[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 425 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 425

  To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make 
grants to States to supplement State assistance for the preservation of 
              affordable housing for low-income families.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 19, 1999

  Mr. Vento introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
              Committee on Banking and Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make 
grants to States to supplement State assistance for the preservation of 
              affordable housing for low-income families.

    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 ``Housing Preservation Matching Grant 
Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
            (1) more than 55,300 affordable housing dwelling units in 
        the United States have been lost through termination of low 
        income affordability requirements, which usually involves the 
        prepayment of the outstanding principal balance under the 
        mortgage on the project in which such units are located;
            (2) more than 265,000 affordable housing dwelling units in 
        the United States are currently at risk of prepayment;
            (3) the loss of the privately owned, federally assisted 
        affordable housing, which is occurring during a period when 
        rents for unassisted housing are increasing and few units of 
        additional affordable housing are being developed, will cause 
        unacceptable harm on current tenants of affordable housing and 
        will precipitate a national crisis in the supply of housing for 
        low-income households;
            (4) the demand for affordable housing far exceeds the 
        supply of such housing, as evidenced by studies in 1998 that 
        found that--
                    (A) 5,300,000 households (one-seventh of all 
                renters in the Nation) have worst-case housing needs; 
                and
                    (B) the number of families with at least one full-
                time worker and having worst-case housing needs 
                increased from 1991 to 1995 by 265,000 (24 percent) to 
                almost 1,400,000;
            (5) the shortage of affordable housing in the United States 
        reached a record high in 1995, when the number of low-income 
        households exceeded the number of low-cost rental dwelling 
        units by 4,400,000;
            (6) between 1990 and 1995, the shortage of affordable 
        housing in the United States increased by 1,000,000 dwelling 
        units, as the supply of low-cost units decreased by 100,000 and 
        the number of low-income renter households increased by 
        900,000;
            (7) there are nearly 2 low-income renters in the United 
        States for every low-cost rental dwelling unit;
            (8) 2 of every 3 low-income renters receive no housing 
        assistance and about 2,000,000 low-income households remain on 
        waiting lists for affordable housing;
            (9) the shortage of affordable housing dwelling units 
        results in low-income households that are not able to acquire 
        low-cost rental units paying large proportions of their incomes 
        for rent; and
            (10) in 1995, 82 percent of low-income renter households 
        were paying more than 30 percent of their incomes for rent and 
        utilities.
    (b) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this Act--
            (1) to promote the preservation of affordable housing units 
        by providing matching grants to States that have developed and 
        funded programs for the preservation of privately owned housing 
        that is affordable to low-income families and persons and was 
        produced for such purpose with Federal assistance;
            (2) to minimize the involuntary displacement of tenants who 
        are currently residing in such housing, many of whom are 
        elderly or disabled persons; and
            (3) to continue the partnerships among the Federal 
        Government, State and local governments, and the private sector 
        in operating and assisting housing that is affordable to low-
        income Americans.

SEC. 3. AUTHORITY.

    The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall, to the extent 
amounts are made available pursuant to section 11, make grants under 
this Act to States for low-income housing preservation.

SEC. 4. USE OF GRANTS.

    (a) In General.--Amounts from grants under this Act may be used 
only for assistance for acquisition, preservation incentives, operating 
costs, and capital expenditures for a housing project that meets the 
requirements under subsection (b), (c), or (d).
    (b) Projects With HUD-Insured Mortgages.--A project meets the 
requirements under this subsection only if--
            (1) the project is financed by a loan or mortgage that is--
                    (A) insured or held by the Secretary under section 
                221(d)(3) of the National Housing Act and receiving 
                loan management assistance under section 8 of the 
                United States Housing Act of 1937 due to a conversion 
                from section 101 of the Housing and Urban Development 
                Act of 1965;
                    (B) insured or held by the Secretary and bears 
                interest at a rate determined under the proviso of 
                section 221(d)(5) of the National Housing Act;
                    (C) insured, assisted, or held by the Secretary or 
                a State or State agency under section 236 of the 
                National Housing Act; or
                    (D) held by the Secretary and formerly insured 
                under a program referred to in subparagraph (A), (B), 
                or (C);
            (2) the project is subject to an unconditional waiver of, 
        with respect to the mortgage referred to in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) all rights to any prepayment of the mortgage; 
                and
                    (B) all rights to any voluntary termination of the 
                mortgage insurance contract for the mortgage; and
            (3) the owner of the project has entered into binding 
        commitments (applicable to any subsequent owner) to extend all 
        low-income affordability restrictions for the project, 
        including any such restrictions imposed because of any contract 
        for project-based assistance for the project.
    (c) Projects With Section 8 Project-Based Assistance.--A project 
meets the requirements under this subsection only if--
            (1) the project is subject to a contract for project-based 
        assistance; and
            (2) the owner of the project has entered into binding 
        commitments (applicable to any subsequent owner) to extend such 
        assistance for the maximum period allowable under law (subject 
        to the availability of amounts for such purpose) and to extend 
        any low-income affordability restrictions applicable to the 
        project in connection with such assistance.
    (d) Projects Purchased By Residents.--A project meets the 
requirements under this subsection only if the project--
            (1) is or was eligible low-income housing (as such term is 
        defined in section 229 of the Low-Income Housing Preservation 
        and Resident Homeownership Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 4119); and
            (2) has been purchased by a resident council for the 
        housing or is approved by the Secretary for such purchase, for 
        conversion to homeownership housing under a resident 
        homeownership program meeting the requirements under section 
        226 of such Act (12 U.S.C. 4116).
    (e) Combination of Assistance.--Notwithstanding subsection (a), any 
project that is otherwise eligible for assistance with grant amounts 
provided under this Act because the project meets the requirements 
under subsection (b) or (c) and that also meets the requirements under 
paragraph (1) of the other of such subsections, shall be eligible for 
such assistance only if the project complies with all of the 
requirements under such other subsection.

SEC. 5. GRANT AMOUNT LIMITATION.

    The Secretary shall limit the portion of the aggregate amount of 
grants under this Act made available for any fiscal year that may be 
provided to a single State based upon the proportion of such State's 
need (as determined by the Secretary) for such assistance to the 
aggregate need among all States approved for such assistance for such 
fiscal year.

SEC. 6. MATCHING REQUIREMENT.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary may not make a grant under this Act 
to any State for any fiscal year in an amount that exceeds twice the 
amount that the State certifies, as the Secretary shall require, that 
the State will contribute for such fiscal year, or has contributed 
since January 1, 1999, from non-Federal sources for the purposes under 
section 4(a).
    (b) Treatment of Previous Contributions.--Any portion of amounts 
contributed after January 1, 1999, that are counted for purposes of 
meeting the requirement under subsection (a) for a fiscal year may not 
be counted for such purposes for any subsequent fiscal year.
    (c) Treatment of Tax Credits.--Tax credits provided under section 
42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and proceeds from the sale of 
tax-exempt bonds by any state or local government entity shall not be 
considered non-Federal sources for purposes of this section.

SEC. 7. TREATMENT OF SUBSIDY LAYERING REQUIREMENTS.

    Neither section 6 nor any other provision of this Act may be 
construed to prevent the use of tax credits provided under section 42 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 in connection with housing 
assisted with grant amounts provided under this Act, to the extent that 
such use is in accordance with section 102(d) of the Department of 
Housing and Urban Development Reform Act of 1989 (42 U.S.C. 3545(d)) 
and section 911 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 
(42 U.S.C. 3545 note).

SEC. 8. APPLICATIONS.

    The Secretary shall provide for States (through appropriate State 
agencies) to submit applications for grants under this Act. The 
Secretary shall require the applications to contain any information and 
certifications necessary for the Secretary to determine whether the 
State is eligible to receive such a grant.

SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act, the following definitions shall apply:
            (1) Low-income affordability restrictions.--The term ``low-
        income affordability restrictions'' means, with respect to a 
        housing project, any limitations imposed by regulation or 
        regulatory agreement on rents for tenants of the project, rent 
        contributions for tenants of the project, or income-eligibility 
        for occupancy in the project.
            (2) Project-based assistance.--The term ``project-based 
        assistance'' has the meaning given such term in section 16(c) 
        of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437n(c)), 
        except that such term includes assistance under any successor 
        programs to the programs referred to in such section.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Housing and Urban Development.
            (4) State.--The term ``State'' means the States of the 
        United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 
        Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 
        Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and any other 
        territory or possession of the United States.

SEC. 10. REGULATIONS.

    The Secretary may issue any regulations necessary to carry out this 
Act.

SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There is authorized to be appropriated for grants under this title 
such sums as necessary for each of fiscal years, 2000, 2001, 2002, 
2003, and 2004.
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