(a) Eligible
applicants shall be given preference for certification in the program if, at
the time they are seeking housing assistance, they fall within the following
preference categories:
(1) The following
preferences shall be given first priority but have equal weight within this
group:
(A) Involuntarily displaced, including
public housing families subject to relocation due to modernization activity, or
based on an emergency where conditions of the public housing dwelling unit,
building, or project pose an immediate, verifiable threat to life, health or
safety of the family, and the family cannot be relocated to another public
housing dwelling unit in the same program, meeting their needs;
(B) Victims of domestic violence, including
public housing tenants that are victims of stalking, or reprisals, or hate
crimes, and cannot be safely transferred to another public housing dwelling
unit in the same program; or
(C)
Homeless; or
(D) Public housing
families that exceed the largest public housing dwelling unit size on the
island where they reside; or Public housing tenants who are approved for a
reasonable accommodation for a dwelling unit with special features and have not
been offered a dwelling unit in the public housing program that meets the
family's needs and have waited over one year.
(2) The following preferences shall be given
second priority but have equal weight within this group:
(A) Living in substandard housing;
or
(B) Paying more than fifty per
cent of annual income for rent.
(3) The following are other preferences that
have equal weight:
(A) Working families and
those unable to work because of age or disability;
(B) Veterans and veterans' surviving
spouse;
(C) Residents who live or
work in the jurisdiction (by county); or
(D) Victims of reprisals or hate
crimes.
(b)
Each preference in each priority group is of equal weight and an applicant who
qualifies for any of the preferences shall receive assistance before any other
applicant who is not so qualified regardless of:
(1) Place on the waiting list;
(2) Date or time of submission of an
application; or
(3) Lottery
position.
(c) An
applicant shall not receive preference if any adult member of the applicant
family is a person who was evicted or terminated from any housing program
operated by the authority during the past three years because of drug-related
criminal activities unless the adult member has successfully completed a
rehabilitation program approved by the authority.
