Section 30. Program eligibility

A. Eligible localities. The authority will accept applications for rental rehabilitation grants from any city, town or county determined by HUD to be eligible for participation in the Virginia Rental Rehabilitation Program. The authority will maintain a current listing of eligible local governments.

B. Eligible neighborhoods. Applicants must document that each neighborhood in which rental rehabilitation grants are used meets the following two conditions:

1. Neighborhood income level. The median household income in the neighborhood must be at or below 80% of the median income for the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in which it is located, or, in the case of a neighborhood not within a MSA, at or below 80% of the median income for the state's nonmetropolitan areas.

2. Rent stability/affordability. Rents in the neighborhood must be stable and generally affordable to lower income persons. An applicant must document rent stability/affordability in one of the following three ways:

a. Rent trends. An applicant may document that, according to the U.S. Census, the increase in average contract rent in the neighborhood between 1970 and 1980 was equal to or less than the increase in average contract rent in the housing market area;

b. Current rent survey. An applicant may survey current neighborhood rents to document that rents are generally at or below the Section 8 Fair Market Rent limits for existing housing; or

c. Other evidence. An applicant may document that, according to the 1980 U. S. Census, the median gross rent in the neighborhood was at or below the Section 8 Fair Market Rent limit for an existing two-bedroom unit that was applicable for the housing market area in April, 1980, and provide some type of evidence that the neighborhood housing market has been stable since 1980 (e.g., assessed property values or building permit activity have not increased more rapidly than in the housing market area as a whole).

C. Eligible projects. Rental rehabilitation grants may only be used to rehabilitate projects meeting the requirements of 24 CFR 511.11.

Historical Notes

Derived from VR400-02-0008 § 3, eff. December 18, 1984; amended, Volume 04, Issue 21, eff. June 21, 1988; Volume 05, Issue 21, eff. July 1, 1989; Volume 07, Issue 25, eff. August 20, 1991.

Statutory Authority

§ 36-55.30:3 of the Code of Virginia.