42 U.S.C. § 12704 — Definitions
submitted 36 years ago by Pub. L. 101-625 to r/title-42-THE-PUBLIC-HEALTH-AND-WELFARE · 1,495 words · no verdicts yet
This section defines terms used throughout the housing law, like State, nonprofit organization, and low-income families. It sets income cutoffs for who counts as low-income or very low-income. It also defines special categories like first-time homebuyers, community land trusts, and displaced homemakers.
(1) "Unit of general local government" means a city, town, township, county, parish, village, or similar general-purpose government under a state; it also includes the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, the Marshall Islands, or their general-purpose subdivisions; groups of these governments recognized together under section 12746(2); and any agency set up by law and picked by the chief executive to act for that government under this Act.
(2) "State" means any U.S. state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, or an agency set up by law and picked by the chief executive officer to act for the state under this Act.
(3) "Jurisdiction" means a State or a unit of general local government.
(4) "Participating jurisdiction" means a State or unit of general local government that has been designated that way under section 12746.
(5) "Nonprofit organization" means any private nonprofit -- including one chartered by a state or locality -- that (A) is organized under state or local law, (B) does not let any of its earnings benefit a member, founder, contributor, or individual, (C) meets financial accountability standards the Secretary accepts, and (D) has, among its purposes, real work providing decent housing that low-income and moderate-income people can afford.
(6) "Community housing development organization" is a nonprofit meeting the definition in (5) that also (A) has, among its purposes, providing decent affordable housing for low- and moderate-income people; (B) stays accountable to low-income residents of the community -- including through low-income members on its governing board -- on decisions about designing, siting, developing, and managing that housing; (C) has shown it can actually carry out this Act's activities; and (D) has a history of serving the community where the housing will be built. If a group serves more than one county, the Secretary cannot require it to have low-income board members from every single county it serves.
(7) "Government-sponsored mortgage finance corporations" means the Federal National Mortgage Association, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, and the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation.
(8) "Housing" includes manufactured housing and manufactured housing lots, plus "elder cottage housing opportunity" units -- small, free-standing, barrier-free, energy-efficient, removable units built to be installed next to an existing home with 1 to 4 units.
(9) "Very low-income families" are low-income families whose income is no more than 50 percent of the area's median family income, as the Secretary calculates it, adjusted for family size. The Secretary can set this cutoff higher or lower than 50 percent if prevailing construction costs, fair market rents, or unusually high or low family incomes make that necessary.
(10) "Low-income families" are families whose income is no more than 80 percent of the area's median income, calculated and adjusted the same way, with the same power for the Secretary to adjust the cutoff based on prevailing construction costs, fair market rents, or unusually high or low family incomes.
(11) "Families" has the same meaning given in section 1437a of this title.
(12) "Security" has the same meaning given in section 77b of title 15.
(13) A "displaced homemaker" is an adult who (A) has not worked full-time, year-round for a number of years, but instead worked mostly without pay caring for a home and family during that time, and (B) is now unemployed or underemployed and having trouble getting or improving a job.
(14) A "first-time homebuyer" is a person (and their spouse) who has not owned a home in the 3 years before buying a home with assistance under subchapter II -- with three protections: (A) a displaced homemaker still counts as a first-time buyer even if they owned a home with a spouse, or lived in a home their spouse owned, while a homemaker; (B) a single parent still counts as a first-time buyer even if they owned or lived in a spouse's home while married; and (C) someone still counts as a first-time buyer even if they own or owned, as a principal residence during that 3-year period, a dwelling unit whose structure (i) wasn't permanently attached to a foundation under local rules, or (ii) didn't meet applicable building codes and would cost more to fix than to build a new permanent home.
(15) A "single parent" is someone who (A) is unmarried or legally separated, and (B) either has custody or joint custody of at least one minor child, or is pregnant.
(16) "Secretary" means the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, unless this Act says otherwise.
(17) "Substantial rehabilitation" means fixing up residential property at an average cost of more than $25,000 per housing unit.
(18) "Public housing agency" has the meaning given in section 1437a(b) of this title.
(19) "Metropolitan city" has the meaning given in section 5302(a)(4) of this title.
(20) "Urban county" has the meaning given in section 5302(a)(6) of this title.
(21) "Certification" means a written statement, backed by evidence that must stay available for the Secretary, the Inspector General, and the public to inspect. This statement is treated as accurate unless the Secretary decides otherwise after inspecting the evidence and giving notice and a chance to comment.
(22) "To demonstrate to the Secretary" means giving the Secretary a written statement, plus evidence that the Secretary decides actually supports it.
(23) "Insular area" means Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa.
(24) An "energy efficient mortgage" is a mortgage that gives financing incentives to buy an energy-efficient home, or to make energy-efficiency improvements to an existing home by folding the cost into the mortgage.
(25) An "infill housing project*" is a housing project that (A) is inside a municipality's borders, (B) already has the utilities and public services it legally needs, (C) sits on no more than 5 acres of previously disturbed land, and (D) is mostly surrounded by existing homes or businesses, as the Secretary determines.
(26) A "community land trust" is a nonprofit, state, local government, or government instrumentality that (A) is not run by, or affiliated with, a for-profit company; (B) has as a main purpose getting, developing, or holding land to provide permanently affordable housing for low- and moderate-income people; (C) monitors properties to make sure they stay affordable; (D) keeps housing affordable using a ground lease, deed restriction, or similar legally binding tool the Secretary accepts, which (i) keeps the housing affordable for at least 30 years, and (ii) enables low- and moderate-income people to rent or purchase the housing for home-ownership; and (E) keeps the right of first refusal to buy the property back, if that purchase would keep the housing affordable.
As used in this subchapter and in subchapter II:
The term “unit of general local government” means a city, town, township, county, parish, village, or other general purpose political subdivision of a State; the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau, the Marshall Islands, or a general purpose political subdivision thereof; a consortium* of such political subdivisions recognized by the Secretary in accordance with section 12746(2) of this title; and any agency or instrumentality thereof that is established pursuant to legislation and designated by the chief executive to act on behalf of the jurisdiction with regard to provisions of this Act.
The term “State” means any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any agency or instrumentality thereof that is established pursuant to legislation and designated by the chief executive officer to act on behalf of the State with regard to the provisions of this Act.
The term “jurisdiction” means a State or unit of general local government.
The term “participating jurisdiction” means any State or unit of general local government that has been so designated in accordance with section 12746 of this title.
The term “nonprofit organization” means any private, nonprofit organization (including a State or locally chartered, nonprofit organization) that—
is organized under State or local laws,
has no part of its net earnings inuring to the benefit of any member, founder, contributor, or individual,
complies with standards of financial accountability acceptable to the Secretary, and
has among its purposes significant activities related to the provision of decent housing that is affordable to low-income and moderate-income persons.
The term “community housing development organization” means a nonprofit organization as defined in paragraph (5), that—
has among its purposes the provision of decent housing that is affordable to low-income and moderate-income persons;
maintains, through representation on the organization’s governing board and otherwise, accountability to low-income community residents and, to the extent practicable, low-income beneficiaries with regard to decisions on the design, siting, development, and management of affordable housing;
has a demonstrated capacity for carrying out activities assisted under this Act; and
has a history of serving the local community or communities within which housing to be assisted under this Act is to be located.
In the case of an organization serving more than one county, the Secretary may not require that such organization, to be considered a community housing development organization for purposes of this Act, include as members on the organization’s governing board low-income persons residing in each county served.
The term “government-sponsored mortgage finance corporations” means the Federal National Mortgage Association, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, and the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation.
The term “housing” includes manufactured housing and manufactured housing lots and elder cottage housing opportunity units that are small, free-standing, barrier-free, energy-efficient, removable, and designed to be installed adjacent to existing 1- to 4-family dwellings.
The term “very low-income families” means low-income families whose incomes do not exceed 50 percent of the median family income for the area, as determined by the Secretary with adjustments for smaller and larger families, except that the Secretary may establish income ceilings higher or lower than 50 percent of the median for the area on the basis of the Secretary’s findings that such variations are necessary because of prevailing levels of construction costs or fair market rents, or unusually high or low family incomes.
The term “low-income families” means families whose incomes do not exceed 80 percent of the median income for the area, as determined by the Secretary with adjustments for smaller and larger families, except that the Secretary may establish income ceilings higher or lower than 80 percent of the median for the area on the basis of the Secretary’s findings that such variations are necessary because of prevailing levels of construction costs or fair market rents, or unusually high or low family incomes.
The term “families” has the same meaning given that term by section 1437a of this title.
The term “security” has the same meaning as in section 77b of title 15.
The term “displaced homemaker” means an individual who—
is an adult;
has not worked full-time full-year in the labor force for a number of years but has, during such years, worked primarily without remuneration to care for the home and family; and
is unemployed or underemployed and is experiencing difficulty in obtaining or upgrading employment.
The term “first-time homebuyer” means an individual and his or her spouse who have not owned a home during the 3-year period prior to purchase of a home with assistance under subchapter II, except that—
any individual who is a displaced homemaker may not be excluded from consideration as a first-time homebuyer under this paragraph on the basis that the individual, while a homemaker, owned a home with his or her spouse or resided in a home owned by the spouse;
any individual who is a single parent may not be excluded from consideration as a first-time homebuyer under this paragraph on the basis that the individual, while married, owned a home with his or her spouse or resided in a home owned by the spouse; and
an individual shall not be excluded from consideration as a first-time homebuyer under this paragraph on the basis that the individual owns or owned, as a principal residence during such 3-year period, a dwelling unit whose structure is—
not permanently affixed to a permanent foundation in accordance with local or other applicable regulations, or
not in compliance with State, local, or model building codes, or other applicable codes, and cannot be brought into compliance with such codes for less than the cost of constructing a permanent structure.
The term “single parent” means an individual who—
is unmarried or legally separated from a spouse; and
has 1 or more minor children for whom the individual has custody or joint custody; or
is pregnant.
The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, unless otherwise specified in this Act.
The term “substantial rehabilitation” means the rehabilitation of residential property at an average cost in excess of $25,000 per dwelling unit.
The term “public housing agency” has the meaning given the term in section 1437a(b) of this title.
The term “metropolitan city” has the meaning given the term in section 5302(a)(4) of this title.
The term “urban county” has the meaning given the term in section 5302(a)(6) of this title.
The term “certification” means a written assertion, based on supporting evidence, which shall be kept available for inspection by the Secretary, the Inspector General and the public, which assertion shall be deemed to be accurate for purposes of this Act, unless the Secretary determines otherwise after inspecting the evidence and providing due notice and opportunity for comment.
The term “to demonstrate to the Secretary” means to submit to the Secretary a written assertion together with supporting evidence that, in the determination of the Secretary, supports the accuracy of the assertion.
The term “insular area” means any of the following: Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa.
The term “energy efficient mortgage” means a mortgage that provides financing incentives for the purchase of energy efficient homes, or that provides financing incentives to make energy efficiency improvements in existing homes by incorporating the cost of such improvements in the mortgage.
The term “infill housing project*” means a residential housing project that—
is located within the geographic limits of a municipality;
is adequately served by existing utilities and public services as required under applicable law;
is located on a site of previously disturbed land of not more than 5 acres; and
is substantially surrounded by residential or commercial development, as determined by the Secretary.
The term “community land trust” means a nonprofit entity, a State, a unit of local government, or an instrumentality of a State or unit of local government that—
is not managed by, or an affiliate of, a for profit organization;
has as a primary purpose of acquiring, developing, or holding land to provide housing that is permanently affordable to low- and moderate-income persons;
monitors properties to ensure affordability is preserved;
provides housing that is permanently affordable to low- and moderate-income persons using a ground lease, deed covenant, or other similar legally enforceable measure, determined acceptable by the Secretary, that—
keeps housing affordable to low- and moderate-income persons for not less than 30 years; and
enables low- and moderate-income persons to rent or purchase the housing for home-ownership; and
maintains preemptive purchase options to purchase the property if such purchase would allow the housing to remain affordable to low-and 1 moderate-income persons.
Source credit: (Pub. L. 101–625, title I, § 104, Nov. 28, 1990, 104 Stat. 4085; Pub. L. 102–229, title I, Dec. 12, 1991, 105 Stat. 1709; Pub. L. 102–230, § 2, Dec. 12, 1991, 105 Stat. 1720; Pub. L. 102–486, title I, § 105(a), Oct. 24, 1992, 106 Stat. 2792; Pub. L. 102–550, title II, §§ 211(a)(1), 217(a), 218, 219, title IX, § 914(a), Oct. 28, 1992, 106 Stat. 3756, 3760, 3761, 3877; Pub. L. 103–233, title II, § 201, Apr. 11, 1994, 108 Stat. 363; Pub. L. 119–101, title V, § 501(b), (l)(4), (r), (v)(4), July 11, 2026, 140 Stat. 907, 912, 914, 917.)
- 1990Enacted · Pub. L. 101-625 · 104 Stat. 4085
- 1991Amended · Pub. L. 102-229 · 105 Stat. 1709
- 1991Amended · Pub. L. 102-230 · 105 Stat. 1720
- 1992Amended · Pub. L. 102-486 · 106 Stat. 2792
- 1992Amended · Pub. L. 102-550 · 106 Stat. 3756, 3760, 3761, 3877
- 1994Amended · Pub. L. 103-233 · 108 Stat. 363
- 2026Amended · Pub. L. 119-101 · 140 Stat. 907, 912, 914, 917
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 101-625 on 1990-11-28.
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