(a) General. Individuals and families displaced from their
dwellings on parcels required for a designated highway project are entitled
to replacement housing payments if they relocate into decent, safe, and sanitary
replacement housing and meet other eligibility requirements necessary, as
determined by the department, to meet applicable legal requirements. If a
displacee requests alternate ownership/tenancy status, the department will
make a reasonable effort to accommodate the request. The displacee may relocate
to any dwelling, but the amount actually paid will be the lesser of the actual
cost or actual rent of the replacement dwelling or the housing supplement
previously approved by the department. In the case of condemned property and
in certain hardship cases, a preliminary replacement housing payment may be
made to a qualified displacee prior to the department's acquisition of the
property if the displacee signs a contract agreeing to return any overpayment
when the department makes final payment for the property acquired.
(b) Payments to owner-occupants for 180 days or more. A displaced
owner-occupant of a dwelling may receive supplemental payments, as determined
by the department, for the additional cost necessary to purchase replacement
housing, to compensate for the loss of favorable financing on an existing
mortgage in the financing of replacement housing, or to reimburse the displacee
for certain expenses incident to the purchase of replacement housing. The
displacee may receive a payment to cover the cost of renting a replacement
dwelling. A displacee who is otherwise qualified for a replacement housing
payment but who has previously received a rental payment may receive a revised
supplement if the displacee purchases and occupies a replacement dwelling
within the required one year period and files the claim within 18 months of
that date. The amount of the rental payment will be deducted from the housing
payment.
(c) Payment to owner-occupants for less than 180 days but not
less than 90 days. As determined by the department, a displaced owner of dwelling
may receive a payment sufficient to make a down payment on the purchase of
a replacement dwelling and to reimburse actual incidental expenses. The displacee
may choose to receive a payment to rent a replacement dwelling. A displacee
who is otherwise qualified for a down payment supplement but who has previously
received a rental payment may receive a revised supplement if the displacee
purchases and occupies a replacement dwelling within the required one year
period and files the claim within 18 months of that date. The amount of the
rental payment will be deducted from the down payment amount.
(d) Tenant-occupants for not less than 90 days. As determined
by the department, a displaced tenant may receive a payment sufficient to
make a down payment on the purchase of a decent, safe, and sanitary replacement
dwelling, as well as the expenses incidental to such purchase. The displacee
may choose to receive a payment to rent a replacement dwelling. If the displacee
elects to purchase a mobile home as replacement housing, all transportation
and set up expense necessary to place the mobile home on a lot, in decent,
safe, and sanitary condition, will be included as a part of the total acquisition
price of the replacement housing. A change from a rental payment to a down
payment will be allowed on the same basis as for an owner-occupant of less
than 180 days.
(e) Residential displacees not meeting length of occupancy
requirements. A displacee who does not meet the length of occupancy requirement
for a replacement housing payment may receive rental assistance when comparable
replacement rental housing is not available for less than 30% of the displacee's
gross monthly household income. Such assistance shall cover a period of 42
months.
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