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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2020 FILED ON: 1/15/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1547
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Adrian C. Madaro
_________________
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act codifying the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program.
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PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Adrian C. Madaro1st Suffolk1/15/2025Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire2/3/2025Christopher Richard Flanagan1st Barnstable2/5/2025Steven Owens29th Middlesex2/5/2025Erika Uyterhoeven27th Middlesex2/6/2025James K. Hawkins2nd Bristol2/24/2025James B. EldridgeMiddlesex and Worcester2/24/2025Daniel Cahill10th Essex2/24/2025Samantha Montaño15th Suffolk2/24/2025James C. Arena-DeRosa8th Middlesex2/24/2025Jason M. LewisFifth Middlesex2/24/2025Bruce E. TarrFirst Essex and Middlesex3/1/2025Mike Connolly26th Middlesex3/12/2025 1 of 5
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2020 FILED ON: 1/15/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1547
By Representative Madaro of Boston, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1547) of
Adrian C. Madaro and others relative to the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program. Housing.
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 1351 OF 2023-2024.]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
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An Act codifying the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 Chapter 121B of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2018 Official Edition, is hereby
2amended by adding the following section:-
3 Section 61. (a) The department shall, subject to appropriation, establish and administer
4through administering agencies, the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program also known as
5MRVP, a program of rental assistance for eligible low-income, very low-income, and extremely
6low-income households through mobile and project-based vouchers for the purpose of obtaining
7decent, stable, and affordable housing and promoting economically mixed housing. The
8department shall issue the number of vouchers anticipated to completely utilize, but not exceed
9the appropriation for this program; provided further, that the department shall establish the 2 of 5
10amounts of the mobile and project-based vouchers so that the appropriation in this item shall not
11be exceeded by payments for rental assistance and administration.
12 (b) To be eligible to receive assistance under this section, a household shall have a net
13income that does not exceed 80 percent of the area median income, as determined by the U.S.
14Department of Housing and Urban Development. The department may award mobile vouchers to
15eligible households occupying MRVP project-based units that shall expire due to the non-
16renewal of project-based rental assistance contracts. Households shall meet eligibility
17requirements as required in this section and applicable regulations and guidance issued by the
18department. Not less than 75 percent of the vouchers shall be targeted to households whose
19income at initial occupancy does not exceed 30 percent of the area median income.
20 (c) A payment standard is the amount used by an administering agency to calculate the
21maximum amount of the MRVP subsidy. Except as provided under paragraph (d), the payment
22standard for each size of a dwelling unit in a market area shall not exceed 110 percent of the fair
23market rent, or Small Area Fair Market Rent as established annually by the U.S. Department of
24Housing and Urban Development, for the same size of dwelling unit in the same market area and
25shall be not less than 100 percent of that fair market rent, except that no administering agency
26shall be required as a result of a reduction in the fair market rent to reduce the payment standard
27applied to a household continuing to reside in a unit for which the household was receiving
28assistance under this section at the time the fair market rent was reduced. The department shall
29allow administering agencies to request exception payment standards within fair market rental
30areas subject to criteria and procedures established by the department. 3 of 5
31 (d) The department may require an administering agency to submit the payment standard
32of the administering agency to the department for approval, if the payment standard is less than
33100 percent of the fair market rent or exceeds 110 percent of the fair market rent, except that an
34administering agency may establish a payment standard of not more than 120 percent of the fair
35market rent where necessary as a reasonable accommodation for a person with a disability,
36without approval of the department. An administering agency may use a payment standard that is
37greater than 120 percent of the fair market rent as a reasonable accommodation for a person with
38a disability, but only with the approval of the department. In connection with the use of any
39increased payment standard established or approved pursuant to either of the preceding two
40sentences as a reasonable accommodation for a person with a disability, the department may not
41establish additional requirements regarding the amount of adjusted income paid by such person
42for rent.
43 (e) A household that receives tenant-based assistance under this section, with respect to
44any dwelling unit, shall not pay for rent more than 30 per cent of the monthly adjusted net
45income of the household; except that households receiving tenant-based assistance under this
46section may pay more than 30 per cent of the monthly adjusted net income of the household, at
47their option, in excess of the payment standard for the voucher, provided that this amount may
48not exceed 40 per cent of the monthly adjusted net income of the household in the first year of
49occupancy; provided further that the department shall adjust household rent for those paying
50separately for utilities.
51 (f) The rent for dwelling units for which a housing assistance payment contract is
52established under this subsection shall be reasonable in comparison with rents charged for
53comparable dwelling units in the private, unassisted local market. 4 of 5
54 (g) For each dwelling unit for which a housing assistance payment contract is established
55under this section, the administering agency shall inspect the unit before any assistance payment
56is made to determine whether the dwelling unit meets the minimum standards of fitness for
57human habitation as required by the State Sanitary Code. These requirements cannot be waived.
58Each administering agency providing assistance under this section shall, for each assisted
59dwelling unit, make inspection not less often than biennially during the term of the housing
60assistance payments contract for the unit to determine whether the unit is maintained in
61accordance with the requirements of this paragraph.
62 (h) Effective as of January 1, 2022, the monthly administrative fee for all vouchers
63administered under this section shall be not less than the administrative fee rates for the Housing
64Choice Voucher Program, as established annually by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
65Development$80.00 per voucher, per month.
66 (i) The department shall maintain and administer a single voucher management system
67and shall collect data on the utilization of rental vouchers in each fiscal year under this program.
68This data shall include, but not be limited to: the location and value of each voucher-assisted
69unit; the number and average value of mobile and project-based vouchers currently distributed in
70the Commonwealth, in each county, and in each municipality; the household size; age of the
71head of household and each member of the household; the race and ethnicity of each household;
72the income and source of income of each household. The department shall report to the House
73and Senate Committees on Ways and Means and Joint Committee on Housing annually on the
74utilization of rental vouchers in each fiscal year under this program. The department shall collect
75and report on the data collection as required under Chapter 334 of the Acts of 2006. 5 of 5
76 (j) The department shall promulgate regulations and guidance to implement this section.
77 (k) Any unspent funding appropriated for this program through budget line-item 7004-
789024 in any fiscal year shall not revert, but shall be made available for the purposes of the item
79in the next fiscal year.