Section 5.07 - Eligibility of Handicapped Persons(1) The definition of handicapped persons of low income is set out in M.G.L. c. 121B, § 1. A handicapped person of low income, as so defined, may have one or more physical or mental impairments, which shall be considered in conjunction with each other if more than one exists.(2) The LHA shall determine whether non-elderly applicants for elderly/handicapped housing are handicapped persons of low income. Upon request, the applicant shall provide documentation sufficient for the LHA to be able to make a determination of eligibility. Such documentation shall be subject to third-party verification. As part of the determination process the following actions and findings are necessary. (a) The applicant shall provide certification by a physician documenting a physical or mental impairment which is expected to be of long and continued duration, but at least for more than six months;(b) the LHA shall determine that either certain special architectural design features or low-rent housing are not available in the private market and that the applicant is faced with living in an institution or decadent, substandard housing, or paying excessive rents; and(c) the LHA shall determine an applicant to be of low income if the applicant's household income is within the income limits set for state-aided public housing.(3) Examples of a person with a qualifying physical impairment which may substantially impede his or her ability to live independently in conventional housing shall include, but shall not be limited to, a person:(a) who is confined to a wheelchair;(b) who, because of the use of braces or crutches, or because of the loss of a foot or leg, or because of an arthritic, spastic, pulmonary or cardiac condition walks with significant difficulty or insecurity;(c) who, due to a brain, spinal or peripheral nerve injury, suffers from significant coordination deficits;(d) who is blind within the definition of blind person set out in 111 CMR 3.03: Definitions;(e) who is deaf within the definition set out in M.G.L. 6, § 191; or(f) who has a developmental disability which prevents the person from living totally independently and would benefit from the LHA's specialized housing (such a person may include, but is not limited to, a person with cerebral palsy, mental retardation, or epilepsy).Amended by Mass Register Issue 1394, eff. 6/28/2019.