42 USC 1437z-7 – Mixed-finance public housing
(a) Authority
A public housing agency may own, operate, assist, or otherwise participate in 1 or more mixed-finance projects in accordance with this section.
(b) Assistance
(1) Forms
A public housing agency may provide to a mixed-finance project assistance from the Operating Fund under section 1437g of this title, assistance from the Capital Fund under such section, or both forms of assistance. A public housing agency may, in accordance with regulations established by the Secretary, provide capital assistance to a mixed-finance project in the form of a grant, loan, guarantee, or other form of investment in the project, which may involve drawdown of funds on a schedule commensurate with construction draws for deposit into an interest-bearing escrow account to serve as collateral or credit enhancement for bonds issued by a public agency, or for other forms of public or private borrowings, for the construction or rehabilitation of the development.
(2) Use
To the extent deemed appropriate by the Secretary, assistance used in connection with the costs associated with the operation and management of mixed-finance projects may be used for funding of an operating reserve to ensure affordability for low-income and very low-income families in lieu of the availability of operating funds for public housing units in a mixed-finance project.
(c) Compliance with public housing requirements
Terms Used In 42 USC 1437z-7
- Capital Fund: means the fund established under section 1437g(d) of this title. See 42 USC 1437a
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- development: means any or all undertakings necessary for planning, land acquisition, demolition, construction, or equipment, in connection with a low-income housing project. See 42 USC 1437a
- Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
- families: includes families consisting of a single person in the case of (i) an elderly person, (ii) a disabled person, (iii) a displaced person, (iv) the remaining member of a tenant family, (v) a youth described in section 1437f(x)(2)(B) of this title, and (vi) any other single persons. See 42 USC 1437a
- income: means income from all sources of each member of the household, as determined in accordance with criteria prescribed by the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, except that any amounts not actually received by the family and any amounts which would be eligible for exclusion under section 1382b(a)(7) of this title or any deferred Department of Veterans Affairs disability benefits that are received in a lump sum amount or in prospective monthly amounts may not be considered as income under this paragraph. See 42 USC 1437a
- individual: shall include every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive at any stage of development. See 1 USC 8
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
- low-income families: means those families whose incomes do not exceed 80 per centum of the median income for the area, as determined by the Secretary with adjustments for smaller and larger families, except that the Secretary may establish income ceilings higher or lower than 80 per centum of the median for the area on the basis of the Secretary's findings that such variations are necessary because of prevailing levels of construction costs or unusually high or low family incomes. See 42 USC 1437a
- low-income housing: means decent, safe, and sanitary dwellings assisted under this chapter. See 42 USC 1437a
- mixed-finance project: means a public housing project that meets the requirements of section 1437z-7 of this title. See 42 USC 1437a
- Operating Fund: means the fund established under section 1437g(e) of this title. See 42 USC 1437a
- operation: means any or all undertakings appropriate for management, operation, services, maintenance, security (including the cost of security personnel), or financing in connection with a low-income housing project. See 42 USC 1437a
- Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
- project: means (A) housing developed, acquired, or assisted by a public housing agency under this chapter, and (B) the improvement of any such housing. See 42 USC 1437a
- public housing: includes dwelling units in a mixed finance project that are assisted by a public housing agency with capital or operating assistance. See 42 USC 1437a
- public housing agency: means any State, county, municipality, or other governmental entity or public body (or agency or instrumentality thereof) which is authorized to engage in or assist in the development or operation of public housing, or a consortium of such entities or bodies as approved by the Secretary. See 42 USC 1437a
- Secretary: means the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. See 42 USC 1437a
The units assisted with capital or operating assistance in a mixed-finance project shall be developed, operated, and maintained in accordance with the requirements of this chapter relating to public housing during the period required by under 1 this chapter, unless otherwise specified in this section. For purposes of this chapter, any reference to public housing owned or operated by a public housing agency shall include dwelling units in a mixed finance project that are assisted by the agency with capital or operating assistance.
(d) Mixed-finance projects
(1) In general
For purposes of this section, the term “mixed-finance project” means a project that meets the requirements of paragraph (2) and is financially assisted by private resources, which may include low-income housing tax credits, in addition to amounts provided under this chapter.
(2) Types of projects
The term includes a project that is developed—
(A) by a public housing agency or by an entity affiliated with a public housing agency;
(B) by a partnership, a limited liability company, or other entity in which the public housing agency (or an entity affiliated with a public housing agency) is a general partner, managing member, or otherwise participates in the activities of that entity;
(C) by any entity that grants to the public housing agency the right of first refusal and first option to purchase, after the close of the compliance period, of the qualified low-income building in which the public housing units exist in accordance with section 42(i)(7) of title 26; or
(D) in accordance with such other terms and conditions as the Secretary may prescribe by regulation.
(e) Structure of projects
Each mixed-finance project shall be developed—
(1) in a manner that ensures that public housing units are made available in the project, by regulatory and operating agreement, master contract, individual lease, condominium or cooperative agreement, or equity interest;
(2) in a manner that ensures that the number of public housing units bears approximately the same proportion to the total number of units in the mixed-finance project as the value of the total financial commitment provided by the public housing agency bears to the value of the total financial commitment in the project, or shall not be less than the number of units that could have been developed under the conventional public housing program with the assistance, or as may otherwise be approved by the Secretary; and
(3) in accordance with such other requirements as the Secretary may prescribe by regulation.
(f) Taxation
(1) In general
A public housing agency may elect to exempt all public housing units in a mixed-finance project—
(A) from the provisions of section 1437d(d) of this title, and instead subject such units to local real estate taxes; and
(B) from the finding of need and cooperative agreement provisions under section 1437c(e)(1)(ii) and 1437c(e)(2) of this title, but only if the development of the units is not inconsistent with the jurisdiction‘s comprehensive housing affordability strategy.
(2) Low-income housing tax credit
With respect to any unit in a mixed-finance project that is assisted pursuant to the low-income housing tax credit under section 42 of title 26, the rents charged to the residents may be set at levels not to exceed the amounts allowable under that section, provided that such levels for public housing residents do not exceed the amounts allowable under section 1437a of this title.
(g) Use of savings
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, to the extent deemed appropriate by the Secretary, to facilitate the establishment of socioeconomically mixed communities, a public housing agency that uses assistance from the Capital Fund for a mixed-finance project, to the extent that income from such a project reduces the amount of assistance used for operating or other costs relating to public housing, may use such resulting savings to rent privately developed dwelling units in the neighborhood of the mixed-finance project. Such units shall be made available for occupancy only by low-income families eligible for residency in public housing.
(h) Effect of certain contract terms
If an entity that owns or operates a mixed-finance project, that includes a significant number of units other than public housing units enters into a contract with a public housing agency, the terms of which obligate the entity to operate and maintain a specified number of units in the project as public housing units in accordance with the requirements of this chapter for the period required by law, such contractual terms may provide that, if, as a result of a reduction in appropriations under section 1437g of this title or any other change in applicable law, the public housing agency is unable to fulfill its contractual obligations with respect to those public housing units, that entity may deviate, under procedures and requirements developed through regulations by the Secretary, from otherwise applicable restrictions under this chapter regarding rents, income eligibility, and other areas of public housing management with respect to a portion or all of those public housing units, to the extent necessary to preserve the viability of those units while maintaining the low-income character of the units to the maximum extent practicable.