PET OWNERSHIP

EXCERPT FROM HOUSING AND URBAN-RURAL RECOVERY ACT OF 1983

[Public Law 98-181; 97 Stat. 1195; 12 U.S.C. 1701r-1]

PET OWNERSHIP IN ASSISTED RENTAL HOUSING FOR THE ELDERLY OR HANDICAPPED

SEC. 227. (a) No owner or manager of any federally assisted rental housing for the elderly or handicapped may

(1) as a condition of tenancy or otherwise, prohibit or prevent any tenant in such housing from owning common household pets or having common household pets living in the dwelling accommodations of such tenant in such housing; or

(2) restrict or discriminate against any person in connection with admission to, or continued occupancy of, such housing by reason of the ownership of such pets by, or the presence of such pets in the dwelling accommodations of, such person. (b)(1) Not later than the expiration of the twelve-month period following the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the Secretary of Agriculture shall each issue such regulations as may be necessary to ensure (A) compliance with the provisions of subsection (a) with respect to any program of assistance referred to in subsection (d) that is administered by such Secretary; and (B) attaining the goal of providing decent, safe, and sanitary housing for the elderly or handicapped. (2) Such regulations shall establish guidelines under which the owner or manager of any federally assisted rental housing for the elderly or handicapped (A) may prescribe reasonable rules for the keeping of pets by tenants in such housing; and (B) shall consult with the tenants of such housing in prescribing such rules. Such rules may consider factors such as density of tenants, pet size, types or pets, potential financial obligations of tenants, and standards of pet care.

(c) Nothing in this section may be construed to prohibit any owner or manager of federally assisted rental housing for the elderly or handicapped, or any local housing authority or other appropriate authority of the community where such housing is located, from requiring the removal from any such housing of any pet whose conduct or condition is duly determined to constitute a nuisance or a threat to the health or safety of the other occupants of such housing or of other persons in the community where such housing is located.

1 The date of enactment was November 30, 1983.

(d) For purposes of this section, the term "federally assisted rental housing for the elderly or handicapped" means any rental housing project that—

or

(1) is assisted under section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959;

(2) is assisted under the United States Housing Act of 1937, the National Housing Act, or title V of the Housing Act of 1949, and is designated for occupancy by elderly or handicapped families, as such term is defined in section 202(d)(4) of the Housing Act of 1959.1 [12 U.S.C. 1701r-1]

1 For exemption of Indian housing, see section 201(c) of the United States Housing Act of 1937, ante, this part.

RENT SUPPLEMENTS

EXCERPT FROM HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 1965

[Public Law 89-117; 79 Stat. 451; 12 U.S.C. 1701s]

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO ENABLE CERTAIN PRIVATE HOUSING TO BE AVAILABLE FOR LOWER INCOME FAMILIES WHO ARE ELDERLY, HANDICAPPED, DISPLACED, VICTIMS OF A NATURAL DISASTER, OR OCCUPANTS OF SUBSTANDARD HOUSING

SEC. 101. (a) The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (hereinafter referred to as the "Secretary") is authorized to make, and contract to make, annual payments to a "housing owner" on behalf of "qualified tenants", as those terms are defined herein, in such amounts and under such circumstances as are prescribed in or pursuant to this section. In no case shall a contract provide for such payments with respect to any housing for a period exceeding forty years. The aggregate amount of the contracts to make such payments shall not exceed amounts approved in appropriation Acts and payments pursuant to such contracts shall not exceed $150,000,000 per annum prior to July 1, 1969, which maximum dollar amount shall be increased by $40,000,000, on July 1, 1969, by $100,000,000 on July 1, 1970, and by $40,000,000 on July 1, 1971.

(b) As used in this section, the term "housing owner" means a private nonprofit corporation or other private nonprofit legal entity, a limited dividend corporation or other limited dividend legal entity, or a cooperative housing corporation, which is a mortgagor under section 221(d)(3) of the National Housing Act and which, after the enactment of this section, has been approved for mortgage insurance thereunder and has been approved for receiving the benefits of this section: Provided, That, except as provided in subsection (j), no payments under this section may be made with respect to any property financed with a mortgage receiving the benefits of the interest rate provided for in the proviso in section 221(d)(5) of that Act. Such term also includes a private nonprofit corporation or other private nonprofit legal entity, a limited dividend corporation or other limited dividend legal entity, or a cooperative housing corporation, which is the owner of a rental or cooperative housing project financed under a State or local program providing assistance through loans, loan insurance, or tax abatement and which may involve either new or existing construction and which is approved for receiving the benefits of this section. Subject to the limitations provided in subsection (j), the term “housing owner" also has the meaning prescribed in such subsection.

Nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing payments to a housing owner with respect to projects in which all or part of the dwelling units do not contain kitchen facilities; but of the total amount of contracts to make annual payments approved

in appropriation Acts pursuant to subsection (a) after the date of the enactment of Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970, not more than 10 per centum in the aggregate shall be made with respect to such projects.

(c) As used in this section, the term

(1) "qualified tenant" means any individual or family having an income which would qualify such individual or family for assistance under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937, except that such term shall also include any individual or family who was receiving assistance under this section on the day preceding the date of the enactment of the Housing and Community Development Amendments of 1979, so long as such individual or family continues to meet the conditions for such assistance which were in effect on such day; and

(2) "income" means income from all sources of each member of the household, as determined in accordance with criteria prescribed by the Secretary. In determining amounts to be excluded from income, the Secretary may, in the Secretary's discretion, take into account the number of minor children in the household and such other factors as the Secretary may determine are appropriate.

The terms "qualified tenant" and "tenant" including a member of a cooperative who satisfies the foregoing requirements and who, upon resale of his membership to the cooperative, will not be reimbursed for any equity increment accumulated through payments under this section. With respect to members of a cooperative, the term "rental" and "rental charges" mean the charges under the occupancy agreements between such members and the cooperative. (d) The amount of the annual payment with respect to any dwelling unit shall be the lesser of (1) 70 per centum of the fair market rent, or (2) the amount by which the fair market rental for such unit exceeds 30 per centum of the tenant's adjusted income.

(e)(1) For purposes of carrying out the provisions of this section, the Secretary shall establish criteria and procedures for determining the eligibility of occupants and rental charges, including criteria and procedures with respect to periodic review of tenant incomes and periodic adjustment of rental charges.

(2) Procedures adopted by the Secretary hereunder shall provide for recertifications of the incomes of occupants no less frequently than annually for the purpose of adjusting rental charges and annual payments on the basis of occupants' incomes, but in no event shall rental charges adjusted under this section for any dwelling exceed the fair market rental of the dwelling.

(3) The Secretary may enter into agreements, or authorize housing owners to enter into agreements, with public or private agencies for services required in the selection of qualified tenants, including those who may be approved, on the basis of the probability of future increases in their incomes, as lessees under an option to purchase (which will give such approved qualified tenants an exclusive right to purchase at a price established or determined as provided in the option) dwellings, and in the establishment of rentals. The Secretary is authorized (without limiting his authority under any other provision of law) to delegate to any such public or pri

vate agency his authority to issue certificates pursuant to this subsection.

(4) No payments under this section may be made with respect to any property for which the costs of operation (including wages and salaries) are determined by the Secretary to be greater than similar costs of operation of similar housing in the community where the property is situated.

(f)

(g) The Secretary is authorized to make such rules and regulations, to enter into such agreements, and to adopt such procedures as be may deem necessary or desirable to carry out the provisions of this section. Nothing contained in this section shall affect the authority of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development with respect to any housing assisted under this section, section 221(d)(3), section 231(c)(3), or section 236 of the National Housing Act, or section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959, including the authority to prescribe occupancy requirements under other provisions of law or to determine the portion of any such housing which may be occupied by qualified tenants. To ensure that qualified tenants occupying that number of units with respect to which assistance was being provided under this section immediately prior to the date of enactment of this sentence1 receive the benefit of assistance contracted for under this section, the Secretary shall offer annually to amend contracts entered into with owners of projects assisted under this section but not subject to mortgages insured under title II of the National Housing Act to provide sufficient payments to cover 100 percent of the necessary rent increases and changes in the incomes of qualified tenants, subject to the availability of authority for such purpose under section 5(c) of the United States Housing Act of 1937. The Secretary shall take such actions as may be necessary to ensure that payments, including payments that reflect necessary rent increases and changes in the incomes of tenants, are made on a timely basis for all units covered by contracts entered into under this section.

(h) There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this section, including, but not limited to, such sums as may be necessary to make annual payments as prescribed in this section, pay for services provided under (or pursuant to agreements entered into under) subsection (e), and provide administrative expenses.

(i) *

(j)(1) For the purpose of assisting housing under this section on an experimental basis, subject to the limitations of this subsection, the term "housing owner" (in addition to the meaning prescribed in subsection (b)) includes

(A) a private nonprofit corporation on other private nonprofit legal entity, a limited dividend corporation or other limited dividend legal entity, or a cooperative housing corporation, which is a mortgagor under a mortgage which receives the benefits of the interest rate provided for in the proviso in section 221(d)(5) of the National Housing Act and which, after the

1 The date of enactment was November 30, 1983.