with Census Bureau estimates of the median rents in the project’s zip code.  When the median rent in the owner’s study exceeds 140 percent of the median gross rent by zip code, then HUD must commission a third party RCS for comparison purposes.

The new median gross rents will be effective for any RCS signed by the owner’s appraiser on or after February 11, 2020.

POC: Carissa Janis (carissa.l.janis@hud.gov)