In furtherance of the purposes of sections 13 through 17 of this act, the Commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs is authorized to enter into rental assistance agreements with boarding house owners providing for the payment of rental assistance to or on behalf of the residents of the boarding houses in respect of that part of their rent that is attributable to debt service on life safety improvement loans, as determined by the agency. Rental assistance agreements may permit or require the commissioner to make (i) rental assistance payments on behalf of boarding house residents directly to the agency or (ii) direct payments to the agency in satisfaction of the boarding house owners’ payment obligations on life safety improvement loans. As a condition to the payment of rental assistance, rental assistance agreements shall require that the boarding house owner remit to the commissioner for return to the Boarding House Rental Assistance Fund an amount equal to any rental assistance payment made by the commissioner to or on behalf of a resident of the boarding house who, were such resident a family as defined in subsection f. of section 3 of this act, would not have constituted a family qualified for admission to housing projects under section 8 of this act, at any time during the period covered by the rental assistance payment but the agency may establish a lower income standard for residents of boarding houses which would require remittance to the commissioner by the owners of boarding houses of rental assistance payments formerly made by the commissioner to or on behalf of residents with incomes above that income standard.

L.1983, c. 530, s. 15, eff. Jan. 17, 1984.