How to Sign and Submit HUD Form 9887: Consent to Release Information

HUD Form 9887 is the consent to release information that every adult in a subsidized-housing household signs so HUD, the property owner or management agent, and the public housing agency can pull income and employment records from federal and state databases to verify eligibility. You sign it when you apply for assistance and, in some cases, at recertification. The housing provider gives you the form, and you return the signed original to that same provider.

Who Has to Sign

Every household member 18 or older must sign. The head of household, spouse, and co-head sign regardless of age, so a 17-year-old listed as head of household still signs.¹ When a new adult joins the household or a current member turns 18, that person must sign before the next income reexamination.²

If a disability prevents you from reading or signing, the owner or agent must provide a reasonable accommodation, which can include letting someone you authorize sign for you.¹ If an adult member cannot sign on time because of extenuating circumstances, the property manager can document the reason and note when the signature will be collected.

How to Fill Out Form 9887

The form is short. The property owner or manager fills in the header: the HUD field office, the owner or agent’s name and address, and the PHA’s name and address. Your part is at the bottom. Read the consent language, then sign and date on the appropriate line. There are separate signature lines for the head of household, spouse, and other family members 18 and older.¹

By signing, you allow HUD, the owner or agent, and the PHA to request income information from federal and state agencies to verify your eligibility and the correct amount of housing assistance. The back of the form lists them: State Wage Information Collection Agencies, the Social Security Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services’ National Directory of New Hires, and the Internal Revenue Service. Only HUD can pull your IRS tax return data. The owner and PHA cannot.¹ The legal basis for this data collection is 42 U.S.C. § 3544, which conditions housing assistance on signing approved consent forms.³

You do not have to sign on the spot. HUD’s fact sheet says you can take the form home, discuss it with a third party, and return it later. Just know that not signing has a consequence, covered further down.

Where to Submit It

Hand the signed form back to the property owner, management agent, or PHA that gave it to you. There is no separate mailing address or online portal. The housing provider collects and keeps the signed original. Applicants submit it when eligibility is first being determined; current tenants submit it at recertification or when the housing provider requests it.²

A blank copy is available in the HUD-9887 document package on the HUD website, but in practice you’ll receive it from your housing provider with the header already filled in.¹

How Long Your Signature Stays Valid

The consent expires 15 months after the date you sign it.¹ That window overlaps with the annual recertification cycle, giving the housing provider enough time to complete the income review before the consent lapses. If you leave the program before 15 months are up, the authorization ends when your eligibility ends.²

A rule effective January 1, 2024 changed how often you re-sign. Previously, every adult had to sign a new consent form at each recertification. Under the updated regulation, once all adult members have signed a consent form on or after January 1, 2024, they generally do not sign again at the next reexamination. A new signature is only required when someone 18 or older joins the household or when a household member turns 18.² HUD or the PHA can still require a new form through administrative instructions, so your provider’s specific policy may differ.

Form 9887 and Form 9887-A Are Not the Same

You usually receive both forms together in a single package, but they do different jobs. Form 9887 is the consent that lets government agencies share your income data with HUD, the owner, and the PHA. Only you sign it. Form 9887-A covers third-party verification, meaning the owner contacting your employer, bank, or other private sources directly, and it includes consumer-protection language. Both you and the housing owner sign Form 9887-A.¹ Refusing to sign either one carries the same consequences.

What Happens If You Refuse to Sign

Signing is technically voluntary. The practical result of not signing is not. If you are an applicant, the housing provider must deny your application. If you are a current tenant, the provider may terminate your assistance.⁴ The wording matters: denial for applicants is mandatory (“shall deny”), while termination for existing tenants is permissive (“may be terminated”), which leaves the provider some discretion for current participants. Either way, not signing effectively blocks your access to assistance under the covered programs.¹

What the Housing Provider Does With Your Consent

Once your signed form is on file, the housing provider uses it to check your reported income against federal and state records. Public housing agencies do this through the Enterprise Income Verification (EIV) system, a web-based tool that pulls wage, unemployment compensation, Social Security benefit, and new-hire data from the agencies listed on the form.⁵ The owner or agent can also use individual verification forms to contact your current or former employers directly, but only during the 120 days before your certification period or, within the certification period, when the provider receives information suggesting what you reported may be wrong.¹

If the EIV reports show an unreported income source or a difference of $2,400 or more per year between what you reported and what the records show, the provider must resolve the discrepancy within 60 days of the EIV report date. Expect a conversation, a request for documents, and possibly a follow-up directly to the third-party source.⁶

Accuracy matters. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1001, knowingly providing false information to a federal agency is punishable by a fine and up to five years in prison.⁷ Beyond criminal exposure, a tenant caught underreporting will owe back rent calculated at the rate they should have paid, going back as far as the file supports.

Privacy Protections

The income data collected through Form 9887 is protected under the Privacy Act of 1974 and applicable state privacy laws. HUD, owner or agent, and PHA employees who handle your information face penalties if they fail to keep it confidential, and an owner or agent employee who improperly discloses your data faces enforcement action by HUD and penalties under the relevant state privacy act.¹

If your information is negligently disclosed or improperly used, you have the right to bring a civil action for damages against the responsible employee. The consent package spells out that right directly, so you do not need to discover it through a lawyer.

1
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD-9887/A Fact Sheet
2
eCFR. 24 CFR 5.230 – Consent by Assistance Applicants and Participants
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 3544 – Verification of Income
4
eCFR. 24 CFR 5.232 – Penalties for Failing to Sign Consent Forms
5
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Enterprise Income Verification (EIV) System
6
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. PIH 2018-18 – Administrative Guidance for Effective and Mandated Use of the EIV System
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1001 – Statements or Entries Generally