(a) A dwelling unit shall be eligible for weatherization assistance under this part if it is occupied by a family unit:

(1) Whose income is at or below 200 percent of the poverty level determined in accordance with criteria established by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget,

(2) Which contains a member who has received cash assistance payments under Title IV or XVI of the Social Security Act or applicable State or local law at any time during the 12-month period preceding the determination of eligibility for weatherization assistance; or

(3) If the State elects, is eligible for assistance under the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981, provided that such basis is at least 200 percent of the poverty level determined in accordance with criteria established by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

(b) A subgrantee may weatherize a building containing rental dwelling units using financial assistance for dwelling units eligible for weatherization assistance under paragraph (a) of this section, where:

(1) The subgrantee has obtained the written permission of the owner or his agent;

(2) Not less than 66 percent (50 percent for duplexes and four-unit buildings, and certain eligible types of large multi-family buildings) of the dwelling units in the building:

(i) Are eligible dwelling units, or

(ii) Will become eligible dwelling units within 180 days under a Federal, State, or local government program for rehabilitating the building or making similar improvements to the building; and

(3) The grantee has established procedures for dwellings which consist of a rental unit or rental units to ensure that:

(i) The benefits of weatherization assistance in connection with such rental units, including units where the tenants pay for their energy through their rent, will accrue primarily to the low-income tenants residing in such units;

(ii) For a reasonable period of time after weatherization work has been completed on a dwelling containing a unit occupied by an eligible household, the tenants in that unit (including households paying for their energy through their rent) will not be subjected to rent increases unless those increases are demonstrably related to matters other than the weatherization work performed;

(iii) The enforcement of paragraph (b)(3)(ii) of this section is provided through procedures established by the State by which tenants may file complaints, and owners, in response to such complaints, shall demonstrate that the rent increase concerned is related to matters other than the weatherization work performed; and

(iv) No undue or excessive enhancement shall occur to the value of the dwelling units.

(4)

(i) A building containing rental dwelling units meets the requirements of paragraph (b)(2), and paragraphs (b)(3)(ii) and (b)(3)(iv), of this section if it is included on the most recent list posted by DOE of Assisted Housing and Public Housing buildings identified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as meeting those requirements.

(ii) A building containing rental dwelling units meets the requirements of paragraph (b)(2), and paragraph (b)(3)(iv), of this section if it is included on the most recent list posted by DOE of Assisted Housing and Public Housing buildings identified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as meeting those requirements.

(iii) A building containing rental dwelling units meets the requirement of paragraph (b)(2) of this section if it is included on the most recent list posted by DOE of Low Income Housing Tax Credit buildings identified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as meeting that requirement and of Rural Housing Service Multifamily Housing buildings identified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as meeting that requirement.

(iv) For buildings identified under paragraphs (b)(4)(i), (ii) and (iii) of this section, States will continue to be responsible for ensuring compliance with the remaining requirements of this section, and States shall establish requirements and procedures to ensure such compliance in accordance with this section.

(c) In order to secure the Federal investment made under this part and address the issues of eviction from and sale of property receiving weatherization materials under this part, States may seek landlord agreement to placement of a lien or to other contractual restrictions;

(d) As a condition of having assistance provided under this part with respect to multifamily buildings, a State may require financial participation, when feasible, from the owners of such buildings. Such financial participation shall not be reported as program income, nor will it be treated as if it were appropriated funds. The funds contributed by the landlord shall be expended in accordance with the agreement between the landlord and the weatherization agency.

(e) In devising procedures under paragraph (b)(3)(iii) of this section, States should consider requiring use of alternative dispute resolution procedures including arbitration.

(f) A State may weatherize shelters. For the purpose of determining how many dwelling units exist in a shelter, a grantee may count each 800 square feet of the shelter as a dwelling unit or it may count each floor of the shelter as a dwelling unit.

[58 FR 12528, Mar. 4, 1993, as amended at 65 FR 77219, Dec. 8, 2000; 74 FR 12540, Mar. 25, 2009; 75 FR 3856, Jan. 25, 2010]