S 118 IS
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 118
To amend section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959, to improve the program under such section for supportive housing for the elderly, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 6, 2009
Mr. KOHL (for himself, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. BROWN, Mr. NELSON of Florida, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. LEAHY, and Mr. CASEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
A BILL
To amend section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959, to improve the program under such section for supportive housing for the elderly, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title- This Act may be cited as the ‘Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Act of 2009’.
(b) Table of Contents- The table of contents for this Act is as follows:
TITLE I--NEW CONSTRUCTION REFORMS
Sec. 101. Project rental assistance.
Sec. 102. Selection criteria.
Sec. 103. Development cost limitations.
Sec. 104. Owner deposits.
Sec. 105. Definition of private nonprofit organization.
Sec. 106. Preferences for homeless elderly.
Sec. 107. Nonmetropolitan allocation.
TITLE II--REFINANCING
Sec. 201. Approval of prepayment of debt.
Sec. 202. Sources of refinancing.
Sec. 203. Use of unexpended amounts.
Sec. 204. Use of project residual receipts.
Sec. 205. Additional provisions.
TITLE III--ASSISTED LIVING FACILITIES
TITLE IV--FACILITATING AFFORDABLE HOUSING PRESERVATION TRANSACTIONS
TITLE V--NATIONAL SENIOR HOUSING CLEARINGHOUSE
TITLE I--NEW CONSTRUCTION REFORMS
SEC. 101. PROJECT RENTAL ASSISTANCE.
Paragraph (2) of section 202(c) of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q(c)(2)) is amended--
(1) by inserting after ‘ASSISTANCE- ’ the following: ‘(A) INITIAL PROJECT RENTAL ASSISTANCE CONTRACT- ’;
(2) in the last sentence, by striking ‘may’ and inserting ‘shall’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
‘(B) RENEWAL OF AND INCREASES IN CONTRACT AMOUNTS-
‘(i) EXPIRATION OF CONTRACT TERM- Upon the expiration of each contract term, the Secretary shall adjust the annual contract amount to provide for reasonable project costs, and any increases, including adequate reserves, supportive services, and service coordinators, except that any contract amounts not used by a project during a contract term shall not be available for such adjustments upon renewal.
‘(ii) EMERGENCY SITUATIONS- In the event of emergency situations that are outside the control of the owner, the Secretary shall increase the annual contract amount, subject to reasonable review and limitations as the Secretary shall provide.’.
SEC. 102. SELECTION CRITERIA.
Section 202(f)(1) of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q(f)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subparagraphs (F) and (G) as subparagraphs (G) and (H), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after subparagraph (E) (as so redesignated by paragraph (2) of this subsection) the following new subparagraph:
‘(F) the extent to which the applicant has ensured that a service coordinator will be employed or otherwise retained for the housing, who has the managerial capacity and responsibility for carrying out the actions described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of subsection (g)(2);’.
SEC. 103. DEVELOPMENT COST LIMITATIONS.
Section 202(h)(1) of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q(h)(1)) is amended, in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘reasonable’ before ‘development cost limitations’.
SEC. 104. OWNER DEPOSITS.
Section 202(j)(3)(A) of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q(j)(3)(A)) is amended by inserting after the period at the end the following: ‘Such amount shall be used only to cover operating deficits during the first 3 years of operations and shall not be used to cover construction shortfalls or inadequate initial project rental assistance amounts.’.
SEC. 105. DEFINITION OF PRIVATE NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.
Subparagraph (B) of section 202(k)(4) of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q(k)(4)(B)) is amended by inserting before the semicolon the following: ‘, except that, in the case of any national organization that is the owner of multiple housing projects assisted under this section, the organization may comply with clause (i) of this subparagraph by having a local advisory board to the governing board of the organization the membership which is selected in the manner required under clause (i)’.
SEC. 106. PREFERENCES FOR HOMELESS ELDERLY.
Subsection (j) of section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q(j)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
‘(9) PREFERENCES FOR HOMELESS ELDERLY- The Secretary shall permit an owner of housing assisted under this section to establish for, and apply to, such housing a preference in tenant selection for the homeless elderly, either within the application or after selection pursuant to subsection (f), but only if--
‘(A) such preference is consistent with paragraph (2); and
‘(B) the owner demonstrates that the supportive services identified pursuant to subsection (e)(4), or additional supportive services to be made available upon implementation of the preference, will meet the needs of the homeless elderly, maintain safety and security for all tenants, and be provided on a consistent, long-term, and economical basis.’.
SEC. 107. NONMETROPOLITAN ALLOCATION.
Paragraph (3) of section 202(l) of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q(l)(3)) is amended by inserting after the period at the end the following: ‘In complying with this paragraph, the Secretary shall either operate a national competition for the nonmetropolitan funds or make allocations to regional offices of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.’.
TITLE II--REFINANCING
SEC. 201. APPROVAL OF PREPAYMENT OF DEBT.
Subsection (a) of section 811 of the American Homeownership and Economic Opportunity Act of 2000 (12 U.S.C. 1701q note) is amended--
(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by inserting ‘, for which the Secretary’s consent to prepayment is required,’ after ‘Affordable Housing Act)’;
(2) in paragraph (1)--
(A) by inserting ‘at least 20 years following’ before ‘the maturity date’;
(B) by inserting ‘project-based’ before ‘rental assistance payments contract’;
(C) by inserting ‘project-based’ before ‘rental housing assistance programs’; and
(D) by inserting ‘, or any successor project-based rental assistance program,’ after ‘1701s))’;
(3) by amending paragraph (2) to read as follows:
‘(2) the prepayment may involve refinancing of the loan if such refinancing results in--
‘(A) a lower interest rate on the principal of the loan for the project and in reductions in debt service related to such loan; or
‘(B) a transaction in which the project owner will address the physical needs of the project, but only if, as a result of the refinancing--
‘(i) the rent charges for unassisted families residing in the project do not increase or such families are provided rental assistance under a senior preservation rental assistance contract for the project pursuant to subsection (e); and
‘(ii) the overall cost for providing rental assistance under section 8 for the project (if any) is not increased, except, upon approval by the Secretary to--
‘(I) mark-up-to-market contracts pursuant to section 524(a)(3) of the Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act (42 U.S.C. 1437f note), as such section is carried out by the Secretary for properties owned by nonprofit organizations; or
‘(II) mark-up-to-budget contracts pursuant to section 524(a)(4) of the Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act (42 U.S.C. 1437f note), as such section is carried out by the Secretary for properties owned by eligible owners (as such term is defined in section 202(k) of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q(k)); and’; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
‘(3) notwithstanding paragraph (2)(A), the prepayment and refinancing authorized pursuant to paragraph (2)(B) involves an increase in debt service only in the case of a refinancing of a project assisted with a loan under such section 202 carrying an interest rate of 6 percent or lower.’.
SEC. 202. SOURCES OF REFINANCING.
Full Text of Legislation