|
have been
unable to locate sufficient tenants in this |
lower income range. Income eligibility for units supported |
by grants to local administering agencies must be verified |
annually by landlords and submitted to local administering |
agencies. Tenants
must have sufficient income to be able |
to afford the tenant's share of the
rent. For grants |
awarded under Section 20, eligibility for tenancy in units
|
supported by grants must be limited to households with a |
gross income at or
below
30% of area median family income |
for the area in which the grant will be made. Fifty percent |
of the units that are supported by any grant must be set |
aside for households whose income is at or below 15% of the |
median family income for the area in which the grant will |
be made, provided that developers may negotiate |
flexibility in this set-aside with the Authority or |
municipality as defined in subsection (b) of Section 10 if |
it demonstrates that it has been unable to locate |
sufficient tenants in this lower income range.
The |
Authority shall determine what sources qualify as a |
tenant's income. Once a tenant has received assistance |
under the Program, the tenant shall remain eligible for |
assistance under the Program until the tenant reaches an |
income level of 35% of area median family income and will |
then begin the transition out of the Program, as described |
in the rules governing the Program.
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(2) Local administering agencies should must include |
|
2-bedroom, 3-bedroom,
and 4-bedroom units among those |
intended to be supported by grants
under the Program. In |
grants under Section 15, the precise number of
these units |
among all the units intended to be supported by a grant |
must be
based on need in the community for larger units and |
other factors that the
Authority specifies in rules. The |
local administering agency must specify
the basis for the |
numbers of these units that are proposed for support under
|
a grant. Local administering agencies must make a good |
faith effort to
comply with this allocation of unit sizes. |
In grants awarded under Section
20, developers and the |
Authority or municipality, as defined in subsection (b) of |
Section 10, shall negotiate the numbers and sizes of
units |
to be built in a project and supported by the grant.
|
(3) Under grants awarded under Section 15, local |
administering agencies
must enter into a payment contract |
with the landlord that defines the method of payment and |
must pay subsidies to landlords on a quarterly basis and |
in advance of the
quarter paid for.
|
(4) Local administering agencies and developers must |
specify how
vacancies in units supported by a grant must |
be advertised and they must include provisions for |
outreach to local
homeless shelters, organizations that |
work with people with disabilities,
and others interested |
in affordable housing.
|
(5) The local administering agency or developer must |
|
establish a schedule
for the tenant's rental obligation |
for units supported by a grant. The
tenant's share of the |
rent must be a flat amount, calculated annually, based on |
the size of the
unit and the household's income category. |
In establishing the schedule for
the tenant's rental |
obligation, the local administering agency or developer
|
must use 30% of gross income within an income range as a |
guide, and it
may charge an additional or lesser amount.
|
(6) The amount of the subsidy provided under a grant |
for a unit must be
the difference between the amount of the |
tenant's obligation and the total
amount of rent for the
|
unit. The total amount of rent for the unit must be |
negotiated between the
local
administering authority and |
the landlord under Section 15, or between the
Authority or |
municipality, as defined in subsection (b) of Section 10, |
and the developer under Section 20, using comparable rents |
for units of comparable size and condition in the |
surrounding community as a guideline.
|
(7) Local administering agencies and developers, |
pursuant to criteria
the
Authority develops in rules, must |
ensure that there are procedures in place
to maintain the |
safety and habitability of units supported under grants. |
Local administering agencies must inspect
units before |
supporting them under a grant awarded under Section 15.
|
(8) Local administering agencies must provide or |
ensure that tenants are
provided with a "bill of rights" |
|
with their lease setting forth local
landlord-tenant laws |
and procedures and contact information for the local
|
administering agency.
|
(9) A local administering agency must create
a plan |
detailing a process for helping
to provide information, |
when necessary, on how to access education, training, and |
other
supportive services to tenants living in units |
supported under the grant. The
plan must be
submitted as a |
part of the administering agency's proposal to the |
Authority
required under
Section 15.
|
(10) Local administering agencies and developers may |
not use funding under
the
grant to develop or support |
housing that requires that a tenant has a particular |
diagnosis or type of disability as a condition of |
eligibility for occupancy unless the requirement is |
mandated by another funding source for the housing. Local |
administering agencies and developers may use grant |
funding to develop integrated housing opportunities for |
persons with disabilities, but not housing restricted to a |
specific disability type.
|
(11) In order to plan for periodic fluctuations in |
annual receipts on deposit appropriated to the Fund each |
year, the Authority shall establish by rule a mechanism |
for establishing a reserve fund and the level of funding |
that shall be held in reserve either by the Authority or by |
local administering agencies.
|