As the need for a national payment program for relocation became increasingly urgent, Congress included in the 1968 Act the first mandatory payment program for people who must relocate because of Federal-aid highway construction. The legislation established provisions to assist individuals, families, businesses and nonprofit organizations in avoiding the human and economic shock that can result from involuntary displacement. The purpose of the new law was twofold: (1) To aid the national goal of providing every citizen with decent, safe and sanitary housing, and (2) to reduce the inequities of a strict application of the fair market value concept to Federal-aid highway right-of-way acquisitions.
Principal provisions of the law were that:
- Each individual or family displaced must receive a scheduled moving expense and dislocation allowance or actual moving expenses.
- Businesses, farms and nonprofit organizations must receive their actual moving expenses or a lump sum payment based on an established formula in lieu of actual moving expenses. Payment was also permitted when they discontinued their operations because of displacement.
- Owner occupants could receive a payment above fair market value for their homes to assure their ability to obtain decent, safe and sanitary replacement housing at least comparable to the homes taken with designated upper limits. Decent, safe and sanitary housing standards were established by FHWA.
- Tenants could receive a payment to enable them to rent comparable rental housing or purchase replacement housing within a specified upper limit.
- Each State highway department was required to provide relocation advisory service to those being displaced.
Last Resort Housing
While the relocation advisory assistance and payments required by the 1968 Highway Act were a needed addition to the fair market value payments, they did not take care of the situations where decent, safe and sanitary replacement housing simply was not available. In some communities, decent, safe and sanitary housing is nearly impossible to find within the economic means of those being displaced. Therefore, the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1970 authorized, as part of the cost of highway construction, the inclusion of the construction of existing housing to serve as replacement housing. Through this “last resort housing,” the highway agency could release a tied-up project by rehabilitating or constructing homes or apartments for the displaced persons. Thus, no person would be required to move from his dwelling unless replacement housing was available.
During right-of-way acquisition, sometimes moving a house intact is a part of the relocation agreement.
The 1970 Highway Act also provided that the displaced dwelling owner could be compensated for any increased interest costs that such owner was required to pay for financing the acquisition of his new dwelling.
The precedents established in the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1968 and the additional emphasis supplied by the FHWA and the highway industry during the hearings on the 1970 Highway Act greatly influenced the Congress to enact the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970. The 1970 Uniform Act, which nullified the relocation requirements of previous highway acts as well as those of other Federal legislation, authorized last resort housing when:
- An adequate supply of comparable decent, safe and sanitary replacement housing is not available for those persons to be displaced (either from public housing agencies or private enterprise).
- Comparable decent, safe and sanitary replacement housing cannot be purchased for the maximum payment of $15,000 in addition to the purchase price of the displaced person’s present dwelling.
- Comparable decent, safe and sanitary housing cannot be rented over a 4-year period for the maximum payment of $4,000 in addition to the rent presently being paid.
Current Status of Relocation Procedures
In addition to making decent, safe and sanitary housing available to all those displaced, the relocation program has, in general, not only been instrumental in assisting those persons required to move to improve the quality of their housing and standard of living, but has also been instrumental in assisting many tenants to become homeowners.
The replacement housing payments and additional benefits, plus the authority to provide replacement housing as a last resort, facilitates the move, minimizes the hardship, and assists in the improvement of the quality of life for most persons involuntarily displaced.
The magnitude of the relocation program is revealed by the reports received from the States. In fiscal year 1975, the Federal-aid highway program relocated 21,162 persons from 8,605 dwelling units. The average moving cost payment was $410 per claim. In addition, 2,186 businesses were displaced at an average moving most of $4,544; 116 farms at an average moving cost of $1,075; and 103 nonprofit organizations at an average moving cost of $916.
Of the total number of people displaced in fiscal year 1975, 44 percent were owners and 56 percent were tenants. Of the 21,162 people displaced, 24 percent were minorities. About 70 percent of the residential units acquired represented housing over $6,000 in value or renting for over $60 per month.
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