42 U.S.C. § 1437f : US Code - Section 1437F: Low-income housing assistance

Search 42 U.S.C. § 1437f : US Code - Section 1437F: Low-income housing assistance

(a) Authorization for assistance payments
For the purpose of aiding low-income families in obtaining a
decent place to live and of promoting economically mixed housing,
assistance payments may be made with respect to existing housing in
accordance with the provisions of this section.
(b) Other existing housing programs
(1) In general. - The Secretary is authorized to enter into
annual contributions contracts with public housing agencies
pursuant to which such agencies may enter into contracts to make
assistance payments to owners of existing dwelling units in
accordance with this section. In areas where no public housing
agency has been organized or where the Secretary determines that a
public housing agency is unable to implement the provisions of this
section, the Secretary is authorized to enter into such contracts
and to perform the other functions assigned to a public housing
agency by this section.
(2) The Secretary is authorized to enter into annual
contributions contracts with public housing agencies for the
purpose of replacing public housing transferred in accordance with
subchapter II-A of this chapter. Each contract entered into under
this subsection shall be for a term of not more than 60 months.
(c) Contents and purposes of contracts for assistance payments;
amount and scope of monthly assistance payments
(1) An assistance contract entered into pursuant to this section
shall establish the maximum monthly rent (including utilities and
all maintenance and management charges) which the owner is entitled
to receive for each dwelling unit with respect to which such
assistance payments are to be made. The maximum monthly rent shall
not exceed by more than 10 per centum the fair market rental
established by the Secretary periodically but not less than
annually for existing or newly constructed rental dwelling units of
various sizes and types in the market area suitable for occupancy
by persons assisted under this section, except that the maximum
monthly rent may exceed the fair market rental (A) by more than 10
but not more than 20 per centum where the Secretary determines that
special circumstances warrant such higher maximum rent or that such
higher rent is necessary to the implementation of a housing
strategy as defined in section 12705 of this title, or (B) by such
higher amount as may be requested by a tenant and approved by the
public housing agency in accordance with paragraph (3)(B). In the
case of newly constructed and substantially rehabilitated units,
the exception in the preceding sentence shall not apply to more
than 20 per centum of the total amount of authority to enter into
annual contributions contracts for such units which is allocated to
an area and obligated with respect to any fiscal year beginning on
or after October 1, 1980. Proposed fair market rentals for an area
shall be published in the Federal Register with reasonable time for
public comment, and shall become effective upon the date of
publication in final form in the Federal Register. Each fair market
rental in effect under this subsection shall be adjusted to be
effective on October 1 of each year to reflect changes, based on
the most recent available data trended so the rentals will be
current for the year to which they apply, of rents for existing or
newly constructed rental dwelling units, as the case may be, of
various sizes and types in the market area suitable for occupancy
by persons assisted under this section. Notwithstanding any other
provision of this section, after October 12, 1977, the Secretary
shall prohibit high-rise elevator projects for families with
children unless there is no practical alternative. The Secretary
shall establish separate fair market rentals under this paragraph
for Westchester County in the State of New York. The Secretary
shall also establish separate fair market rentals under this
paragraph for Monroe County in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In
establishing fair market rentals for the remaining portion of the
market area in which Monroe County is located, the Secretary shall
establish the fair market rentals as if such portion included
Monroe County. If units assisted under this section are exempt from
local rent control while they are so assisted or otherwise, the
maximum monthly rent for such units shall be reasonable in
comparison with other units in the market area that are exempt from
local rent control.
(2)(A) The assistance contract shall provide for adjustment
annually or more frequently in the maximum monthly rents for units
covered by the contract to reflect changes in the fair market
rentals established in the housing area for similar types and sizes
of dwelling units or, if the Secretary determines, on the basis of
a reasonable formula. However, where the maximum monthly rent, for
a unit in a new construction, substantial rehabilitation, or
moderate rehabilitation project, to be adjusted using an annual
adjustment factor exceeds the fair market rental for an existing
dwelling unit in the market area, the Secretary shall adjust the
rent only to the extent that the owner demonstrates that the
adjusted rent would not exceed the rent for an unassisted unit of
similar quality, type, and age in the same market area, as
determined by the Secretary. The immediately foregoing sentence
shall be effective only during fiscal year 1995, fiscal year 1996
prior to April 26, 1996, and fiscal years 1997 and 1998, and during
fiscal year 1999 and thereafter. Except for assistance under the
certificate program, for any unit occupied by the same family at
the time of the last annual rental adjustment, where the assistance
contract provides for the adjustment of the maximum monthly rent by
applying an annual adjustment factor and where the rent for a unit
is otherwise eligible for an adjustment based on the full amount of
the factor, 0.01 shall be subtracted from the amount of the factor,
except that the factor shall not be reduced to less than 1.0. In
the case of assistance under the certificate program, 0.01 shall be
subtracted from the amount of the annual adjustment factor (except
that the factor shall not be reduced to less than 1.0), and the
adjusted rent shall not exceed the rent for a comparable unassisted
unit of similar quality, type, and age in the market area. The
immediately foregoing two sentences shall be effective only during
fiscal year 1995, fiscal year 1996 prior to April 26, 1996, and
fiscal years 1997 and 1998, and during fiscal year 1999 and
thereafter. In establishing annual adjustment factors for units in
new construction and substantial rehabilitation projects, the
Secretary shall take into account the fact that debt service is a
fixed expense. The immediately foregoing sentence shall be
effective only during fiscal year 1998.
(B) The contract shall further provide for the Secretary to make
additional adjustments in the maximum monthly rent for units under
contract to the extent he determines such adjustments are necessary
to reflect increases in the actual and necessary expenses of owning
and maintaining the units which have resulted from substantial
general increases in real property taxes, utility rates, or similar
costs which are not adequately compensated for by the adjustment in
the maximum monthly rent authorized by subparagraph (A). The
Secretary shall make additional adjustments in the maximum monthly
rent for units under contract (subject to the availability of
appropriations for contract amendments) to the extent the Secretary
determines such adjustments are necessary to reflect increases in
the actual and necessary expenses of owning and maintaining the
units that have resulted from the expiration of a real property tax
exemption. Where the Secretary determines that a project assisted
under this section is located in a community where drug-related
criminal activity is generally prevalent and the project's
operating, maintenance, and capital repair expenses have been
substantially increased primarily as a result of the prevalence of
such drug-related activity, the Secretary may (at the discretion of
the Secretary and subject to the availability of appropriations for
contract amendments for this purpose), on a project by project
basis, provide adjustments to the maximum monthly rents, to a level
no greater than 120 percent of the project rents, to cover the
costs of maintenance, security, capital repairs, and reserves
required for the owner to carry out a strategy acceptable to the
Secretary for addressing the problem of drug-related criminal
activity. Any rent comparability standard required under this
paragraph may be waived by the Secretary to so implement the
preceding sentence. The Secretary may (at the discretion of the
Secretary and subject to the availability of appropriations for
contract amendments), on a project by project basis for projects
receiving project-based assistance, provide adjustments to the
maximum monthly rents to cover the costs of evaluating and reducing
lead-based paint hazards, as defined in section 4851b of this
title.
(C) Adjustments in the maximum rents under subparagraphs (A) and
(B) shall not result in material differences between the rents
charged for assisted units and unassisted units of similar quality,
type, and age in the same market area, as determined by the
Secretary. In implementing the limitation established under the
preceding sentence, the Secretary shall establish regulations for
conducting comparability studies for projects where the Secretary
has reason to believe that the application of the formula
adjustments under subparagraph (A) would result in such material
differences. The Secretary shall conduct such studies upon the
request of any owner of any project, or as the Secretary determines
to be appropriate by establishing, to the extent practicable, a
modified annual adjustment factor for such market area, as the
Secretary shall designate, that is geographically smaller than the
applicable housing area used for the establishment of the annual
adjustment factor under subparagraph (A). The Secretary shall
establish such modified annual adjustment factor on the basis of
the results of a study conducted by the Secretary of the rents
charged, and any change in such rents over the previous year, for
assisted units and unassisted units of similar quality, type, and
age in the smaller market area. Where the Secretary determines that
such modified annual adjustment factor cannot be established or
that such factor when applied to a particular project would result
in material differences between the rents charged for assisted
units and unassisted units of similar quality, type, and age in the
same market area, the Secretary may apply an alternative
methodology for conducting comparability studies in order to
establish rents that are not materially different from rents
charged for comparable unassisted units. If the Secretary or
appropriate State agency does not complete and submit to the
project owner a comparability study not later than 60 days before
the anniversary date of the assistance contract under this section,
the automatic annual adjustment factor shall be applied. The
Secretary may not reduce the contract rents in effect on or after
April 15, 1987, for newly constructed, substantially rehabilitated,
or moderately rehabilitated projects assisted under this section
(including projects assisted under this section as in effect prior
to November 30, 1983), unless the project has been refinanced in a
manner that reduces the periodic payments of the owner. Any maximum
monthly rent that has been reduced by the Secretary after April 14,
1987, and prior to November 7, 1988, shall be restored to the
maximum monthly rent in effect on April 15, 1987. For any project
which has had its maximum monthly rents reduced after April 14,
1987, the Secretary shall make assistance payments (from amounts
reserved for the original contract) to the owner of such project in
an amount equal to the difference between the maximum monthly rents
in effect on April 15, 1987, and the reduced maximum monthly rents,
multiplied by the number of months that the reduced maximum monthly
rents were in effect.
(3) The amount of the monthly assistance payment with respect to
any dwelling unit shall be the difference between the maximum
monthly rent which the contract provides that the owner is to
receive for the unit and the rent the family is required to pay
under section 1437a(a) of this title. Reviews of family income
shall be made no less frequently than annually.
(4) The assistance contract shall provide that assistance
payments may be made only with respect to a dwelling unit under
lease for occupancy by a family determined to be a lower income
family at the time it initially occupied such dwelling unit, except
that such payments may be made with respect to unoccupied units for
a period not exceeding sixty days (A) in the event that a family
vacates a dwelling unit before the expiration date of the lease for
occupancy or (B) where a good faith effort is being made to fill an
unoccupied unit, and, subject to the provisions of the following
sentence, such payments may be made, in the case of a newly
constructed or substantially rehabilitated project, after such
sixty-day period in an amount equal to the debt service
attributable to such an unoccupied dwelling unit for a period not
to exceed one year, if a good faith effort is being made to fill
the unit and the unit provides decent, safe, and sanitary housing.
No such payment may be made after such sixty-day period if the
Secretary determines that the dwelling unit is in a project which
provides the owner with revenues exceeding the costs incurred by
such owner with respect to such project.
(5) The Secretary shall take such steps as may be necessary,
including the making of contracts for assistance payments in
amounts in excess of the amounts required at the time of the
initial renting of dwelling units, the reservation of annual
contributions authority for the purpose of amending housing
assistance contracts, or the allocation of a portion of new
authorizations for the purpose of amending housing assistance
contracts, to assure that assistance payments are increased on a
timely basis to cover increases in maximum monthly rents or
decreases in family incomes.
(6) Redesignated (5).
(7) Repealed. Pub. L. 105-276, title V, Sec. 550(a)(3)(C), Oct.
21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2609.
(8)(A) Not less than one year before termination of any contract
under which assistance payments are received under this section,
other than a contract for tenant-based assistance under this
section, an owner shall provide written notice to the Secretary and
the tenants involved of the proposed termination. The notice shall
also include a statement that, if the Congress makes funds
available, the owner and the Secretary may agree to a renewal of
the contract, thus avoiding termination, and that in the event of
termination the Department of Housing and Urban Development will
provide tenant-based rental assistance to all eligible residents,
enabling them to choose the place they wish to rent, which is
likely to include the dwelling unit in which they currently reside.
Any contract covered by this paragraph that is renewed may be
renewed for a period of up to 1 year or any number or years, with
payments subject to the availability of appropriations for any
year.
(B) In the event the owner does not provide the notice required,
the owner may not evict the tenants or increase the tenants' rent
payment until such time as the owner has provided the notice and 1
year has elapsed. The Secretary may allow the owner to renew the
terminating contract for a period of time sufficient to give
tenants 1 year of advance notice under such terms and conditions as
the Secretary may require.
(C) Any notice under this paragraph shall also comply with any
additional requirements established by the Secretary.
(D) For purposes of this paragraph, the term "termination" means
the expiration of the assistance contract or an owner's refusal to
renew the assistance contract, and such term shall include
termination of the contract for business reasons.
(9)(A) That an applicant or participant is or has been a victim
of domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking is not an
appropriate basis for denial of program assistance or for denial of
admission, if the applicant otherwise qualifies for assistance or
admission.
(B) An incident or incidents of actual or threatened domestic
violence, dating violence, or stalking will not be construed as a
serious or repeated violation of the lease by the victim or
threatened victim of that violence and shall not be good cause for
terminating the assistance, tenancy, or occupancy rights of the
victim of such violence.
(C)(i) Criminal activity directly relating to domestic violence,
dating violence, or stalking, engaged in by a member of a tenant's
household or any guest or other person under the tenant's control
shall not be cause for termination of assistance, tenancy, or
occupancy rights if the tenant or an immediate member of the
tenant's family is the victim or threatened victim of that domestic
violence, dating violence, or stalking.
(ii) Notwithstanding clause (i), an owner or manager may
bifurcate a lease under this section, in order to evict, remove, or
terminate assistance to any individual who is a tenant or lawful
occupant and who engages in criminal acts of physical violence
against family members or others, without evicting, removing,
terminating assistance to, or otherwise penalizing the victim of
such violence who is also a tenant or lawful occupant.
(iii) Nothing in clause (i) may be construed to limit the
authority of a public housing agency, owner, or manager, when
notified, to honor court orders addressing rights of access to or
control of the property, including civil protection orders issued
to protect the victim and issued to address the distribution or
possession of property among the household members in cases where a
family breaks up.
(iv) Nothing in clause (i) limits any otherwise available
authority of an owner or manager to evict or the public housing
agency to terminate assistance to a tenant for any violation of a
lease not premised on the act or acts of violence in question
against the tenant or a member of the tenant's household, provided
that the owner or manager does not subject an individual who is or
has been a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, or
stalking to a more demanding standard than other tenants in
determining whether to evict or terminate.
(v) Nothing in clause (i) may be construed to limit the authority
of an owner, manager, or public housing agency to evict or
terminate from assistance any tenant or lawful occupant if the
owner, manager or public housing agency can demonstrate an actual
and imminent threat to other tenants or those employed at or
providing service to the property if that tenant is not evicted or
terminated from assistance.
(vi) Nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede any
provision of any Federal, State, or local law that provides greater
protection than this section for victims of domestic violence,
dating violence, or stalking.
(d) Required provisions and duration of contracts for assistance
payments; waiver of limitation
(1) Contracts to make assistance payments entered into by a
public housing agency with an owner of existing housing units shall
provide (with respect to any unit) that -
(A) the selection of tenants shall be the function of the
owner, subject to the annual contributions contract between the
Secretary and the agency, except that with respect to the
certificate and moderate rehabilitation programs only, for the
purpose of selecting families to be assisted, the public housing
agency may establish local preferences, consistent with the
public housing agency plan submitted under section 1437c-1 of
this title by the public housing agency and that an applicant or
participant is or has been a victim of domestic violence, dating
violence, or stalking is not an appropriate basis for denial of
program assistance or for denial of admission if the applicant
otherwise qualifies for assistance or admission;
(B)(i) the lease between the tenant and the owner shall be for
at least one year or the term of such contract, whichever is
shorter, and shall contain other terms and conditions specified
by the Secretary;
(ii) during the term of the lease, the owner shall not
terminate the tenancy except for serious or repeated violation of
the terms and conditions of the lease, for violation of
applicable Federal, State, or local law, or for other good cause,
and that an incident or incidents of actual or threatened
domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking will not be
construed as a serious or repeated violation of the lease by the
victim or threatened victim of that violence and will not be good
cause for terminating the tenancy or occupancy rights of the
victim of such violence;
(iii) during the term of the lease, any criminal activity that
threatens the health, safety, or right to peaceful enjoyment of
the premises by other tenants, any criminal activity that
threatens the health, safety, or right to peaceful enjoyment of
their residences by persons residing in the immediate vicinity of
the premises, or any drug-related criminal activity on or near
such premises, engaged in by a tenant of any unit, any member of
the tenant's household, or any guest or other person under the
tenant's control, shall be cause for termination of tenancy,
except that: (I) criminal activity directly relating to domestic
violence, dating violence, or stalking, engaged in by a member of
a tenant's household or any guest or other person under the
tenant's control, shall not be cause for termination of the
tenancy or occupancy rights or program assistance, if the tenant
or immediate member of the tenant's family is a victim of that
domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking; (II)
notwithstanding subclause (I), a public housing agency may
terminate assistance to any individual who is a tenant or lawful
occupant and who engages in criminal acts of physical violence
against family members or others, or an owner or manager under
this section may bifurcate a lease, in order to evict, remove, or
terminate assistance to any individual who is a tenant or lawful
occupant and who engages in criminal acts of physical violence
against family members or others, without evicting, removing,
terminating assistance to, or otherwise penalizing the victim of
such violence who is also a tenant or lawful occupant; (III)
nothing in subclause (I) may be construed to limit the authority
of a public housing agency, owner, or manager, when notified, to
honor court orders addressing rights of access to or control of
the property, including civil protection orders issued to protect
the victim and issued to address the distribution or possession
of property among the household members in cases where a family
breaks up; (IV) nothing in subclause (I) limits any otherwise
available authority of an owner or manager to evict or the public
housing agency to terminate assistance to a tenant for any
violation of a lease not premised on the act or acts of violence
in question against the tenant or a member of the tenant's
household, provided that the owner, manager, or public housing
agency does not subject an individual who is or has been a victim
of domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking to a more
demanding standard than other tenants in determining whether to
evict or terminate; (V) nothing in subclause (I) may be construed
to limit the authority of an owner or manager to evict, or the
public housing agency to terminate assistance,(!1) to any tenant
if the owner, manager, or public housing agency can demonstrate
an actual and imminent threat to other tenants or those employed
at or providing service to the property if that tenant is not
evicted or terminated from assistance; and (VI) nothing in this
section shall be construed to supersede any provision of any
Federal, State, or local law that provides greater protection
than this section for victims of domestic violence, dating
violence, or stalking.; (!2)
(iv) any termination of tenancy shall be preceded by the
owner's provision of written notice to the tenant specifying the
grounds for such action; and
(v) it shall be cause for termination of the tenancy of a
tenant if such tenant -
(I) is fleeing to avoid prosecution, or custody or
confinement after conviction, under the laws of the place from
which the individual flees, for a crime, or attempt to commit a
crime, which is a felony under the laws of the place from which
the individual flees, or which, in the case of the State of New
Jersey, is a high misdemeanor under the laws of such State; or
(II) is violating a condition of probation or parole imposed
under Federal or State law;
(C) maintenance and replacement (including redecoration) shall
be in accordance with the standard practice for the building
concerned as established by the owner and agreed to by the
agency; and
(D) the agency and the owner shall carry out such other
appropriate terms and conditions as may be mutually agreed to by
them.
(2)(A) Each contract for an existing structure entered into under
this section shall be for a term of not less than one month nor
more than one hundred and eighty months. The Secretary shall permit
public housing agencies to enter into contracts for assistance
payments of less than 12 months duration in order to avoid
disruption in assistance to eligible families if the annual
contributions contract is within 1 year of its expiration date.
(B)(i) In determining the amount of assistance provided under an
assistance contract for project-based assistance under this
paragraph or a contract for assistance for housing constructed or
substantially rehabilitated pursuant to assistance provided under
subsection (b)(2) of this section (as such subsection existed
immediately before October 1, 1983), the Secretary may consider and
annually adjust, with respect to such project, for the cost of
employing or otherwise retaining the services of one or more
service coordinators under section 661 (!3) of the Housing and
Community Development Act of 1992 [42 U.S.C. 13631] to coordinate
the provision of any services within the project for residents of
the project who are elderly or disabled families.
(ii) The budget authority available under section 1437c(c) of
this title for assistance under this section is authorized to be
increased by $15,000,000 on or after October 1, 1992, and by
$15,000,000 on or after October 1, 1993. Amounts made available
under this subparagraph shall be used to provide additional amounts
under annual contributions contracts for assistance under this
section which shall be made available through assistance contracts
only for the purpose of providing service coordinators under clause
(i) for projects receiving project-based assistance under this
paragraph and to provide additional amounts under contracts for
assistance for projects constructed or substantially rehabilitated
pursuant to assistance provided under subsection (b)(2) of this
section (as such subsection existed immediately before October 1,
1983) only for such purpose.
(C) An assistance contract for project-based assistance under
this paragraph shall provide that the owner shall ensure and
maintain compliance with subtitle C of title VI of the Housing and
Community Development Act of 1992 [42 U.S.C. 13601 et seq.] and any
regulations issued under such subtitle.
(D) An owner of a covered section 8 housing project (as such term
is defined in section 659 of the Housing and Community Development
Act of 1992 [42 U.S.C. 13619]) may give preference for occupancy of
dwelling units in the project, and reserve units for occupancy, in
accordance with subtitle D of title VI of the Housing and Community
Development Act of 1992 [42 U.S.C. 13611 et seq.].
(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, with the approval
of the Secretary the public housing agency administering a contract
under this section with respect to existing housing units may
exercise all management and maintenance responsibilities with
respect to those units pursuant to a contract between such agency
and the owner of such units.
(4) A public housing agency that serves more than one unit of
general local government may, at the discretion of the agency, in
allocating assistance under this section, give priority to disabled
families that are not elderly families.
(5) Calculation of limit. - Any contract entered into under
section 514 of the Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and
Affordability Act of 1997 shall be excluded in computing the limit
on project-based assistance under this subsection.
(6) Treatment of common areas. - The Secretary may not provide
any assistance amounts pursuant to an existing contract for project-
based assistance under this section for a housing project and may
not enter into a new or renewal contract for such assistance for a
project unless the owner of the project provides consent, to such
local law enforcement agencies as the Secretary determines
appropriate, for law enforcement officers of such agencies to enter
common areas of the project at any time and without advance notice
upon a determination of probable cause by such officers that
criminal activity is taking place in such areas.
(e) Restrictions on contracts for assistance payments
(1) Nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to prohibit an owner
from pledging, or offering as security for any loan or obligation,
a contract for assistance payments entered into pursuant to this
section: Provided, That such security is in connection with a
project constructed or rehabilitated pursuant to authority granted
in this section, and the terms of the financing or any refinancing
have been approved by the Secretary.
(2) Repealed. Pub. L. 101-625, title II, Sec. 289(b), Nov. 28,
1990, 104 Stat. 4128.
(f) Definitions
As used in this section -
(1) the term "owner" means any private person or entity,
including a cooperative, an agency of the Federal Government, or
a public housing agency, having the legal right to lease or
sublease dwelling units;
(2) the terms "rent" or "rental" mean, with respect to members
of a cooperative, the charges under the occupancy agreements
between such members and the cooperative;
(3) the term "debt service" means the required payments for
principal and interest made with respect to a mortgage secured by
housing assisted under this chapter;
(4) the term "participating jurisdiction" means a State or unit
of general local government designated by the Secretary to be a
participating jurisdiction under title II of the Cranston-
Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act [42 U.S.C. 12721 et
seq.];
(5) the term "drug-related criminal activity" means the illegal
manufacture, sale, distribution, use, or possession with intent
to manufacture, sell, distribute, or use, of a controlled
substance (as defined in section 802 of title 21);
(6) the term "project-based assistance" means rental assistance
under subsection (b) of this section that is attached to the
structure pursuant to subsection (d)(2) or (o)(13) of this
section;
(7) the term "tenant-based assistance" means rental assistance
under subsection (o) of this section that is not project-based
assistance and that provides for the eligible family to select
suitable housing and to move to other suitable housing;
(8) the term "domestic violence" has the same meaning given the
term in section 13925 of this title;
(9) the term "dating violence" has the same meaning given the
term in section 13925 of this title; and (!4)
(10) the term "stalking" means -
(A)(i) to follow, pursue, or repeatedly commit acts with the
intent to kill, injure, harass, or intimidate another person;
and
(ii) to place under surveillance with the intent to kill,
injure, harass, or intimidate another person; and
(B) in the course of, or as a result of, such following,
pursuit, surveillance, or repeatedly committed acts, to place a
person in reasonable fear of the death of, or serious bodily
injury to, or to cause substantial emotional harm to -
(i) that person;
(ii) a member of the immediate family of that person; or
(iii) the spouse or intimate partner of that person; and
(11) the term "immediate family member" means, with respect to
a person -
(A) a spouse, parent, brother or sister, or child of that
person, or an individual to whom that person stands in loco
parentis; or
(B) any other person living in the household of that person
and related to that person by blood and marriage.
(g) Regulations applicable for implementation of assistance
payments
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, assistance
payments under this section may be provided, in accordance with
regulations prescribed by the Secretary, with respect to some or
all of the units in any project approved pursuant to section 1701q
of title 12.
(h) Nonapplicability of inconsistent provisions to contracts for
assistance payments
Sections 1437c(e) and 1437d of this title (except as provided in
section 1437d(j)(3) of this title), and any other provisions of
this chapter which are inconsistent with the provisions of this
section shall not apply to contracts for assistance entered into
under this section.
(i) Receipt of assistance by public housing agency under other law
not to be considered
The Secretary may not consider the receipt by a public housing
agency of assistance under section 811(b)(1) of the Cranston-
Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act [42 U.S.C. 8013(b)(1)],
or the amount received, in approving assistance for the agency
under this section or determining the amount of such assistance to
be provided.
(j) Repealed. Pub. L. 105-276, title V, Sec. 550(a)(6), Oct. 21,
1998, 112 Stat. 2609
(k) Verification of income
The Secretary shall establish procedures which are appropriate
and necessary to assure that income data provided to public housing
agencies and owners by families applying for or receiving
assistance under this section is complete and accurate. In
establishing such procedures, the Secretary shall randomly,
regularly, and periodically select a sample of families to
authorize the Secretary to obtain information on these families for
the purpose of income verification, or to allow those families to
provide such information themselves. Such information may include,
but is not limited to, data concerning unemployment compensation
and Federal income taxation and data relating to benefits made
available under the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 301 et seq.],
the Food Stamp Act of 1977 [7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.], or title 38.
Any such information received pursuant to this subsection shall
remain confidential and shall be used only for the purpose of
verifying incomes in order to determine eligibility of families for
benefits (and the amount of such benefits, if any) under this
section.
(l), (m) Repealed. Pub. L. 98-181, title II, Sec. 209(a)(5), Nov.
30, 1983, 97 Stat. 1183
(n) Repealed. Pub. L. 105-276, title V, Sec. 550(a)(7), Oct. 21,
1998, 112 Stat. 2609
(o) Voucher program
(1) Authority
(A) In general
The Secretary may provide assistance to public housing
agencies for tenant-based assistance using a payment standard
established in accordance with subparagraph (B). The payment
standard shall be used to determine the monthly assistance that
may be paid for any family, as provided in paragraph (2).
(B) Establishment of payment standard
Except as provided under subparagraph (D), the payment
standard for each size of dwelling unit in a market area shall
not exceed 110 percent of the fair market rental established
under subsection (c) of this section for the same size of
dwelling unit in the same market area and shall be not less
than 90 percent of that fair market rental.
(C) Set-aside
The Secretary may set aside not more than 5 percent of the
budget authority made available for assistance under this
subsection as an adjustment pool. The Secretary shall use
amounts in the adjustment pool to make adjusted payments to
public housing agencies under subparagraph (A), to ensure
continued affordability, if the Secretary determines that
additional assistance for such purpose is necessary, based on
documentation submitted by a public housing agency.
(D) Approval
The Secretary may require a public housing agency to submit
the payment standard of the public housing agency to the
Secretary for approval, if the payment standard is less than 90
percent of the fair market rental or exceeds 110 percent of the
fair market rental.
(E) Review
The Secretary -
(i) shall monitor rent burdens and review any payment
standard that results in a significant percentage of the
families occupying units of any size paying more than 30
percent of adjusted income for rent; and
(ii) may require a public housing agency to modify the
payment standard of the public housing agency based on the
results of that review.
(2) Amount of monthly assistance payment
Subject to the requirement under section 1437a(a)(3) of this
title (relating to minimum rental amount), the monthly assistance
payment for a family receiving assistance under this subsection
shall be determined as follows:
(A) Tenant-based assistance; rent not exceeding payment
standard
For a family receiving tenant-based assistance, if the rent
for the family (including the amount allowed for tenant-paid
utilities) does not exceed the applicable payment standard
established under paragraph (1), the monthly assistance payment
for the family shall be equal to the amount by which the rent
(including the amount allowed for tenant-paid utilities)
exceeds the greatest of the following amounts, rounded to the
nearest dollar:
(i) 30 percent of the monthly adjusted income of the
family.
(ii) 10 percent of the monthly income of the family.
(iii) If the family is receiving payments for welfare
assistance from a public agency and a part of those payments,
adjusted in accordance with the actual housing costs of the
family, is specifically designated by that agency to meet the
housing costs of the family, the portion of those payments
that is so designated.
(B) Tenant-based assistance; rent exceeding payment standard
For a family receiving tenant-based assistance, if the rent
for the family (including the amount allowed for tenant-paid
utilities) exceeds the applicable payment standard established
under paragraph (1), the monthly assistance payment for the
family shall be equal to the amount by which the applicable
payment standard exceeds the greatest of amounts under clauses
(i), (ii), and (iii) of subparagraph (A).
(C) Families receiving project-based assistance
For a family receiving project-based assistance, the rent
that the family is required to pay shall be determined in
accordance with section 1437a(a)(1) of this title, and the
amount of the housing assistance payment shall be determined in
accordance with subsection (c)(3) of this section.
(3) 40 percent limit
At the time a family initially receives tenant-based assistance
under this section with respect to any dwelling unit, the total
amount that a family may be required to pay for rent may not
exceed 40 percent of the monthly adjusted income of the family.
(4) Eligible families
To be eligible to receive assistance under this subsection, a
family shall, at the time a family initially receives assistance
under this subsection, be a low-income family that is -
(A) a very low-income family;
(B) a family previously assisted under this subchapter;
(C) a low-income family that meets eligibility criteria
specified by the public housing agency;
(D) a family that qualifies to receive a voucher in
connection with a homeownership program approved under title IV
of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act; or
(E) a family that qualifies to receive a voucher under
section 223 or 226 of the Low-Income Housing Preservation and
Resident Homeownership Act of 1990 [12 U.S.C. 4113, 4116].
(5) Annual review of family income
(A) In general
Reviews of family incomes for purposes of this section shall
be subject to the provisions of section 3544 of this title and
shall be conducted upon the initial provision of housing
assistance for the family and thereafter not less than
annually.
(B) Procedures
Each public housing agency administering assistance under
this subsection shall establish procedures that are appropriate
and necessary to ensure that income data provided to the agency
and owners by families applying for or receiving assistance
from the agency is complete and accurate. Each public housing
agency shall, not less frequently than annually, conduct a
review of the family income of each family receiving assistance
under this subsection.
(6) Selection of families and disapproval of owners
(A) Preferences
(i) Authority to establish
Each public housing agency may establish a system for
making tenant-based assistance under this subsection
available on behalf of eligible families that provides
preference for such assistance to eligible families having
certain characteristics, which may include a preference for
families residing in public housing who are victims of a
crime of violence (as such term is defined in section 16 of
title 18) that has been reported to an appropriate law
enforcement agency.
(ii) Content
Each system of preferences established pursuant to this
subparagraph shall be based upon local housing needs and
priorities, as determined by the public housing agency using
generally accepted data sources, including any information
obtained pursuant to an opportunity for public comment as
provided under section 1437c-1(f) of this title and under the
requirements applicable to the comprehensive housing
affordability strategy for the relevant jurisdiction.
(B) Selection of tenants
Each housing assistance payment contract entered into by the
public housing agency and the owner of a dwelling unit) (!5)
shall provide that the screening and selection of families for
those units shall be the function of the owner. In addition,
the public housing agency may elect to screen applicants for
the program in accordance with such requirements as the
Secretary may establish. That an applicant or participant is or
has been a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, or
stalking is not an appropriate basis for denial of program
assistance by (!6) or for denial of admission if the applicant
otherwise qualifies for assistance for (!7) admission, and that
(!8) nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede
any provision of any Federal, State, or local law that provides
greater protection than this section for victims of domestic
violence, dating violence, or stalking.
(C) PHA disapproval of owners
In addition to other grounds authorized by the Secretary, a
public housing agency may elect not to enter into a housing
assistance payments contract under this subsection with an
owner who refuses, or has a history of refusing, to take action
to terminate tenancy for activity engaged in by the tenant, any
member of the tenant's household, any guest, or any other
person under the control of any member of the household that -
(i) threatens the health or safety of, or right to peaceful
enjoyment of the premises by, other tenants or employees of
the public housing agency, owner, or other manager of the
housing;
(ii) threatens the health or safety of, or right to
peaceful enjoyment of the residences by, persons residing in
the immediate vicinity of the premises; or
(iii) is drug-related or violent criminal activity.
(7) Leases and tenancy
Each housing assistance payment contract entered into by the
public housing agency and the owner of a dwelling unit -
(A) shall provide that the lease between the tenant and the
owner shall be for a term of not less than 1 year, except that
the public housing agency may approve a shorter term for an
initial lease between the tenant and the dwelling unit owner if
the public housing agency determines that such shorter term
would improve housing opportunities for the tenant and if such
shorter term is considered to be a prevailing local market
practice;
(B) shall provide that the dwelling unit owner shall offer
leases to tenants assisted under this subsection that -
(i) are in a standard form used in the locality by the
dwelling unit owner; and
(ii) contain terms and conditions that -
(I) are consistent with State and local law; and
(II) apply generally to tenants in the property who are
not assisted under this section;
(C) shall provide that during the term of the lease, the
owner shall not terminate the tenancy except for serious or
repeated violation of the terms and conditions of the lease,
for violation of applicable Federal, State, or local law, or
for other good cause, and that an incident or incidents of
actual or threatened domestic violence, dating violence, or
stalking shall not be construed as a serious or repeated
violation of the lease by the victim or threatened victim of
that violence and shall not be good cause for terminating the
tenancy or occupancy rights of the victim of such violence;
(D) shall provide that during the term of the lease, any
criminal activity that threatens the health, safety, or right
to peaceful enjoyment of the premises by other tenants, any
criminal activity that threatens the health, safety, or right
to peaceful enjoyment of their residences by persons residing
in the immediate vicinity of the premises, or any violent or
drug-related criminal activity on or near such premises,
engaged in by a tenant of any unit, any member of the tenant's
household, or any guest or other person under the tenant's
control, shall be cause for termination of tenancy; except that
(i) criminal activity directly relating to domestic violence,
dating violence, or stalking, engaged in by a member of a
tenant's household or any guest or other person under the
tenant's control shall not be cause for termination of the
tenancy or occupancy rights, if the tenant or immediate member
of the tenant's family is a victim of that domestic violence,
dating violence, or stalking; (ii) notwithstanding clause (i),
a public housing agency may terminate assistance to any
individual who is a tenant or lawful occupant and who engages
in criminal acts of physical violence against family members or
others, or an owner or manager may bifurcate a lease under this
section, in order to evict, remove, or terminate assistance to
any individual who is a tenant or lawful occupant and who
engages in criminal acts of physical violence against family
members or others, without evicting, removing, terminating
assistance to, or otherwise penalizing the victim of such
violence who is also a tenant or lawful occupant; (iii) nothing
in clause (i) may be construed to limit the authority of a
public housing agency, owner, or manager, when notified, to
honor court orders addressing rights of access to control of
the property, including civil protection orders issued to
protect the victim and issued to address the distribution or
possession of property among the household members in cases
where a family breaks up; (iv) nothing in clause (i) limits any
otherwise available authority of an owner or manager to evict
or the public housing agency to terminate assistance to a
tenant for any violation of a lease not premised on the act or
acts of violence in question against the tenant or a member of
the tenant's household, provided that the owner, manager, or
public housing agency does not subject an individual who is or
has been a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, or
stalking to a more demanding standard than other tenants in
determining whether to evict or terminate; (v) nothing in
clause (i) may be construed to limit the authority of an owner
or manager to evict, or the public housing agency to
terminate,(!9) assistance to any tenant if the owner, manager,
or public housing agency can demonstrate an actual and imminent
threat to other tenants or those employed at or providing
service to the property if that tenant is not evicted or
terminated from assistance; and (vi) nothing in this section
shall be construed to supersede any provision of any Federal,
State, or local law that provides greater protection than this
section for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, or
stalking.; (!10)
(E) shall provide that any termination of tenancy under this
subsection shall be preceded by the provision of written notice
by the owner to the tenant specifying the grounds for that
action, and any relief shall be consistent with applicable
State and local law; and
(F) may include any addenda required by the Secretary to set
forth the provisions of this subsection.
(8) Inspection of units by PHAs
(A) In general
Except as provided in paragraph (11), for each dwelling unit
for which a housing assistance payment contract is established
under this subsection, the public housing agency shall inspect
the unit before any assistance payment is made to determine
whether the dwelling unit meets the housing quality standards
under subparagraph (B).
(B) Housing quality standards
The housing quality standards under this subparagraph are
standards for safe and habitable housing established -
(i) by the Secretary for purposes of this subsection; or
(ii) by local housing codes or by codes adopted by public
housing agencies that -
(I) meet or exceed housing quality standards, except that
the Secretary may waive the requirement under this
subclause to significantly increase access to affordable
housing and to expand housing opportunities for families
assisted under this subsection, except where such waiver
could adversely affect the health or safety of families
assisted under this subsection; and
(II) do not severely restrict housing choice (!11)
(C) Inspection
The determination required under subparagraph (A) shall be
made by the public housing agency (or other entity, as provided
in paragraph (11)) pursuant to an inspection of the dwelling
unit conducted before any assistance payment is made for the
unit. Inspections of dwelling units under this subparagraph
shall be made before the expiration of the 15-day period
beginning upon a request by the resident or landlord to the
public housing agency or, in the case of any public housing
agency that provides assistance under this subsection on behalf
of more than 1250 families, before the expiration of a
reasonable period beginning upon such request. The performance
of the agency in meeting the 15-day inspection deadline shall
be taken into consideration in assessing the performance of the
agency.
(D) Annual inspections
Each public housing agency providing assistance under this
subsection (or other entity, as provided in paragraph (11))
shall make an annual inspection of each assisted dwelling unit
during the term of the housing assistance payments contract for
the unit to determine whether the unit is maintained in
accordance with the requirements under subparagraph (A). The
agency (or other entity) shall retain the records of the
inspection for a reasonable time and shall make the records
available upon request to the Secretary, the Inspector General
for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and any
auditor conducting an audit under section 1437c(h) of this
title.
(E) Inspection guidelines
The Secretary shall establish procedural guidelines and
performance standards to facilitate inspections of dwelling
units and conform such inspections with practices utilized in
the private housing market. Such guidelines and standards shall
take into consideration variations in local laws and practices
of public housing agencies and shall provide flexibility to
authorities appropriate to facilitate efficient provision of
assistance under this subsection.
(9) Vacated units
If an assisted family vacates a dwelling unit for which rental
assistance is provided under a housing assistance payment
contract before the expiration of the term of the lease for the
unit, rental assistance pursuant to such contract may not be
provided for the unit after the month during which the unit was
vacated.
(10) Rent
(A) Reasonableness
The rent for dwelling units for which a housing assistance
payment contract is established under this subsection shall be
reasonable in comparison with rents charged for comparable
dwelling units in the private, unassisted local market.
(B) Negotiations
A public housing agency (or other entity, as provided in
paragraph (11)) shall, at the request of a family receiving
tenant-based assistance under this subsection, assist that
family in negotiating a reasonable rent with a dwelling unit
owner. A public housing agency (or such other entity) shall
review the rent for a unit under consideration by the family
(and all rent increases for units under lease by the family) to
determine whether the rent (or rent increase) requested by the
owner is reasonable. If a public housing agency (or other such
entity) determines that the rent (or rent increase) for a
dwelling unit is not reasonable, the public housing agency (or
other such entity) shall not make housing assistance payments
to the owner under this subsection with respect to that unit.
(C) Units exempt from local rent control
If a dwelling unit for which a housing assistance payment
contract is established under this subsection is exempt from
local rent control provisions during the term of that contract,
the rent for that unit shall be reasonable in comparison with
other units in the market area that are exempt from local rent
control provisions.
(D) Timely payments
Each public housing agency shall make timely payment of any
amounts due to a dwelling unit owner under this subsection. The
housing assistance payment contract between the owner and the
public housing agency may provide for penalties for the late
payment of amounts due under the contract, which shall be
imposed on the public housing agency in accordance with
generally accepted practices in the local housing market.
(E) Penalties
Unless otherwise authorized by the Secretary, each public
housing agency shall pay any penalties from administrative fees
collected by the public housing agency, except that no penalty
shall be imposed if the late payment is due to factors that the
Secretary determines are beyond the control of the public
housing agency.
(11) Leasing of units owned by PHA
If an eligible family assisted under this subsection leases a
dwelling unit (other than a public housing dwelling unit) that is
owned by a public housing agency administering assistance under
this subsection, the Secretary shall require the unit of general
local government or another entity approved by the Secretary, to
make inspections required under paragraph (8) and rent
determinations required under paragraph (10). The agency shall be
responsible for any expenses of such inspections and
determinations.
(12) Assistance for rental of manufactured housing
(A) In general
A public housing agency may make assistance payments in
accordance with this subsection on behalf of a family that
utilizes a manufactured home as a principal place of residence.
Such payments may be made only for the rental of the real
property on which the manufactured home owned by any such
family is located.
(B) Rent calculation
(i) Charges included
For assistance pursuant to this paragraph, the rent for the
space on which a manufactured home is located and with
respect to which assistance payments are to be made shall
include maintenance and management charges and tenant-paid
utilities.
(ii) Payment standard
The public housing agency shall establish a payment
standard for the purpose of determining the monthly
assistance that may be paid for any family under this
paragraph. The payment standard may not exceed an amount
approved or established by the Secretary.
(iii) Monthly assistance payment
The monthly assistance payment for a family assisted under
this paragraph shall be determined in accordance with
paragraph (2).
(13) PHA project-based assistance
(A) In general
A public housing agency may use amounts provided under an
annual contributions contract under this subsection to enter
into a housing assistance payment contract with respect to an
existing, newly constructed, or rehabilitated structure, that
is attached to the structure, subject to the limitations and
requirements of this paragraph.
(B) Percentage limitation
Not more than 20 percent of the funding available for tenant-
based assistance under this section that is administered by
the agency may be attached to structures pursuant to this
paragraph.
(C) Consistency with PHA plan and other goals
A public housing agency may approve a housing assistance
payment contract pursuant to this paragraph only if the
contract is consistent with -
(i) the public housing agency plan for the agency approved
under section 1437c-1 of this title; and
(ii) the goal of deconcentrating poverty and expanding
housing and economic opportunities.
(D) Income mixing requirement
(i) In general
Not more than 25 percent of the dwelling units in any
building may be assisted under a housing assistance payment
contract for project-based assistance pursuant to this
paragraph.
(ii) Exceptions
The limitation under clause (i) shall not apply in the case
of assistance under a contract for housing consisting of
single family properties or for dwelling units that are
specifically made available for households comprised of
elderly families, disabled families, and families receiving
supportive services.
(E) Resident choice requirement
A housing assistance payment contract pursuant to this
paragraph shall provide as follows:
(i) Mobility
Each low-income family occupying a dwelling unit assisted
under the contract may move from the housing at any time
after the family has occupied the dwelling unit for 12
months.
(ii) Continued assistance
Upon such a move, the public housing agency shall provide
the low-income family with tenant-based rental assistance
under this section or such other tenant-based rental
assistance that is subject to comparable income, assistance,
rent contribution, affordability, and other requirements, as
the Secretary shall provide by regulation. If such rental
assistance is not immediately available to fulfill the
requirement under the preceding sentence with respect to a
low-income family, such requirement may be met by providing
the family priority to receive the next voucher or other
tenant-based rental assistance amounts that become available
under the program used to fulfill such requirement.
(F) Contract term
A housing assistance payment contract pursuant to this
paragraph between a public housing agency and the owner of a
structure may have a term of up to 10 years, subject to the
availability of sufficient appropriated funds for the purpose
of renewing expiring contracts for assistance payments, as
provided in appropriations Acts and in the agency's annual
contributions contract with the Secretary, and to annual
compliance with the inspection requirements under paragraph
(8), except that the agency shall not be required to make
annual inspections of each assisted unit in the development.
The contract may specify additional conditions for its
continuation. If the units covered by the contract are owned by
the agency, the term of the contract shall be agreed upon by
the agency and the unit of general local government or other
entity approved by the Secretary in the manner provided under
paragraph (11).
(G) Extension of contract term
A public housing agency may enter into a contract with the
owner of a structure assisted under a housing assistance
payment contract pursuant to this paragraph to extend the term
of the underlying housing assistance payment contract for such
period as the agency determines to be appropriate to achieve
long-term affordability of the housing or to expand housing
opportunities. Such a contract shall provide that the extension
of such term shall be contingent upon the future availability
of appropriated funds for the purpose of renewing expiring
contracts for assistance payments, as provided in
appropriations Acts, and may obligate the owner to have such
extensions of the underlying housing assistance payment
contract accepted by the owner and the successors in interest
of the owner.
(H) Rent calculation
A housing assistance payment contract pursuant to this
paragraph shall establish rents for each unit assisted in an
amount that does not exceed 110 percent of the applicable fair
market rental (or any exception payment standard approved by
the Secretary pursuant to paragraph (1)(D)), except that if a
contract covers a dwelling unit that has been allocated low-
income housing tax credits pursuant to section 42 of title 26
and is not located in a qualified census tract (as such term is
defined in subsection (d) of such section 42), the rent for
such unit may be established at any level that does not exceed
the rent charged for comparable units in the building that also
receive the low-income housing tax credit but do not have
additional rental assistance. The rents established by housing
assistance payment contracts pursuant to this paragraph may
vary from the payment standards established by the public
housing agency pursuant to paragraph (1)(B), but shall be
subject to paragraph (10)(A).
(I) Rent adjustments
A housing assistance payments contract pursuant to this
paragraph shall provide for rent adjustments, except that -
(i) the adjusted rent for any unit assisted shall be
reasonable in comparison with rents charged for comparable
dwelling units in the private, unassisted, local market and
may not exceed the maximum rent permitted under subparagraph
(H); and
(ii) the provisions of subsection (c)(2)(C) of this section
shall not apply.
(J) Tenant selection
A public housing agency shall select families to receive
project-based assistance pursuant to this paragraph from its
waiting list for assistance under this subsection. Eligibility
for such project-based assistance shall be subject to the
provisions of section 1437n(b) of this title that apply to
tenant-based assistance. The agency may establish preferences
or criteria for selection for a unit assisted under this
paragraph that are consistent with the public housing agency
plan for the agency approved under section 1437c-1 of this
title. Any family that rejects an offer of project-based
assistance under this paragraph or that is rejected for
admission to a structure by the owner or manager of a structure
assisted under this paragraph shall retain its place on the
waiting list as if the offer had not been made. The owner or
manager of a structure assisted under this paragraph shall not
admit any family to a dwelling unit assisted under a contract
pursuant to this paragraph other than a family referred by the
public housing agency from its waiting list. Subject to its
waiting list policies and selection preferences, a public
housing agency may place on its waiting list a family referred
by the owner or manager of a structure and may maintain a
separate waiting list for assistance under this paragraph, but
only if all families on the agency's waiting list for
assistance under this subsection are permitted to place their
names on the separate list.
(K) Vacated units
Notwithstanding paragraph (9), a housing assistance payment
contract pursuant to this paragraph may provide as follows:
(i) Payment for vacant units
That the public housing agency may, in its discretion,
continue to provide assistance under the contract, for a
reasonable period not exceeding 60 days, for a dwelling unit
that becomes vacant, but only: (I) if the vacancy was not the
fault of the owner of the dwelling unit; and (II) the agency
and the owner take every reasonable action to minimize the
likelihood and extent of any such vacancy. Rental assistance
may not be provided for a vacant unit after the expiration of
such period.
(ii) Reduction of contract
That, if despite reasonable efforts of the agency and the
owner to fill a vacant unit, no eligible family has agreed to
rent the unit within 120 days after the owner has notified
the agency of the vacancy, the agency may reduce its housing
assistance payments contract with the owner by the amount
equivalent to the remaining months of subsidy attributable to
the vacant unit. Amounts deobligated pursuant to such a
contract provision shall be available to the agency to
provide assistance under this subsection.
Eligible applicants for assistance under this subsection may
enforce provisions authorized by this subparagraph.
(14) Inapplicability to tenant-based assistance
Subsection (c) of this section shall not apply to tenant-based
assistance under this subsection.
(15) Homeownership option
(A) In general
A public housing agency providing assistance under this
subsection may, at the option of the agency, provide assistance
for homeownership under subsection (y) of this section.
(B) Alternative administration
A public housing agency may contract with a nonprofit
organization to administer a homeownership program under
subsection (y) of this section.
(16) Rental vouchers for relocation of witnesses and victims of
crime
(A) Witnesses
Of amounts made available for assistance under this
subsection in each fiscal year, the Secretary, in consultation
with the Inspector General, shall make available such sums as
may be necessary for the relocation of witnesses in connection
with efforts to combat crime in public and assisted housing
pursuant to requests from law enforcement or prosecution
agencies.
(B) Victims of crime
(i) In general
Of amounts made available for assistance under this section
in each fiscal year, the Secretary shall make available such
sums as may be necessary for the relocation of families
residing in public housing who are victims of a crime of
violence (as that term is defined in section 16 of title 18)
that has been reported to an appropriate law enforcement
agency.
(ii) Notice
A public housing agency that receives amounts under this
subparagraph shall establish procedures for providing notice
of the availability of that assistance to families that may
be eligible for that assistance.
(17) Deed restrictions
Assistance under this subsection may not be used in any manner
that abrogates any local deed restriction that applies to any
housing consisting of 1 to 4 dwelling units. This paragraph may
not be construed to affect the provisions or applicability of the
Fair Housing Act [42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.].
(18) Rental assistance for assisted living facilities
(A) In general
A public housing agency may make assistance payments on
behalf of a family that uses an assisted living facility as a
principal place of residence and that uses such supportive
services made available in the facility as the agency may
require. Such payments may be made only for covering costs of
rental of the dwelling unit in the assisted living facility and
not for covering any portion of the cost of residing in such
facility that is attributable to service relating to assisted
living.
(B) Rent calculation
(i) Charges included
For assistance pursuant to this paragraph, the rent of the
dwelling unit that is an assisted living facility with
respect to which assistance payments are made shall include
maintenance and management charges related to the dwelling
unit and tenant-paid utilities. Such rent shall not include
any charges attributable to services relating to assisted
living.
(ii) Payment standard
In determining the monthly assistance that may be paid
under this paragraph on behalf of any family residing in an
assisted living facility, the public housing agency shall
utilize the payment standard established under paragraph (1),
for the market area in which the assisted living facility is
located, for the applicable size dwelling unit.
(iii) Monthly assistance payment
The monthly assistance payment for a family assisted under
this paragraph shall be determined in accordance with
paragraph (2) (using the rent and payment standard for the
dwelling unit as determined in accordance with this
subsection).
(C) Definition
For the purposes of this paragraph, the term "assisted living
facility" has the meaning given that term in section 232(b) of
the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715w(b)), except that such
a facility may be contained within a portion of a larger
multifamily housing project.
(19) Rental vouchers for Veterans Affairs supported housing
program
(A) Set aside
Subject to subparagraph (C), the Secretary shall set aside,
from amounts made available for rental assistance under this
subsection, the amounts specified in subparagraph (B) for use
only for providing such assistance through a supported housing
program administered in conjunction with the Department of
Veterans Affairs. Such program shall provide rental assistance
on behalf of homeless veterans who have chronic mental
illnesses or chronic substance use disorders, shall require
agreement of the veteran to continued treatment for such mental
illness or substance use disorder as a condition of receipt of
such rental assistance, and shall ensure such treatment and
appropriate case management for each veteran receiving such
rental assistance.
(B) Amount
The amount specified in this subparagraph is -
(i) for fiscal year 2003, the amount necessary to provide
500 vouchers for rental assistance under this subsection;
(ii) for fiscal year 2004, the amount necessary to provide
1,000 vouchers for rental assistance under this subsection;
(iii) for fiscal year 2005, the amount necessary to provide
1,500 vouchers for rental assistance under this subsection;
and
(iv) for fiscal year 2006, the amount necessary to provide
2,000 vouchers for rental assistance under this subsection.
(C) Funding through incremental assistance
In any fiscal year, to the extent that this paragraph
requires the Secretary to set aside rental assistance amounts
for use under this paragraph in an amount that exceeds the
amount set aside in the preceding fiscal year, such requirement
shall be effective only to such extent or in such amounts as
are or have been provided in appropriation Acts for such fiscal
year for incremental rental assistance under this subsection.
(20) Prohibited basis for termination of assistance
(A) In general
A public housing agency may not terminate assistance to a
participant in the voucher program on the basis of an incident
or incidents of actual or threatened domestic violence, dating
violence, or stalking against that participant.
(B) Construal of lease provisions
Criminal activity directly relating to domestic violence,
dating violence, or stalking shall not be considered a serious
or repeated violation of the lease by the victim or threatened
victim of that criminal activity justifying termination of
assistance to the victim or threatened victim.
(C) Termination on the basis of criminal activity
Criminal activity directly relating to domestic violence,
dating violence, or stalking shall not be considered cause for
termination of assistance for any participant or immediate
member of a participant's family who is a victim of the
domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking.
(D) Exceptions
(i) Public housing authority right to terminate for criminal
acts
Nothing in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) may be construed
to limit the authority of the public housing agency to
terminate voucher assistance to individuals who engage in
criminal acts of physical violence against family members or
others.
(ii) Compliance with court orders
Nothing in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) may be construed
to limit the authority of a public housing agency, when
notified, to honor court orders addressing rights of access
to or control of the property, including civil protection
orders issued to protect the victim and issued to address the
distribution possession of property among the household
members in cases where a family breaks up.
(iii) Public housing authority right to terminate voucher
assistance for lease violations
Nothing in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) limit (!12) any
otherwise available authority of the public housing agency to
terminate voucher assistance to a tenant for any violation of
a lease not premised on the act or acts of violence in
question against the tenant or a member of the tenant's
household, provided that the public housing agency does not
subject an individual who is or has been a victim of domestic
violence, dating violence, or stalking to a more demanding
standard than other tenants in determining whether to
terminate.
(iv) Public housing authority right to terminate voucher
assistance for imminent threat
Nothing in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) may be construed
to limit the authority of the public housing agency to
terminate voucher assistance to a tenant if the public
housing agency can demonstrate an actual and imminent threat
to other tenants or those employed at or providing service to
the property or public housing agency if that tenant is not
evicted or terminated from assistance.
(v) Preemption
Nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede any
provision of any Federal, State, or local law that provides
greater protection than this section for victims of domestic
violence, dating violence, or stalking.
(p) Shared housing for elderly and handicapped
In order to assist elderly families (as defined in section
1437a(b)(3) of this title who elect to live in a shared housing
arrangement in which they benefit as a result of sharing the
facilities of a dwelling with others in a manner that effectively
and efficiently meets their housing needs and thereby reduces their
cost of housing, the Secretary shall permit assistance provided
under the existing housing and moderate rehabilitation programs to
be used by such families in such arrangements. In carrying out this
subsection, the Secretary shall issue minimum habitability
standards for the purpose of assuring decent, safe, and sanitary
housing for such families while taking into account the special
circumstances of shared housing.
(q) Administrative fees
(1) Fee for ongoing costs of administration
(A) In general
The Secretary shall establish fees for the costs of
administering the tenant-based assistance, certificate,
voucher, and moderate rehabilitation programs under this
section.
(B) Fiscal year 1999
(i) Calculation
For fiscal year 1999, the fee for each month for which a
dwelling unit is covered by an assistance contract shall be -

(I) in the case of a public housing agency that, on an
annual basis, is administering a program for not more than
600 dwelling units, 7.65 percent of the base amount; and
(II) in the case of an agency that, on an annual basis,
is administering a program for more than 600 dwelling units
(aa) for the first 600 units, 7.65 percent of the base
amount, and (bb) for any additional dwelling units under
the program, 7.0 percent of the base amount.
(ii) Base amount
For purposes of this subparagraph, the base amount shall be
the higher of -
(I) the fair market rental established under subsection
(c) of this section (as in effect immediately before the
effective date under section 503(a) of the Quality Housing
and Work Responsibility Act of 1998) for fiscal year 1993
for a 2-bedroom existing rental dwelling unit in the market
area of the agency, and
(II) the amount that is the lesser of (aa) such fair
market rental for fiscal year 1994, or (bb) 103.5 percent
of the amount determined under clause (i),
adjusted based on changes in wage data or other objectively
measurable data that reflect the costs of administering the
program, as determined by the Secretary. The Secretary may
require that the base amount be not less than a minimum
amount and not more than a maximum amount.
(C) Subsequent fiscal years
For subsequent fiscal years, the Secretary shall publish a
notice in the Federal Register, for each geographic area,
establishing the amount of the fee that would apply for public
housing agencies administering the program, based on changes in
wage data or other objectively measurable data that reflect the
costs of administering the program, as determined by the
Secretary.
(D) Increase
The Secretary may increase the fee if necessary to reflect
the higher costs of administering small programs and programs
operating over large geographic areas.
(E) Decrease
The Secretary may decrease the fee for units owned by a
public housing agency to reflect reasonable costs of
administration.
(2) Fee for preliminary expenses
The Secretary shall also establish reasonable fees (as
determined by the Secretary) for -
(A) the costs of preliminary expenses, in the amount of $500,
for a public housing agency, except that such fee shall apply
to an agency only in the first year that the agency administers
a tenant-based assistance program under this section, and only
if, immediately before the effective date under section 503(a)
of the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998, the
agency was not administering a tenant-based assistance program
under this chapter (as in effect immediately before such
effective date), in connection with its initial increment of
assistance received;
(B) the costs incurred in assisting families who experience
difficulty (as determined by the Secretary) in obtaining
appropriate housing under the programs; and
(C) extraordinary costs approved by the Secretary.
(3) Transfer of fees in cases of concurrent geographical
jurisdiction
In each fiscal year, if any public housing agency provides
tenant-based assistance under this section on behalf of a family
who uses such assistance for a dwelling unit that is located
within the jurisdiction of such agency but is also within the
jurisdiction of another public housing agency, the Secretary
shall take such steps as may be necessary to ensure that the
public housing agency that provides the services for a family
receives all or part of the administrative fee under this section
(as appropriate).
(4) Applicability
This subsection shall apply to fiscal year 1999 and fiscal
years thereafter.
(r) Portability
(1) In general. - (A) Any family receiving tenant-based
assistance under subsection (o) of this section may receive such
assistance to rent an eligible dwelling unit if the dwelling unit
to which the family moves is within any area in which a program is
being administered under this section.
(B)(i) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A) and subject to any
exceptions established under clause (ii) of this subparagraph, a
public housing agency may require that any family not living within
the jurisdiction of the public housing agency at the time the
family applies for assistance from the agency shall, during the 12-
month period beginning on the date of initial receipt of housing
assistance made available on behalf of the family from such agency,
lease and occupy an eligible dwelling unit located within the
jurisdiction served by the agency.
(ii) The Secretary may establish such exceptions to the authority
of public housing agencies established under clause (i).
(2) The public housing agency having authority with respect to
the dwelling unit to which a family moves under this subsection
shall have the responsibility of carrying out the provisions of
this subsection with respect to the family.
(3) In providing assistance under subsection (o) of this section
for any fiscal year, the Secretary shall give consideration to any
reduction in the number of resident families incurred by a public
housing agency in the preceding fiscal year as a result of the
provisions of this subsection. The Secretary shall establish
procedures for the compensation of public housing agencies that
issue vouchers to families that move into or out of the
jurisdiction of the public housing agency under portability
procedures. The Secretary may reserve amounts available for
assistance under subsection (o) of this section to compensate those
public housing agencies.
(4) The provisions of this subsection may not be construed to
restrict any authority of the Secretary under any other provision
of law to provide for the portability of assistance under this
section.
(5) Lease violations. - A family may not receive a voucher from a
public housing agency and move to another jurisdiction under the
tenant-based assistance program if the family has moved out of the
assisted dwelling unit of the family in violation of a lease,
except that a family may receive a voucher from a public housing
agency and move to another jurisdiction under the tenant-based
assistance program if the family has complied with all other
obligations of the section 8 [42 U.S.C. 1437f] program and has
moved out of the assisted dwelling unit in order to protect the
health or safety of an individual who is or has been the victim of
domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking and who reasonably
believed he or she was imminently threatened by harm from further
violence if he or she remained in the assisted dwelling unit.
(s) Prohibition of denial of certificates and vouchers to residents
of public housing
In selecting families for the provision of assistance under this
section (including subsection (o) of this section), a public
housing agency may not exclude or penalize a family solely because
the family resides in a public housing project.
(t) Enhanced vouchers
(1) In general
Enhanced voucher assistance under this subsection for a family
shall be voucher assistance under subsection (o) of this section,
except that under such enhanced voucher assistance -
(A) subject only to subparagraph (D), the assisted family
shall pay as rent no less than the amount the family was paying
on the date of the eligibility event for the project in which
the family was residing on such date;
(B) the assisted family may elect to remain in the same
project in which the family was residing on the date of the
eligibility event for the project, and if, during any period
the family makes such an election and continues to so reside,
the rent for the dwelling unit of the family in such project
exceeds the applicable payment standard established pursuant to
subsection (o) of this section for the unit, the amount of
rental assistance provided on behalf of the family shall be
determined using a payment standard that is equal to the rent
for the dwelling unit (as such rent may be increased from time-
to-time), subject to paragraph (10)(A) of subsection (o) of
this section and any other reasonable limit prescribed by the
Secretary, except that a limit shall not be considered
reasonable for purposes of this subparagraph if it adversely
affects such assisted families;
(C) subparagraph (B) of this paragraph shall not apply and
the payment standard for the dwelling unit occupied by the
family shall be determined in accordance with subsection (o) of
this section if -
(i) the assisted family moves, at any time, from such
project; or
(ii) the voucher is made available for use by any family
other than the original family on behalf of whom the voucher
was provided; and
(D) if the income of the assisted family declines to a
significant extent, the percentage of income paid by the family
for rent shall not exceed the greater of 30 percent or the
percentage of income paid at the time of the eligibility event
for the project.
(2) Eligibility event
For purposes of this subsection, the term "eligibility event"
means, with respect to a multifamily housing project, the
prepayment of the mortgage on such housing project, the voluntary
termination of the insurance contract for the mortgage for such
housing project (including any such mortgage prepayment during
fiscal year 1996 or a fiscal year thereafter or any insurance
contract voluntary termination during fiscal year 1996 or a
fiscal year thereafter), the termination or expiration of the
contract for rental assistance under this section for such
housing project (including any such termination or expiration
during fiscal years after fiscal year 1994 prior to the effective
date of the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban
Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001),
or the transaction under which the project is preserved as
affordable housing, that, under paragraphs (3) and (4) of section
515(c), section 524(d) of the Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform
and Affordability Act of 1997 (42 U.S.C. 1437f note), section
4113(f) of title 12, or section 1715z-1a(p) of title 12, results
in tenants in such housing project being eligible for enhanced
voucher assistance under this subsection.
(3) Treatment of enhanced vouchers provided under other authority
(A) In general
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any enhanced
voucher assistance provided under any authority specified in
subparagraph (B) shall (regardless of the date that the amounts
for providing such assistance were made available) be treated,
and subject to the same requirements, as enhanced voucher
assistance under this subsection.
(B) Identification of other authority
The authority specified in this subparagraph is the authority
under -
(i) the 10th, 11th, and 12th provisos under the "Preserving
Existing Housing Investment" account in title II of the
Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban
Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act,
1997 (Public Law 104-204; 110 Stat. 2884), pursuant to such
provisos, the first proviso under the "Housing Certificate
Fund" account in title II of the Departments of Veterans
Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent
Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998 (Public Law 105-65; 111
Stat. 1351), or the first proviso under the "Housing
Certificate Fund" account in title II of the Departments of
Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and
Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 (Public Law 105-
276; 112 Stat. 2469); and
(ii) paragraphs (3) and (4) of section 515(c) of the
Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act of
1997 (42 U.S.C. 1437f note), as in effect before October 20,
1999.
(4) Authorization of appropriations
There are authorized to be appropriated for each of fiscal
years 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004 such sums as may be
necessary for enhanced voucher assistance under this subsection.
(u) Assistance for residents of rental rehabilitation projects
In the case of low-income families living in rental projects
rehabilitated under section 1437o (!13) of this title or section
1490m of this title before rehabilitation -
(1) vouchers under this section shall be made for families who
are required to move out of their units because of the physical
rehabilitation activities or because of overcrowding;
(2) at the discretion of each public housing agency or other
agency administering the allocation of assistance or vouchers
under this section may be made for families who would have to pay
more than 30 percent of their adjusted income for rent after
rehabilitation whether they choose to remain in, or to move from,
the project; and
(3) the Secretary shall allocate assistance for vouchers under
this section to ensure that sufficient resources are available to
address the physical or economic displacement, or potential
economic displacement, of existing tenants pursuant to paragraphs
(1) and (2).
(v) Extension of expiring contracts
The Secretary may extend expiring contracts entered into under
this section for project-based loan management assistance to the
extent necessary to prevent displacement of low-income families
receiving such assistance as of September 30, 1996.
(w) Repealed. Pub. L. 106-74, title V, Sec. 531(d)(2), Oct. 20,
1999, 113 Stat. 1116
(x) Family unification
(1) Increase in budget authority
The budget authority available under section 1437c(c) of this
title for assistance under subsection (b) of this section is
authorized to be increased by $100,000,000 on or after October 1,
1992, and by $104,200,000 on or after October 1, 1993.
(2) Use of funds
The amounts made available under this subsection shall be used
only in connection with tenant-based assistance under this
section on behalf of (A) any family (i) who is otherwise eligible
for such assistance, and (ii) who the public child welfare agency
for the jurisdiction has certified is a family for whom the lack
of adequate housing is a primary factor in the imminent placement
of the family's child or children in out-of-home care or the
delayed discharge of a child or children to the family from out-
of-home care and (B) for a period not to exceed 18 months,
otherwise eligible youths who have attained at least 18 years of
age and not more than 21 years of age and who have left foster
care at age 16 or older.
(3) Allocation
The amounts made available under this subsection shall be
allocated by the Secretary through a national competition among
applicants based on demonstrated need for the assistance under
this subsection. To be considered for assistance, an applicant
shall submit to the Secretary a written proposal containing a
report from the public child welfare agency serving the
jurisdiction of the applicant that describes how a lack of
adequate housing in the jurisdiction is resulting in the initial
or prolonged separation of children from their families, and how
the applicant will coordinate with the public child welfare
agency to identify eligible families and provide the families
with assistance under this subsection.
(4) Definitions
For purposes of this subsection:
(A) Applicant
The term "applicant" means a public housing agency or any
other agency responsible for administering assistance under
this section.
(B) Public child welfare agency
The term "public child welfare agency" means the public
agency responsible under applicable State law for determining
that a child is at imminent risk of placement in out-of-home
care or that a child in out-of-home care under the supervision
of the public agency may be returned to his or her family.
(y) Homeownership option
(1) Use of assistance for homeownership
A public housing agency providing tenant-based assistance on
behalf of an eligible family under this section may provide
assistance for an eligible family that purchases a dwelling unit
(including a unit under a lease-purchase agreement) that will be
owned by 1 or more members of the family, and will be occupied by
the family, if the family -
(A) is a first-time homeowner, or owns or is acquiring shares
in a cooperative;
(B) demonstrates that the family has income from employment
or other sources (other than public assistance, except that the
Secretary may provide for the consideration of public
assistance in the case of an elderly family or a disabled
family), as determined in accordance with requirements of the
Secretary, that is not less than twice the payment standard
established by the public housing agency (or such other amount
as may be established by the Secretary);
(C) except as provided by the Secretary, demonstrates at the
time the family initially receives tenant-based assistance
under this subsection that one or more adult members of the
family have achieved employment for the period as the Secretary
shall require;
(D) participates in a homeownership and housing counseling
program provided by the agency; and
(E) meets any other initial or continuing requirements
established by the public housing agency in accordance with
requirements established by the Secretary.
(2) Determination of amount of assistance
(A) Monthly expenses not exceeding payment standard
If the monthly homeownership expenses, as determined in
accordance with requirements established by the Secretary, do
not exceed the payment standard, the monthly assistance payment
shall be the amount by which the homeownership expenses exceed
the highest of the following amounts, rounded to the nearest
dollar:
(i) 30 percent of the monthly adjusted income of the
family.
(ii) 10 percent of the monthly income of the family.
(iii) If the family is receiving payments for welfare
assistance from a public agency, and a portion of those
payments, adjusted in accordance with the actual housing
costs of the family, is specifically designated by that
agency to meet the housing costs of the family, the portion
of those payments that is so designated.
(B) Monthly expenses exceed payment standard
If the monthly homeownership expenses, as determined in
accordance with requirements established by the Secretary,
exceed the payment standard, the monthly assistance payment
shall be the amount by which the applicable payment standard
exceeds the highest of the amounts under clauses (i), (ii), and
(iii) of subparagraph (A).
(3) Inspections and contract conditions
(A) In general
Each contract for the purchase of a unit to be assisted under
this section shall -
(i) provide for pre-purchase inspection of the unit by an
independent professional; and
(ii) require that any cost of necessary repairs be paid by
the seller.
(B) Annual inspections not required
The requirement under subsection (o)(8)(A)(ii) (!14) of this
section for annual inspections shall not apply to units
assisted under this section.
(4) Other authority of the Secretary
The Secretary may -
(A) limit the term of assistance for a family assisted under
this subsection; and
(B) modify the requirements of this subsection as the
Secretary determines to be necessary to make appropriate
adaptations for lease-purchase agreements.
(5) Inapplicability of certain provisions
Assistance under this subsection shall not be subject to the
requirements of the following provisions:
(A) Subsection (c)(3)(B) (!14) of this section.
(B) Subsection (d)(1)(B)(i) of this section.
(C) Any other provisions of this section governing maximum
amounts payable to owners and amounts payable by assisted
families.
(D) Any other provisions of this section concerning contracts
between public housing agencies and owners.
(E) Any other provisions of this chapter that are
inconsistent with the provisions of this subsection.
(6) Reversion to rental status
(A) FHA-insured mortgages
If a family receiving assistance under this subsection for
occupancy of a dwelling defaults under a mortgage for the
dwelling insured by the Secretary under the National Housing
Act [12 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.], the family may not continue to
receive rental assistance under this section unless the family
(i) transfers to the Secretary marketable title to the
dwelling, (ii) moves from the dwelling within the period
established or approved by the Secretary, and (iii) agrees that
any amounts the family is required to pay to reimburse the
escrow account under section 1437u(d)(3) (!14) of this title
may be deducted by the public housing agency from the
assistance payment otherwise payable on behalf of the family.
(B) Other mortgages
If a family receiving assistance under this subsection
defaults under a mortgage not insured under the National
Housing Act [12 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.], the family may not
continue to receive rental assistance under this section unless
it complies with requirements established by the Secretary.
(C) All mortgages
A family receiving assistance under this subsection that
defaults under a mortgage may not receive assistance under this
subsection for occupancy of another dwelling owned by one or
more members of the family.
(7) Downpayment assistance
(A) Authority
A public housing agency may, in lieu of providing monthly
assistance payments under this subsection on behalf of a family
eligible for such assistance and at the discretion of the
public housing agency, provide assistance for the family in the
form of a single grant to be used only as a contribution toward
the downpayment required in connection with the purchase of a
dwelling for fiscal year 2000 and each fiscal year thereafter
to the extent provided in advance in appropriations Acts.
(B) Amount
The amount of a downpayment grant on behalf of an assisted
family may not exceed the amount that is equal to the sum of
the assistance payments that would be made during the first
year of assistance on behalf of the family, based upon the
income of the family at the time the grant is to be made.
(8) "First-time homeowner" defined
For purposes of this subsection, the term "first-time
homeowner" means -
(A) a family, no member of which has had a present ownership
interest in a principal residence during the 3 years preceding
the date on which the family initially receives assistance for
homeownership under this subsection; and
(B) any other family, as the Secretary may prescribe.
(z) Termination of section 1437f contracts and reuse of recaptured
budget authority
(1) General authority
The Secretary may reuse any budget authority, in whole or part,
that is recaptured on account of expiration or termination of a
housing assistance payments contract only for one or more of the
following:
(A) Tenant-based assistance
Pursuant to a contract with a public housing agency, to
provide tenant-based assistance under this section to families
occupying units formerly assisted under the terminated
contract.
(B) Project-based assistance
Pursuant to a contract with an owner, to attach assistance to
one or more structures under this section, for relocation of
families occupying units formerly assisted under the terminated
contract.
(2) Families occupying units formerly assisted under terminated
contract
Pursuant to paragraph (1), the Secretary shall first make
available tenant- or project-based assistance to families
occupying units formerly assisted under the terminated contract.
The Secretary shall provide project-based assistance in instances
only where the use of tenant-based assistance is determined to be
infeasible by the Secretary.
(aa) Omitted
(bb) Transfer, reuse, and rescission of budget authority
(1) Transfer of budget authority
If an assistance contract under this section, other than a
contract for tenant-based assistance, is terminated or is not
renewed, or if the contract expires, the Secretary shall, in
order to provide continued assistance to eligible families,
including eligible families receiving the benefit of the project-
based assistance at the time of the termination, transfer any
budget authority remaining in the contract to another contract.
The transfer shall be under such terms as the Secretary may
prescribe.
(2) Reuse and rescission of certain recaptured budget authority
Notwithstanding paragraph (1), if a project-based assistance
contract for an eligible multifamily housing project subject to
actions authorized under this subchapter is terminated or amended
as part of restructuring under section 517 of the Multifamily
Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act of 1997, the
Secretary shall recapture the budget authority not required for
the terminated or amended contract and use such amounts as are
necessary to provide housing assistance for the same number of
families covered by such contract for the remaining term of such
contract, under a contract providing for project-based or tenant-
based assistance. The amount of budget authority saved as a
result of the shift to project-based or tenant-based assistance
shall be rescinded.
(cc) Law enforcement and security personnel
(1) In general
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, in the
case of assistance attached to a structure, for the purpose of
increasing security for the residents of a project, an owner may
admit, and assistance under this section may be provided to,
police officers and other security personnel who are not
otherwise eligible for assistance under the chapter.
(2) Rent requirements
With respect to any assistance provided by an owner under this
subsection, the Secretary may -
(A) permit the owner to establish such rent requirements and
other terms and conditions of occupancy that the Secretary
considers to be appropriate; and
(B) require the owner to submit an application for those rent
requirements, which application shall include such information
as the Secretary, in the discretion of the Secretary,
determines to be necessary.
(3) Applicability
This subsection shall apply to fiscal year 1999 and fiscal
years thereafter.
(dd) Tenant-based contract renewals
Subject to amounts provided in appropriation Acts, starting in
fiscal year 1999, the Secretary shall renew all expiring tenant-
based annual contribution contracts under this section by applying
an inflation factor based on local or regional factors to an
allocation baseline. The allocation baseline shall be calculated by
including, at a minimum, amounts sufficient to ensure continued
assistance for the actual number of families assisted as of October
1, 1997, with appropriate upward adjustments for incremental
assistance and additional families authorized subsequent to that
date.
(ee) Certification and confidentiality
(1) Certification
(A) In general
An owner, manager, or public housing agency responding to
subsections (c)(9), (d)(1)(B)(ii), (d)(1)(B)(iii), (o)(7)(C),
(o)(7)(D), (o)(20), and (r)(5) of this section may request that
an individual certify via a HUD approved certification form
that the individual is a victim of domestic violence, dating
violence, or stalking, and that the incident or incidents in
question are bona fide incidents of such actual or threatened
abuse and meet the requirements set forth in the aforementioned
paragraphs. Such certification shall include the name of the
perpetrator. The individual shall provide such certification
within 14 business days after the owner, manager, or public
housing agency requests such certification.
(B) Failure to provide certification
If the individual does not provide the certification within
14 business days after the owner, manager, public housing
agency, or assisted housing provider has requested such
certification in writing, nothing in this subsection or in
subsection (c)(9), (d)(1)(B)(ii), (d)(1)(B)(iii), (o)(7)(C),
(o)(7)(D), (o)(20), or (r)(5) of this section may be construed
to limit the authority of an owner or manager to evict, or the
public housing agency or assisted housing provider to terminate
voucher assistance for, any tenant or lawful occupant that
commits violations of a lease. The owner, manager, public
housing agency, or assisted housing provider may extend the 14-
day deadline at their discretion.
(C) Contents
An individual may satisfy the certification requirement of
subparagraph (A) by -
(i) providing the requesting owner, manager, or public
housing agency with documentation signed by an employee,
agent, or volunteer of a victim service provider, an
attorney, or a medical professional, from whom the victim has
sought assistance in addressing domestic violence, dating
violence, sexual assault, or stalking, or the effects of the
abuse, in which the professional attests under penalty of
perjury (28 U.S.C. 1746) to the professional's belief that
the incident or incidents in question are bona fide incidents
of abuse, and the victim of domestic violence, dating
violence, or stalking has signed or attested to the
documentation; or
(ii) producing a Federal, State, tribal, territorial, or
local police or court record.
(D) Limitation
Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to require an
owner, manager, or public housing agency to demand that an
individual produce official documentation or physical proof of
the individual's status as a victim of domestic violence,
dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking in order to
receive any of the benefits provided in this section. At their
discretion, the owner, manager, or public housing agency may
provide benefits to an individual based solely on the
individual's statement or other corroborating evidence.
(E) Compliance not sufficient to constitute evidence of
unreasonable act
Compliance with this statute by an owner, manager, public
housing agency, or assisted housing provider based on the
certification specified in paragraphs (1)(A) and (B) of this
subsection or based solely on the victim's statement or other
corroborating evidence, as permitted by paragraph (1)(C) of
this subsection, shall not alone be sufficient to constitute
evidence of an unreasonable act or omission by an owner,
manger, public housing agency, or assisted housing provider, or
employee thereof. Nothing in this subparagraph shall be
construed to limit liability for failure to comply with the
requirements of subsection (c)(9), (d)(1)(B)(ii),
(d)(1)(B)(iii), (o)(7)(C), (o)(7)(D), (o)(20), or (r)(5) of
this section.
(F) Preemption
Nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede any
provision of any Federal, State, or local law that provides
greater protection than this section for victims of domestic
violence, dating violence, or stalking.
(2) Confidentiality
(A) In general
All information provided to an owner, manager, or public
housing agency pursuant to paragraph (1), including the fact
that an individual is a victim of domestic violence, dating
violence, or stalking, shall be retained in confidence by an
owner, manager, or public housing agency, and shall neither be
entered into any shared database nor provided to any related
entity, except to the extent that disclosure is -
(i) requested or consented to by the individual in writing;
(ii) required for use in an eviction proceeding under
subsection (c)(9), (d)(1)(B(ii), (d)(1)(B)(iii), (o)(7)(C),
(o)(7)(D), or (o)(20) of this section,; (!15) or
(iii) otherwise required by applicable law.
(B) Notification
Public housing agencies must provide notice to tenants
assisted under this section of their rights under this
subsection and subsections (c)(9), (d)(1)(B(ii),
(d)(1)(B)(iii), (o)(7)(C), (o)(7)(D), (o)(20), and (r)(5) of
this section, including their right to confidentiality and the
limits thereof, and to owners and managers of their rights and
obligations under this subsection and subsections (c)(9),
(d)(1)(B(ii), (d)(1)(B)(iii), (o)(7)(C), (o)(7)(D), (o)(20),
and (r)(5) of this section.