DCHA shall pay a monthly Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) for a Family that is equal to the lower of:
The rent to the owner is the full rent that the owner is charging for the unit, as approved by DCHA, including any utilities the owner is providing under the lease. This is the Contract Rent.
The gross rent represents the entire housing cost. It is calculated by adding the contract rent to the utility allowance for the unit. If all utilities are included, the contract rent and the gross rent shall be the same.
The Family share of rent is any amount of DCHA approved contract rent that is not covered by HAP.
If a Family chooses a unit with a gross rent (rent to owner plus an allowance for tenant-paid utilities) that exceeds DCHA's applicable payment standard:
When the DCHA HAP for a Family exceeds the rent to owner, the Family is due a utility reimbursement. DCHA may pay the reimbursement to the Family or directly to the utility provider as enumerated in 24 C.F.R. § 5.632(b)(2). If all utilities are included in the contract rent, there shall be no utility allowance.
D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 14, r. 14-5308