OHA for Sharers and Dual-Military Couples

This site's OHA calculator prices one service member, one lease, one locality, at a time. It has no box for a housemate splitting that same lease, and no box for two members who are both drawing basic pay. If either describes you, the number the calculator gives you is not your number. This page is why, and it works through DTMO's own figures so you can find yours by hand.

Who counts as a sharer

FMR 2.1.1 defines the term: "A sharer includes the following individuals residing with a Service member, excluding any dependent of the Service member:" The three categories are another service member who is also drawing OHA or FSH-O, a civilian employee (with any dependents of that employee) who draws a Living Quarters Allowance or an overseas cost-of-living allowance, and anyone else who simply contributes money toward the rent, mortgage or utilities. A dependent living with you is never a sharer, no matter how the bills are split.

How a sharer's rent and utility allowance work

A sharer's rent is your share of the lease, not the whole lease: divide the total monthly rent by the number of sharers. That share is then capped the same way an unshared rent would be. FMR 6.2.4 sets the ceiling: "A sharer is authorized up to the maximum rental allowance set for a Service member without a dependent unless accompanied by one or more dependents." A sharer who brings a dependent along gets the with-dependent ceiling instead. The utility allowance is split the same way the rent is: "Compute the authorized OHA for each sharer by adding the sharer's prorated share of the rent paid or the maximum rental established for the sharer's grade and locality, whichever is less, and the prorated monthly utility and recurring maintenance allowance."

DTMO's own example: three sharers and a civilian on LQA

CE-OHA-02 works a house shared by three enlisted members with no dependents, grades E-7, E-5 and E-4, plus a civilian employee drawing LQA. The four are all sharers. Total rent is $1,800 a month, so each sharer's share is $1,800 ÷ 4 = $450. Compare that against 90% of each grade's with-dependent ceiling: 90% of $750 is $675 for the E-7, 90% of $665 is $599 for the E-5, and 90% of $500 is $450 for the E-4. Since $450 is under every one of those caps, $450 is what each sharer's rent allowance uses. The locality's UMA is $160, and the group's utility point score (8, on a hot climate code) pays it at 100%, so $160 ÷ 4 sharers = $40 each. Add the two: $450 + $40 = $490 a month in OHA for every sharer, officer or enlisted grade aside, because none of their individual rent shares hit a cap.

The move-in payment doesn't get split

MIHA is different: it's paid in full to every eligible sharer, not divided among them. FMR 6.4.4 says it directly: "Each Service member classified as a sharer and authorized MIHA is authorized the full MIHA/Miscellaneous allowance." In CE-OHA-02's example, the locality's MIHA/Miscellaneous rate is $360, and all four sharers receive that full $360 apiece, not a quarter of it. Only one sharer can claim reimbursement for a shared expense such as a security deposit or a rental agent's fee, so that part of a move-in claim still needs to be assigned to one person.

Dual-military couples

A different set of rules applies when both members of a couple are on active duty and married to each other. FMR 4.5.1.1 starts from a plain rule: "In accordance with 37 U.S.C. § 421, a dependent who is on AD in a Uniformed Service and is entitled to basic pay cannot be considered a dependent for housing allowance purposes." Your spouse can't be your dependent for OHA if they're drawing their own pay.

With no dependents of their own, both members are paid at the without-dependent rate: "When both Service members have no dependents, each is treated as a Service member without a dependent for BAH or OHA." That holds whether the couple lives together or in separate housing. If they're assigned family-type government quarters together, neither draws OHA at all: "When Service members married to each other jointly occupy family-type quarters, neither Service member is authorized BAH or OHA, even if no dependent resides in the quarters, unless a dependent is prevented by a military order from occupying quarters." When the couple has a shared dependent child and isn't in government quarters, only one of them may claim the with-dependent rate for that child; if they can't agree between themselves, the senior member gets it. Two service members who live together but aren't married to each other don't fall under any of this: "Two unmarried Service members living together are separately authorized a housing allowance based on each Service member's dependents and circumstances."

What to do about it

If you're sharing a lease, ask your housing office to confirm you're being counted as a sharer on your DD Form 2367, not billed the full unshared rent. If you and your spouse are both on active duty, one of you needs to be designated for any with-dependent rate you're claiming together, and that election goes through your commands, not the OHA calculator. Neither situation is something this site can compute for you from a rent figure alone; your finance office has the forms and the final say.