(a) In addition to amounts otherwise authorized by this chapter, an agency shall make a payment to or for any displaced person displaced from any dwelling not eligible to receive a payment under section 293 of this chapter, which dwelling was actually and lawfully occupied by the displaced person for not less than 90 days prior to the initiation of negotiations for acquisition of such dwelling or in any case in which displacement is not a direct result of acquisition. The payment shall consist of an amount necessary to enable such person to lease or rent for a period not to exceed forty-two (42) months, a comparable replacement dwelling, but not to exceed a total of $5,250. At the discretion of the agency head, a payment under this section may be made in periodic installments. Computation of a payment under this section to a low income displaced person for a comparable replacement dwelling shall take into account such person's income.
(b) Any person eligible for a payment under subsection (a) above may elect to apply such payment to a down payment on, and other incidental expenses pursuant to, the purchase of a decent, safe, and sanitary replacement dwelling. Any such person may, at the discretion of the head of the displacing agency, be eligible under this subsection for the maximum payment allowed under subsection (a), except that, in the case of a displaced homeowner who has owned and occupied the displacement dwelling for at least 90 days but not more than 180 days immediately prior to the initiation of such negotiations for the acquisition of such dwelling, such payment shall not exceed the payment such person would otherwise have received under section 293 had the person owned and occupied the displacement dwelling 180 days immediately prior to the initiation of such negotiations.