how to qualify for the low income housing tax credit
a wide variety of properties can be eligible for the lihtc including single family homes duplexes apartment complexes and townhouses to qualify property owners investors or developers must meet specific requirements regarding the income levels of their tenants and the number of lower income units offered a project must meet one of the three income tests 9all projects receiving the lihtc must continue to meet one of these income conditions for a period of 15 years if the project doesn t comply the value of the tax credit can be reclaimed a frequent criticism of this program is that many properties in sought after areas often become unaffordable for low income families after the initial 15 year period support for people seeking low income housinglow income housing refers to any housing project or residential building that rents units out to tenants who qualify for reduced rent based on income and family size or who receive housing vouchers to help make their monthly rental payment low income housing units can either be operated by a housing authority or by private landlords who accept government payments along with the tenant s rental payment there are other types of support available for low income individuals and households such as housing subsidies provided by the department of housing and urban development hud the income qualifications can be found on hud s website and are subject to change as wages grow or decline in a given area to qualify a potential renter s income must be below 50 of the median income in their region while hud housing subsidies are available to single renters as well as families there are qualifications for room counts in prospective homes and single renters may be excluded from a housing project due to lack of availability of properly sized units low income housing should not be confused with affordable housing which is for families who are spending more than 30 of their income on housing 