lower income families capable of asuming the responsibilities of homeownership.

(d) Every contract for annual contributions with respect to a lower income housing project shall provide that no annual contributions by the Secretary shall be made available for such project unless such project (exclusive of any portion thereof which is not assisted by annual contributions under this Act) is exempt from all real and personal property taxes levied or imposed by the State, city, county, or other political subdivision; and such contract shall require the public housing agency to make payments in lieu of taxes equal to 10 per centum of the sum of the annual shelter rents charged in such project, or such lesser amount as (i) is prescribed by State law, or (ii) is agreed to by the local governing body in its agreement for local cooperation with the public housing agency required under section 5(e)(2) of this Act, or (iii) is due to failure of a local public body or bodies other than the public housing agency to perform any obligation under such agreement. If any such project is not exempt from all real and personal property taxes levied or imposed by the State, city, county, or other political subdivision, such contract shall provide, in lieu of the requirement for tax exemption and payments in lieu of taxes, that no annual contributions by the Secretary shall be made available for such project unless and until the State, city, county, or other political subdivision in which such project is situated shall contribute, in the form of cash or tax remission, the amount by which the taxes paid with respect to the project exceed 10 per centum of the annual shelter rents charged in such project.

(e) Every contract for annual contributions shall provide that whenever in any year the receipts of a public housing agency in connection with a lower income housing project exceed its expenditures (including debt service, operation, maintenance, establishment of reserves, and other costs and charges), an amount equal to such excess shall be applied, or set aside for application, to purposes which, in the determination of the Secretary, will effect a reduction in the amount of subsequent annual contributions.

(f) [Repealed.]

(g) Every contract for annual contributions (including contracts which amend or supersede contracts previously made) may provide that

(1) upon the occurrence of a substantial default in respect to the covenants or conditions to which the public housing agency is subject (as such substantial default shall be defined in such contract), the public housing agency shall be obligated at the option of the Secretary either to convey title in any case where, in the determination of the Secretary (which determination shall be final and conclusive), such conveyance of title is necessary to achieve the purposes of this Act, or to deliver to the Secretary possession of the project, as then constituted, to which such contract relates; and

(2) the Secretary shall be obligated to reconvey or redeliver possession of the project, as constituted at the time of reconveyance or redelivery, to such public housing agency or to its successor (if such public housing agency or a successor exists) upon such terms as shall be prescribed in such contract, and as

soon as practicable (i) after the Secretary is satisfied that all defaults with respect to the project have been cured, and that the project will, in order to fulfill the purposes of this Act, thereafter be operated in accordance with the terms of such contract; or (ii) after the termination of the obligation to make annual contributions available unless there are any obligations or covenants of the public housing agency to the Secretary which are then in default. Any prior conveyances and reconveyances or deliveries and redeliveries of possession shall not exhaust the right to require a conveyance or delivery of possession of the project to the Secretary pursuant to subparagraph (1) upon the subsequent occurrence of a substantial default. Whenever such a contract for annual contributions includes provisions which the Secretary in such contract determines are in accordance with this subsection, and the portion of the annual contribution payable for debt service requirements pursuant to such contract has been pledged by the public housing agency as security for the payment of the principal and interest on any of its obligations, the Secretary (notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act) shall continue to make such annual contributions available for the project so long as any of such obligations remain outstanding, and may covenant in such contract that in any event such annual contributions shall in each year be at least equal to an amount which, together with such income or other funds as are actually available from the project for the purpose at the time such annual contribution is made, will suffice for the payment of all installments, falling due within the next succeeding twelve months, of principal and interest on the obligations for which the annual contributions provided for in the contract shall have been pledged as security. In no case shall such annual contributions be in excess of the maximum sum specified in the contract involved, nor for longer than the remainder of the maximum period fixed by the contract.

(h) On or after October 1, 1983, the Secretary may enter into a contract involving new construction only if the public housing agency demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Secretary that the cost of new construction is less than the cost of acquisition or acquisition and rehabilitation, including any reserve fund under subsection (i), would be.

(i) The Secretary may, upon application by a public housing agency in connection with the acquisition of housing for use as public housing, establish and set aside a reserve fund in an amount not to exceed 30 per centum of the acquisition cost which shall be available for use for major repairs to such housing.

(j) On or after October 1, 1983, in entering into commitments for the development of public housing, the Secretary shall give a priority to projects for the construction, acquisition, or acquisition and rehabilitation of housing suitable for occupancy by families requiring three or more bedrooms.

(k) The Secretary shall by regulation require each public housing agency receiving assistance under this Act to establish and implement an administrative grievance procedure under which tenants will

(1) be advised of the specific grounds of any proposed adverse public housing agency action;

(2) have an opportunity for a hearing before an impartial party upon timely request within any period applicable under subsection (1);

(3) have an opportunity to examine any documents or records or regulations related to the proposed action;

(4) be entitled to be represented by another person of his choice at any hearing;

(5) be entitled to ask questions of witnesses and have others make statements on his behalf; and

(6) be entitled to receive a written decision by the public housing agency on the proposed action.

An agency may exclude from its procedure any grievance concerning an eviction or termination of tenancy in any jurisdiction which requires that, prior to eviction, a tenant be given a hearing in court which the Secretary determines provides the basic elements of due process.

(1) Each public housing agency shall utilize leases which

(1) do not contain unreasonable terms and conditions;

(2) obligate the public housing agency to maintain the project in a decent, safe, and sanitary condition;

(3) require the public housing agency to give adequate written notice of termination of the lease which shall not be less than

(A) a reasonable time, but not to exceed 30 days, when the health or safety of other tenants or public housing agency employees is threatened;

(B) 14 days in the case of nonpayment of rent; and

(C) 30 days in any other case; and

(4) require that the public housing agency may not terminate the tenancy except for serious or repeated violation of the terms or conditions of the lease or for other good cause.

(m) The Secretary shall not impose any unnecessarily duplicative or burdensome reporting requirements on tenants or public housing agencies assisted under this Act.

CONGREGATE HOUSING

SEC. 7. The Secretary shall encourage public housing agencies, in providing housing predominantly for displaced or elderly families to design, develop, or otherwise acquire such housing to meet the special needs of the occupants and, wherever practicable, for use in whole or in part as congregate housing: Provided, That not more than 10 per centum of the total amount of contracts for annual contributions entered into any fiscal year pursuant to the new authority granted under section 202 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970 or under any law subsequently enacted shall be entered into with respect to units in congregate housing. As used in this section, the term "congregate housing" means (1) low-rent housing which, as of January 1, 1979, was built or under construction, with which there is connected a central dining facility where wholesome and economic meals can be served to such occupants; or (2) low-rent housing constructed after, but not under construction prior to, January 1, 1979, connected with which there is a central dining facility to provide wholesome and economical meals for such

occupants. Such occupants of congregate housing may also be provided with other supportive services appropriate to their needs under title IV of the Housing and Community Development Amendments of 1978. Expenditures incurred by a public agency in the operation of a central dining facility in connection with congregate housing (other than the cost of providing food and service) shall be considered one of the costs of operation of the project.

LOWER INCOME HOUSING ASSISTANCE

SEC. 8. (a) For the purpose of aiding lower-income families in obtaining a decent place to live and of promoting economically mixed housing, assistance payments may be made with respect to existing housing in accordance with the provisions of this section.

(b)(1) The Secretary is authorized to enter into annual contributions contracts with public housing agenices pursuant to which such agencies may enter into contracts to make assistance payments to owners of existing dwelling units in accordance with this section. In areas where no public housing agency has been organized or where the Secretary determines that a public housing agency is unable to implement the provisions of this section, the Secretary is authorized to enter into such contracts and to perform the other functions assigned to a public housing agency by this sec

tion.

(2) [Repealed.]

(c)(1) An assistance contract entered into pursuant to this section shall establish the maximum monthly rent (including utilities and all maintenance and management charges) which the owner is entitled to receive for each dwelling unit with respect to which such assistance payments are to be made. The maximum monthly rent shall not exceed by more than 10 per centum the fair market rental established by the Secretary periodically but not less than annually for existing or newly constructed rental dwelling units of various sizes and types in the market area suitable for occupancy by persons assisted under this section, except that the maximum monthly rent may exceed the fair market rental by more than 10 but not more than 20 per centum where the Secretary determines that special circumstances warrant such higher maximum rent or that such higher rent is necessary to the implementation of a local housing assistance plan as defined in section 213(a)(5) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. In the case of newly constructed and substantially rehabilitated units, the exception in the preceding sentence shall not apply to more than 20 per centum of the total amount of authority to enter into annual contributions contracts for such units which is allocated to an area and obligated with respect to any fiscal year beginning on or after October 1, 1980. Proposed fair market rentals for an area shall be published in the Federal Register with reasonable time for public comment, and shall become effective upon the date of publication in final form in the Federal Register. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, after the date of enactment of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1977, the Secretary shall prohibit high-rise elevator projects for families with children unless there is no practical alternative.

(2)(A) The assistance contract shall provide for adjustment annually or more frequently in the maximum monthly rents for units covered by the contract to reflect changes in the fair market rentals established in the housing area for similar types and sizes of dwelling units or, if the Secretary determines, on the basis of a reasonable formula.

(B) The contract shall further provide for the Secretary to make additional adjustments in the maximum monthly rent for units under contract to the extent he determines such adjustments are necessary to reflect increases in the actual and necessary expenses of owning and maintaining the units which have resulted from substantial general increases in real property taxes, utility rates, or similar costs which are not adequately compensated for by the adjustment in the maximum monthly rent authorized by subparagraph (A).

(C) Adjustments in the maximum rents as hereinbefore provided shall not result in material differences between the rents charged for assisted and comparable unassisted units, as determined by the Secretary.

(D) Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Secretary shall limit increases in contract rents for newly constructed or substantially rehabilitated projects assisted under this section to the amount of operating cost increases incurred with respect to comparable rental dwelling units of various sizes and types in the same market area which are suitable for occupancy by families assisted under this section. Where no comparable dwelling units exist in the same market area, the Secretary shall have authority to approve such increases in accordance with the best available data regarding operating cost increases in rental dwelling units.

(3) The amount of the monthly assistance payment with respect to any dwelling unit shall be the difference between the maximum monthly rent which the contract provides that the owner is to receive for the unit and the rent the family is required to pay under section 3(a) of this Act. Reviews of family income shall be made no less frequently than annually.

(4) The assistance contract shall provide that assistance payments may be made only with respect to a dwelling unit under lease for occupancy by a family determined to be a lower income family at the time it initially occupied such dwelling unit, except that such payments may be made with respect to unoccupied units for a period not exceeding sixty days (A) in the event that a family vacates a dwelling unit before the expiration date of the lease for occupancy or (B) where a good faith effort is being made to fill an unoccupied unit, and, subject to the provisions of the following sentence, such payments may be made, in the case of a newly constructed or substantially rehabilitated project, after such sixty-day period in an amount equal to the debt service attributable to such an unoccupied dwelling unit for a period not to exceed one year, if a good faith effort is being made to fill the unit and the unit provides decent, safe, and sanitary housing. No such payment may be made after such sixty-day period if the Secretary determines that the dwelling unit is in a project which provides the owner with revenues exceeding the costs incurred by such owner with respect to such project.