(a) Conditions precedent

The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development is specifically authorized to convey the following housing projects to the following local public housing agencies respectively, if—

(1) on or before January 30, 1953, (i) the conveyance is requested by the governing body of the municipality or county and (ii) the public housing agency has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development that there is a need for low-rent housing (as such term is defined in the United States Housing Act of 1937 [42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.]) within the area of operation of such public housing agency which is not being met by private enterprise;

(2) the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development determines that the project requested will meet such need in whole or in part, and is suitable for low-rent housing use; and

(3) on or before June 30, 1953, the governing body of the municipality or county enters into an agreement with the public housing agency (satisfactory to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development) providing for local cooperation and payments in lieu of taxes not in excess of the amount permitted by subsection (c)(5) of this section, and the public housing agency enters into an agreement with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (in accordance with subsection (c) of this section) or for the administration of the project:

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In addition to the authority of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under the first sentence of this subsection, the Secretary is specifically authorized to convey any permanent war housing project to a local public housing agency if requested in writing, within sixty days after April 20, 1950, by such agency or the executive head of the municipality (or of the county or parish if such project is not in a municipality) within which the project is located, or by the Governor of the State where an agency of the State has authority to operate the project: Provided, That any conveyance by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development pursuant to this sentence shall be subject to the same conditions and requirements as provided in this section with respect to a project specifically designated herein.

(b) Projects as “low-rent housing”

Upon the conveyance by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development of any such project pursuant to the provisions of this section, such project shall constitute and be deemed to be “low-rent housing” as that term is used and defined in the United States Housing Act of 1937 [42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.] (and to be a low-rent housing project assisted pursuant to that Act, within the meaning of section 1404a(b) of this title). Any instrument of conveyance by the Administrator stating that it is executed under subchapters II to VII of this chapter shall be conclusive evidence of compliance therewith insofar as any title or other interest in the property is concerned.

(c) Conditions and requirements of agreements

The agreement between the public housing agency and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development required by subsection (a) of this section shall contain the following conditions and requirements, and may contain such further conditions, requirements, and provisions as the Secretary determines—

(1) during a period of forty years following the conveyance the project shall be administered as low-rent housing in accordance with subsections 2(1) and 2(2) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 [42 U.S.C. 1402(1) and (2)]: Provided, That if at any time during such period the public housing agency and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development agree that the project, or any part thereof, is no longer suitable for use as low-rent housing, the project, or part thereof, shall with the approval of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development be sold by the public housing agency after which the agreement shall be deemed to have terminated with respect to such project or part thereof except that the proceeds from such sale, after payment of the reasonable expense thereof, shall be paid to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, or, with the Secretary’s approval, used to finance the repair or rehabilitation of a project or part thereof conveyed to the public housing agency under this section;

(2) the public housing agency shall, within six months following the conveyance, initiate a program for the removal of all families residing in the project on the date of conveyance who are ineligible under the provisions of the United States Housing Act of 1937 [42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.] for continued occupancy therein, and shall have required such ineligible tenants to vacate their dwellings within eighteen months after the initiation of such program: Provided, That military personnel as designated by the Secretary of Defense or his designee shall not be subject to such removal until eighteen months after the date of conveyance;

(3) annually during the term of such agreement, the public housing agency shall pay to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development all income from the project remaining after deducting the amounts necessary (as determined pursuant to regulations of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development) for (i) the payment of reasonable and proper costs of operating, maintaining, and approving such project, (ii) the payments in lieu of taxes authorized hereunder, (iii) the establishment and maintenance of reasonable and proper reserves as approved by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and (iv) the payment of currently maturing installments of principal of and interest on any indebtedness incurred by such public housing agency with the approval of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: Provided, That the provisions of this paragraph shall not be applicable to any project which is consolidated under a single contract with one or more low-rent projects being assisted under the United States Housing Act of 1937 [42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.], and all income from any such project conveyed under this section may be commingled with funds of the project or projects with which it is consolidated and applied in accordance with the requirements of the consolidated contract and the provisions of section 10(c) of the said Act [42 U.S.C. 1410(c)];

(4) during the term of such agreement, the project shall be exempt from all real and personal property taxes levied or imposed by the State, city, county, or other political subdivisions;

(5) for the tax year in which the conveyance is made and the next succeeding tax year annual payments in lieu of taxes may be made to the State, city, county, or other political subdivisions in amounts not in excess of the real property taxes which would be paid to such State, city, county, or other political subdivisions if the project were not exempt from taxation; and thereafter, during the term of such agreement, payments in lieu of taxes with respect to the project may be made in annual amounts which do not exceed 10 per centum of the annual shelter rents charged in such project;

(6) in selecting tenants for such project, the public housing agency shall give such preferences as are prescribed by subsection 10(g) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 [42 U.S.C. 1410g], except that for one year after the date of conveyance of a project, the public housing agency shall, to the extent permitted by law, give such preferences, by allocation or otherwise, to military personnel as the Secretary of Defense or his designee prescribes to the public housing agency; and

(7) upon the occurrence of a substantial default in respect to the requirements and conditions to which the public housing agency is subject (as such substantial default shall be defined in such agreement), the public housing agency shall be obligated at the option of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, either to convey title in any case where, in the determination of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, (which determination shall be final and conclusive), such conveyance of title is necessary to achieve the purposes of this subchapter and the United States Housing Act of 1937 [42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.], or to deliver possession to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development of the project, as then constituted, to which such agreement relates: Provided, That in the event of such conveyance of title or delivery of possession, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development may improve and administer such project as low-rent housing, and otherwise deal with such housing or parts thereof, subject, however, to the limitations contained in the applicable provisions of the United States Housing Act of 1937. The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall be obligated to reconvey or to redeliver possession of the project, as constituted at the time of reconveyance or redelivery, to such public housing agency or to its successor (if such public housing agency or a successor exists) upon such terms as shall be prescribed in such agreement and as soon as practicable after the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall be satisfied that all defaults with respect to the project have been cured, and that the project will, in order to fulfill the purposes of this subchapter and the United States Housing Act of 1937, thereafter be operated in accordance with the terms of such agreement. Any prior conveyances and reconveyances, deliveries and redeliveries of possession shall not exhaust the right to require a conveyance or delivery of possession of the project to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development pursuant to this paragraph upon the subsequent occurrence of a substantial default.

(d) Disposition of payments

At the end of each fiscal year, the total amount of payments during such year to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in accordance with subsection (c) of this section shall be covered into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts.