From
the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 6, 1999]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 6, 1999 and October 26, 2000]
[CITE: 42USC12805]
TITLE
42--THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
CHAPTER 130--NATIONAL AFFORDABLE HOUSING
SUBCHAPTER II--INVESTMENT IN AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Part D--Specified Model Programs
Sec. 255. Sweat equity model program
- In general
The
Secretary shall make available a model program to provide grants
to public and private nonprofit organizations and community
housing development organizations to provide technical and supervisory
assistance to low-income and very low-income families, including
the homeless, in acquiring, rehabilitating, and constructing
housing by the self-help housing method.
- Rehabilitation
of properties
The
program shall target for rehabilitation properties which have
been acquired by the Federal, State, or local governments.
- Homeownership
opportunities through sweat equity
- The
program shall utilize the skilled or unskilled labor of
eligible families in exchange for acquisition of the property.
- Training
shall be provided to eligible families in building and home
maintenance skills.
- Rental
opportunities through sweat equity
-
The program shall include rental opportunities for eligible
families which will help expand the stock of affordable
housing which is most appropriate for the target group.
- The
use of the tenant's skilled or unskilled labor shall be
encouraged in lieu of or as a supplement to rent payments
by the tenant.
- "Self-help
housing'' defined
The
term "self-help housing'' means the same as in section
1490c of
this title.
- Additional
restrictions
The
guidelines for the model program shall generally comport with
the additional protections and restrictions specified under
section 1490c of this title.
(Pub.
L. 101-625, title II, Sec. 255, Nov. 28, 1990, 104 Stat. 4121.)
Assistance
for Self-Help Housing Providers
Pub. L. 104-120, Sec. 11, Mar. 28, 1996, 110 Stat. 841, as amended
by Pub. L. 105-276, title V, Sec. 599E(a), Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat.
2663, provided that:
"(a) Grant Authority.--The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
may, to the extent amounts are available to carry out this section
and the requirements of this section are met, make grants for use
in accordance with this section to national and regional organizations
and consortia that have experience in providing or facilitating
self-help housing homeownership opportunities.
"(b) Goals and Accountability.--In making grants under this
section, the Secretary shall take such actions as may be necessary
to ensure that--
"(1) assistance provided under this section is used to facilitate
and encourage innovative homeownership opportunities through the
provision of self-help housing, under which the homeowner contributes
a significant amount of sweat equity toward the construction of
the new dwelling;
"(2) assistance provided under this section for land acquisition
and infrastructure development results in the development of not
less than 4,000 new dwellings;
"(3) the dwellings constructed in connection with assistance
provided under this section are quality dwellings that comply with
local building and safety codes and standards and are available
at prices below the prevailing market prices;
"(4) the provision of assistance under this section establishes
and fosters a partnership between the Federal Government and organizations
and consortia, resulting in efficient development of affordable
housing with minimal governmental intervention, limited governmental
regulation, and significant involvement by private entities;
"(5) activities to develop housing assisted pursuant to this
section involve community participation in which volunteers assist
in the construction of dwellings; and
"(6) dwellings are developed in connection with assistance
under this section on a geographically diverse basis, which includes
areas having high housing costs, rural areas, and areas underserved
by other homeownership opportunities that are populated by low-income
families unable to otherwise afford housing.If, at any time, the
Secretary determines that the goals under this subsection cannot
be met by providing assistance in accordance with the terms of this
section, the Secretary shall immediately notify the applicable Committees
in writing of such determination and any proposed changes for such
goals or this section.
"(c) National Competition.--The Secretary shall select organizations
and consortia referred to in subsection (a) to receive grants through
a national competitive process, which the Secretary shall establish.
"(d) Use.--
"(1) Purpose.--Amounts from grants made under this section,
including any recaptured amounts, shall be used only for eligible
expenses in connection with developing new decent, safe, and sanitary
nonluxury dwellings in the United States for families and persons
who otherwise would be unable to afford to purchase a dwelling.
"(2) Eligible expenses.--For purposes of paragraph (1), the
term `eligible expenses' means costs only for the following activities:
"(A) Land acquisition.--Acquiring land (including financing
and closing costs).
"(B) Infrastructure improvement.--Installing, extending, constructing,
rehabilitating, or otherwise improving utilities and other infrastructure.
Such term does not include any costs for the rehabilitation, improvement,
or construction of dwellings.
"(e) Establishment of Grant Fund.--
"(1) In general.--Any amounts from any grant made under this
section shall be deposited by the grantee organization or consortium
in a fund that is established by such organization or consortium
for such amounts, administered by such organization or consortium,
and available for use only for the purposes under subsection (d).
Any interest, fees, or other earnings of the fund shall be deposited
in the fund and shall be considered grant amounts for purposes of
this section.
"(2) Assistance to affiliates.--Any organization or consortia
that receives a grant under this section may use amounts in the
fund established for such organization or consortia pursuant to
paragraph
(1) for the purposes under subsection (d) by providing assistance
from the fund to local affiliates of such organization or consoria.
[sic]
"(f) Requirements for Assistance.--The Secretary may make a
grant to an organization or consortium under subsection (a) only
pursuant to--
"(1) an expression of interest by such organization or consortia
to the Secretary for a grant for such purposes;
"(2) a determination by the Secretary that the organization
or consortia has the capability and has obtained financial commitments
(or has the capacity to obtain financial commitments) necessary
to--
"(A) develop not less than 30 dwellings in connection with
the grant amounts; and
"(B) otherwise comply with a grant agreement under subsection
(i); and
"(3) a grant agreement entered into under subsection (i).
"[(g) Repealed. Pub. L. 105-276, title V, Sec. 599E(a)(6),
Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2664.]
"(h) Geographical Diversity.--In making grants under subsection
(a), the Secretary shall ensure that grants are provided and grant
amounts are used in a manner that results in national geographic
diversity among housing developed using grant amounts under this
section.
"(i) Grant Agreement.--A grant under this section shall be
made only pursuant to a grant agreement entered into by the Secretary
and the organization or consortia receiving the grant, which shall--
"(1) require such organization or consortia to use grant amounts
only as provided in this section;
"(2) provide for the organization or consortia to develop a
specific and reasonable number of dwellings using the grant amounts,
which number shall be established taking into consideration costs
and economic conditions in the areas in which the dwellings will
be developed, but in no case shall be less than 30;
"(3) require the organization or consortia to use the grant
amounts in a manner that leverages other sources of funding (other
than grants under this section), including private or public funds,
in developing the dwellings;
"(4) require the organization or consortia to comply with the
other provisions of this section;
"(5) provide that if the organization or consortia has not
used any grant amounts within 24 months after such amounts are first
disbursed to the organization or consortia (or, in the case of grant
amounts from amounts made available for fiscal year 1996 to carry
out this section, within 36 months), the Secretary shall recapture
such unused amounts; and
"(6) contain such other terms as the Secretary may require
to provide for compliance with subsection (b) and the requirements
of this section.
"(j) Fulfillment of Grant Agreement.--If the Secretary determines
that an organization or consortia awarded a grant under this section
has not, within 24 months after grant amounts are first made available
to the organization or consortia (or, in the case of grant amounts
from amounts made available for fiscal year 1996 to carry out this
section, within 36 months), substantially fulfilled the obligations
under the grant agreement, including development of the appropriate
number of dwellings under the agreement, the Secretary shall use
any such undisbursed amounts remaining from such grant for other
grants in accordance with this section.
"(k) Records and Audits.--During the period beginning upon
the making of a grant under this section and ending upon close-out
of the
rant under subsection (l)--
"(1) the organization awarded the grant shall keep such records
and adopt such administrative practices as the Secretary may require
to ensure compliance with the provisions of this section and the
grant agreement; and
"(2) the Secretary and the Comptroller General of the United
States, and any of their duly authorized representatives, shall
have access for the purpose of audit and examination to any books,
documents, papers, and records of the grantee organization or consortia
and its affiliates that are pertinent to the grant made under this
section.
"(l) Close-Out.--The Secretary shall close out a grant made
under this section upon determining that the aggregate amount of
any assistance provided from the fund established under subsection
(e)(1) by the grantee organization or consortium exceeds the amount
of the grant. For purposes of this paragraph, any interest, fees,
and other earnings of the fund shall be excluded from the amount
of the grant.
"(m) Environmental Review.--A grant under this section shall
be considered to be funds for a special project for purposes of
section 305(c) of the Multifamily Housing Property Disposition Reform
Act of 1994 [42 U.S.C. 3547].
"(n) Report to Congress.--Not later than 90 days after close-out
of all grants under this section is completed, the Secretary shall
submit a report to the applicable Committees describing the grants
made under this section, the grantees, the housing developed in
connection with the grant amounts, and the purposes for which the
grant amounts were used.
"(o) Definitions.--For purposes of this section, the following
definitions shall apply:
"(1) Applicable committees.--The term `applicable Committees'
means the Committee on Banking and Financial Services of the House
of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban
Affairs of the Senate.
"(2) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary of
Housing and Urban Development.
"(3) United states.--The term `United States' includes 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.
"(p) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section,
there are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal years 1999 and
2000 such sums as may be necessary.
"(q) Regulations.--The Secretary shall issue any final regulations
necessary to carry out this section not later than 30 days after
the date of the enactment of this Act [Mar. 28, 1996]. The regulations
shall take effect upon issuance and may not exceed, in length, 5
full pages in the Federal Register.''
[Pub. L. 105-276, title V, Sec. 599E(b), Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat.
2664, provided that: "Notwithstanding the amendments made by
subsection
(a) [amending section 11 of Pub. L. 104-120, set out above], any
grant under section 11 of the Housing Opportunity Program Extension
Act of 1996 [Pub. L. 104-120] (42 U.S.C. 12805 note) from amounts
appropriated in fiscal year 1998 or any prior fiscal year shall
be governed by the provisions of such section 11 as in effect immediately
before the enactment of this Act [Oct. 21, 1998], except that the
amendments made by paragraphs (8) and (9) of subsection (a) of this
section shall apply to such grants.'']
[Pub.
L. 105-276, title V, Sec. 599E(c), Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2664,
provided that: ``This section [amending section 11 of Pub. L. 104-120,
set out above, and enacting provisions set out as a note above]
shall take effect, and the amendments made by this section are made
on, and shall apply beginning upon, the date of the enactment of
this Act [Oct. 21, 1998].'']
Funding
for Self-Help Housing Assistance, National Cities in Schools Community
Development Program, and Capacity Building Through National Community
Development Initiative
Pub. L. 104-120, Sec. 12, Mar. 28, 1996, 110 Stat. 845, provided
that:
"(a) Authority to Use Assisted Housing Amounts.--To the extent
and for the purposes specified in subsection (b), the Secretary
of Housing and Urban Development may use amounts in the account
of the Department of Housing and Urban Development known as the
Annual Contributions for Assisted Housing account, but only such
amounts which--
"(1) have been appropriated for a fiscal year that occurs before
the fiscal year for which the Secretary uses the amounts; and
"(2) have been obligated before becoming available for use
under this section.
"(b) Fiscal Year 1996.--Of the amounts described in subsection
(a), $60,000,000 shall be available to the Secretary of Housing
and Urban Development for fiscal year 1996 in the following amounts
for the following purposes:
"(1) Self-help housing assistance.--$40,000,000 for carrying
out section 11 of this Act [set out above].
"(2) National cities in schools community development program.--$10,000,000
for carrying out section 930 of the Housing and Community Development
Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-550; 106 Stat. 3887).
"(3) Capacity building through national community development
initiative.--$10,000,000 for carrying out section 4 of the HUD Demonstration
Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 9816 note).''
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