Occupancy of accessible dwelling units.

§ 9.154 Occupancy of accessible dwelling units. (a) The agency shall adopt suitable means to assure that information regarding the availability of accessible units in PDP housing facilities reaches eligible individuals with disabilities, and shall take reasonable nondiscriminatory steps to maximize the utilization of such units by eligible individuals whose disability requires the accessibility features of the particular unit. To this end, when an accessible unit becomes vacant, the agency (or its management agent) before offering such units to an applicant without disabilities shall offer such unit: (1) First, to a current occupant of another unit of the same project, or comparable projects under common control, having disabilities requiring the accessibility features of the vacant unit and occupying a unit not having such features, or, if no such occupant exists, then (2) Second, to an eligible qualified applicant on the waiting list having a disability requiring the accessibility features of the vacant unit. (b) When offering an accessible unit to an applicant not having disabilities requiring the accessibility features of the unit, the agency may require the applicant to agree (and may incorporate this agreement in the lease) to move to a non-accessible unit when available.