[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2914 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2914

    To provide for the emergency disposition of multifamily housing 
 projects acquired by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 6, 1993

    Mr. Baker of Louisiana introduced the following bill; which was 
    referred to the Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To provide for the emergency disposition of multifamily housing 
 projects acquired by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``FHA Multifamily Housing Emergency 
Disposition Act of 1993''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
            (1) the Department of Housing and Urban Development has a 
        large and growing inventory of multifamily housing projects 
        owned by the Department and multifamily housing projects 
        subject to mortgages in foreclosure that are held by the 
        Department;
            (2) the total number of such housing projects in the 
        inventory of the Department at the beginning of fiscal year 
        1993 was 444 and is likely to increase to 742 by the end of 
        fiscal year 1998;
            (3) the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development has 
        estimated that the Department will lose as much as 
        $11,900,000,000 as a result of mortgage foreclosures on 
        multifamily housing projects insured by the Department, which 
        is equivalent to 25 percent of the value of all mortgages 
        insured under the General Insurance Fund;
            (4) the Department is not prepared to manage an inventory 
        of multifamily housing projects as large as the inventory 
        expected by the end of fiscal year 1993, resulting in increased 
        holding and disposition costs for such projects; and
            (5) existing laws would require the attachment of 
        $7,000,000,000 of rental assistance in the form of 15-year 
        contracts under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 
        1937 to eliminate the backlog of multifamily housing projects 
        in the inventory of the Department.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act, therefore, is--
            (1) to declare that an emergency exists with respect to the 
        disposition of multifamily housing projects in the inventory of 
        the Department;
            (2) to provide for flexibility in disposing of such 
        projects by removing some of the statutory requirements that 
        impede the sale of such projects;
            (3) to encourage assistance for residents of such projects 
        through means other than rental assistance under section 8 of 
        the United States Housing Act of 1937; and
            (4) to maintain, to the maximum extent possible, the low-
        income character of such projects while disposing of such 
        projects in an economical and expeditious manner.

SEC. 3. EMERGENCY PROVISIONS.

    (a) Authority.--During the period in which the property disposition 
emergency under this Act is in effect pursuant to section 4, the 
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development may dispose of any 
multifamily housing project in accordance with the provisions this Act.
    (b) Applicability of Section 203 Requirements.--The provisions of 
section 203 of the Housing and Community Development Amendments of 1978 
shall apply to the disposition of multifamily housing projects under 
this Act, except to the extent that--
            (1) any such provision is waived pursuant to section 5 of 
        this Act; or
            (2) any such provision is inconsistent with any provision 
        of this Act, and then only to the extent of such inconsistency.
The Secretary may determine whether inconsistencies referred to in 
paragraph (2) exist.
    (c) Requirements.--In disposing of any subsidized or formerly 
subsidized multifamily housing project under this Act, the Secretary 
shall, to the extent that budget authority is available--
            (1) enter into--
                    (A) a nonrenewable contract under section 8 of the 
                United States Housing Act of 1937 having a term of not 
                less than 60 months and not more than 180 months that 
                provides project-based assistance for units in the 
                project; or
                    (B) annual contributions contracts with the 
                appropriate public housing agency to provide tenant-
                based rental assistance under section 8 of the United 
                States Housing Act of 1937 for a total term, including 
                renewals, of not more than 180 months; and
            (2) provide the assistance under paragraph (1) on behalf of 
        all of the very low-income families occupying the project on 
        the date the project is sold by the Secretary (or such other 
        prior date as the Secretary may determine appropriate), except 
        that the Secretary may in addition provide such assistance to 
        other eligible low-income families occupying such a project on 
        such date if the Secretary determines that such assistance is 
        appropriate under market conditions in the area in which the 
        project is located.
    (d) Alternative Requirements.--In lieu of, or in addition to, the 
actions required under subsection (c), the Secretary shall--
            (1) seek to ensure, through means other than assistance 
        under such section 8, that rent charges for units in the 
        project remain affordable (as such term is defined by the 
        Secretary) for a reasonable period of time determined by the 
        Secretary;
            (2) encourage the provision of assistance from non-Federal 
        sources to maintain the affordability of rent charges for units 
        in the project; and
            (3) encourage the sale of the project to a local nonprofit 
        organization.
    (e) Unsubsidized Projects.--In connection with the disposition 
under this Act of a multifamily housing project that is not a 
subsidized or formerly subsidized project, the Secretary is not 
required to provide assistance under section 8 of the United States 
Housing Act of 1937, but the Secretary may take any of the actions 
specified in subsection (d).
    (f) Additional Assistance.--In order to facilitate the disposition 
of a multifamily housing project under this Act, the Secretary may 
provide project-based assistance under section 8 of the United States 
Housing Act of 1937 with respect to units for which such assistance is 
not required by this Act.
    (g) Nonrental Uses of Projects.--In disposing of any multifamily 
housing project under this Act, the Secretary may make the project or 
units in project available--
            (1) for uses related to low-income housing other than 
        rental or cooperative use, such as low-income homeownership 
        opportunities, shelters for the homeless, and office space for 
        resident or housing-related social services providers; and
            (2) for any other use, if the Secretary, in consultation 
        with the local area-wide governing body, determines that such 
        use will assist efforts to reduce the geographic concentration 
        of low-income housing opportunities.

SEC. 4. DURATION OF EMERGENCY.

    A property disposition emergency under this Act shall be in effect 
during the period that--
            (1) begins upon the enactment of this Act; and
            (2) ends upon the conclusion of the third fiscal year that 
        begins after the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 5. WAIVER OF DISPOSITION PLAN REQUIREMENTS.

    The Secretary may waive any of the provisions of section 203(e) of 
the Housing and Community Development Amendments of 1978 with respect 
to the disposition of any multifamily housing project under this Act, 
as the Secretary determines appropriate to expedite such disposition of 
multifamily housing projects.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act:
            (1) Multifamily housing project.--The term ``multifamily 
        housing project'' has the meaning given the term in section 
        203(i) of the Housing and Community Development Amendments of 
        1978.
            (2) Subsidized project and formerly subsidized project.--
        The terms ``subsidized project'' and ``formerly subsidized 
        project'' have the meanings given the terms in section 
        203(i)(2) of the Housing and Community Development Amendments 
        of 1978, except that, notwithstanding subparagraph (E) of such 
        section, such terms include multifamily housing projects 
        receiving project-based housing assistance payments under 
        section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 or under 
        section 23 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (as in 
        effect before January 1, 1975) for 50 percent or fewer of the 
        units in the project immediately prior to the assignment of the 
        mortgage on such project to, or acquisition of such mortgage 
        by, the Secretary.
            (3) Low-income and very low-income.--The terms ``low-
        income'' and ``very low-income'' have the meanings given such 
        terms in section 3(b) of the United States Housing Act of 1937.

SEC. 7. CONFORMING AMENDMENT.

    Section 203(i)(2)(E) of the Housing and Community Development 
Amendments of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 1701z-11(i)(2)(E)) is amended by 
inserting ``tenant-based'' before ``certificates''.

                                 <all>