§1490m — Title 42 The Public Health and Welfare | U.S. Code

Summary

The Secretary can give grants to eligible groups (like private non‑profits, Indian tribes, local governments, counties, States, or consortia) to fix up or replace rural housing owned by low‑ and very low‑income people, and to fix or replace rental or cooperative housing that keeps units affordable for low‑income residents. Grants or loans can pay for repairs, interest reduction, and other help to lower costs. Single‑family replacement money is limited to $15,000 per unit when repair is not practical and the owner cannot get a loan under section 1472. Help for rental buildings cannot cover more than 75% of a structure’s rehab or replacement cost. The work must raise health and safety to the standards in section 1479(a), help low‑income rural people without forcing out current residents, and, where possible, benefit people with incomes at or below 50% of area median income. Money for States is split by a formula that averages three ratios: rural population, rural poverty, and rural substandard housing compared to all States. Unless there is only one eligible grantee in a State, a single grantee cannot get more than 50% of the State’s share. Grantees must send an annual plan of activities for public comment and consult local officials. The Secretary scores plans on things like reaching those who lack adequate housing (with priority for many people at or below 50% of area median income), leveraging other funds, serving very small or remote rural places (under 10,000 people), cost per unit, avoiding displacement, reducing overcrowding, low administrative costs, and owners agreeing to longer than 5 years when required. The grant amount must be the minimum needed to make decent, modest, affordable housing. Owners of rental or cooperative housing must sign agreements to ensure compliance, pass savings to tenants, not convert to ineligible ownership, not refuse tenants for using other housing aid, keep units for low‑income occupants, use leases that allow eviction only for good cause, and allow supervised repairs with an independent inspector. If an owner fails to follow the rules, the owner or successors must repay the full assistance plus interest (calculated using a rate tied to U.S. long‑term obligations), and the assistance is a debt secured by the owner’s security. The Secretary may make advance payments, will review and audit grantees at least yearly and can reallocate funds, must issue rules within 90 days after November 30, 1983, and must issue regulations for the single‑family replacement program no later than the 30‑day period after February 5, 1988. Rehabilitation that affects historic properties must meet preservation standards and allow review by the State historic preservation officer or the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.

Title 42, §1490m

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The purpose of this section is to authorize the Secretary to make grants to eligible grantees including private nonprofit organizations, Indian tribes, general units of local government, counties, States, and consortia of other eligible grantees, in order to—

(1)rehabilitate or replace single family housing in rural areas which is owned by low- and very low-income persons and families, and

(2)rehabilitate or replace rental properties or cooperative housing which has a membership resale structure that enables the cooperative to maintain affordability for persons of low income in rural areas serving low- and very low-income occupants.

(b)Preservation programs assisted under this section shall—

(1)be used to provide loans or grants to owners of single family housing in order to cover the cost of repairs and improvements;

(2)be used to provide loans or grants, not to exceed $15,000 per unit, to owners of single family housing to replace existing housing if repair or rehabilitation of the housing is determined by the Secretary not to be practicable and the owner of the housing is unable to afford a loan under section 1472 of this title for replacement housing;

(3)be used to provide interest reduction payment;

(4)be used to provide loans or grants to owners of rental housing, except that rental rehabilitation or replacement assistance provided under this subsection for any structure shall not exceed 75 per centum of the total costs associated with the rehabilitation or replacement of that structure;

(5)be used to provide other comparable assistance that the Secretary deems appropriate to carry out the purpose of this section, designed to reduce the costs of such repair, rehabilitation, and replacement in order to make such housing affordable by persons of low income and, to the extent feasible, by persons and families whose incomes do not exceed 50 per centum of the area median income;

(6)benefit low- and very low-income persons and families in rural areas, without causing the displacement of current residents; and

(7)raise health and safety conditions to meet those specified in section 1479(a) of this title.

(c)(1)The Secretary shall allocate grant funds under this section for use in each State on the basis of a formula contained in a regulation prescribed by the Secretary using the average of the ratios between—

(A)the population of the rural areas in that State and the population of the rural areas of all States;

(B)the extent of poverty in the rural areas in that State and the extent of poverty in the rural areas of all States; and

(C)the extent of substandard housing in the rural areas of that State and the extent of substandard housing in the rural areas of all States.

(2)Unless there is only one eligible grantee in a State, a single grantee may not receive more than 50 per centum of a State’s allocation.

(d)(1)Eligible grantees may submit a statement of activity to the Secretary at the time specified by the program administrator, containing a description of its proposed preservation program. The statement shall consist of the activities each entity proposes to undertake for the fiscal year, and the projected progress in carrying out those activities. The statement of activities shall be made available to the public for comment.

(2)In preparing such statement, the grantee shall consult with and consider the views of appropriate local officials.

(3)The Secretary shall evaluate the merits of each statement on the basis of such criteria as the Secretary shall prescribe, including the extent—

(A)to which the repair, rehabilitation, and replacement activities will assist persons of low income who lack adequate shelter, with priority given to applications assisting the maximum number of persons and families whose incomes do not exceed 50 per centum of the area median income;

(B)to which the repair, rehabilitation, and replacement activities include the participation of other public or private organizations in providing assistance, in addition to the assistance provided under this section, in order to lower the costs of such activities or provide for the leveraging of available funds to supplement the rural housing preservation grant program;

(C)to which such activities will be undertaken in rural areas having populations below 10,000 or in remote parts of other rural areas;

(D)to which the repair, rehabilitation, and replacement activities may be expected to result in achieving the greatest degree of repair or improvement for the least cost per unit or dwelling;

(E)to which the program would minimize displacement;

(F)to which the program would alleviate overcrowding in rural residences inhabited by low- and very low-income persons and families;

(G)to which the program would minimize the use of grant funds for administrative purposes; and

(H)to which the owner agrees to meet the requirement of subsection (e)(1)(B)(iv) for a period longer than 5 years;

(4)The amount of assistance provided under this section with respect to any housing shall be the least amount that the Secretary determines is necessary to provide, through the repair and rehabilitation, or replacement, of such housing, decent housing of modest design that is affordable for persons of low income.

(5)A grantee may use housing preservation grant funds under this section for replacement housing only after providing documentation to the Secretary that—

(A)the existing housing is in such poor condition that rehabilitation is not economically feasible;

(B)the owner of the housing lacks the income or repayment ability necessary to qualify for a loan under section 1472 of this title; and

(C)the grantee will extend assistance to the owner of the housing under terms that the owner can afford.

(e)(1)Assistance under this section may be provided with respect to rental or cooperative housing only if—

(A)the owner has entered into such agreements with the Secretary as may be necessary to assure compliance with the requirements of this section, to assure the financial feasibility of such housing, and to carry out the other provisions of this section;

(B)the owner agrees—

(i)to pass on to the tenants any reduction in the debt service payments resulting from the assistance provided under this section;

(ii)not to convert the units to condominium ownership (or in the case of a cooperative, to condominium ownership or any form of cooperative ownership not eligible for assistance under this section);

(iii)not to refuse to rent a dwelling unit in the structure to a family solely because the family is receiving or is eligible to receive assistance under any Federal, State, or local housing assistance program; and

(iv)that the units repaired and rehabilitated with such assistance will be occupied, or available for occupancy, by persons of low income;

(C)the unit of general local government or nonprofit organization that receives the assistance certifies to the satisfaction of the Secretary that the assistance will be made available in conformity with Public Law 88–352 [42 U.S.C. 2000a et seq.] and Public Law 90–284;

(D)the owner agrees to enter into and abide by written leases with the tenants, which leases shall provide that tenants may be evicted only for good cause; and

(E)the unit of general local government or nonprofit organization will agree to supervise repairs and rehabilitation and will agree to have a disinterested party inspect such repairs and rehabilitation.

(2)Assistance under this section provided with respect to any housing other than rental or cooperative housing may be provided only if the owner complies with the requirements set forth in subparagraph (E) of paragraph (1) and any other requirements established by the Secretary to carry out the purpose of this section.

(3)(A)The Secretary shall provide that if the owner or his or her successors in interest fail to carry out the agreements described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1) during the applicable period, the owner or his or her successors in interest shall make a payment to the Secretary of an amount that equals the total amount of assistance provided under this section with respect to such housing, plus interest thereon (without compounding), for each year and any fraction thereof that the assistance was outstanding, at a rate determined by the Secretary taking into account the average yield on outstanding marketable long-term obligations of the United States during the month preceding the date on which the assistance was made available.

(B)Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any assistance provided under this section shall constitute a debt, which is payable in the case of any failure to carry out the agreements described in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of paragraph (1), and shall be secured by the security instruments provided by the owner to the Secretary.

(f)The Secretary shall provide for such advance payments of assistance under this section as the Secretary determines is necessary to effectively carry out the provisions of this section.

(g)The Secretary shall, at least on an annual basis, make such review and audits as may be necessary or appropriate to determine whether the grantee has carried out its activities in a timely manner and in accordance with the requirements of this section, the degree to which the activities assisted benefitted low income families or persons and very low-income families or persons who lacked adequate housing, and whether the grantee has a continuing capacity to carry out the activities in a timely manner. The Secretary may adjust, reduce, or withdraw resources made available to grantees receiving assistance under this section, or take other action as appropriate in accordance with the findings of these reviews and audits. Any amounts which become available as a result of actions under this subsection shall be reallocated as housing preservation grants to such grantee or grantees as the Secretary may determine.

(h)(1)The Secretary is authorized to prescribe such rules and regulations and make such delegations of authority as he deems necessary to carry out this section within 90 days after November 30, 1983.

(2)The Secretary shall, not later than the expiration of the 30-day period following February 5, 1988, issue regulations to carry out the program of grants under subsection (a)(2).

(i)The Secretary shall establish procedures which support national historic preservation objectives and which assure that, if any rehabilitation proposed to be assisted under this section would affect property that is included or is eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, such activity shall not be undertaken unless (1) it will reasonably meet the standards for rehabilitation issued by the Secretary of the Interior and the appropriate State historic preservation officer is afforded the opportunity to comment on the specific rehabilitation plan, or (2) the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation is afforded an opportunity to comment on cases for which the recipient of assistance, in consultation with the State historic preservation officer, determines that the proposed rehabilitation activity cannot reasonably meet such standards or would adversely affect historic property as defined therein.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Public Law 88–352, referred to in subsec. (e)(1)(C), is Pub. L. 88–352, July 2, 1964, 78 Stat. 241, known as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which is classified principally to subchapters II to IX (§ 2000a et seq.) of chapter 21 of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 2000a of this title and Tables. Public Law 90–284, referred to in subsec. (e)(1)(C), is Pub. L. 90–284, Apr. 11, 1968, 82 Stat. 73, known as the Civil Rights Act of 1968. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 3601 of this title and Tables.

Amendments

1998—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 105–276 substituted “tenant-based assistance as provided under section 1437f of this title” for “assistance payments as provided by section 1437f(o) of this title” in concluding provisions. Subsec. (j). Pub. L. 105–362 struck out subsec. (j) which read as follows: “Not later than 180 days after the close of each fiscal year in which assistance under this section is furnished, the Secretary shall submit to the Congress a report which shall contain— “(1) a description of the progress made in accomplishing the objectives of this section; and “(2) a summary of the use of such funds during the preceding year. The Secretary shall require grantees under this section to submit to him such reports, and other information as may be necessary in order for the Secretary to make the report required by this subsection.” 1992—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 102–550, §§ 706(1), 711(1)(B), in concluding provisions, inserted reference to section 1490r of this title and “or replaced” after “rehabilitated”. Subsec. (a)(1), (2). Pub. L. 102–550, § 711(1)(A), inserted “or replace” after “rehabilitate”. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 102–550, § 711(2)(A), substituted “Preservation programs” for “Rehabilitation programs” in introductory provisions. Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 102–550, § 711(2)(E), added par. (2). Former par. (2) redesignated (3). Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 102–550, § 711(2)(D), redesignated par. (2) as (3). Former par. (3) redesignated (4). Pub. L. 102–550, § 711(2)(B), inserted “or replacement” after “rehabilitation” in two places. Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 102–550, § 711(2)(D), redesignated par. (3) as (4). Former par. (4) redesignated (5). Pub. L. 102–550, § 711(2)(C), substituted “repair, rehabilitation, and replacement” for “repair and rehabilitation”. Subsec. (b)(5) to (7). Pub. L. 102–550, § 711(2)(D), redesignated pars. (4) to (6) as (5) to (7), respectively. Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 102–550, § 711(3), substituted “grant funds under this section” for “rehabilitation grant funds” in introductory provisions. Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 102–550, § 711(4)(A), substituted “preservation program” for “rehabilitation program”. Subsec. (d)(3)(A), (B), (D). Pub. L. 102–550, § 711(4)(B), substituted “repair, rehabilitation, and replacement” for “repair and rehabilitation”. Subsec. (d)(4). Pub. L. 102–550, § 711(4)(C), inserted “, or replacement,” after “rehabilitation”. Subsec. (d)(5). Pub. L. 102–550, § 711(4)(D), added par. (5). 1990—Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 101–625, § 717(a), inserted at end “Funds obligated, but subsequently unspent and deobligated, may remain available, to the extent provided in appropriations Acts, for use as housing preservation grants in ensuing fiscal years.” Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 101–625, § 717(b), substituted last sentence for “Any amounts which became available as a result of actions under this subsection shall be reallocated in the year in which they become available to such grantee or grantees as the Secretary may determine.” 1988—Subsec. (e)(1)(B)(iii). Pub. L. 100–242, § 316(g)(1), inserted “to” before “refuse”. Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 100–242, § 316(g)(2), substituted “low income families or persons and very low-income families or persons” for “persons of low income and very low-income”. Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 100–242, § 310, designated existing provisions as par. (1) and added par. (2).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1998 AmendmentAmendment by title V of Pub. L. 105–276 effective and applicable beginning upon Oct. 1, 1999, except as otherwise provided, with provision that Secretary may implement amendment before such date, except to extent that such amendment provides otherwise, and with

Savings Provision

, see section 503 of Pub. L. 105–276, set out as a note under section 1437 of this title. Rural Rental Rehabilitation Demonstration Pub. L. 100–242, title III, § 311, Feb. 5, 1988, 101 Stat. 1896, as amended by Pub. L. 100–628, title X, § 1044, Nov. 7, 1988, 102 Stat. 3273; Pub. L. 101–137, § 7(d), Nov. 3, 1989, 103 Stat. 826; Pub. L. 101–144, title II, Nov. 9, 1989, 103 Stat. 846; Pub. L. 105–362, title VII, § 701(f), Nov. 10, 1998, 112 Stat. 3287, directed Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to carry out a rural rental rehabilitation demonstration program, provided funding for program, and terminated authority for such program after Sept. 30, 1991.

§1490m Housing preservation grants

Summary

Title 42, §1490m

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Short Title

Short Title

Amendments

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Savings Provision

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