Current through Register 1531, September 27, 2024
(1)
General
Provisions for Placements.
(a)
Placements are to be made in elderly/handicapped housing to achieve a mixed
population of elderly households in 86.5% of the units and handicapped households in
13.5% of the units. The LHA shall place applicants in accordance with 760 CMR
5.10(2) in order to attain or to sustain these percentages. Such placements shall
also be made in accordance with any applicable priority and preference categories
and the affirmative action preference, if applicable.
(b) Any accessible or modified unit shall be
offered to an applicant household which includes a person, regardless of age, who
has a physical handicap which handicap necessitates one or more of the special
design features of the unit.
(c) Except
as provided in 760 CMR 5.10(1)(a) and (b) and subject to the affirmative action
preference, if applicable, when a unit or rental assistance voucher becomes
available, it shall be offered to the applicant for the applicable program with an
appropriate household size who has the earliest date and time stamp in the highest
preference category within the highest priority category.
(2)
Placements by LHA in
Elderly/Handicapped Housing. Prior to making a placement in
elderly/handicapped housing, the LHA shall determine the LHA's current percentage of
St. 1954, c. 667 units occupied by handicapped households. In making this
determination the LHA shall count all St. 1954, c. 667 units, including St. 1954, c.
667 congregate units, St. 1954, c. 667 section 8 new construction or substantial
rehabilitation units, St. 1954, c. 667 modified units, and St. 1954, c. 667
conventional units. The LHA shall then place applicants as follows:
(a) If the percentage of units occupied by
handicapped households is less than 13.5%, the LHA shall place one eligible and
qualified handicapped household for each eligible and qualified elderly household
placed until such time as the percentage of handicapped households equals or exceeds
13.5%.
(b) If the percentage of the
units occupied by handicapped households equals or exceeds 13.5%, the LHA shall
place eligible and qualified elderly households until such time as the percentage of
handicapped households falls below 13.5%.
(c) If the percentage of units occupied by
handicapped households equals or exceeds 13.5%, but the LHA has exhausted its
waiting list of eligible and qualified elderly households, the LHA shall place those
eligible and qualified handicapped households whose members have attained 50 years
of age, but are younger than 60 years old, until such time as the percentage of
handicapped households falls below 13.5% or until there is an application from an
eligible and qualified elderly household.
(d) If the percentage of units occupied by
handicapped households equals or exceeds 13.5%, and the LHA has exhausted its
waiting list of eligible and qualified elderly households and eligible and qualified
handicapped households whose members have attained 50 years of age, but are younger
than 60 years old, the LHA shall place eligible and qualified handicapped
households, without regard to age, until there is an eligible and qualified elderly
household or, in the absence of such an elderly household, an eligible and qualified
handicapped household whose members have attained 50 years of age, but who are
younger than 60 years old.
(3)
Placement by LHA Granting Affirmative Action Preference.
Affirmative Action Goals have been established for many LHAs as a specific remedy
for discriminatory effects in tenant selection. The affirmative action preference in
placement remains in effect, subject to review by the Department and applicable law.
On an annual basis each LHA shall determine whether the number of households in its
family housing with at least one Minority member and the number of Minority
households in its elderly/handicapped housing with at least one Minority member
meets the applicable Affirmative Action Goal. If the number of households with at
least one Minority member for either type of housing fails to meets the LHA's goal,
the LHA shall provide an affirmative action preference in placement for the type of
housing involved until the goal is met. If an LHA provides such a preference, the
LHA, subject to Department approval, shall establish a placement rate by which it
will place Minority and non-minority applicants during the next 12 months. The LHA
shall establish the percentage of its placements to which the preference shall apply
for each type of housing involved; such percentage shall not be higher than 33.33%
nor less than 20% of placements made for any type of housing. The affirmative action
preference in placement, when applicable, shall result in selection of applicants
with at least one Minority household member for a unit of appropriate size in
accordance with the highest preference category within the highest priority category
of general applicability. The affirmative action preference shall not limit the
placement of a Minority household which would otherwise be due the next unit
offer.
(4)
Offers to
Applicants.
(a) An applicant offered
a unit must accept the offer within seven business days of the date of the written
offer. For good cause, the LHA may extend the time for response. An applicant is
entitled to only one offer of a unit of appropriate unit size provided that the LHA
shall offer another unit when the applicant provides reliable documentation
establishing that the unit offered is inappropriate and would cause severe and
unreasonable hardship. An applicant who fails to accept the offer of a unit within
seven business days or to provide such documentation within that period, shall be
removed from the waiting list for that program at that LHA and after being removed
from the waiting list, if the applicant files a new application with that LHA, the
applicant shall not be entitled to any priority or preference previously received
based on information provided in that application for a period of three years. The
LHA shall give the applicant notice of the removal of the application from the LHA's
waiting list for that program and the right to request review pursuant to
760
CMR 5.13.
(b) An applicant who fails to accept three unit
offers as set out in 760 CMR 5.10(4)(a) within a five-year period shall be removed
from the waiting lists for all programs at all LHAs in the Statewide Online
Application System for which the applicant applied, and any new application filed by
the applicant for those programs at those LHAs will not be entitled to any priority
or preference received based on information provided in prior applications for a
period of three years. The LHA that made the third offer shall give the applicant
notice of the removal and the right to request review pursuant to
760
CMR 5.13. An LHA conducting a review after a third
failure to accept an offer may not consider the circumstances of the application's
removal for failure to accept the first and second offers made, unless the applicant
can clearly demonstrate a compelling reason for not requesting a timely review of
the prior removals.
(c) An applicant
offered an AHVP voucher shall make a diligent search to locate an apartment within
the time specified in
760 CMR 53.00: Alternative
Housing Voucher Program. An applicant who is unsuccessful in locating a
unit within such time shall lose the voucher, and the LHA shall remove the applicant
from the AHVP waiting list. When an applicant is on the waiting list for
elderly/handicapped housing and becomes an AHVP participant the LHA shall drop the
applicant to the bottom of that waiting list.
(5)
Transfer Offers.
(a) When making a transfer for good cause, the LHA
shall make one written offer of a unit which is of appropriate unit size and
appropriate for the tenant's documented medical needs (if any). A tenant must accept
the transfer offer within seven days of the date of the offer. For good cause the
LHA may extend the time for accepting the offer. A tenant who fails to accept a
transfer offer of a unit of appropriate unit size within seven days shall be removed
from the transfer list. After being removed from the waiting list, if the tenant
files a new application with the LHA the tenant shall not be entitled to any
priority or preference received on the prior application(s) for a period of three
years, unless there are mitigating circumstances deemed sufficient by the
LHA.
(b) An LHA may decide at any time
to initiate a transfer for administrative reasons. Such a transfer must be
implemented in a manner consistent with the relevant provisions of the tenant's
lease and/or applicable law.
(c) An LHA
may only make a transfer to the AHVP upon application by a handicapped
household.
