THE UNITED STATES HOUSING ACT OF 1937

SHORT TITLE

SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the "United States Housing Act of 1937".

DECLARATION OF POLICY

SEC. 2. It is the policy of the United States to promote the general welfare of the Nation by employing its funds and credit, as provided in this Act, to assist the several States and their political subdivisions to remedy the unsafe and unsanitary housing conditions and the acute shortage of decent, safe, and sanitary dwellings for families of lower income and, consistent with the objectives of this Act, to vest in local public housing agencies the maximum amount of responsibility in the administration of their housing programs. No person should be barred from serving on the board of directors or similar governing body of a local public housing agency because of his tenancy in a lower income housing project.

RENTAL PAYMENTS; DEFINITIONS

SEC. 3.1 (a) Dwelling units assisted under this Act shall be rented only to families who are lower income families at the time of their initial occupancy of such units. Reviews of family income shall be made at least annually. A family shall pay as rent for a dwelling unit assisted under this Act (other than a family assisted under section 8(0)) the highest of the following amounts, rounded to the nearest dollar:

(1) 30 per centum of the family's monthly adjusted income; (2) 10 per centum of the family's monthly income; or

(3) if the family is receiving payments for welfare assistance from a public agency and a part of such payments, adjusted in accordance with the family's actual housing costs, is specifically designated by such agency to meet the family's housing costs, the portion of such payments which is so designated. (b) When used in this Act:

(1) The term "lower income housing" means decent, safe, and sanitary dwellings assisted under this Act. The term "public housing" means lower income housing, and all necessary appurtenances thereto, assisted under this Act other than under section 8. When used in reference to public housing, the term "lower income housing project" or "project" means (A) housing developed, acquired, or assisted by a public housing agency under this Act, and (B) the improvement of any such housing.

(2) The term "lower income families" means those families whose incomes do not exceed 80 per centum 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 per centum of the median for the area on the basis of the Secretary's findings that such vari

For implementation of amendments made to this section affecting tenant rents, see page 167 of this compilation.

ations are necessary because of prevailing levels of construction costs or unusually high or low family incomes. The term "very lowincome families" means lower income families whose incomes do not exceed 50 per centum 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 per centum of the median for the area on the basis of the Secretary's findings that such variations are necessary because of unusually high or low family incomes. Such ceilings shall be established in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture for any rural area, as defined in section 520 of the Housing Act of 1949, taking into account the subsidy characteristics and types of programs to which such ceilings apply. (3) The term "families" includes families consisting of a single person in the case of (A) a person who is at least sixty-two years of age or is under a disability as defined in section 223 of the Social Security Act or in section 102 of the Developmental Disabilities Services and Facilities Construction Amendments of 1970, or is handicapped, (B) a displaced person, (C) the remaining member of a tenant family, and (D) other single persons in circumstances described in regulations of the Secretary. In no event shall more than 15 per centum of the units under the jurisdiction of any public housing agency be occupied by single persons under clause (D). In determining priority for admission to housing under this Act, the Secretary shall give preference to those single persons who are elderly, handicapped, or displaced before those eligible under clause (D). The term "elderly families" means families whose heads (or their spouses), or whose sole members, are persons described in clause (A). A person shall be considered handicapped if such person is determined, pursuant to regulations issued by the Secretary, to have an impairment which is expected to be of long-continued and indefinite duration, substantially impedes such person's ability to live independently, and is of such a nature that such ability could be improved by more suitable housing conditions. The term "displaced person" means a person displaced by governmental action, or a person whose dwelling has been extensively damaged or destroyed as a result of a disaster declared or otherwise formally recognized pursuant to Federal disaster relief laws. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this subsection, the term "elderly families" includes two or more elderly, disabled, or handicapped individuals living together, or one or more such individuals living with one or more persons determined under regulations of the Secretary to be essential to their care or well being. The Secretary may increase the limitation decribed in the second sentence of this paragraph to not more than 30 per centum if, following consultation with the public housing agency involved, the Secretary determines that the dwelling units involved are neither being occupied, nor are likely to be occupied within the next 12 months, by families or persons described in clauses (A), (B), and (C), due to the condition or location of such dwelling units, and that such dwelling units may be occupied if made available to single persons described in clause (D).

(4) The term "income" means income from all sources of each member of the household, as detemined in accordance with criteria

prescribed by the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture.

(5) The term "adjusted income" means the income which remains after excluding

(A) $480 for each member of the family residing in the household (other than the head of the household or his spouse) who is under 18 years or age or who is 18 years of age or older and is disabled or handicapped or a full-time student;

(B) $400 for any elderly family;

(C) the amount by which the aggregate of the following expenses of the family exceeds 3 percent of annual family income: (i) medical expenses for any elderly family; and (ii) reasonable attendant care and auxiliary apparatus expenses for each handicapped member of any family, to the extent necessary to enable any member of such family (including such handicapped member) to be employed; and

(D) child care expenes to the extent necessary to enable another member of the family to be employed or to further his or her education.

(6) The term "public housing agency" means any State, county, municipality, or other governmental entity or public body (or agency or instrumentality thereof) which is authorized to engage in or assist in the development or operation of lower income housing. (7) The term "State" includes the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the territories and possessions of the United States, the Trust Territory of the Pacific İslands, and Indian tribes, bands, groups, and Nations, including Alaska Indians, Aleuts, and Eskimos, of the United States.

(8) The term "Secretary" means the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

(c) When used in reference to public housing:

(1) The term "development" means any or all undertakings necessary for planning, land acquisition, demolition, construction, or equipment, in connection with a lower income housing project. The term "development cost" comprises the costs incurred by a public housing agency in such undertakings and their necessary financing (including the payment of carrying charges), and in otherwise carrying out the development of such project. Construction activity in connection with a lower income housing project may be confined to the reconstruction, remodeling, or repair of existing buildings.

(2) The term "operation" means any or all undertakings appropriate for management, operation, services, maintenance, security (including the cost of security personnel), or financing in connection with a lower income housing project. The term also means the financing of tenant programs and services for families residing in lower income housing projects, particularly where there is maximum feasible participation of the tenants in the development and operation of such tenant programs and services. As used in this paragraph, the term "tenant programs and services" includes the development and maintenance of tenant organizations which participate in the management of lower income housing projects; the training of tenants to manage and operate such projects and the utilization of their services in project management and operation;

counseling on household management, housekeeping, budgeting, money management, child care, and similar matters; advice as to resources for job training and placement, education, welfare, health, and other community services; services which are directly related to meeting tenant needs and providing a wholesome living environment; and referral to appropriate agencies in the community when necessary for the provision of such services. To the maximum extent available and appropriate, exisiting public and private agencies in the community shall be used for the provision of such

services.

(3) The term "acquisition cost" means the amount prudently required to be expended by a public housing agency in acquiring property for a lower income housing project.

LOANS FOR LOWER INCOME HOUSING PROJECTS

SEC. 4. (a) The Secretary may make loans or commitments to make loans to public housing agencies to help finance or refinance the development, acquisition, or operation of lower income housing projects by such agencies. Any contract for such loans and any amendment to a contract for such loans shall provide that such loans shall bear interest at a rate specified by the Secretary which shall not be less than a rate determined by the Secretary of the Treasury taking into consideration the current average market yield on outstanding marketable obligations of the United States with remaining periods to maturity comparable to the average maturities of such loans, plus one-eighth of 1 per centum. Such loans shall be secured in such manner and shall be repaid within such period not exceeding forty years, or not exceeding forty years from the date of the bonds evidencing the loan, as the Secretary may determine. The Secretary may require loans or commitments to make loans under this section to be pledged as security for obligations issued by a public housing agency in connection with a lower income housing project.

(b) The Secretary may issue and have outstanding at any one time notes and other obligations for purchase by the Secretary of the Treasury in an amount which will not, unless authorized by the President, exceed $1,500,000,000. For the purpose of determining obligations incurred to make loans pursuant to this Act against any limitation otherwise applicable with respect to such loans, the Secretary shall estimate the maximum amount to be loaned at any one time pursuant to loan agreements then outstanding with public housing agencies. Such notes or other obligations shall be in such forms and denominations and shall be subject to such terms and conditions as may be prescribed by the Secretary with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury. The notes or other obligations issued under this subsection shall have such maturities and bear such rate or rates of interest as shall be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury. The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and directed to purchase any notes or other obligations of the Secretary issued hereunder and for such purpose is authorized to use as a public debt transaction the proceeds from the sale of any securities issued under chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, and the purposes for which securities may be issued under such

chapter are extended to include any purchases of such obligations. The Secretary of the Treasury may at any time sell any of the notes or other obligations acquired by him under this section. All redemptions, purchases, and sales by the Secretary of the Treasury of such notes or other obligations shall be treated as public debt transactions of the United States.

ANNUAL CONTRIBUTIONS FOR LOWER INCOME HOUSING PROJECTS

SEC. 5. (a) The Secretary may make annual contributions to public housing agencies to assist in achieving and maintaining the lower income character of their projects. The Secretary shall embody the provisions for such annual contributions in a contract guaranteeing their payment. The contribution payable annually under this section shall in no case exceed a sum equal to the annual amount of principal and interest payable on obligations issued by the public housing agency to finance the development or acquisition cost of the lower income project involved. The amount of annual contributions which would be established for a newly constructed project by a public housing agency designed to accommodate a number of families of a given size and kind may be established under this section for a project by such public housing agency which would provide housing for the comparable number, sizes, and kinds of families through the acquisition and rehabilitation, or use under lease, of structures which are suitable for lower income housing use and obtained in the local market. Annual contributions payable under this section shall be pledged, if the Secretary so requires, as security for obligations issued by a public housing agency to assist the development or acquisition of the project to which annual contributions relate and shall be paid over a period not to exceed forty years.

(b) The Secretary may prescribe regulations fixing the maximum contributions available under different circumstances, giving consideration to cost, location, size, rent-paying ability of prospective tenants, or other factors bearing upon the amounts and periods of assistance needed to achieve and maintain low rentals. Such regulations may provide for rates of contribution based upon development, acquisition, or operation costs, number of dwelling units, number of persons housed, interest charges, or other appropriate factors.

(c)(1) The Secretary may enter into contracts for annual contributions aggregating not more than $7,875,049,000 per annum, which amount shall be increased by $1,494,400,000 on October 1, 1980, and by $906,985,000 on October 1, 1981. The additional authority to enter into such contracts provided on or after October 1, 1980, shall be effective only in such amounts as may be approved in appropriation Acts. In addition, the aggregate amount which may be obligated over the duration of the contracts may not exceed $31,200,000 with respect to the additional authority provided on October 1, 1980, and $18,087,370,000 with respect to the additional authority provided on October 1, 1981.

(2) The Secretary shall enter into only such new contracts for preliminary loans as are consistent with the number of dwelling