§ 576.408 - Displacement, relocation, and acquisition.

§ 576.408 Displacement, relocation, and acquisition.

(a) Minimizing displacement. Consistent with the other goals and objectives of Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), the recipient and its subrecipients must assure that they have taken all reasonable steps to minimize the displacement of persons (families, individuals, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and farms) as a result of a project assisted under Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG).

(b) Temporary relocation not permitted. No tenant-occupant of housing (a dwelling unit) that is converted into an emergency shelter may be required to relocate temporarily for a project assisted with ESG funds, or be required to move to another unit in the same building/complex. When a tenant moves for a project assisted with ESG funds under conditions that trigger the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970 (URA), 42 U.S.C. 4601-4655, as described in paragraph (c) of this section, the tenant should be treated as permanently displaced and offered relocation assistance and payments consistent with that paragraph.

(c) Relocation assistance for displaced persons.

(1) In general. A displaced person (defined in paragraph (c)(2) of this section) must be provided relocation assistance at the levels described in, and in accordance with, the URA and 49 CFR part 24. A displaced person must be advised of his or her rights under the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.). Whenever possible, minority persons shall be given reasonable opportunities to relocate to comparable and suitable decent, safe, and sanitary replacement dwellings, not located in an area of minority concentration, that are within their financial means. This policy, however, does not require providing a person a larger payment than is necessary to enable a person to relocate to a comparable replacement dwelling. (See 49 CFR 24.205(c)(2)(ii)(D).) As required by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. 794) and 49 CFR part 24, replacement dwellings must also contain the accessibility features needed by displaced persons with disabilities.

(2) Displaced Person.

(i) For purposes of paragraph (c) of this section, the term “displaced person” means any person (family, individual, business, nonprofit organization, or farm, including any corporation, partnership, or association) that moves from real property, or moves personal property from real property, permanently, as a direct result of acquisition, rehabilitation, or demolition for a project assisted under the ESG program. This includes any permanent, involuntary move for an assisted project, including any permanent move from the real property that is made:

(A) After the owner (or person in control of the site) issues a notice to move permanently from the property or refuses to renew an expiring lease, if the move occurs on or after:

(I) The date of the submission by the recipient (or subrecipient, as applicable) of an application for assistance to HUD (or the recipient, as applicable) that is later approved and funded if the recipient (or subrecipient, as applicable) has site control as evidenced by a deed, sales contract, or option contract to acquire the property; or

(II) The date on which the recipient (or subrecipient, as applicable) selects the applicable site, if the recipient (or subrecipient, as applicable) does not have site control at the time of the application, provided that the recipient (or subrecipient, as applicable) eventually obtains control over the site;

(B) Before the date described in paragraph (c)(2)(i)(A) of this section, if the recipient or HUD determines that the displacement resulted directly from acquisition, rehabilitation, or demolition for the project; or

(C) By a tenant-occupant of a dwelling unit and the tenant moves after execution of the agreement covering the acquisition, rehabilitation, or demolition of the property for the project.

(ii) Notwithstanding paragraph (c)(2)(i) of this section, a person does not qualify as a displaced person if:

(A) The person has been evicted for cause based upon a serious or repeated violation of the terms and conditions of the lease or occupancy agreement; violation of applicable Federal, State or local law, or other good cause; and the recipient determines that the eviction was not undertaken for the purpose of evading the obligation to provide relocation assistance.

(B) The person moved into the property after the submission of the application but, before signing a lease and commencing occupancy, was provided written notice of the project, its possible impact on the person (e.g., the person may be displaced), and the fact that the person would not qualify as a “displaced person” (or for any assistance under this section) as a result of the project;

(C) The person is ineligible under 49 CFR 24.2(a)(9)(ii); or

(D) HUD determines that the person was not displaced as a direct result of acquisition, rehabilitation, or demolition for the project.

(iii) The recipient or subrecipient may, at any time, request that HUD to determine whether a displacement is or would be covered by this rule.

(3) Initiation of negotiations. For purposes of determining the type of replacement housing payment assistance to be provided to a displaced person pursuant to this section:

(i) If the displacement is the direct result of privately undertaken rehabilitation, demolition, or acquisition of the real property, “initiation of negotiations” means the execution of the agreement between the recipient and the subrecipient or the agreement between the recipient (or subrecipient, as applicable) and the person owning or controlling the property;

(ii) If site control is only evidenced by an option contract to acquire the property, the “initiation of negotiations” does not become effective until the execution of a written agreement that creates a legally enforceable commitment to proceed with the purchase, such as a sales contract.

(d) Real property acquisition requirements. The acquisition of real property, whether funded privately or publicly, for a project assisted with Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) funds is subject to the URA and Federal governmentwide regulations at 49 CFR part 24, subpart B.

(e) Appeals. A person who disagrees with the recipient's (or subrecipient's, if applicable) determination concerning whether the person qualifies as a displaced person, or the amount of relocation assistance for which the person may be eligible, may file a written appeal of that determination with the recipient under 49 CFR 24.10. A low-income person who disagrees with the recipient's determination may submit a written request for review of that determination by the appropriate HUD field office.