112 STAT. 2596 PUBLIC LAW 105-276—OCT. 21, 1998 to facilitate the establishment of socioeconomically mixed communities, a public housing agency that uses assistance from the Capital Fund for a mixed-finance project, to the extent that income from such a project reduces the amount of assistance used for operating or other costs relating to public housing, may use such resulting savings to rent privately developed dwelling units in the neighborhood of the mixed-finance project. Such units shall be made available for occupancy only by low-income families eligible for residency in public housing. "(h) EFFECT OF CERTAIN CONTRACT TERMS. —I f an entity that owns or operates a mixed-finance project, that includes a significant number of units other than public housing units enters into a contract with a public housing agency, the terms of which obligate the entity to operate and maintain a specified number of units in the project as public housing units in accordance with the requirements of this Act for the period required by law, such contractual terms may provide that, if, as a result of a reduction in appropriations under section 9 or any other change in applicable law, the public housing agency is unable to fulfill its contractual obligations with respect to those public housing units, that entity may deviate, under procedures and requirements developed through regulations by the Secretary, from otherwise applicable restrictions under this Act regarding rents, income eligibility, and other areas of public housing management with respect to a portion or all of those public housing units, to the extent necessary to preserve the viability of those units while maintaining the low-income character of the units to the maximum extent practicable.". 42 USC 1437Z-7 (b) REGULATIONS. —The Secretary shall issue such regulations note. as may be necessary to promote the development of mixed-finance projects, as that term is defined in section 3(b) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (as amended by this Act). Subtitle C—Section 8 Rental and Homeownership Assistance SEC. 545. MERGER OF CERTIFICATE AND VOUCHER PROGRAMS. (a) IN GENERAL. —Section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437flo)) is amended to read as follows: "(o) VOUCHER PROGRAM.— " (1) AUTHORITY.— "(A) IN GENERAL.— The Secretary may provide assistance to public housing agencies for tenant-based assistance using a payment standard established in accordance with subparagraph (B). The payment standard shall be used to determine the monthly assistance that may be paid for any family, as provided in paragraph (2). "(B) ESTABLISHMENT OF PAYMENT STANDARD.— Except as provided under subparagraph (D), the payment standard for each size of dwelling unit in a market area shall not exceed 110 percent of the fair market rental established under subsection (c) for the same size of dwelling unit in the same market area and shall be not less than 90 percent of that fair market rental. "(C) SET-ASIDE. —The Secretary may set aside not more than 5 percent of the budget authority made available for assistance under this subsection as an adjustment pool.
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