a preference for elderly families in accordance with this section shall not remove an applicant from the project's waiting list on the basis of having made the election.
(2) HUD approval of election not required. (i) An owner is not required to solicit or obtain the approval of HUD before exercising the election of preference for occupancy provided in paragraph (a)(1) of this section. The owner, however, if challenged on the issue of eligibility of the project for the election provided in paragraph (a)(1) of this section must be able to support the project's eligibility through the production of all relevant documentation in the possession of the owner that pertains to the original design of the project.
(ii) The Department reserves the right at any time to review and make determinations regarding the accuracy of the identification of the project as an elderly project. The Department can make such determinations as a result of ongoing monitoring activities, or the conduct of complaint investigations under the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 through 3619), or compliance reviews and complaint investigations under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794) and other applicable statutes.
(b) Determining projects eligible for preference for occupancy by elderly families —(1) Evidence supporting project eligibility. Evidence that a project assisted under this part (or portion of a project) was originally designed primarily for occupancy by elderly families, and is therefore eligible for the election of occupancy preference provided by this section, shall consist of at least one item from the sources (“primary” sources) listed in paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section, or at least two items from the sources (“secondary” sources) listed in paragraph (b)(1)(ii)