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C 6. Procedural and Technical Innovations Paragon personnel have helped implement a variety of innovative practices in all areas of the current Scope of Work, including acquisition and relocation services. Innovative Acquisition and Relocation Procedures - On April 1, 2009, FHWA issued a 'Temporary Programmatic Waiver" of its acquisition and relocation regulations. Since FHWA is the lead federal agency for the promulgation of acquisition and relocation regulations, this waiver is critical for all federally funded projects. In addition, this waiver can be used to justify amending acquisition and relocation procedures in non-federally funded projects. According to the FHWA, the waiver was created because of the "current and historically unique negative equity housing situation". This waiver affects both acquisition and relocation procedures. it is primarily a two step process. Step one: the FHWA will allow state DOTS to make administrative settlements to resolve acquisition problems when property that is being acquired is valued less than the principal owed on the mortgage. The FHWA gave this example: a property's just compensation offer is $150,000 and the owner has a bona fide mortgage balance of $200,000. The FHWA will consider allowing the state DOT to make an administrative settlement for the amount owed on the mortgage. Step two is the biggest departure from the regulations. Normally under the Uniform Relocation and Real Property Acquisition Policy Act (URA) regulations if there is an increase in an offer to acquire property from a residential owner-occupant then that owner-occupant's Purchase Price Differential (PPD) will decrease the exact amount of the acquisition increase. With this temporary waiver the FHWA will entertain payment of a.PPD as if there were no increase in the acquisition offer. It is critical that agencies understand: 1) that the waiver is purely voluntary on the part of the local agency and 2) that in an FHWA-funded project the waiver is subject to prior approval by the FHWA. In projects without any federal funds state rules apply. It is- generally accepted that the state rules were intended to mirror the federal rules and that the state are minimum standards for City of Santa Ana RFP for Right Of Way Consulting and Related Services Paragon Partners Ltd. Proposal to Provide (A5) Acquisition, Relocation and Property Management Services agencies. With this in mind there should be November 15, 2010 Page 29 251-75