HOME-ARP tenant-based rental assistance, or TBRA, can continue at a new apartment. It does not provide automatic nationwide portability: the administering jurisdiction can restrict where you use it, and the new housing must meet program requirements. HUD’s HOME-ARP fact sheet explains that geographic discretion.

Before moving, confirm three things with your administrator: whether the proposed address is permitted, how long assistance is approved to last and which approvals you need before committing to a lease.

1. Identify your assistance and its administrator

Find your award letter, rental assistance contract and current lease. Ask your caseworker to confirm that your benefit is HOME-ARP TBRA. Living in a building developed with HOME-ARP funds does not, by itself, mean you have tenant-based assistance to take elsewhere. HUD treats rental housing development and TBRA as separate activities in Notice CPD-21-10, Sections VI.B and VI.C.

Identify the participating jurisdiction, usually called the PJ: the government recipient responsible for the HOME-ARP funds. Your everyday contact may work for a housing authority or another organization operating the program under contract. Ask for both the PJ’s name and the person authorized to approve your move.

Request the program’s current moving instructions and applicable forms. If the organization administers several rental programs, have it confirm which requirements apply to your award. Our housing program explanations provide broader context for comparing assistance programs.

2. Confirm where you can use the assistance

The PJ decides whether HOME-ARP TBRA must stay within its boundaries or may be used outside them. Federal permission to allow an outside move does not mean your PJ has adopted that policy. This discretion appears in HUD’s implementation notice, Section VI.C.5.

Before apartment hunting, ask the administrator to confirm the permitted search area in writing. Once you find a candidate apartment, provide its complete address, including the unit number. A mailing address, ZIP code or nearby location does not establish whether it falls within the permitted area.

For a move outside the jurisdiction, ask:

• Does the program permit assistance at this address?
• Who will review the unit and lease and administer payments?
• What additional approval or coordination must occur before you commit?

A prospective landlord’s willingness to accept assistance does not answer those program questions.

How this differs from Section 8 portability

Housing Choice Vouchers have a defined portability process involving an initial public housing agency and a receiving agency. Eligible households can use it across jurisdictions where a housing agency operates the voucher program, subject to program conditions. HUD’s Moves and Portability guide explains that process.

Those rules do not apply to HOME-ARP TBRA simply because it follows a household. Your move depends on the HOME-ARP administrator’s geographic policy and approval process.

3. Separate the lease term from the assistance term

HUD requires you to notify the PJ before moving to receive continued HOME-ARP TBRA. When you move, the existing rental assistance contract terminates and a new contract is executed for the new unit. That replacement contract does not automatically entitle you to additional months of assistance. See Notice CPD-21-10, Section VI.C.

The PJ establishes the maximum contract term, and renewal depends on available HOME-ARP funds. Ask the administrator to distinguish assistance already approved from any extension you are requesting, and to state the new contract’s start and end dates.

Regular HOME TBRA has a 24-month rental assistance contract limit, with renewal subject to funding. HOME-ARP waives that standard term requirement and lets the PJ establish the maximum. Neither rule promises a fresh assistance period whenever a household moves. Compare the regular HOME rule with HOME-ARP’s Section VI.C.6.

Hypothetical example: Suppose the administrator approves four months of assistance at your new apartment, but you sign a 12-month lease. Assuming no renewal or other assistance, eight months of that lease would remain without the subsidy. Evaluate that commitment before signing.

4. Obtain approval for the apartment, rent and lease

Prepare a proposed lease, the owner or manager’s contact information, the rent, required deposits, responsibility for utilities and your proposed start date. Ask which additional household or owner documents the administrator needs.

Location approval alone does not approve the tenancy. HUD also requires rent reasonableness review, and the PJ or program operator must approve the lease. HUD’s fact sheet and implementation notice describe these separate requirements.

Track each decision:

Confirm the applicable inspection requirements

Ask which inspection standard and form apply to the unit. The HOME-ARP notice references HUD housing quality standards or successor standards. For a HOME or HOME-ARP unit, it permits the PJ to use the property’s initial and ongoing inspection standards.

HUD’s inspection transition is program-specific. Its April 14, 2026 HOME/HTF guidance and July 15, 2026 voucher guidance have different compliance schedules. Have the administrator identify the applicable requirements before relying on an older inspection checklist or another program’s approval.

5. Coordinate costs, signatures and payment dates

Request a schedule covering document submission, inspection, any repairs, lease review, signatures and the first period assistance will cover. Ask how to coordinate signing the lease and assistance contract, then retain the executed copies.

Confirm deposit assistance separately. HOME-ARP TBRA can fund rent, security deposits and utility deposits, potentially up to the full eligible amount, but the PJ sets subsidy policies. That federal allowance does not establish what your award will pay. Obtain a written breakdown of approved payments and costs you must cover. See HUD’s eligible-cost and subsidy guidance.

If a nonprofit sponsor handles your lease or payments, confirm its role at the new address. HUD does not require the same sponsor to continue the relationship after a move. Identify who will pay the new owner before relying on that arrangement. See Notice CPD-21-10, Section VI.C.11.

Check your current lease’s notice and termination requirements against this schedule. If you are unsure how to end that lease lawfully, consult a local tenant lawyer or legal aid office.

Before committing to the new lease, assemble the written address approval, approved lease terms, inspection acceptance, subsidy breakdown and confirmed assistance dates. Use our renting and moving guides for the wider transition and resources for rental managers for related management guidance.