Chapter 1 - San Diego Housing Commission

Glossary
APPLICANT (or applicant family) A family that has applied for admission to a program, but is not yet a
participant in the program.
AREA EXCEPTION RENT Rent based on a HUD- approved payment standard amount that is higher
than the basic range for a designated part of the fair market rent area ("exception area").
ASSETS (See Net Family Assets.)
ASSISTED TENANT A person or family who pays less than the market rent and in receiving rent
subsidies
BIENNIAL INSPECTION A unit passing two consecutive, initial/annual, inspections on the first
inspection appointment, is eligible for an inspection every two year.
BIENNIAL RECERTIFICATION The process of securing documentation and verification of the family’s
income, assets and household composition used to determine the rent the family will pay. Families will
have a full recertification every other year rather than annually. The term is sometimes called
reexamination.
BUDGET AUTHORITY An amount authorized and appropriated by the Congress for payment to PHA's
under the program. For each funding increment in a PHA program, budget authority is the maximum
amount that may be paid by HUD to the PHA over the ACC term of the funding increment.
CalWORKS The current name for welfare that aids families with dependent children.
CHILD CARE EXPENSES Amounts paid by the family for the care of minors under 13 years of age
where such care is necessary to enable a family member to be employed or for a household member to
further his/her education.
CHOICE COMMUNITIES Designated low-poverty areas in the City of San Diego to which SDHC is
providing incentives to move.
CHRONICALLY HOMELESS A person who is ‘‘chronically homeless’’ is or can be; an unaccompanied
homeless individual with a disabling condition; children (with disabilities and without disabilities) who
are homeless with their parents; parents (with disabilities and without disabilities) who are homeless
and who have children with them; youth on their own without disabilities; unaccompanied individuals
without disabilities; unaccompanied individuals who are unwilling to be declared disabled. Can include
a person, who has completed a preliminary stay in a short-term treatment facility (this participant would
retain the status of ‘‘chronically homeless’’ as long as they “entered” into the treatment program while
meeting the definition of ‘‘chronically homeless’’). And
- has either been continuously homeless for six (6) months or more, OR has had at least two (2)
episodes of homelessness in the past three (3) years.
- has a primary nighttime residence that is a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter
designed to provide temporary living accommodations including:
- welfare hotels: congregate shelters; transitional housing for the mentally ill; an institution that
provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized; a public or
private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for
human beings.
CO-HEAD An individual in the household who is equally responsible for the lease with the Head of
Household. (A family never has a Co-head and a Spouse and; a Co-head is never a Dependent).
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