Bring It Home Rental Assistance Program

Published: July 23, 2026
Updated: August 8, 2026

Below are questions asked during Bring It Home’s Information Sharing Sessions along with answers provided by Minnesota Housing. Follow up questions can be directed to your program contact (Peter Elwell at peter.elwell@state.mn.us or Cassi Reissmann-Doring at cassi.reissmann-doring@state.mn.us) or bringithome.mhfa@state.mn.us.  

Applicant Eligibility  

For eligibility in the case of an applicant family couch hopping, could the family prove residency by providing documentation that children in the household are attending the local school? [Asked by Mankato EDA] May 2026

Yes.

Is it acceptable for currently assisted households to end participation in their current program, have a lapse at least one month with no subsidy, and then apply for BIH? [Asked by Chippewa County HRA] May 2026

Minnesota Housing strongly discourages any household from jeopardizing their housing stability to go off an existing permanent rental subsidy program and try to become eligible for BIH. Bring It Home works to reach households that are cost burdened and not currently being assisted to have the most positive impact on the state.  

Can households still be eligible if they owe money to other HUD programs? [Asked by Albert Lea HRA] May 2026

Program Administrators must follow their Admin Plan or Bring it Home plan regarding this issue.  Program Administrators may submit an amendment to their grant contract, if they do not wish to follow their current Admin Plan.  

If there's a single applicant that is pregnant with her 1st child, would that applicant be considered a “family”? And if so, is that considered a 1- or 2-person household? How should preference points be awarded? [Asked by Owatonna HRA] May 2026

Program Administrators should request guidance from their legal counsel on this issue.    

How should Program Administrators calculate tribal income? [Asked by Plymouth HRA] June 2026

Program Administrators should follow what is in their Administrative Plan.  

Fund Disbursement  

Can Minnesota Housing explain how staffing costs be reimbursed after the grant contract is executed? [Asked by Douglas County HRA] May 2026

Minnesota Housing will allow reimbursement for startup costs the first of the following month after the contract was signed. Program Administrators can still request 50% of their startup costs up front and have access to those funds. Program Administrators will have 12 months of salary expenses to spend; this does not change what has been budgeted for. Documentation should be submitted for salary expenses starting the first month after the contract was executed.  

Is there a process for how to request startup costs? [Asked by Douglas County HRA] May 2026

Yes, it can be found on the Bring It Home webpage.  

How will Administrative Fees be paid out when the vouchers issued exceed the projected amount? [Asked by multiple grantees] July 2026

Monthly Administrative Fees will be capped at the number of vouchers in the Contract Budget.

Program Forms  

What form needs to be used to meet the Minnesota Data Practices Act requirements? [Asked by Scott County CDA] May 2026

There is not a specific recommended form provided by Minnesota Housing. Program Administrators may use an existing form or another form to meet the Minnesota Data Practices Act requirements.  

Program Operations

How should VAWA claims be addressed? [Asked by multiple grantees] May 2026

VAWA is a federal requirement that applies to federal housing programs including public housing, housing choice vouchers, and Section 811 supportive housing.   Programs that are exclusively state programs are not required to follow VAWA requirements.  Minnesota Housing does not require program administrators to follow VAWA requirements with the Bring It Home program (even if listed in their administrative plans), but program administrators may adhere to VAWA policies if they choose.  Please note that there are state protections for domestic violence survivors.  Please check with your legal counsel to make sure your program is following all state requirements

What happens with time limited subsidies for programs such as Rapid Rehousing? [Asked by Washington County CDA] May 2026

There is a 6-month look ahead for currently assisted eligible households. If a household is receiving temporary rental assistance that is ending within the next 6 months, that household Is eligible for Bring it Home. In certain situations, a household may be eligible earlier than the official end of the subsidy, for example if the household is in a substance abuse housing program that is designed to be time limited and family reunification is the goal. Because there are many different types of temporary rental assistance and household circumstances, this type of situation needs to be reviewed with Minnesota Housing before allowing an exception to the 6-month look ahead.  

Our Admin Plan states that if a special program is running out of funds, then households can be moved to a different program. If a household has a voucher in an underfunded special program and is going to be released from it, can Program Administrators switch the household over to Bring It Home? [Asked by Douglas County HRA] May 2026

Program Administrators should follow the timeline outlined in their Admin Plan. If the Admin Plan doesn’t address this, then Program Administrators should use the 6-month look ahead or review the situation with Minnesota Housing if an exception to the 6-month look ahead is needed.  

Can startup costs be used as security deposits for eligible households? [Asked by Chippewa County HRA] May 2026

This is not an allowable use of startup costs under the existing statute.

What happens to a household if their income exceeds 50% AMI after they have been placed in a unit with a voucher? [Asked by Scott County CDA] May 2026

The household can stay in the program, but their rental assistance amount will go down. Verifying income eligibility only needs to be done during the application process. Once the household has been in a unit through the program, income is verified annually to determine their subsidy amount.  

Are there exceptions when a household can pay more than 40%  for their rent portion? For example, when applicants are leasing in place? [Asked by multiple grantees] July 2026

The rental assistance amount cannot exceed the difference between 120% of the payment standard and 30% of the applicant’s income. Under Option 2,  the Program Guide allows households to “pay up to 50% of their income towards rent where the Program Administrator can demonstrate that choices are severely restricted, the alternative would be homelessness or housing instability and all other options have been exhausted”. Program Administrators are encouraged to avoid using this option since it is likely to cause households to become extremely cost burdened.  

When our HCV Administrative Plan is updated during the grant period, should we use the one that was in place when our contract was executed or the new one? (asked July 2026)

During the grant period, Program Administrators may refer to the HCV Administrative plan that was in place at contract execution or an updated Administrative plan as long as it does not conflict with state and local law.  

If there are changes to the Administrative plan during the grant period that do not impact a Program Administrator’s Bring it Home program or workplan, the Bring it Home contract does not need to be amended to refer to the updated Administrative plan.

If there are changes to the Administrative plan during the grant period  that impact a Program Administrator’s Bring it Home workplan, then an amendment may be needed to the Bring it Home contract OR a Program Administrator may choose to use the administrative plan that was in effect when the grant contract was signed, until a new grant contract agreement is executed.  

Data Reporting and Monitoring

When reporting quarterly for data, when is a household considered an applicant (and when do we have to start tracking their info)? [Asked by Scott County CDA] May 2026

A household is considered an applicant once issued a voucher. Once a household has been issued a voucher, their information will need to be reported on in the quarterly data report.  

If an applicant has been issued a voucher but is still searching and not moved into a unit, should they be included in reporting data? [Asked by St. Cloud HRA] July 2026

No. Only include actions taken (starting with move-in) during the reporting period.