760 CMR, § 5.03
Affirmative Action Goals. The applicable percentages of an LHA's units of family housing and elderly/handicapped housing as calculated pursuant to 760 CMR 5.10(3).
AHVP. Alternative Housing Voucher Program.
Appropriate Unit Size. The size of a unit is appropriate for a household if the unit meets all the following criteria:
(a) Household members of the opposite sex, excepting husband and wife (or those in a similar living arrangement), do not have to share a bedroom, provided that children of the opposite sex younger than eight years old shall share a bedroom and provided that other household members of the opposite sex may elect to share a bedroom.
(b) Persons of the same sex shall share a bedroom, provided that a household member, 21 years of age or older, may elect not to share a bedroom with his or her child, grandchild, or legal ward and provided that a household member does not have to share a bedroom if a consequence of sharing is or would be a severe adverse impact on his or her mental or physical health and if the LHA receives reliable medical documentation as to such impact of sharing.
(c) Each bedroom shall contain at least 50 square feet of floor space for each occupant and a minimum of 70 square feet and shall meet all other applicable requirements of 105 CMR 410.00: Minimum Standards of Fitness for Human Habitation (State Sanitary Code: Chapter II) for a room occupied for sleeping purposes. No bedroom shall be shared by more persons than the number permissible under 760 CMR 5.03.
(d) Only bedrooms may be used for sleeping purposes by household members; the living room, kitchen, bathroom and hallways shall not be used for sleeping purposes by any household member.
Department. The Department of Housing and Community Development.
Elderly Household. A household, residing in or applying for elderly/handicapped housing, containing at least one elderly person.
Elderly Persons of Low Income. Persons having reached 60 years of age or older who are income eligible for state-aided public housing. As used in 760 CMR 5.00, Elderly Person shall mean an elderly person of low income.
Elderly/Handicapped Housing. St. 1954, c. 667 housing managed pursuant to the provisions of M.G.L. c. 121B, §§ 39 and 40 for elderly persons of low income and handicapped persons of low income.
Family (Household). A family or household consists of:
(a) two or more persons who live or will live regularly in a unit as their primary residence:
1. whose income and resources are available to meet the household's needs; and
2. who are either related by blood, marriage, or operation of law, or who have otherwise evidenced a stable interdependent relationship.
(b) One Person.
A household member shall be considered to be living regularly with a family if temporarily absent for reasons such as hospitalization, duty assignment, employment, or school attendance in another location. Upon receipt of notice from the Department of Social Services that one or more children will be reunified with a household member, such child or children, if eligible and qualified, shall be considered household members for purposes of securing a unit of appropriate unit size for the reunified family.
A full-time, live-in personal care attendant, as defined in the regulation prescribing rent determination, whether or not a household member for purposes of rent determination, if determined by the LHA to be qualified, shall be deemed a household member for purposes of determining the appropriate unit size in public housing.
In the event one or more household members, who have not signed the lease, cease living regularly with a family the remaining household members shall constitute the family.
In the event that a household member, who has signed the lease, ceases to occupy the unit, one or more remaining household members may be given permission for continued occupancy of the unit, provided that:
1. the departing household member is not relocating to public or assisted housing elsewhere and is current in his or her financial obligations to the LHA and is not subject to eviction proceedings;
2. the remaining household members are eligible and qualified for public housing and (excepting newborns) have resided in the unit for at least one year; and
3. at least one adult household member (or emancipated minor) applies for and signs a new lease with the LHA. In the event of divorce or separation between spouses who are both household members, or entry of a protective order, a Massachusetts court with jurisdiction may determine which spouse and family members shall be entitled to continued occupancy.
In the event that a household member, who has signed the lease, applies for the addition of a person, who meets the criteria in 760 CMR 5.03: Family (Household) (a), as an additional household member, the LHA shall determine whether the person is qualified and whether the augmented family is eligible. If so, the LHA shall approve addition of the household member to the family if the unit is of appropriate unit size or, if the unit is too small, upon transfer of the family to a unit of appropriate unit size.
Family Housing. St. 1948, c. 200 or St. 1966, c. 705 housing managed pursuant to the provisions ofM.G.L. c. 121B, § 34.
Handicapped Household. A household, residing in or applying for elderly/handicapped housing, consisting of at least one handicapped person and no elderly person.
Handicapped Persons of Low Income. The definition of Handicapped Persons of Low Income is set out in M.G.L. c. 121B, § 1. As used in 760 CMR 5.00, Handicapped Person shall mean a handicapped person of low income.
Homeless Applicant. An applicant who:
(a) is without a place to live or is in a living situation in which there is a significant, immediate and direct threat to the life or safety of the applicant or a household member which situation would be alleviated by placement in a unit of appropriate unit size;
(b) has made reasonable efforts to locate alternative housing;
(c) has not caused or substantially contributed to the safety-threatening or life-threatening situation;
(d) has pursued available ways to prevent or avoid the safety-threatening or life-threatening situation by seeking assistance through the courts or appropriate administrative or enforcement agencies; and
(e) has been or is about to be displaced from a Primary Residence.
Local Housing Authority (LHA). A public body politic and corporate created pursuant to M.G.L. c. 121B, § 3 or similar provisions of earlier general laws or of special laws.
Local Housing Authority shall include a regional nonprofit corporation or other entity under contract to the Department to administer the AHVP and the MRVP where made applicable pursuant to 760 CMR 49.00: Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program.
Local Resident. A person who has a principal residence or a place of employment in a city or town at the time of application to an LHA in that city or town and at the time of final determination of eligibility and qualification. Each person may select up to two cities or towns for the purpose of Local Residence, one for residency and one for employment. Temporary residence with relatives or friends in the city or town is not sufficient unless the person's last residence and domicile was in the city or town. In the case of an applicant determined by the LHA to be homeless, the applicant may select one community for local preference by residency, either the community from which he or she was displaced through no fault of his or her own, or the community in which he or she is temporarily housed. In the event that the applicant is employed in more than one city or town, the applicant may select one community for local preference on the basis of employment.
Minority:
(a) Asian - with origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian Subcontinent;
(b) Black or African American - with origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa;
(c) Hispanic/Latino - of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American origin;
(d) American Indian or Alaska Native - with origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America, and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment; or
(e) Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander - A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands;
MRVP. Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program.
Primary Residence. Principal home (domicile) occupied by all members of a household not less than nine months of the year.
Statewide Online Application System. An internet application system developed by the Department required to be used by all LHAs to manage their applications and waiting lists for state-aided family and elderly/handicapped public housing.
Transfer for Administrative Reasons. Transfer of a household from one unit to another within one LHA at the discretion of the executive director of an LHA at any time for a sound administrative reason such as: fire in or condemnation of an occupied unit; harassment or abuse of a tenant or household member; or change in the number of persons in the household so that the unit is no longer of appropriate unit size for the household. A transfer for administrative reasons may be made between units in elderly/handicapped housing and family housing in the event that transfer cannot be made to a unit of appropriate unit size in the same type of housing, provided that the household is eligible for the housing to which the transfer is made.
Transfer for Good Cause. Transfer of a household from one unit to another within one LHA because the unit is no longer of appropriate unit size, or there is a compelling and documented medical impairment which could be substantially improved by transfer to another available unit. A transfer for good cause may be made between units in elderly/handicapped housing and family housing in the event that transfer cannot be made to a unit of appropriate unit size in the same type of housing. In the absence of mitigating circumstances deemed sufficient by the LHA, a transfer for good cause shall not be made, unless the applicant:
(a) has filed a transfer application complete with all supporting documentation;
(b) is current in rent, charges and fees owed to the LHA; and
(c) has not committed and household members have not committed any serious violations of the lease for at least two years, and the applicant is not subject to eviction proceedings or to the terms of an agreement for judgment in a prior eviction proceeding.
Transfer to the AHVP. Transfer of a household from elderly/handicapped housing to the AHVP pursuant to the provisions of 760 CMR 53.00: Alternative Housing Voucher Program.
Unit. A rental housing unit in state-aided public housing. Where the context involves the MRVP or AHVP, Unit shall mean a rental housing unit for which the rent is subsidized under either program.
Veteran. The definition of Veteran is set out in M.G.L. c. 121B, § 1.
760 CMR, § 5.03