42 U.S.C. § 8013 — Supportive housing for persons with disabilities

(a) Purpose. This section aims to help persons with disabilities live with dignity and independence in their communities, by increasing the supply of "supportive housing" that (1) is built to fit their special needs, (2) offers services that address their health, mental health, and other needs, and (3) helps people with serious, long-term disabilities take part in community life. (b) Authority to provide assistance. The Secretary can do three things. (1) Tenant-based assistance: give rental assistance tied to the tenant, not the building, to eligible people with disabilities, following subsection (d)(4). (2) Capital advances: give money to private nonprofits to build more supportive housing, either as (A) capital advances under (d)(1), or (B) project rental assistance contracts under (d)(2); this money can pay to buy, build, or renovate housing — including buying it from the Resolution Trust Corporation — plus site work, conversion, demolition, relocation, and other costs the Secretary approves. (3) Project rental assistance: (A) to offer another way to finance housing for non-elderly disabled adults, the Secretary must make project rental assistance funds available to state housing finance agencies and similar entities, who then distribute the funds to eligible housing projects using Secretary-set criteria; applicants don't have to name their specific projects up front — they can identify them later. (B) Contracts run under (d)(2), starting with a term of at least 180 months but funding only a 60-month chunk at a time, renewed as money allows. In any project getting this assistance, no more than 25 percent of total units may be assisted, used for supportive housing, or covered by a disability occupancy preference. The Secretary can't also give a capital advance to a project already getting this rental assistance. This assistance only covers units for extremely low-income people with disabilities or households including at least one such person. (C) An "eligible project" is a new or existing multifamily project where the building costs come from other public or private sources, and where a commitment for funding has already been made — either a state's allocation of low-income housing tax credits, a HOME Investment Partnership Act commitment, or funding from any other federal, state, or local source. (D) The relevant state health and human-services agency and the state Medicaid agency must agree on how to identify who the project will serve, how to do outreach and referrals, and how to make services available to tenants. (E) Assisted units must operate as disability supportive housing for at least 30 years, only for the eligible population. (F) The Secretary must report to Congress 3 years after January 4, 2011, and every 2 years after that, describing this assistance, comparing its effectiveness to the capital-advance program under (d)(1), and recommending future approaches. (c) General requirements. The Secretary must make sure that (1) this section's money funds a range of housing types — group homes, independent living facilities, units in larger apartment buildings, condos, and co-ops — to meet housing and community-service needs; and (2) any supportive housing funded here (A) offers voluntary services matched to residents' individual needs, (B) gives residents chances for independent living and normal daily activities, and (C) helps residents access the wider community and suitable jobs. (d) Forms of assistance. (1) Capital advances don't charge interest, and don't have to be repaid as long as the housing stays available to very-low-income people with disabilities; the amount follows the cost limits in subsection (h). (2) Project rental assistance: (A) contracts require the Secretary to pay monthly for costs of units occupied (or approved as held for occupancy) by very-low-income disabled tenants, beyond what project income covers, up to a capped yearly amount; leftover money stays with the project until the contract ends; the Secretary can adjust the amount if income and assistance together aren't enough to cover reasonable costs; for certain Medicaid-funded intermediate care facilities, project income is figured the same way it would be under Supplemental Security Income rules. (B) When a contract term ends, the Secretary must adjust the amount for reasonable costs (including reserves and coordinators), though unused money from the old term doesn't carry over; in emergencies outside the owner's control, the Secretary must increase the contract amount, subject to review. (3) Rent contribution: a very-low-income tenant pays whichever is highest of (A) 30 percent of adjusted monthly income, (B) 10 percent of monthly income, or (C) the portion of any welfare payment specifically designated for housing costs — rounded to the nearest dollar; intermediate care facility residents on Medicaid use the same income rule as under Supplemental Security Income. (4) Tenant-based rental assistance: (A) is provided under section 1437f(o) of this title. (B) Congress must appropriate at least enough money to convert existing vouchers for disabled people (as of January 4, 2011) to this program, administered by whoever ran them before. (C) The Secretary must issue guidance so that, when a voucher holder leaves, the voucher goes to another qualified disabled person or family as much as possible. (e) Program requirements. (1) Use restrictions: (A) any capital-advance project must stay disability supportive housing, for very-low-income disabled occupants only, for at least 40 years. (B) If an owner requests it and the Secretary agrees the housing is no longer needed for that purpose, the Secretary may approve converting it to other disability-related use. (2) Contract terms: a project rental assistance contract runs 240 months initially — or at least 360 months if the project uses low-income housing tax credits or tax-exempt bonds — funding only 60 months at a time; renewals run at least 60 months, subject to appropriations; the Secretary may commit to extend an expiring contract during the year before it expires. (3) Limitation on use of funds: this section's money (or state or local money supplementing it) can't replace state or local funding that was already being used, or planned, to help people with disabilities. (4) Multifamily projects: (A) in a multifamily building funded by a post-January 4, 2011 capital advance, no more than 25 percent of units may be used for, or preference-given to, people with disabilities. (B) That limit doesn't apply to group homes or independent living facilities. (f) Applications. Private nonprofits apply for capital-advance or rental-assistance funding under (b)(2), in the Secretary's required form. Applications must include: (1) a description of the proposed housing; (2) the assistance requested; (3) a service plan describing (A) the needs of the disabled population to be served, (B) assurance that services will match individual needs, (C) evidence of the applicant's experience providing such services or partnering with providers, (D) how services will be delivered to tenants, and (E) what other federal, state, and local funding is available for services; (4) a certification from a state or local agency that the planned services fit the community's needs; (5) reasonable assurance the applicant will control an acceptable site within 6 months of an award; (6) certification that the housing fits the local approved housing strategy under section 12705 of this title; and (7) any other information or certification the Secretary requires. (g) Selection criteria and processing. (1) The Secretary's selection criteria include: (A) the applicant's ability to build and run the housing; (B) local need for this housing; (C) how well the design meets disability needs; (D) how consistently and long-term the needed services will be available; (E) whether the location and design support access to services, transportation, community agencies, and shopping; (F) how much outside funding supplements the per-unit cost; (G) how much site control the applicant already has; and (H) any other factor the Secretary decides matters. (2) Delegated processing: (A) for most multifamily projects (excluding group homes and independent living facilities) financed partly by a capital advance and partly by other sources, the Secretary must, within 30 days of the award, hand off review and processing to a nearby state or local housing agency experienced in underwriting this kind of housing, which must agree to issue a firm funding commitment within 12 months. (B) The Secretary keeps processing authority when no qualified local agency is available or willing. (C) The Secretary must set criteria and a schedule to check on delegated agencies' performance, and can take back processing authority from an agency that isn't meeting those criteria. (D) A delegated agency may charge a reasonable fee, built into the capital advance, and may recommend higher rental assistance than the Secretary first awarded; the Secretary sets a fee schedule accounting for other fees the agency already charges the project. (E) The Secretary still approves rents and development costs, and must issue the capital advance within 60 days of getting the local agency's commitment; the Secretary must explain in writing any cut to the capital advance or rental assistance, and owners can appeal such cuts. (h) Development cost limitations. (1) For group homes, the Secretary must periodically publish, by market area, cost limits covering (A) acquisition, construction, or rehab costs that meet local codes and match the neighborhood; (B) needed movable equipment; (C) accessibility features; (D) design features for individual units' special needs; (E) energy-efficiency costs for new construction under section 12709 of this title; and (F) land and site-improvement costs — based on current local costs. This section doesn't stop commercial facilities operating inside an assisted project for residents' and the community's benefit, as long as this section's money doesn't subsidize the commercial facility. (2) For properties acquired from the Resolution Trust Corporation, cost limits also cover (A) acquisition cost, (B) rehab or alteration cost, and (C) land cost. (3) The Secretary must update the cost limit at least once a year for changing costs. (4) Incentives for savings: (A) if an owner's actual costs come in under the cost limit, the owner keeps 50 percent of the savings in a special account — 75 percent if the owner added energy-efficiency features that beat the standard, cut life-cycle costs, lower rents, and improve tenant comfort. (B) That account can fund extra services, replacement reserves, or other Secretary-approved purposes. (5) An owner may voluntarily add extra funded amenities, as long as they're not financed by the advance and don't affect the federal assistance amount or tenant rent; assistance under this section can be treated as not being a federal grant for this purpose. (6) Home program cost limitations: (A) the per-unit cost limits from the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act's HOME program apply to capital-advance housing too. (B) The Secretary may waive those limits under the same circumstances HOME allows, and also to cover accessibility features, special-needs unit design, and the cost of a location near transit and services. (i) Admission and occupancy. (1) Tenant selection: (A) owners must adopt written selection procedures, approved by the Secretary, that support housing opportunities for very-low-income disabled people and reasonably relate to program eligibility and lease compliance; rejected applicants must get written reasons. (B) Units must go only to people with disabilities and households including at least one such person. (C) Except as allowed in (D), units must be open to any eligible person with a disability, regardless of the specific disability. (D) With Secretary approval, an owner may limit occupancy to people who can benefit from the specific services offered there. (2) Tenant protections: (A) leases must run at least one year, on terms the Secretary sets. (B) An owner can't end or refuse to renew a tenancy except for serious or repeated lease violations, law violations, or other good cause, and must give written notice at least 30 days ahead, stating the reason. (C) The service plan must let each resident choose whether to arrange their own services, accept services the owner offers, or decline services altogether. (j) Miscellaneous provisions. (1) The Secretary must provide technical assistance so applicants with limited resources, especially minority applicants, can participate more fully. (2) Owners must certify compliance with civil rights and fair housing laws. (3) An applicant may switch to a different site than originally proposed; if the applicant doesn't get control of a site within 1 year of the award, the assistance is taken back and given to someone else. (4) The Secretary must give an owner at least 30 days' notice before canceling a reserved assistance award; the owner then has 30 days to appeal, and the Secretary must finish the appeal, including its own review, within 45 days. (5) Labor standards: (A) on projects with 12 or more units, construction workers must be paid prevailing local wages, as the Department of Labor determines. (B) That doesn't apply to volunteers who aren't paid (or get only expenses, reasonable benefits, or a nominal fee) and who aren't otherwise employed on the construction work. (6) Project reserve money may pay to reduce the number of units in a project, with the Secretary's approval, to retrofit units that have become obsolete or unmarketable. (7) Every assisted unit must have carbon monoxide alarms meeting the 2018 International Fire Code or any updated standard the Secretary adopts. (8) (A) Every assisted unit must have "qualifying smoke alarms," properly installed on every level, near sleeping areas, and in common areas, following relevant fire codes and standards. (B) A "qualifying smoke alarm" is defined precisely: for units built before December 29, 2022 (and not substantially rehabbed after that date), it must be either hardwired, or use a sealed, tamper-resistant, 10-year non-rechargeable battery with a silencing feature — and it must alert people with hearing loss as required by fire-safety standards; for units built or substantially rehabbed after December 29, 2022, it must be hardwired. (k) Definitions. "Group home" means a single-family home for up to 8 people with disabilities, each with their own bedroom — the Secretary can waive that 8-person cap if local market conditions call for a bigger project, but must first notify the relevant Senate and House committees, with reasons; no more than one group home per site, and homes can't sit on adjoining sites. "Person with disabilities" means a household of one or more people, age 18 to under 62, determined under Secretary regulations to have a physical, mental, or emotional impairment that's expected to be long-term, substantially limits independent living, and could improve with better housing — or anyone with a "developmental disability" as defined in section 15002 of this title; the term also covers two or more disabled people living together, a disabled person living with someone important to their care, and surviving household members who lived with a now-deceased assisted resident. "Supportive housing for persons with disabilities" means units (A) built for very-low-income disabled people's permanent housing needs, and (B) located where services addressing their health, mental health, or other needs are available. "Independent living facility" means a project of up to 24 disabled people (or more, under Secretary criteria, with the same congressional notice requirement) in separate units, each with its own kitchen and bath. "Owner" means a private nonprofit that gets this section's assistance to run the housing. "Private nonprofit organization" means a group that (A) has, or is cleared to get, tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of title 26; (B) doesn't let its earnings benefit any member, founder, or individual; (C) has a governing board that meaningfully represents disabled people's views and runs the housing; and (D) the Secretary approves as financially responsible — this also includes a for-profit limited partnership whose sole general partner, or a corporation it controls, meets those same four requirements. "State" includes the states, D.C., Puerto Rico, and U.S. possessions. "Secretary" means HUD's Secretary. "Very low-income" has the meaning given "very low-income families" under section 1437a(b)(2) of this title. (l) Allocation of funds. (1) The Secretary must set a minimum share of each year's capital-advance money that must go to multifamily projects under (e)(4). (2) Money for capital advances, plus repayments on old advances and proceeds from notes issued before November 28, 1990, form a revolving fund the Secretary uses to run this section. (3) Whatever's needed from the rest of the money funds project rental assistance under (d)(2). (m) Authorization of appropriations. Congress authorized $300,000,000 a year for fiscal years 2011 through 2015. (n) Effective date and applicability. (1) The amendments in this section applied starting October 1, 1991, to projects approved on or after that date, with regulations issued after notice and comment. (2) At an owner's request, the Secretary must apply this section to housing that had a loan reservation under section 1701q of title 12 before November 28, 1990, but hadn't yet closed the loan; without such a request, that housing stays under the old section 1701q rules. (3) When responding to such a request, the Secretary must apply the money already committed at the time of the loan reservation — including money reserved under section 1437f of this title — to the owner's housing under this section's rules, and make any leftover money available for other housing under this section.