Q & A: Military Veteran on Application?

Question: Was I supposed to update my application to ask if someone is a military veteran? What do I have to ask? I can’t see anything in HUD Handbook 4350.3 REV-1 CHG-4 regarding this.

Answer:
Technically, there is no requirement to ask the question on your application; but since HUD Form 50059 must reflect if an individual is a veteran, there has to be a way to ask the question. This is true for applicants and in-place tenants as of March 2014. If you have not yet updated your application and recertification questionnaire (or found another way to ask the question when an individual moves in and annually), you must do so to be compliant.

This change was released as part of TRACS 202D requirements which were mandated in March 2014. HUD form 50059 was updated to include an additional Special Status code of M to indicate if an individual is a military veteran; not someone currently serving in the armed forces. This is an important statistic being gathered for Congress.

As a reminder, the MAT User Guide is now a resource to be referenced in addition to the 4350.3 HUD Handbook when looking for compliance requirements; especially 50059/50059A data requirements such as this. You will find both new status codes (M-Military and P-Person being housed temporarily, Presidentially Declared Disaster) required in TRACS 202D in the TRACS202D MAT User Guide, Section 5.4 MAT10 Section 3: Family Record; page 5-57 of the Guide.