RENEWALS AND LONG-TERM AFFORDABILITY COMMITMENT BY OWNER OF PROJECT.

SEC. 515. SECTION 8 RENEWALS AND LONG-TERM AFFORDABILITY COMMITMENT BY OWNER OF PROJECT. (a) Section 8 Renewals of Restructured Projects.— (1) Project-based assistance.—Subject to the availability of amounts provided in advance in appropriations Acts, and to the control of the Secretary of applicable accounts in the Treasury of the United States, with respect to an expiring section 8 contract on an eligible multifamily housing project to be renewed with project-based assistance (based on a determination under subsection (c)), the Secretary shall enter into contracts with participating administrative entities pursuant to which the participating administrative entity shall offer to renew or extend the contract, or the Secretary shall offer to 111 STAT. 1397renew such contract, and the owner of the project shall accept the offer, if the initial renewal is in accordance with the terms and conditions specified in the mortgage restructuring and rental assistance sufficiency plan and the rental assistance assessment plan. (2) Tenant-based assistance.—Subject to the availability of amounts provided in advance in appropriations Acts and to the control of the Secretary of applicable accounts in the Treasury of the United States, with respect to an expiring section 8 contract on an eligible multifamily housing project to be renewed with tenant-based assistance (based on a determination under subsection (c)), the Secretary shall enter into contracts with participating administrative entities pursuant to which the participating administrative entity shall provide for the renewal of section 8 assistance on an eligible multifamily housing project with tenant-based assistance, or the Secretary shall provide for such renewal, in accordance with the terms and conditions specified in the mortgage restructuring and rental assistance sufficiency plan and the rental assistance assessment plan. (b) Required Commitment.—After the initial renewal of a section 8 contract pursuant to this section, the owner shall accept each offer made pursuant to subsection (a) to renew the contract, for the term of the affordability and use restrictions required by section 514(e)(6), if the offer to renew is on terms and conditions specified in the mortgage restructuring and rental assistance sufficiency plan. (c) Determination of Whether To Renew With Project-Based or Tenant-Based Assistance.— (1) Mandatory renewal of project-based assistance.—Section 8 assistance shall be renewed with project-based assistance, if— (A) the project is located in an area in which the participating administrative entity determines, based on housing market indicators, such as low vacancy rates or high absorption rates, that there is not adequate available and affordable housing or that the tenants of the project would not be able to locate suitable units or use the tenant-based assistance successfully; (B) a predominant number of the units in the project are occupied by elderly families, disabled families, or elderly and disabled families; (C) the project is held by a nonprofit cooperative ownership housing corporation or nonprofit cooperative housing trust. (2) Rental assistance assessment plan.— (A) In general.—With respect to any project that is not described in paragraph (1), the participating administrative entity shall, after consultation with the owner of the project, develop a rental assistance assessment plan to determine whether to renew assistance for the project with tenant-based assistance or project-based assistance. (B) Rental assistance assessment plan requirements.—Each rental assistance assessment plan developed under this paragraph shall include an assessment of the impact of converting to tenant-based assistance and the impact of extending project-based assistance on—111 STAT. 1398 (i) the ability of the tenants to find adequate, available, decent, comparable, and affordable housing in the local market; (ii) the types of tenants residing in the project (such as elderly families, disabled families, large families, and cooperative homeowners); (iii) the local housing needs identified in the comprehensive housing affordability strategy, and local market vacancy trends; (iv) the cost of providing assistance, comparing the applicable payment standard to the project’s adjusted rent levels determined under section 514(g); (v) the long-term financial stability of the project; (vi) the ability of residents to make reasonable choices about their individual living situations; (vii) the quality of the neighborhood in which the tenants would reside; and (viii) the project’s ability to compete in the marketplace. (C) Reports to director.—Each participating administrative entity shall report regularly to the Director as defined in subtitle D, as the Director shall require, identifying— (i) each eligible multifamily housing project for which the entity has developed a rental assistance assessment plan under this paragraph that determined that the tenants of the project generally supported renewal of assistance with tenant-based assistance, but under which assistance for the project was renewed with project-based assistance; and (ii) each project for which the entity has developed such a plan under which the assistance is renewed using tenant-based assistance. (3) Eligibility for tenant-based assistance.—Subject to paragraph (4), with respect to any project that is not described in paragraph (1), if a participating administrative entity approves the use of tenant-based assistance based on a rental assistance assessment plan developed under paragraph (2), tenant-based assistance shall be provided to each assisted family (other than a family already receiving tenant-based assistance) residing in the project at the time the assistance described in section 512(2)(B) terminates. (4) Rents for families receiving tenant-based assistance.— (A) In general.—Notwithstanding subsection (c)(1) or (o)(1) of section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937, in the case of any family described in paragraph (3) that resides in a project described in section 512(2)(B) in which the reasonable rent (which rent shall include any amount allowed for utilities and shall not exceed comparable market rents for the relevant housing market area) exceeds the fair market rent limitation or the payment standard, as applicable, the amount of assistance for the family shall be determined in accordance with subparagraph (B). (B) Maximum monthly rent; payment standard.—With respect to the certificate program under section 8(b) 111 STAT. 1399of the United States Housing Act of 1937, the maximum monthly rent under the contract (plus any amount allowed for utilities) shall be such reasonable rent for the unit. With respect to the voucher program under section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937, the payment standard shall be deemed to be such reasonable rent for the unit. (5) Inapplicability of certain provision.—If a participating administrative entity approves renewal with project-based assistance under this subsection, section 8(d)(2) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 shall not apply.