Adding a child to a Section 8/202 Household

What if a tenant that wants to add her granddaughter (about 10 years old) to her household, is this allowed in a Section 8/202 Property? At a Section 8/202 Property the handbook states an adult child can be added to household if they are essential for the care or well-being of the elderly tenant, they are considered a part of the family and their income (up to $480.00) must be counted. I don’t see where it talks about people that are not adult children.

According to the HUD Occupancy Handbook 4350.3 Rev 1, Change 4, Paragraph 3-23-D

“D. Prohibition of Occupancy Standards that Exclude Children

1. The Fair Housing Act prohibits housing providers from discriminating on the basis of familial status, making it illegal to discriminate against families because of the presence of children.

2. Owners may neither exclude families with children from their properties, nor may they develop policies or procedures that have the purpose or effect of prohibiting children (e.g., policies in tenant selection plan, occupancy standards and house rules).

3. Owners may not exclude otherwise eligible elderly families with children from elderly properties or elderly/disabled properties covered by this handbook.”

• The resident may move in a child;
• The resident must meet the SSN disclosure requirements;
• You need to run the EIV Existing Tenant Report before adding the child;
• All unearned income counts;
• All out-of-pocket medical expenses count.

There is no HUD requirement for any household member to have legal custody of a child

See Paragraph 5-10 for a full explanation of deductions).