Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 112 Part 3.djvu/695

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PUBLIC LAW 105-276—OCT. 21, 1998 112 STAT. 2525 "(11) each family who is assisted under the certificate or moderate rehabilitation program under section 8; and "(III) each family who is assisted under the voucher program under section 8, and the agency shall reduce the monthly assistance payment on behalf of such family as may be necessary to ensure payment of such minimum monthly rental amount, "(ii) The Secretary shall require each family who is assisted under any other program for rental assistance under section 8 to pay such minimum monthly rental amount, which amount shall be determined by the Secretary. " (B) EXCEPTION FOR HARDSHIP CIRCUMSTANCES. — " (i) IN GENERAL.— Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), a public housing agency (or the Secretary, in the case of a family described in subparagraph (A)(ii)) shall immediately grant an exemption from application of the minimum monthly rental under such subparagraph to any family unable to pay such amount because of financial hardship, which shall include situations in which (I) the family has lost eligibility for or is awaiting an eligibility determination for a Federal, State, or local assistance program, including a family that includes a member who is an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence under the Immigration and Nationality Act who would be entitled to public benefits but for title IV of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996; (II) the family would be evicted as a result of the imposition of the minimum rent requirement under subparagraph (A); (III) the income of the family has decreased because of changed circumstance, including loss of employment; (IV) a death in the family has occurred; and (V) other situations as may be determined by the agency (or the Secretary, in the case of a family described in subparagraph (A)(ii)). "(ii) WAITING PERIOD. —If a resident requests a hardship exemption under this subparagraph and the public housing agency (or the Secretary, in the case of a family described in subparagraph (A)(ii)) reasonably determines the hardship to be of a temporary nature, an exemption shall not be granted during the 90-day period beginning upon the making of a request for the exemption. A resident may not be evicted during such 90 day period for nonpayment of rent. In such a case, if the resident thereafter demonstrates that the financial hardship is of a long-term basis, the agency (or the Secretary) shall retroactively exempt the resident from the applicability of the minimum rent requirement for such 90-day period.". (b) REPEAL OF DUPLICATIVE PROVISIONS. — Section 402 of the Balanced Budget Downpayment Act, I (Public Law 104-99; 110 Stat. 40) is amended by striking subsection (a). (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT. — The third sentence of section 3(a)(1) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(a)(l)) is amended by inserting "and subject to the requirement under paragraph (3)" before the first comma.