§ 950.305 - Federal preference: involuntary displacement.

(a) How applicant qualifies for displacement preference. (1) An applicant qualifies for a Federal preference on the basis of involuntary displacement if either of the following apply:

(i) The applicant has been involuntarily displaced and is not living in standard, permanent replacement housing; or

(ii) The applicant will be involuntarily displaced within no more than six months from the date of preference status certification by the family or verification by the IHA.

(2) (i) “Standard, permanent replacement housing” is housing:

(A) That is decent, safe, and sanitary;

(B) That is adequate for the family size; and

(C) That the family is occupying pursuant to a lease or occupancy agreement.

(ii) “Standard, permanent replacement housing” does not include:

(A) Transient facilities, such as motels, hotels, or temporary shelters for victims of domestic violence or homeless families; or

(B) In the case of domestic violence, the housing unit in which the applicant and the applicant's spouse or other member of the household who engages in such violence live.

(b) Meaning of involuntary displacement. An applicant is or will be involuntarily displaced if the applicant has vacated or will have to vacate the unit where the applicant lives because of one or more of the following:

(1) Displacement by disaster. An applicant's unit is uninhabitable because of a disaster, such as a fire or flood.

(2) Displacement by government action. Activity carried on by an agency of the United States or by any State or local governmental body or agency in connection with code enforcement or a public improvement or development program.

(3) Displacement by action of housing owner. (i) Action by a housing owner forces the applicant to vacate its unit.

(ii) An applicant does not qualify as involuntarily displaced because action by a housing owner forces the applicant to vacate its unit unless:

(A) The applicant cannot control or prevent the owner's action;

(B) The owner action occurs although the applicant met all previously imposed conditions of occupancy; and

(C) The action taken by the owner is other than a rent increase.

(iii) To qualify as involuntarily displaced because action by a housing owner forces the applicant to vacate its unit, reasons for an applicant's having to vacate a housing unit include, but are not limited to, conversion of an applicant's housing unit to nonrental or nonresidential use; closing of an applicant's housing unit for rehabilitation or for any other reason; notice to an applicant that the applicant shall vacate a unit because the owner wants the unit for the owner's personal or family use or occupancy; sale of a housing unit in which an applicant resides under an agreement that the unit shall be vacant when possession is transferred; or any other legally authorized act that results or will result in the withdrawal by the owner of the unit or structure from the rental market.

(iv) Such reasons do not include the vacating of a unit by a tenant as a result of actions taken by the owner because the tenant refuses:

(A) To comply with HUD program policies and procedures for the occupancy of underoccupied or overcrowded units; or

(B) To accept a transfer to another housing unit in accordance with a court decree or in accordance with policies and procedures under a HUD-approved desegregation plan.

(4) Displacement by domestic violence. (i) An applicant is involuntarily displaced if:

(A) The applicant has vacated a housing unit because of domestic violence; or

(B) The applicant lives in a housing unit with a person who engages in domestic violence.

(ii) “Domestic violence” means actual or threatened physical violence directed against one or more members of the applicant family by a spouse or other member of the applicant's household.

(iii) To qualify as involuntarily displaced because of domestic violence:

(A) The IHA shall determine that the domestic violence occurred recently or is of a continuing nature; and

(B) The applicant shall certify that the person who engaged in such violence will not reside with the applicant family unless the IHA has given advance written approval. If the family is admitted, the IHA may deny or terminate assistance to the family for breach of this certification.

(5) Displacement to avoid reprisals. (i) An applicant family is involuntarily displaced if:

(A) Family members provided information on criminal activities to a law enforcement agency; and

(B) Based on a threat assessment, a law enforcement agency recommends rehousing the family to avoid or minimize a risk of violence against family members as a reprisal for providing such information.

(ii) The IHA may establish appropriate safeguards to conceal the identity of families requiring protection against such reprisals.

(6) Displacement by hate crimes. (i) An applicant is involuntarily displaced if:

(A) One or more members of the applicant's family have been the victim of one or more hate crimes; and

(B) The applicant has vacated a housing unit because of such crime, or the fear associated with such crime has destroyed the applicant's peaceful enjoyment of the unit.

(ii) “Hate crime” means actual or threatened physical violence or intimidation that is directed against a person or his or her property and that is based on the person's race, color, religion, sex, national origin, handicap, or familial status.

(iii) The IHA shall determine that the hate crime involved occurred recently or is of a continuing nature.

(7) Displacement by inaccessibility of unit. An applicant is involuntarily displaced if:

(i) A member of the family has a mobility or other impairment that makes the person unable to use critical elements of the unit; and

(ii) The owner is not legally obligated to make the changes to the unit that would make critical elements accessible to the disabled person as a reasonable accommodation.

(8) Displacement because of HUD disposition of multifamily project. Involuntary displacement includes displacement because of disposition of a multifamily rental housing project by HUD under section 203 of the Housing and Community Development Amendments of 1978.