42 USC 12773 - Housing education and organizational support

View all text of Part B [§ 12771 - § 12774]

§ 12773. Housing education and organizational support

(a) In generalThe Secretary is authorized to provide education and organizational support assistance, in conjunction with other assistance made available under this part—

(1) to facilitate the education of low-income homeowners and tenants;

(2) to promote the ability of community housing development organizations, including community land trusts, to maintain, rehabilitate and construct housing for low-income and moderate-income families in conformance with the requirements of this subchapter; and

(3) to achieve the purposes under paragraphs (1) and (2) by helping women who reside in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods rehabilitate and construct housing in the neighborhoods.

(b) Eligible activitiesAssistance under this section may be used only for the following eligible activities:

(1) Organizational support

(2) Housing education

(3) Program-wide support of nonprofit development and management

(4) Benevolent loan funds

(5) Community development banks and credit unions

(6) Community land trusts

(7) Facilitating women in homebuilding professions

(1) with a nonprofit intermediary organization that, in the determination of the Secretary—

(A) customarily provides, in more than one community, services related to the provision of decent housing that is affordable to low-income and moderate-income persons or the revitalization of deteriorating neighborhoods;

(B) has demonstrated experience in providing a range of assistance (such as financing, technical assistance, construction and property management assistance, capacity building and training) to community housing development organizations or similar organizations that engage in community revitalization;

(C) has demonstrated the ability to provide technical assistance and training for community-based developers of affordable housing;

(D) has described the uses to which such assistance will be put and the intended beneficiaries of the assistance; and

(E) in the case of activities under subsection (b)(7), is a community-based organization (as such term is defined in section 4 of the Job Training Partnership Act) or public housing agency, which has demonstrated experience in preparing women for apprenticeship training in construction or administering programs for training women for construction or other nontraditional occupations (and such organizations may use assistance for activities under such subsection to employ women in housing construction and rehabilitation activities to the extent that the organization has the capacity to conduct such activities); or

(2) with another organization, if a participating jurisdiction demonstrates that the organization is qualified to carry out eligible activities and that the jurisdiction would not be served in a timely manner by intermediaries specified under paragraph (1).

Contracts under paragraph (2) shall be for activities specified in an application from the participating jurisdiction, which application shall include a certification that the activities are necessary to the effective implementation of the participating jurisdiction’s housing strategy.

(d) LimitationsContracts under this section with any one contractor for a fiscal year may not—

(1) exceed 40 percent of the amount appropriated for this section for such fiscal year; or

(2) provide more than 20 percent of the operating budget (which shall not include funds that are passed through to community housing development organizations) of the contracting organization for any one year.

(e) Single-State contractors

(f) “Community land trust” definedFor purposes of this section, the term “community land trust” means a community housing development organization (except that the requirements under subparagraphs (C) and (D) of section 12704(6) of this title shall not apply for purposes of this subsection)—

(1) that is not sponsored by a for-profit organization;

(2) that is established to carry out the activities under paragraph (3);

(3) that—

(A) acquires parcels of land, held in perpetuity, primarily for conveyance under long-term ground leases;

(B) transfers ownership of any structural improvements located on such leased parcels to the lessees; and

(C) retains a preemptive option to purchase any such structural improvement at a price determined by formula that is designed to ensure that the improvement remains affordable to low- and moderate-income families in perpetuity;

(4) whose corporate membership that is open to any adult resident of a particular geographic area specified in the bylaws of the organization; and

(5) whose board of directors—

(A) includes a majority of members who are elected by the corporate membership; and

(B) is composed of equal numbers of (i) lessees pursuant to paragraph (3)(B), (ii) corporate members who are not lessees, and (iii) any other category of persons described in the bylaws of the organization.

(Pub. L. 101–625, title II, § 233, Nov. 28, 1990, 104 Stat. 4116; Pub. L. 102–550, title II, § 213, Oct. 28, 1992, 106 Stat. 3757; Pub. L. 111–8, div. I, title II, § 229(1), (2), Mar. 11, 2009, 123 Stat. 978.)