Key Rental Assistance
North Carolina Housing Finance Agency
What is Key Rental Assistance?
• Key Rental Assistance makes the Targeting Program units/housing
affordable to very low income households.
• Key is project based – it cannot be transferred to a different property
or used outside the Targeting Program
• Key is based on a fixed payment standard
• Key pays the difference between the tenant rent and the payment
standard to make the unit affordable
North Carolina Housing Finance Agency September 2016
What is Key Rental Assistance?
• A Key assisted household that pays their own utilities will not
have a rent payment greater than 25% of their gross monthly
income
• A Key assisted household whose utilities are paid by the property
pays 30% of their gross monthly income to rent
• Property management use Key Calculation Worksheet to obtain
the correct rental calculations and upload required eligibility
documentation into the Rental Compliance Reporting System
(RCRS), to establish the tenancy and requisition monthly rental
assistance payments
North Carolina Housing Finance Agency September 2016
Key Rental Assistance can be used to pay for…
• Rental assistance
• Security deposits
• Reimbursement of unpaid damages after tenant moves out
• Reimbursement of unpaid tenant portion of rent and late
fees
• Reimbursement for vacancy due to tenant abandonment of
the unit
• Reimbursement for successful eviction costs
• Holding fees
North Carolina Housing Finance Agency September 2016
Applicant Eligibility Criteria
• Households must have gross income below 50% of the
area median income (AMI)
• Income includes SSI/SSDI/VA
• Households must have a minimum income of $300
per month
North Carolina Housing Finance Agency September 2016
Applicant Eligibility Criteria
• Applicants are referred to the program by a
Participating Referral Agency via the North Carolina
Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS)
Regional Housing Coordinators
• Applicants must have a referral letter from NCDHHS
sent to the property for applicant consideration
North Carolina Housing Finance Agency September 2016
Applicant Eligibility Criteria
• Households must meet the income requirements of
the governing rent assistance or property funding
source. (Properties may have multiple funding
sources)
• Households must also meet the eligibility
requirements of the governing rent assistance or
property funding source
• Households must pass the property management’s
screening criteria
North Carolina Housing Finance Agency September 2016
