§ 572.145 - Displacement prohibited; protection of nonpurchasing residents.

(a) Displacement prohibited. (1) No person may be displaced from his or her dwelling as a direct result of a homeownership program under this part. This does not preclude terminations of tenancy for violation of the terms of occupancy of the unit. Each resident of an eligible property on the date the application for an implementation grant was submitted to HUD and each resident at the time the property is selected must be given an opportunity to become a homeowner under this program if the resident qualifies as an eligible family and meets other program requirements. If the resident does not qualify or does not elect to move, the property is not eligible. The protections provided to residents under this section do not apply to the former owner of the property if the property is acquired from him or her as a result of a tax or mortgage foreclosure.

(2) In addition to any applicable sanctions under the grant agreement, a violation of paragraph (a)(1) of this section may trigger a requirement to provide relocation assistance in accordance with the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970 and governmentwide implementing regulations at 49 CFR part 24.

(b) Relocation assistance for residents who elect to move. The recipient must offer each nonpurchasing resident who elects to move relocation assistance in accordance with the approved homeownership program. The program must provide, at least, the following assistance:

(1) Advisory services, including timely information, counseling (including the provision of information on a resident's rights under the Fair Housing Act), and referrals to suitable, affordable, decent, safe, and sanitary alternative housing;

(2) Payment for actual, reasonable moving expenses; and

(3) Financial assistance sufficient to permit relocation to suitable, affordable, decent, safe, and sanitary housing. This requirement is met if the family is provided the opportunity to relocate to suitable, decent, safe, and sanitary housing for which the monthly rent and estimated average utility costs do not exceed the greater of 30 percent of the person's income or the person's monthly rent before relocation and the estimated average monthly utility costs. The homeownership program must specify the period for which replacement housing assistance will be provided to persons who do not receive assistance through a Section 8 rental certificate or voucher or other housing program subsidy.

(c) Temporary relocation. The recipient must provide each resident of an eligible property, who is required to relocate temporarily to permit work to be carried out, with suitable, decent, safe, and sanitary housing for the temporary period and must reimburse the resident for all reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred in connection with the temporary relocation, including the costs of moving to and from the temporarily occupied housing and any increase in monthly costs of rent and utilities.

(d) Notice of relocation assistance. As soon as feasible, each recipient must give each resident of an eligible property a written description of the applicable provisions of this section.