Title 36, Housing

The Board shall meet at least once every three months, and on the call of the chairman, when, in his opinion, additional meetings are necessary.

The Board shall exercise the following powers and duties, and such others as may be provided by law: 1. Provide a means of citizen access to the Department. 2. Provide a means of publicizing the policies and programs of the Department in order to educate the public and elicit pub…

The Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development shall have the following responsibilities: 1. Collecting from the governmental subdivisions of the Commonwealth information relevant to their planning and development activities, boundary changes, changes of form…

On or before January 1, 2019, the Department, in consultation with the Department of Fire Programs, shall develop a form (i) providing a landlord's certification that the smoke alarms in a rental unit have been inspected and are in good working order; (ii) summarizing the obligat…

The Department shall translate all forms and documents that the Department is mandated by law to create and that are posted on its website for use by residential landlords and tenants into the five non-English languages most commonly spoken in Virginia according to the most recen…

The Director is authorized to sell surplus real property belonging to the Commonwealth that is placed under the control of the Department for the purpose of establishing owner-occupied residential housing demonstration projects, with the prior written approval of the Governor or …

A. As used in this section, "consolidated report" means a report submitted by the Department pursuant to this section in satisfaction of any reporting requirements of §§ 36-139, 36-139.6, 36-140.01, 36-142, 36-150, and 59.1-546. B. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the …

The Department may enter into agreements with the owners of housing developments which are or will be eligible for low-income housing credits under the United States Internal Revenue Code. Any such agreement shall contain covenants and restrictions as shall be required by the Uni…

The Department, in determining eligibility for the Industrial Site Development Program, shall allow exceptions to the Department's minimum requirement of 200 net developable acres because of geographic topographic or land availability limitations.

The Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development shall have the following powers and duties relating to oversight of planning district commissions: 1. To recommend to the Governor the level of state general appropriation funding for each planning district commi…

A. The Department shall review the boundaries of planning districts following every United States decennial census of population. The Department shall also review the boundaries upon the request of a member jurisdiction of a planning district. An initial review shall be conducted…

A. Any locality with a population greater than 3,500 shall submit annually to the Department a report detailing any changes to local policies, ordinances, regulations, or processes affecting the development and construction of housing during the preceding fiscal year. Such report…

A. For the purposes of this section: "Financing" means (i) loans, grants, or forgivable loans that are used to start, expand, or support small businesses or nonprofit organizations; to provide operating and working capital to small businesses; or for property renovation or develo…

A. The Eviction Reduction Program (the Program) is established to expand the work of the Department in (i) promoting housing stability, (ii) identifying factors that contribute to eviction filings, (iii) providing interventions to prevent or divert evictions, and (iv) supporting …

As used in this chapter, unless the context requires a different meaning: "Board" means the Board of Housing and Community Development. "Department" means the Department of Housing and Community Development. "Fund" means the Virginia Housing Trust Fund created by this chapter. "H…

A. There is hereby established in the state treasury a special permanent, nonreverting fund, to be known as the "Virginia Housing Trust Fund." The Fund shall be established on the books of the Comptroller and consist of sums appropriated to the Fund by the General Assembly, all r…

All money transferred to the control of the HDA from the Fund shall be deposited in an account or accounts in banks or trust companies organized under the laws of the Commonwealth or in national banking associations located in Virginia or in savings institutions located in Virgin…

An independent certified public accountant selected by the HDA, shall annually audit the accounts of any portion of the Fund transferred to the control of the HDA, and the cost of such audit services shall be borne by the HDA and be paid from moneys designated for such purposes i…

The HDA is empowered to collect, or to authorize others to collect on its behalf, amounts due to the Fund under any loan made to a housing sponsor or a person or family of low or moderate income and funded from the portion of the Fund transferred to its control in order to obtain…

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, money in the Fund shall be used to make loans to housing sponsors and to persons and families of low and moderate income to finance or refinance the acquisition, construction, improvement, ownership or occupancy of housing development…

Subject to any restrictions which may apply to the use of money in the Fund, the Board in its discretion may approve the use of money in the Fund to make grants or appropriations to housing sponsors and persons and families of low and moderate income to provide assistance for the…

The HDA is empowered at any time and from time to time to transfer, upon the direction of the Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development, from the portion of the Fund under its control to banks or trust companies designated by the HDA any or all of the assets…

The HDA and the Department of Housing and Community Development, on behalf of the Fund, may enter into agreements whereby the Fund may obtain funding from the HDA for the financing of loans in accordance with this chapter, subject to such terms and conditions as shall be set fort…

For the purposes set forth in §§ 36-141 through 36-148, the HDA may form a corporation to administer and manage the portion of the Fund under its control in accordance with the provisions thereof and to exercise and perform any or all of the powers and duties provided therein. Su…

A. On or before December 1 of each year, the Department shall report to the Secretary of Commerce and Trade, the Governor, and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations and on such other matters regarding the Fund…

The provisions of this chapter shall be liberally construed to the end that its beneficial purposes may be effectuated. Insofar as the provisions of this chapter are inconsistent with the provisions of any other law, general, special or local, the provisions of this chapter shall…

As used in this chapter, unless the context requires a different meaning: "Board" means the Board of Housing and Community Development. "Department" means the Department of Housing and Community Development. "Derelict structures" means residential, commercial or industrial struct…

There is hereby established in the state treasury a special nonreverting permanent fund to be known as the Virginia Removal or Rehabilitation of Derelict Structures Fund. The Fund shall consist of sums appropriated to the Fund by the General Assembly; sums which may be allocated …

The Auditor of Public Accounts or his legally authorized representatives shall audit the accounts of the Fund in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards as determined necessary by the Auditor of Public Accounts, and the cost of such audit services shall be borne by …

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, money in the Fund shall be used to make grants to local governments to finance the acquisition, removal, rehabilitation, repair or demolition of derelict structures. No grant shall exceed $1,000,000. Each grant shall be conditioned up…

On or before September 30 of each year, each local government recipient shall report to the Department on the status of the properties acquired by the locality with the grant.

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Housing Revitalization Zone Act."

As used in this chapter: "Based assessed value" means the assessed value of real estate within a housing revitalization zone as shown upon the records of the local assessing officer on January 1 of the year preceding the date of the designation of such zone. "Business firm" means…

The Department shall administer this chapter and shall have the following powers and duties: 1. To establish the process for determining what areas qualify as housing revitalization zones. Such criteria shall be the minimum required for implementation of the purpose of this chapt…

A. The governing body of any county, city or town may make written application to the Department to have an area or areas declared to be a housing revitalization zone. Such application shall include a description of the location of the area or areas in question, and a general sta…

Upon designation of an area as a housing revitalization zone, the local governing body may make written application to the Department to expand the area of the housing revitalization zone. Such application for expansion shall be considered by the Department in accordance with the…

A. The Department shall review each application upon receipt and shall secure any additional information that the Department deems necessary for the purpose of determining whether the area described in the application qualifies to be declared a housing revitalization zone. B. The…

Upon designation of an area as a housing revitalization zone, the Commonwealth and any units of local government that own any land within the housing revitalization zone may make available for sale all land within the housing revitalization zone not designated or targeted for som…

Rules and regulations prescribing procedures effectuating the purpose of this chapter shall be promulgated by the Board of Housing and Community Development in accordance with the Administrative Process Act (§ 2.2-4000 et seq.).

A. Any business firm may be designated a "qualified business firm" for purposes of this chapter if it undertakes, within a housing revitalization zone, the eligible construction or rehabilitation of a housing unit as described under § 36-166. B. Any individual may be designated a…

A. As used in this section: "Qualified zone improvements" means the amount properly chargeable to a capital account for improvements to rehabilitate or undertake construction on real property during the applicable year within a housing revitalization zone, provided that the total…

There shall be set apart as a permanent and perpetual fund, known as the "Housing Revitalization Zone Fund," sums appropriated to the Fund by the General Assembly, all income from investments of moneys held in the Fund, and any other sums designated for deposit to the Fund from a…

A. In making an application for designation as a housing revitalization zone, the applying locality or localities may propose local tax incentives, including, but not limited to: (i) reduction of permit fees; (ii) reduction of user fees; (iii) partial exemption from taxation of s…

A. Upon designation of an area as a housing revitalization zone, the proposals for regulatory flexibility, tax incentives and other public incentives specified in this chapter shall be binding upon the local governing body to the extent and for the period of time specified in the…

Any county, city, or town in which a housing revitalization zone is located shall, within ninety days of the designation of a housing revitalization zone within such county, city, or town, adopt an ordinance providing that all or a specified percentage of the real estate taxes in…

As used in this chapter, unless the context requires a different meaning: "Account holder" means an individual who establishes, individually or jointly with one or more other individuals, an account with a financial institution for which the account holder claims a first-time hom…