A payment standard flexibility that has been in place since 2021 is being withdrawn. Agencies administering Emergency Housing Vouchers or Stability Vouchers have a fixed window to bring their payment standards back inside the regulatory basic range. 

What Changed 

HUD issued Notice PIH 2026-20 on August 10, 2026. The notice strikes a single waiver and alternative requirement from the Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV) and Stability Voucher (SV) program notices. 

Under the withdrawn provision, a PHA could set an EHV or SV payment standard anywhere between 90 and 120 percent of the published Fair Market Rent for a unit size without seeking HUD approval. That flexibility is gone. 

PHAs must now follow 24 CFR 982.503(c), which sets the basic range at 90 to 110 percent of the FMR. Any amount above 110 percent requires an exception payment standard under 24 CFR 982.503(d). 

The original flexibility was authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 for EHV and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 for SV. HUD states the waiver is no longer necessary and may be causing undue financial strain on PHA Housing Choice Voucher budgets. This is the only change the notice makes. Both program notices otherwise remain in effect. 

The Deadline Is Calculated, Not Printed

Section IV of the notice requires compliance within 60 days of the issuance date. Counting from August 10, 2026, that falls on October 9, 2026. 

The notice does not print a calendar date. Agencies that read the 60-day window loosely and assume the end of October will be past the deadline. Confirming the date with your field office is a reasonable step if there is any doubt. 

Where the New Standard Applies 

The compliance requirement attaches at two specific points rather than across the whole caseload at once: 

• New Stability Voucher admissions 
• Current EHV and SV families moving to a new unit 

Two things are outside the change. There are no new admissions to the EHV program at all, per Notice PIH 2025-07. And any exception payment standards already adopted for the regular HCV program under existing regulatory authority are not affected. 

What Applies to Families Already in Place

Reducing the payment standard on your schedule does not by itself reduce the subsidy for EHV and SV families already in their units. Under 24 CFR 982.505(c)(3), the PHA may choose not to reduce the payment standard for a family for as long as that family remains in the unit.

If the PHA does decide to apply the lower standard to families in place, three conditions apply together. The policy must be established in the Administrative Plan. The reduction cannot take effect earlier than two years after the effective date of the decrease. And the family must receive at least 12 months’ written notice first.

That notice has required content. It must state the new payment standard amount, explain that the family’s amount will be the greater of the amount in the notice or the amount on the PHA’s schedule when the 12 months end, and tell the family where to find that schedule.

For a decrease effective October 9, 2026, the earliest a family in place could see a reduction is October 2028, and only if written notice went out by October 2027.

Steps to Take Before the Deadline 

1. Pull your current EHV and SV payment standard schedules and flag every unit size set above 110 percent of the applicable FMR. 
2. Decide for each flagged unit size whether to reduce into the 90 to 110 percent basic range or pursue an exception payment standard under 24 CFR 982.503(d). 
3. Revise the payment standard schedule and update any administrative plan or program policy language that cites the 120 percent alternative requirement. 
4. Decide whether families already in place will be held at the current standard or phased down, and confirm the Administrative Plan states that policy.
5. If phasing down, calendar the 12-month notice and the two-year earliest effective date, and build the notice to the content requirements in 24 CFR 982.505(c)(3)(iii).
6. Model the budget effect on new admissions and moves in your highest-rent areas. Families held at the current standard keep their existing subsidy level, so the change reaches your budget through new lease-ups rather than the existing caseload.

A Resource to Support Your Team 

Payment standard changes touch the schedule, the Administrative Plan, family notices, and the budget at the same time. More HUD notices affecting voucher operations are expected before the end of the fiscal year. AMA tracks each one as it publishes and translates it into the operational steps agencies need, with compliance dates identified up front.

When Additional Support May Make Sense 

Two parts of this change take more than a schedule update. An exception payment standard under 24 CFR 982.503(d) requires market evidence and field office coordination on a compressed timeline. Phasing a lower standard down to families in place requires an Administrative Plan policy, a written notice that meets the content requirements in the regulation, and a two-year record your agency will need to stand behind in 2028. AMA supports payment standard reviews, Administrative Plan revisions, and the operational structure behind voucher program changes.

This article is intended as general information and does not replace HUD regulations or official guidance.