Section 5.10 - Placements and Offers(1)General Provisions for Placements. (a) Placements are to be made in elderly/handicapped housing to achieve a mixed population of elderly households in 86.5% of the units and handicapped households in 13.5% of the units. The LHA shall place applicants in accordance with 760 CMR 5.10(2) in order to attain or to sustain these percentages. Such placements shall also be made in accordance with any applicable priority and preference categories and the affirmative action preference, if applicable.(b) Any accessible or modified unit shall be offered to an applicant household which includes a person, regardless of age, who has a physical handicap which handicap necessitates one or more of the special design features of the unit.(c) Except as provided in 760 CMR 5.10(1)(a) and (b) and subject to the affirmative action preference, if applicable, when a unit or rental assistance voucher becomes available, it shall be offered to the applicant for the applicable program with an appropriate household size who has the earliest date and time stamp in the highest preference category within the highest priority category.(2)Placements by LHA in Elderly/Handicapped Housing. Prior to making a placement in elderly/handicapped housing, the LHA shall determine the LHA's current percentage of St. 1954, c. 667 units occupied by handicapped households. In making this determination the LHA shall count all St. 1954, c. 667 units, including St. 1954, c. 667 congregate units, St. 1954, c. 667 section 8 new construction or substantial rehabilitation units, St. 1954, c. 667 modified units, and St. 1954, c. 667 conventional units. The LHA shall then place applicants as follows: (a) If the percentage of units occupied by handicapped households is less than 13.5%, the LHA shall place one eligible and qualified handicapped household for each eligible and qualified elderly household placed until such time as the percentage of handicapped households equals or exceeds 13.5%.(b) If the percentage of the units occupied by handicapped households equals or exceeds 13.5%, the LHA shall place eligible and qualified elderly households until such time as the percentage of handicapped households falls below 13.5%.(c) If the percentage of units occupied by handicapped households equals or exceeds 13.5%, but the LHA has exhausted its waiting list of eligible and qualified elderly households, the LHA shall place those eligible and qualified handicapped households whose members have attained 50 years of age, but are younger than 60 years old, until such time as the percentage of handicapped households falls below 13.5% or until there is an application from an eligible and qualified elderly household.(d) If the percentage of units occupied by handicapped households equals or exceeds 13.5%, and the LHA has exhausted its waiting list of eligible and qualified elderly households and eligible and qualified handicapped households whose members have attained 50 years of age, but are younger than 60 years old, the LHA shall place eligible and qualified handicapped households, without regard to age, until there is an eligible and qualified elderly household or, in the absence of such an elderly household, an eligible and qualified handicapped household whose members have attained 50 years of age, but who are younger than 60 years old.(3)Placement by LHA Granting Affirmative Action Preference. Affirmative Action Goals have been established for many LHAs as a specific remedy for discriminatory effects in tenant selection. The affirmative action preference in placement remains in effect, subject to review by the Department and applicable law. On an annual basis each LHA shall determine whether the number of households in its family housing with at least one Minority member and the number of Minority households in its elderly/handicapped housing with at least one Minority member meets the applicable Affirmative Action Goal. If the number of households with at least one Minority member for either type of housing fails to meets the LHA's goal, the LHA shall provide an affirmative action preference in placement for the type of housing involved until the goal is met. If an LHA provides such a preference, the LHA, subject to Department approval, shall establish a placement rate by which it will place Minority and non-minority applicants during the next 12 months. The LHA shall establish the percentage of its placements to which the preference shall apply for each type of housing involved; such percentage shall not be higher than 33.33% nor less than 20% of placements made for any type of housing. The affirmative action preference in placement, when applicable, shall result in selection of applicants with at least one Minority household member for a unit of appropriate size in accordance with the highest preference category within the highest priority category of general applicability. The affirmative action preference shall not limit the placement of a Minority household which would otherwise be due the next unit offer.(4)Offers to Applicants. (a) An applicant offered a unit must accept the offer within seven business days of the date of the written offer. For good cause, the LHA may extend the time for response. An applicant is entitled to only one offer of a unit of appropriate unit size provided that the LHA shall offer another unit when the applicant provides reliable documentation establishing that the unit offered is inappropriate and would cause severe and unreasonable hardship. An applicant who fails to accept the offer of a unit within seven business days or to provide such documentation within that period, shall be removed from the waiting list for that program at that LHA and after being removed from the waiting list, if the applicant files a new application with that LHA, the applicant shall not be entitled to any priority or preference previously received based on information provided in that application for a period of three years. The LHA shall give the applicant notice of the removal of the application from the LHA's waiting list for that program and the right to request review pursuant to 760 CMR 5.13.(b) An applicant who fails to accept three unit offers as set out in 760 CMR 5.10(4)(a) within a five-year period shall be removed from the waiting lists for all programs at all LHAs in the Statewide Online Application System for which the applicant applied, and any new application filed by the applicant for those programs at those LHAs will not be entitled to any priority or preference received based on information provided in prior applications for a period of three years. The LHA that made the third offer shall give the applicant notice of the removal and the right to request review pursuant to 760 CMR 5.13. An LHA conducting a review after a third failure to accept an offer may not consider the circumstances of the application's removal for failure to accept the first and second offers made, unless the applicant can clearly demonstrate a compelling reason for not requesting a timely review of the prior removals.(c) An applicant offered an AHVP voucher shall make a diligent search to locate an apartment within the time specified in 760 CMR 53.00: Alternative Housing Voucher Program. An applicant who is unsuccessful in locating a unit within such time shall lose the voucher, and the LHA shall remove the applicant from the AHVP waiting list. When an applicant is on the waiting list for elderly/handicapped housing and becomes an AHVP participant the LHA shall drop the applicant to the bottom of that waiting list.(5)Transfer Offers. (a) When making a transfer for good cause, the LHA shall make one written offer of a unit which is of appropriate unit size and appropriate for the tenant's documented medical needs (if any). A tenant must accept the transfer offer within seven days of the date of the offer. For good cause the LHA may extend the time for accepting the offer. A tenant who fails to accept a transfer offer of a unit of appropriate unit size within seven days shall be removed from the transfer list. After being removed from the waiting list, if the tenant files a new application with the LHA the tenant shall not be entitled to any priority or preference received on the prior application(s) for a period of three years, unless there are mitigating circumstances deemed sufficient by the LHA.(b) An LHA may decide at any time to initiate a transfer for administrative reasons. Such a transfer must be implemented in a manner consistent with the relevant provisions of the tenant's lease and/or applicable law.(c) An LHA may only make a transfer to the AHVP upon application by a handicapped household.Amended by Mass Register Issue 1394, eff. 6/28/2019.