A. Owner-Adopted Preferences for Elderly, Disabled, Nonelderly Disabled, and…

Section 651 of Title VI, Subtitle D of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 permits owners of “covered Section 8 housing projects” designed primarily for occupancy by elderly families to adopt a selection preference for elderly families. An owner may, but is not required to, implement this preference. If the owner adopts the preference, it must be implemented in accordance with the rules described in this paragraph.

1. Applicability. Owners of properties assisted through the following programs (insured and non-insured) are eligible to implement this preference:

   • a. Section 8 New Construction;

   • b. Section 8 Substantial Rehabilitation;

   • c. State Housing Agency programs for Section 8 New Construction and Substantial Rehabilitation;

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• d. Rural Housing 515/8; and

• e. Section 8 Property Disposition Set-Aside (applies only to properties that involve substantial rehabilitation).

2. Definitions. The following definitions are used when implementing this preference:

   • a. An elderly family is one in which the head of the household, cohead, or spouse is at least 62 years of age. (See Figure 3-6, Definition A.)

   • b. A near-elderly family is a family whose head, spouse, or sole member is a person with disabilities who is at least 50 years of age, but below the age of 62; or two or more persons with disabilities who are at least 50 years of age but below the age of 62, living together; or one or more persons who are at least 50 years of age but below the age of 62, living with one or more livein aides.

   • c. A nonelderly disabled family is one in which the head of the household, co-head, or spouse is disabled and 18 to 49 years of age. (See Figure 3-6, Definition D.)

3. Owners must be able to demonstrate that the property was originally designed for occupancy primarily by elderly families to implement an elderly preference. Owners must be able to produce one primary source of information or two secondary sources of information showing that the project was intended to house elderly families.

   • a. Primary sources: Identification of the project (or portion of the project) as serving elderly families should be documented in at least one primary source such as:

     • (1) The application submitted in response to the notice of funding availability;

     • (2) The terms of the notice of funding availability under which the application was solicited;

     • (3) The regulatory agreement;

     • (4) The loan commitment;

     • (5) The bid invitation;

     • (6) The owner’s management plan;

     • (7) Any underwriting or financial document collected at or before loan closing; or

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• (8) Application for Mortgage Insurance

• b. Secondary sources. If an owner does not have at least one primary source, two or more secondary sources of evidence may be used such as:

  • (1) Lease records from the first two years of occupancy for which records are available showing that occupancy has been restricted primarily to households where the head, spouse, or sole member is 62 years of age or older;

  • (2) Evidence that services for elderly persons have been provided, such as services-funding by the Older Americans Act, transportation to senior citizen centers, or programs coordinated with the Area Agency on Aging;

  • (3) Project unit mix with more than 50% of efficiencies and one-bedrooms; and

  • (4) Other relevant historical data, unless clearly contradicted by other comparable evidence.

• c.