§ 45-31.2-4 - Payment for replacement housing for displaced homeowners.

SECTION 45-31.2-4

   § 45-31.2-4  Payment for replacementhousing for displaced homeowners. – (a) In addition to payments otherwise authorized by this chapter, therelocation agency shall make an additional payment not in excess of an amountestablished by federal law to any displaced person who is displaced from adwelling actually owned and occupied by the displaced person for not less thanone hundred and eighty (180) days prior to the initiation of negotiations forthe acquisition of the property. The additional payment includes the followingelements:

   (1) The amount, if any, which, when added to the acquisitioncost of the dwelling acquired, equals the reasonable cost of a comparablereplacement dwelling which is a decent, safe, and sanitary dwelling adequate toaccommodate the displaced person, reasonably accessible to public services andplaces of employment, and available on the private market. All determinationsrequired to carry out this subdivision are determined by regulations issuedpursuant to § 45-31.2-8.

   (2) The amount, if any, which will compensate the displacedperson for any increased interest costs which the person is required to pay forfinancing the acquisition of the comparable replacement dwelling. The amount ispaid only if the dwelling acquired was encumbered by a bona fide mortgage whichwas a valid lien on the dwelling for not less than one hundred and eighty (180)days prior to the initiation of negotiations for the acquisition of thedwelling. The amount shall be equal to the excess in the aggregate interest andother debt service costs of that amount of the principal of the mortgage on thereplacement dwelling which is equal to the unpaid balance of the mortgage onthe acquired dwelling, over the remainder term of the mortgage on the acquireddwelling, reduced to discounted present value. The discount rate is determinedby regulations issued pursuant to § 45-31.2-8.

   (3) Reasonable expenses incurred by the displaced person forevidence of title, recording fees, and other closing costs incident to thepurchase of the replacement dwelling, but not including prepaid expenses.

   (b) The additional payment authorized by this section is madeonly to a displaced person who purchases and occupies a replacement dwellingwhich is decent, safe, and sanitary not later than the end of the one yearperiod beginning on the date on which he or she receives final payment of allcosts of the acquired dwelling, or on the date on which he or she moves fromthe acquired dwelling, whichever is the later date.