Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 112 Part 3.djvu/770

 112 STAT. 2600 PUBLIC LAW 105-276—OCT. 21, 1998 or right to peaceful enjoyment of the premises by other tenants, any criminal activity that threatens the health, safety, or right to peaceful enjoyment of their residences by persons residing in the immediate vicinity of the premises, or any violent or drug-related criminal activity on or near such premises, engaged in by a tenant of any unit, any member of the tenant's household, or any guest or other person under the tenant's control, shall be cause for termination of tenancy; "(E) shall provide that any termination of tenancy under this subsection shall be preceded by the provision of written notice by the owner to the tenant specifying the grounds for that action, and any relief shall be consistent with applicable State and local law; and "(F) may include any addenda required by the Secretary to set forth the provisions of this subsection. "(8) INSPECTION OF UNITS BY PHA'S.— "(A) IN GENERAL.— Except as provided in paragraph (11), for each dwelling unit for which a housing assistance payment contract is established under this subsection, the public housing agency shall inspect the unit before any assistance payment is made to determine whether the dwelling unit meets the housing quality standards under subparagraph (B). "(B) HOUSING QUALITY STANDARDS. —The housing quality standards under this subparagraph are standards for safe and habitable housing established— "(i) by the Secretary for purposes of this subsection; or "(ii) by local housing codes or by codes adopted by public housing agencies that— "(I) meet or exceed housing quality standards, except that the Secretary may waive the requirement under this subclause to significantly increase access to affordable housing and to expand housing opportunities for families assisted under this subsection, except where such waiver could adversely affect the health or safety of families assisted under this subsection; and "(II) do not severely restrict housing choice "(C) INSPECTION. — The determination required under subparagraph (A) shall be made by the public housing agency (or other entity, as provided in paragraph (11)) pursuant to an inspection of the dwelling unit conducted before any assistance payment is made for the unit. Inspections of dwelling units under this subparagraph shall be made before the expiration of the 15-day period beginning upon a request by the resident or landlord to the public housing agency or, in the case of any public housing agency that provides assistance under this subsection on behalf of more than 1250 families, before the expiration of a reasonable period beginning upon such request. The performance of the agency in meeting the 15-day inspection deadline shall be taken into consideration in assessing the performance of the agency. "(D) ANNUAL INSPECTIONS.— Each public housing agency providing assistance under this subsection (or other

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