A consultant for the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act (URA) is essential for affordable housing providers undertaking projects with federal funding. We advise you on how to legally and ethically relocate tenants displaced by federally funded projects, which can include demolition, rehabilitation, or property acquisition. By partnering with a URA consultant, you ensure that displaced low-income tenants receive the required advisory services and financial assistance to help them find “decent, safe, and sanitary” replacement housing that is also affordable.

When a Consultant is Needed

A URA consultant is needed for projects using federal funds that will displace tenants. This most commonly occurs during the following scenarios:

• Major rehabilitation: Extensive renovations that require tenants to move for longer than 12 months, or permanently.
• Acquisition/demolition: A development project that purchases and demolishes an existing residential property.
• Affordable housing development: The use of federal funding, such as HOME Investment Partnerships or Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), for the development of new affordable housing, even if the funds were not used for the direct displacement activity.
• Buyout programs: Some government-funded buyout programs for properties