Except as otherwise limited by this chapter, the authority has the power to:

(1) Sue and be sued;
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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 4-31-104

  • Agricultural development loan program: means the authority's program of providing loans to lenders or purchasing loans from lenders for the purpose of making funds available for the financing of agricultural enterprises. See Tennessee Code 4-31-102
  • Agricultural enterprise: means the acquisition, reconstruction or improvement of land or buildings or other improvements thereto, or any combination thereof, and any breeding stock and machinery or equipment necessary or suitable for use in farming, ranching, the production of agricultural commodities, including the products of agriculture and silviculture, or necessary and suitable for treating, processing, storing or transporting raw agricultural commodities. See Tennessee Code 4-31-102
  • Authority: means the Tennessee local development authority, a public agency and instrumentality of the state, created by this chapter, or if such authority shall be abolished, the board, body, commission or agency succeeding to the principal functions thereof or to which the powers and duties granted or imposed upon the authority shall be given by law. See Tennessee Code 4-31-102
  • Bond: means any bond authorized and issued pursuant to this chapter. See Tennessee Code 4-31-102
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
  • Department: means the department of environment and conservation, or, if the department shall be abolished, the board, body, commission or agency succeeding to the principal functions thereof or to which the powers and duties granted or imposed upon the department shall be given by law. See Tennessee Code 4-31-102
  • Interest rate: The amount paid by a borrower to a lender in exchange for the use of the lender's money for a certain period of time. Interest is paid on loans or on debt instruments, such as notes or bonds, either at regular intervals or as part of a lump sum payment when the issue matures. Source: OCC
  • 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
  • Lender: means any federal or state chartered bank, federal land bank, production credit association, bank for cooperatives, federal or state chartered savings and loan association or building and loan association, insurance company, or mortgage loan company. See Tennessee Code 4-31-102
  • Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
  • Note: means any note authorized and issued pursuant to this chapter. See Tennessee Code 4-31-102
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • State: means the state of Tennessee. See Tennessee Code 4-31-102
  • State loan programs: means the activities and policies undertaken by the state pursuant to title 68, chapter 221, part 2 to provide assistance to local government units by making grants that are required to be repaid for the construction of sewage treatment works, or pursuant to title 68, chapter 221, part 5, to provide assistance to local government units by making loans for the construction of waterworks, or pursuant to [former] title 68, chapter 211, part 4 [repealed], to provide assistance to local government units by making loans for the construction of energy recovery facilities or solid waste resource recovery facilities, or both, or pursuant to part 4 of this chapter to provide assistance to local government units by making loans for the construction of capital projects. See Tennessee Code 4-31-102
  • State-shared taxes: means taxes imposed and collected by the state pursuant to law and allocated by law to local government units, whether allocated for a particular purpose or for the general use of such local government units. See Tennessee Code 4-31-102
  • United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(2) Have a seal and alter the same at pleasure;
(3) Make and execute contracts and all other instruments necessary or convenient for the exercise of its powers and functions under this chapter;
(4) Subject to agreements with bondholders or noteholders, make rules and regulations governing the conduct of its meetings and the use and application of its money and properties;
(5) Borrow money and issue negotiable bonds, notes or other obligations in the principal amounts and for the purposes authorized by law, and provide for the rights of the holders of such bonds, notes or other obligations;
(6) Invest any funds held in reserve or sinking funds, or any moneys not required for immediate use or disbursement at the discretion of the authority in any investments or securities in which moneys of the state are authorized to be invested;
(7) In connection with the issuance of bonds or notes of the authority, make and collect such rents, fees and charges, including, but not limited to, reimbursement of all costs of financing by the authority as the authority shall determine to be reasonable and required;
(8) Accept any gifts or grants or loans of funds or financial or other aid in any form from the federal government or any agency or instrumentality thereof or from the state or from any other source and to comply, subject to this chapter, with the terms and conditions thereof;
(9) Accept the assignment of the right to receive money paid under loan program agreements;
(10) Engage the services of attorneys and consultants on a fee or contract basis for the rendering of professional and technical assistance and advice;
(11) Do any and all things necessary or convenient to carry out its purposes and exercise the powers expressly given and granted in this chapter;
(12) Procure insurance or guarantees from any public or private entities, including any department, agency or instrumentality of the United States, for payment of any bonds or notes issued by the authority to fund its state loan programs and its agricultural development loan program, including the power to pay premiums on any such insurance;
(13) Enter into agreements with any department, agency or instrumentality of the United States or the state and with lenders, and enter into loan agreements, sales contracts and leases with contracting parties for the purpose of planning, regulating and providing for the financing or refinancing of any agricultural enterprise;
(14) Enter into contracts or agreements with lenders for the servicing and processing of loans made to finance agricultural enterprises;
(15) Provide technical assistance to local public bodies and to profit and nonprofit entities in the development or operation of agricultural enterprises and distribute data and information concerning the encouragement and improvement of agricultural enterprises and agricultural employment in the state;
(16) To the extent permitted under a resolution authorizing notes or bonds to fund the agricultural development loan program, consent to any modification with respect to the rate of interest, time and payment of any installment of principal or interest, or any other term of any contract, loan, loan note, loan note commitment, contract, lease or agreement of any kind to which the authority is a party;
(17) To the extent permitted under a resolution authorizing notes or bonds to fund the agricultural development loan program for financing certain agricultural enterprises, enter into contracts with any lender containing provisions enabling it to reduce the rental or carrying charges to persons unable to pay the regular schedule of charges when, by reason of other income or payment by any department, agency or instrumentality of the United States or of the state, the reduction can be made without jeopardizing the economic stability of the agricultural enterprise being financed;
(18) Enter into agreements for management on behalf of the authority of any of its properties acquired under the agricultural development loan program upon such terms and conditions as may be mutually agreeable;
(19) Sell, at public or private sale, with or without public bidding, any loan or other obligation held by the authority, when such loan or other obligation is held by the authority pursuant to the agricultural loan program;
(20) Foreclose any mortgages, deeds of trust, notes, debentures, bonds and other security interests held by it relative to an agricultural enterprise either by action or by exercise of a power of sale, and sell the equity of redemption in such security interests in accordance with the terms of such instruments and applicable state law, and take all such other actions as may be necessary to enforce any obligation held by it;
(21) Purchase the equity of redemption in any such mortgage, deed of trust, note, debenture, bond or other security interest;
(22) Mortgage, pledge, assign or grant security interests in any or all of its notes or other instruments, contract rights or other property, including, but without limitation to, any receipts from insurance on or guarantees of any of its notes or other instruments or any receipts from state-shared taxes, as security for the payment of the principal of and interest on any notes or bonds issued by the authority, or as security for any agreements made in connection therewith, whether then owned or thereafter acquired;
(23) Sell, exchange, donate and convey any or all of its properties whenever the authority shall find such action to be in furtherance of the purposes for which the authority was created;
(24) Make and execute contracts and all other instruments necessary or convenient to do any and all things, including the issuance of rules and regulations, for the exercise of its powers and functions under the Wastewater Facilities Act of 1987, compiled in title 68, chapter 221, part 10;
(25) When entering into any contracts or agreements authorized under this chapter, including contracts or agreements providing for liquidity and credit enhancement and reimbursement agreements relating thereto, interest rate swap or exchange agreements, agreements establishing interest rate floors or ceilings or both, other interest rate hedging agreements, evidencing a transaction bearing a reasonable relationship to this state and also to another state or nation, agree in the written contract or agreement that the rights and remedies of the parties thereto shall be governed by the laws of this state or the laws of such other state or nation; provided, however, that jurisdiction over the authority against which an action on such a contract or agreement is brought shall lie solely in a court located in Tennessee that would otherwise have jurisdiction of actions brought in contract against the authority; and
(26) For purposes of financing the acquisitions and improvements of facilities previously financed under part 7 of this chapter and from funds available, lend moneys to local government units to be repaid with revenues of such facilities under such terms and conditions deemed appropriate by the authority.
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