Editorial policy

Our standard is simple: publish useful facts a reader can trace to an authoritative source, label estimates and limitations, and correct errors promptly.

Source hierarchy

1. The administering government agency — for rules, benefit amounts, applications, and deadlines.
2. Official government datasets and regulations — for structured facts such as HUD office records, income limits, and rent benchmarks.
3. Government-funded research or nonprofit technical models — only when the page explains the model and does not present an estimate as an agency decision.

Third-party articles, search snippets, social posts, and consumer reviews may help us identify a question to research, but they are not the source for a benefits rule or payment figure.

Verification and freshness

• Program pages identify the primary source and show when the facts were checked.
• Guides link material factual claims to their source and show a review date.
• A figure we cannot re-verify within 12 months is removed or clearly marked as being re-verified.
• Office pages show the date the HUD dataset was retrieved. Contact details should still be confirmed with the agency before visiting.

How office-directory data is handled

Public Housing Agency records come from HUD. We normalize excess spacing, format phone numbers, group agencies by state or territory, and calculate summary totals from the reported fields. We do not invent missing values or convert HUD's operational designations into star ratings.

Program type, unit totals, occupancy figures, and PHAS designations describe different things. We label each separately and explain that unit totals are not open slots, PHAS applies to public housing rather than customer service, and only the agency can confirm its service area or waiting-list status.

Estimators and calculated results

Estimator results are illustrative calculations based on the inputs and model described on the page. They are not an eligibility determination, award notice, legal opinion, or guarantee. We state important inputs the model does not collect and direct readers to the administering agency for a decision.

Automation and editorial review

We use software and automated workflows to collect structured public data, flag stale records, format pages, and assist with drafting. Automation does not change our source standard: a factual claim still needs an authoritative source, generated text is reviewed against the underlying record before publication, and unsupported claims are removed. No automated system is presented as a government representative or licensed benefits counselor.

Advertising and commercial independence

Advertising and partner compensation support the site. They do not change official program facts, verification standards, conclusions, or placement of the government application route. Commercial offers must be distinguishable from editorial content and cannot imply government affiliation or guaranteed eligibility.

Corrections

Send the page URL, the statement you believe is wrong, and an authoritative source to [email protected]. We review corrections against the source, update verified errors promptly, and update the page's review information when the change is material. We do not accept payments to alter an accurate government-program fact or suppress a legitimate correction.

Authorship

Articles are published by the CalculateBenefits Editorial Team and reviewed by Mark Phaneuf, Publisher. The byline identifies who produced the page; the reviewer is publicly accountable for the editorial standard and corrections process.

No author or reviewer claims legal, financial, medical, government, or licensed benefits-counseling credentials they do not hold. Our role is to translate and organize authoritative information—not replace the agency that administers a program.