PUBLIC LAW 105-65—OCT. 27, 1997 111 STAT. 1395 technical assistance funds, the Secretary may provide any funds made available under subparagraph (A) through existing technical assistance programs pursuant to any other Federal law, including the Low-Income Housing Preservation and Resident Homeownership Act of 1990 and the Multifamily Property Disposition Reform Act of 1994, or through any other means that the Secretary considers consistent with the purposes of this subtitle, without regard to any set-aside requirement otherwise applicable to those funds. (C) PROHIBITION. —None of the funds made available under subparagraph (A) may be used directly or indirectly to pay for any personal service, advertisement, telegram, telephone, letter, printed or written matter, or other device, intended or designed to influence in any manner a Member of Congress, to favor or oppose, by vote or otherwise, any legislation or appropriation by Congress, whether before or after the introduction of any bill or resolution proposing such legislation or appropriation. (g) RENT LEVELS. — (1) IN GENERAL.— Except as provided in paragraph (2), each mortgage restructuring and rental assistance sufficiency plan pursuant to the terms, conditions, and requirements of this subtitle shall establish for units assisted with project-based assistance in eligible multifamily housing projects adjusted rent levels that— (A) are equivalent to rents derived from comparable properties, if— (i) the participating administrative entity makes the rent determination within a reasonable period of time; and (ii) the market rent determination is based on not less than 2 comparable properties; or (B) if those rents cannot be determined, are equal to 90 percent of the fair market rents for the relevant market area. (2) EXCEPTIONS.— (A) IN GENERAL.—^A contract under this section may include rent levels that exceed the rent level described in paragraph (1) at rent levels that do not exceed 120 percent of the fair market rent for the market area (except that the Secretary-^ may waive this limit for not more than five percent of all units subject to restructured mortgages in any fiscal year, based on a finding of special need), if the participating administrative entity— (i) determines that the housing needs of the tenants and the community cannot be adequately addressed through implementation of the rent limitation required to be established through a mortgage restructuring and rental assistance sufficiency plan under paragraph (1); and (ii) follows the procedures under paragraph (3). (B) EXCEPTION RENTS.—In any fiscal year, a participating administrative entity may approve exception rents on not more than 20 percent of all units covered by the portfolio restructuring agreement with expiring contracts in
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