December HCV Shortfall Payments to be Delayed

By: Tushar Gurjal, Senior Policy Manager

December 1, 2025 – Earlier today, in a call to industry groups, HUD stated that shortfall payments for the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program would be delayed for December, 2025. Shortfall payments in the HCV program are payments by HUD to PHAs that are experiencing a funding deficit in the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) budget.

The Department anticipates sending the shortfall payments to banks by the end of the week through early next week. Local banks may need a few business days before making the payments accessible to housing agencies depending on the bank. The Department has stated that housing agencies may use reserves or unrestricted net position (UNP) for the payments or may delay payments if necessary.

Moving forward, the Department anticipates making another round of shortfall payments in January and believes that funding from the continuing resolution (CR) should cover HAP and administrative fee payments for January and potentially most of February. Housing agencies with questions or concerns should reach out to their HUD Financial Management Center (FMC) analyst for support.

NAHRO recommends that PHAs review section 7 of the HCV HAP contract which details when penalties may or may not be imposed for late payments to landlords.