Supportive housing for the elderly

The purpose of this section is to enable elderly persons to live with dignity and independence by expanding the supply of supportive housing that— The Secretary is authorized to provide assistance to private nonprofit organizations and consumer cooperatives to expand the supply of supportive housing for the elderly. Such assistance shall be provided as (1) capital advances in accordance with subsection (c)(1), and (2) contracts for project rental assistance in accordance with subsection (c)(2). Such assistance may be used to finance the construction, reconstruction, or moderate or substantial rehabilitation of a structure or a portion of a structure, or the acquisition of a structure, to be used as supportive housing for the elderly in accordance with this section. Assistance may also cover the cost of real property acquisition, site improvement, conversion, demolition, relocation, and other expenses that the Secretary determines are necessary to expand the supply of supportive housing for the elderly. A capital advance provided under this section shall bear no interest and its repayment shall not be required so long as the housing remains available for very low-income elderly persons in accordance with this section. Such advance shall be in an amount calculated in accordance with the development cost limitation established in subsection (h). Contracts for project rental assistance shall obligate the Secretary to make monthly payments to cover any part of the costs attributed to units occupied (or, as approved by the Secretary, held for occupancy) by very low-income elderly persons that is not met from project income. The annual contract amount for any project shall not exceed the sum of the initial annual project rentals for all units so occupied and any initial utility allowances for such units, as approved by the Secretary. Any contract amounts not used by a project in any year shall remain available to the project until the expiration of the contract. The Secretary may adjust the annual contract amount if the sum of the project income and the amount of assistance payments available under this paragraph are inadequate to provide for reasonable project costs. A very low-income person shall pay as rent for a dwelling unit assisted under this section the highest of the following amounts, rounded to the nearest dollar: (A) 30 percent of the person’s adjusted monthly income, (B) 10 percent of the person’s monthly income, or (C) if the person is receiving payments for welfare assistance from a public agency and a part of such payments, adjusted in accordance with the person’s actual housing costs, is specifically designated by such agency to meet the person’s housing costs, the portion of such payments which is so designated. All units in housing assisted under this section shall be made available for occupancy by very low-income elderly persons for not less than 40 years. The initial term of a contract entered into under subsection (c)(2) shall be 240 months. The Secretary shall, to the extent approved in appropriation Acts, extend any expiring contract for a term of not less than 60 months. In order to facilitate the orderly extension of expiring contracts, the Secretary is authorized to make commitments to extend expiring contracts during the year prior to the date of expiration. Funds made available under this section shall be allocated by the Secretary among approvable applications submitted by private nonprofit organizations. Applications for assistance under this section shall be submitted by an applicant in such form and in accordance with such procedures as the Secretary shall establish. Such applications shall contain— The Secretary shall establish selection criteria for assistance under this section, which shall include— The Secretary shall establish procedures to delegate the award, review and processing of projects, selected by the Secretary in a national competition, to a State or local housing agency that— Assistance under subsection (c)(2) may be provided for projects which identify in the application for assistance a defined health and other supportive services program including sources of financing the services for eligible residents and memoranda of understanding with service provision agencies and organizations to provide such services for eligible residents at their request. Such supportive services plan and memoranda of understating shall— In carrying out the provisions of this section, the Secretary shall ensure that housing assisted under this section provides a range of services tailored to the needs of the category or categories of elderly persons (including frail elderly persons) occupying such housing. Such services may include (A) meal service adequate to meet nutritional need; (B) housekeeping aid; (C) personal assistance; (D) transportation services; (E) health-related services; (F) providing education and outreach regarding telemarketing fraud, in accordance with the standards issued under section 671(f) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13631(f)); and (G) such other services as the Secretary deems essential for maintaining independent living. The Secretary may permit the provision of services to elderly persons who are not residents if the participation of such persons will not adversely affect the cost-effectiveness or operation of the program or add significantly to the need for assistance under this Act. The Secretary shall ensure that owners have the managerial capacity to— Any cost associated with employing or otherwise retaining a service coordinator in housing assisted under this section shall be considered an eligible cost under subsection (c)(2). If a project is receiving congregate housing services assistance under section 8011 of title 42, the amount of costs provided under subsection (c)(2) for the project service coordinator may not exceed the additional amount necessary to cover the costs of providing for the coordination of services for residents of the project who are not eligible residents under such section 8011 of title 42. To the extent that amounts are available pursuant to subsection (c)(2) for the costs of carrying out this paragraph within a project, an owner of housing assisted under this section shall provide a service coordinator for the housing to coordinate the provision of services under this subsection within the housing. The Secretary shall periodically establish reasonable development cost limitations by market area for various types and sizes of supportive housing for the elderly by publishing a notice of the cost limitations in the Federal Register. The cost limitations shall reflect— In the case of existing housing and related facilities to be acquired, the cost limitations shall include— The Secretary shall adjust the cost limitation not less than once annually to reflect changes in the general level of construction, reconstruction, or rehabilitation costs. The Secretary shall use the development cost limitations established under paragraph (1) or (2) to calculate the amount of financing to be made available to individual owners. Owners which incur actual development costs that are less than the amount of financing shall be entitled to retain 50 percent of the savings in a special housing account. Such percentage shall be increased to 75 percent for owners which add energy efficiency features which— The special housing account established under subparagraph (A) may be used (i) to supplement services provided to residents of the housing or funds set aside for replacement reserves, or (ii) for such other purposes as determined by the Secretary. The Secretary shall, to the extent practicable, give owners the flexibility to design housing appropriate to their location and proposed resident population within broadly defined parameters. An owner shall be permitted voluntarily to provide funds from sources other than this section for amenities and other features of appropriate design and construction suitable for supportive housing for the elderly if the cost of such amenities is (A) not financed with the advance, and (B) is not taken into account in determining the amount of Federal assistance or of the rent contribution of tenants. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, assistance amounts provided under this section may be treated as amounts not derived from a Federal grant. An owner shall adopt written tenant selection procedures that are satisfactory to the Secretary as (A) consistent with the purpose of improving housing opportunities for very low-income elderly persons; and (B) reasonably related to program eligibility and an applicant’s ability to perform the obligations of the lease. Such tenant selection procedures shall comply with subtitle C of title VI of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 [42 U.S.C. 13601 et seq.] and any regulations issued under such subtitle. Owners shall promptly notify in writing any rejected applicant of the grounds for any rejection. The Secretary shall provide to an appropriate agency in each area (which may be the applicable Area Agency on the Aging) information regarding the availability of housing assisted under this section. The Secretary shall make available appropriate technical assistance to assure that applicants having limited resources, particularly minority applicants, are able to participate more fully in the program carried out under this section. Each owner shall certify, to the satisfaction of the Secretary, that assistance made available under this section will be conducted and administered in conformity with title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 [42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.], the Fair Housing Act [42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.], and other Federal, State, and local laws prohibiting discrimination and promoting equal opportunity. The Secretary shall require an owner to deposit an amount not to exceed $25,000 in a special escrow account to assure the owner’s commitment to the housing. 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. The Secretary may reduce or waive the owner deposit specified under paragraph (1) for individual applicants if the Secretary finds that such waiver or reduction is necessary to achieve the purposes of this section and the applicant demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Secretary that it has the capacity to manage and maintain the housing in accordance with this section. The Secretary shall reduce or waive the requirement of the owner deposit under paragraph (1) in the case of a nonprofit applicant that is not affiliated with a national sponsor, as determined by the Secretary. The Secretary shall notify an owner not less than 30 days prior to canceling any reservation of assistance provided under this section. During the 30-day period following the receipt of a notice under the preceding sentence, an owner may appeal the proposed cancellation of loan authority. Such appeal, including review by the Secretary, shall be completed not later than 45 days after the appeal is filed. The Secretary shall take such action as may be necessary to ensure that all laborers and mechanics employed by contractors and subcontractors in the construction of housing with 12 or more units assisted under this section shall be paid wages at rates not less than the rates prevailing in the locality involved for the corresponding classes of laborers and mechanics employed on construction of a similar character, as determined by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with sections 3141–3144, 3146, and 3147 of title 40. Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to any individual who— The Secretary shall authorize the owner of a project assisted under this section to use any residual receipts held for the project in excess of $500 per unit (or in excess of such other amount prescribed by the Secretary based on the needs of the project) for activities to retrofit and renovate the project described under section 8011(d)(3) of title 42, to provide a service coordinator for the project as described in section 8011(d)(4) of title 42, or to provide supportive services (as such term is defined in section 8011(k) of title 42) to residents of the project. Any owner that uses residual receipts under this paragraph shall submit to the Secretary a report, not less than annually, describing the uses of the residual receipts. In determining the amount of project rental assistance to be provided to a project under subsection (c)(2) of this section, the Secretary may take into consideration the residual receipts held for the project only if, and to the extent that, excess residual receipts are not used under this paragraph. Each owner shall operate housing assisted under this section in compliance with subtitle C of title VI of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 [42 U.S.C. 13601 et seq.] and any regulations issued under such subtitle. Amounts for project reserves for a project assisted under this section may be used for costs, subject to reasonable limitations as the Secretary determines appropriate, for reducing the number of dwelling units in the project. Such use shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary to ensure that the use is designed to retrofit units that are currently obsolete or unmarketable. Each owner of a dwelling unit assisted under this section shall ensure that carbon monoxide alarms or detectors are installed in the dwelling unit in a manner that meets or exceeds— Each owner of a dwelling unit assisted under this section shall ensure that qualifying smoke alarms are installed in accordance with the requirements of applicable codes and standards and the National Fire Protection Association Standard 72, or any successor standard, in each level and in or near each sleeping area in such dwelling unit, including in basements but excepting crawl spaces and unfinished attics, and in each common area in a project containing such a dwelling unit. For purposes of this paragraph, the following definitions shall apply: The term “smoke alarm” has the meaning given the term “smoke detector” in section 2225(d) of title 15. The term “qualifying smoke alarm” means a smoke alarm that— in the case of a dwelling unit built before December 29, 2022, and not substantially rehabilitated after December 29, 2022— The term “private nonprofit organization” means— any incorporated private institution or foundation— which has a governing board— a for-profit limited partnership the sole general partner of which is— Of any amounts made available for assistance under this section, such sums as may be necessary shall be available for funding capital advances in accordance with subsection (c)(1). Such amounts, the repayments from such advances, and the proceeds from notes or obligations issued under this section prior to November 28, 1990, shall constitute a revolving fund to be used by the Secretary in carrying out this section. Of any amounts made available for assistance under this section, such sums as may be necessary shall be available for funding project rental assistance in accordance with subsection (c)(2). Not less than 15 percent of the funds made available for assistance under this section shall be allocated by the Secretary on a national basis for nonmetropolitan areas. 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. There is authorized to be appropriated for providing assistance under this section $710,000,000 for fiscal year 2000. There are authorized to be appropriated for providing assistance under this section such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2001, 2002, and 2003.