Texas Administrative Code › Title 43 - TRANSPORTATION › Part 1 - TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION › Chapter 21 - RIGHT OF WAY › Subchapter G - RELOCATION ASSISTANCE AND BENEFITS › Section 21.117 - Replacement Housing Payment

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(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.