‘‘(D) assisting youth, upon discharge from
foster care, in cases in which return to the fam-
ily or extended family or adoption is not avail-
able;
‘‘(E) assisting veterans who are eligible
and have applied for assistance, will use the as-
sistance for a dwelling unit designed for the
handicapped, and, upon discharge or eligibility
for discharge from a hospital or nursing home,
have physical disability which, because of the
configuration of their homes, prevents them
from access to or use of their homes; and
‘‘(F) achieving other objectives of national
housing policy as established by law.
‘‘(4) TENANT
SELECTION.—Each assistance
contract shall provide that the selection of tenants
for such dwelling units shall be the function of the
owner, subject to any provisions of the annual con-
tributions contract between the Secretary and the
agency. The owner shall use tenant selection criteria,
which shall provide as follows:
‘‘(A) PROHIBITION OF PERSONS ENGAGED
IN DRUG ACTIVITY.—The criteria shall prohibit
any individual or family evicted from housing
assisted under this Act by reason of drug-relat-
ed criminal activity from having a preference
under any provision of this paragraph for 3
years unless the evicted tenant successfully
completes a rehabilitation program approved by
the agency or owner. The agency or the owner
may waive the application of the preceding sen-
tence under standards established by the Sec-
retary, which shall provide for such waiver for
any member of a family of an individual prohib-
ited from tenancy under this subparagraph who
the agency or owner determines clearly did not
participate in and had no knowledge of such
criminal activity or when circumstances leading
to eviction no longer exist.
‘‘(B) 
OTHER
REQUIREMENTS
FOR
PROJECT-BASED
ASSISTANCE.—With 
respect
only to project-based assistance, the criteria
shall—
‘‘(i) be consistent with the purpose of
improving housing opportunities for very
low-income families;
‘‘(ii) be reasonably related to program
eligibility and an applicant’s ability to per-
form the obligations of the assisted lease;
‘‘(iii) be established in writing; and
‘‘(iv) provide for the owner to prompt-
ly provide to any rejected applicant (I)
written notice of the grounds for the rejec-
tion, and (II) an opportunity to meet with
the decision maker to evaluate the validity
of the reasons for rejection and rectify any
erroneous decisions.
‘‘(5) LEASE PROVISIONS.—Each assistance con-
tract shall provide that the lease between the tenant
of any unit and the owner shall be for at least one
year or the term of such assistance contract, which-
ever is shorter, and that the lease shall contain other
terms and conditions specified by the Secretary, in-
cluding provisions meeting the requirements of para-
graphs (6), (7), and (8).
‘‘(6) GENERAL GROUNDS FOR TERMINATION OF
TENANCY.—Each assistance contract shall provide
that the owner shall not terminate the tenancy of
the tenant of any unit except for serious or repeated
violation of the terms and conditions of the lease, for
violation of applicable Federal, State, or local law, or
for other good cause.
‘‘(7) TERMINATION FOR CRIMINAL ACTIVITY.—
Each assistance contract shall provide that any
criminal activity that threatens the health, safety, or
right to peaceful enjoyment of the premises by other
tenants, any criminal activity that threatens the
health, safety, or right to peaceful enjoyment of
their residences by persons residing in the immediate
vicinity of the premises, or any drug-related criminal
activity on or near such premises, engaged in by a
tenant of any unit, any member of the tenant’s
household, or any guest or other person under the
tenant’s control, shall be cause for termination of
tenancy.
‘‘(8) NOTICE OF TERMINATION OF TENANCY.—
Each assistance contract shall provide that before
terminating the tenancy of any tenant, the owner
shall provide written notice to the tenant specifying
the legal and factual grounds for such action. Such
notice shall be provided to the tenant not less than
30 days before termination, except that in cases of
termination for nonpayment of rent such notice shall
be provided not less than 14 days before termi-
nation.
‘‘(9) MAINTENANCE
AND
REPLACEMENT.—
Each assistance contract shall provide that mainte-
nance and replacement (including redecoration) shall
be performed in accordance with the standard prac-
tice for the building concerned as established by the
owner and agreed to by the agency (or the Sec-
retary). With the approval of the Secretary, the pub-
lic housing agency administering a contract under
this section with respect to existing housing units
may exercise all management and maintenance re-
sponsibilities with respect to the units pursuant to a
contract between such agency and the owner of such
units. Each assistance contract shall also provide
that, if the agency (or the Secretary) determines
that a unit assisted under this section fails to com-
ply in any material respect with standards for hous-
ing quality for units so assisted, the agency (or the
Secretary) may withhold some or all of the assist-
ance amounts under this section with respect to such
unit and promptly—
‘‘(A) use such amounts to make necessary
repairs or contract to have such repairs made;
‘‘(B) release any withheld amounts to the
owner after repairs are made by the owner, in
an amount not exceeding the cost of the re-
pairs;
‘‘(C) release any withheld amounts to the
applicable State or local housing agency after
repairs are made by such agency, in an amount
not exceeding the cost of the repairs; or
‘‘(D) upon the request of the tenant, re-
lease any withheld amounts to—
‘‘(i) the tenant to reimburse the ten-
ant for the reasonable cost of any nec-
essary repairs performed or paid for by the
tenant; or
‘‘(ii) such person secured by the ten-
ant and approved by the agency (or the
Secretary) to make such necessary repairs.
If an agency (or the Secretary) withholds any assist-
ance amounts pursuant to the preceding sentence,
the agency (or the Secretary) may not terminate the
assistance contract unless and until the tenant has
relocated to decent, safe, and sanitary housing.
‘‘(10) STANDARDS AND OBLIGATIONS OF RESI-
DENCY IN HOUSING RECEIVING PROJECT-BASED AS-
SISTANCE.—Each assistance contract for project-
based assistance under subsection (i) shall provide
that the owner shall ensure and maintain compliance
with subtitle C of title VI of the Housing and Com-
munity Development Act of 1992 and any regula-
tions issued under such subtitle.
‘‘(11) OTHER.—Each assistance contract shall
provide that the agency and the owner shall carry