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Good Morning,
The new year is quickly approaching and with that comes changes. Effective January 1, 2026, inspection appointments will be sent via email, and all results will be posted in the landlord portal. Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority will cease sending letters by U.S. Mail. Please make sure your email account and phone number are current with us and that you have your log in information for the portal. Also, when submitting RTAs, in the new year, please be sure to include W-9s and other documentation that has been signed and dated in 2026. Outdated forms will cause your RTA to be canceled.
Furthermore, HUD has published the new small area fair market rents (SAFMR) for the calendar year 2026. Some have changed for 2026 across Hamilton County. Remember, SAFMRs are used to establish payment standards and to calculate rental subsidies for voucher families and do not indicate an approved contract or established reasonable rent amount for a unit. Additionally, the voucher itself has no dollar value associated with it. The payment standard is the maximum amount of subsidy that a family may or may not qualify to receive. The SAFMRs and CMHA’s payment standards are established by the zip code to where the assisted unit is located. The 2026 SAFMRs are available for review here on our website.
CMHA will once again upload 1099s for each entity on the Rent Café Partner Portal. The forms are downloadable from the portal and will not be mailed or printed by CMHA. In addition, after seeing a numerous number of errors, the IRS requires updated W-9 information every year. If notified of an error, we will request updated information from you to avoid offsetting your Housing Assistance Payments being sent directly to the IRS for withholding. Please note the IRS could require CMHA to hold back up to 25% of your payment for incorrectly reporting your tax information.
The online submission process was initiated nearly 6 months ago, and we understand there are still questions on how to submit RFTAs online. As such, we have scheduled additional Ask the Expert sessions so you can get a deeper understanding of the process. The next two sessions are December 17, 2025 (0nline) and January 28, 2026 (in-person). Registration is open for both, click here to learn more. RTAs cannot be corrected after submission. A new RTA is required to be submitted due to errors or incomplete information.
Colder weather is upon us. As such be mindful of heating requirements and weather extensions. When the outside temperature is below 40° the heat source in a unit must be able to maintain an internal temperature throughout the unit of a minimum of 68°. Failure to do so will be classified as a “no heat” emergency inspection requiring the deficiency to be corrected within 24 hours. Please check your heating systems to ensure that they are working properly.
Weather related extensions are usually provided November 15 – March 31st on exterior deficiencies that are not “life threatening or emergency related” where the repair cannot be made due to the cooler weather. These items may include exterior paint, concrete repairs, roofing-related work that does not impose an imminent threat to the safety of the family. CMHA will notify the owner of the “weather related” extension. The repairs for these items must be completed by May 15th following the inspection date. CMHA will schedule a “special” inspection to verify the repairs of these items. Since the work is exterior and CMHA will not need to access the interior, the work will be verified by an inspector without additional notice to the parties. No additional extensions will be granted for weather-related repairs. Owners must complete all other repairs by the due date listed in the inspection results to avoid abatement of HAP.
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