Housing Trust Fund

The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (in this section referred to as the “Secretary”) shall establish and manage a Housing Trust Fund, which shall be funded with amounts allocated by the enterprises under section 4567 of this title and any amounts as are or may be appropriated, transferred, or credited to such Housing Trust Fund under any other provisions of law. The purpose of the Housing Trust Fund under this section is to provide grants to States (as such term is defined in section 4502 of this title) for use— For purposes of the application of Federal civil rights laws, all assistance provided from the Housing Trust Fund shall be considered Federal financial assistance. Notwithstanding subsection (c), to help address the mortgage crisis, of the amounts allocated pursuant to clauses (i) and (ii) of section 4567(a)(1)(B) of this title and clauses (i) and (ii) of section 4567(a)(2)(B) of this title in excess of amounts described in section 4567(e) of this title— At the termination of the HOPE for Homeowners Program established under section 1715z–23 of this title, if amounts used to reimburse the Treasury under paragraph (1) exceed the total net cost to the Government of the HOPE for Homeowners Program, such amounts shall be used for their original purpose, as described in paragraphs (1)(B) and (2)(B) of section 4567(a) of this title. The amounts referred to in subparagraphs (A) through (C) of paragraph (1) shall be deposited into a fund established in the Treasury of the United States by the Secretary of the Treasury for such purpose. Except as provided in subsection (b), the Secretary shall distribute the amounts allocated for the Housing Trust Fund under this section to provide affordable housing as described in this subsection. A State receiving grant amounts under this subsection may designate a State housing finance agency, housing and community development entity, tribally designated housing entity (as such term is defined in section 4103 of title 25), or any other qualified instrumentality of the State to receive such grant amounts. The Secretary shall, by regulation, establish a formula within 12 months of July 30, 2008, to distribute amounts made available under this subsection to each State to provide affordable housing to extremely low- and very low-income households. The formula required under subparagraph (A) shall include the following: The resulting sum calculated from the factors described in clauses (i) through (iv) shall be multiplied by the relative cost of construction in the State. For purposes of this subclause,11 So in original. Probably should be “this clause,”. the term “cost of construction”— The formula required under subparagraph (A) shall give priority emphasis and consideration to the factor described in subparagraph (B)(i). Not later than 60 days after the date that the Secretary determines the formula amounts described in paragraph (3), the Secretary shall caused 22 So in original. Probably should be “cause”. to be published in the Federal Register a notice that such amounts shall be so available. In each fiscal year other than fiscal year 2009, the Secretary shall make a grant to each State in an amount that is equal to the formula amount determined under paragraph (3) for that State. If the formula amount determined under paragraph (3) for a fiscal year would allocate less than $3,000,000 to any of the 50 States of the United States or the District of Columbia, the allocation for such State of the United States or the District of Columbia shall be $3,000,000, and the increase shall be deducted pro rata from the allocations made to all other of the States (as such term is defined in section 4502 of this title). For each year that a State or State designated entity receives a grant under this subsection, the State or State designated entity shall establish an allocation plan. Such plan shall— In establishing an allocation plan under this paragraph, a State or State designated entity shall— An allocation plan of a State or State designated entity under this paragraph shall set forth the requirements for eligible recipients under paragraph (8) to apply for such grant amounts, including a requirement that each such application include— Grant amounts received by a State or State designated entity under this subsection may be used, or committed for use, only for activities that— Grant amounts allocated to a State or State designated entity under this subsection shall be eligible for use, or for commitment for use, only for assistance for— the production, preservation, and rehabilitation of housing for homeownership, including such forms as down payment assistance, closing cost assistance, and assistance for interest rate buy-downs, that— is available for purchase only for use as a principal residence by families that qualify both as— All amounts from the Trust Fund shall be allocated in accordance with, and any eligible activities carried out in whole or in part with grant amounts under this subchapter (including housing provided with such grant amounts) shall comply with and be operated in compliance with— Grant amounts allocated to a State or State designated entity under this subsection may be provided only to a recipient that is an organization, agency, or other entity (including a for-profit entity or a nonprofit entity) that— has demonstrated experience and capacity to conduct an eligible activity under paragraph (7), as evidenced by its ability to— Of the aggregate amount allocated to a State or State designated entity under this subsection not more than 10 percent shall be used for activities under subparagraph (B) of paragraph (7). Grant amounts allocated to a State or State designated entity under this subsection shall be used or committed for use within 2 years of the date that such grant amounts are made available to the State or State designated entity. The Secretary shall recapture any such amounts not so used or committed for use and reallocate such amounts under this subsection in the first year after such recapture. The Secretary shall, by regulation, provide that any return on a loan or other investment of any grant amount used by a State or State designated entity to provide a loan under this subsection shall be treated, for purposes of availability to and use by the State or State designated entity, as a grant amount authorized under this subsection. The Secretary shall, by regulation— set forth prohibited uses of grant amounts allocated under this subsection, which shall include use for— provide that, except as provided in clause (iii), grant amounts of a State or State designated entity may not be used for administrative, outreach, or other costs of— In determining compliance with the housing goals under this subpart and the duty to serve underserved markets under section 4565 of this title, the Director may not consider any grant amounts used under this section for eligible activities under paragraph (7). The Director shall give credit toward the achievement of such housing goals and such duty to serve underserved markets to purchases by the enterprises of mortgages for housing that receives funding from such grant amounts, but only to the extent that such purchases by the enterprises are funded other than with such grant amounts. If in any year a State or State designated entity fails to obtain reimbursement or return of the full amount required under subsection (e)(1)(B) to be reimbursed or returned to the State or State designated entity during such year— except as provided in paragraph (2)— The Secretary shall— establish minimum requirements for agreements, between the State or State designated entity and recipients, regarding assistance under this section, which shall include— If any recipient of assistance under this section is determined, in accordance with clause (ii), to have used any such amounts in a manner that is materially in violation of this section, the regulations issued under this section, or any requirements or conditions under which such amounts were provided, the State or State designated entity shall require that, within 12 months after the determination of such misuse, the recipient shall reimburse the State or State designated entity for such misused amounts and return to the State or State designated entity any such amounts that remain unused or uncommitted for use. The remedies under this clause are in addition to any other remedies that may be available under law. A determination is made in accordance with this clause if the determination is made by the Secretary or made by the State or State designated entity, provided that— The Secretary shall require each State or State designated entity receiving grant amounts in any given year under this section to submit a report, for such year, to the Secretary that— The Secretary shall make such reports pursuant to this subparagraph publicly available. If the Secretary determines, after reasonable notice and opportunity for hearing, that a State or State designated entity has failed to comply substantially with any provision of this section, and until the Secretary is satisfied that there is no longer any such failure to comply, the Secretary shall— For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply: The term “extremely low-income renter household” means a household whose income is not in excess of 30 percent of the area median income, with adjustments for smaller and larger families, as determined by the Secretary. The term “recipient” means an individual or entity that receives assistance from a State or State designated entity from amounts made available to the State or State designated entity under this section. The term “shortage of standard rental units both affordable and available to extremely low-income renter households” means for any State or other geographical area the gap between— If the number of units described in subparagraph (A)(i) exceeds the number of extremely low-income households as described in subparagraph (A)(ii), there is no shortage. The term “shortage of standard rental units both affordable and available to very low-income renter households” means for any State or other geographical area the gap between— If the number of units described in subparagraph (A)(i) exceeds the number of very low-income households as described in subparagraph (A)(ii), there is no shortage. The term “very low-income family” has the meaning given such term in section 4502 of this title, except that such term includes any family that resides in a rural area that has an income that does not exceed the poverty line (as such term is defined in section 9902(2) of title 42, including any revision required by such section) applicable to a family of the size involved. The term “very low-income renter households” means a household whose income is in excess of 30 percent but not greater than 50 percent of the area median income, with adjustments for smaller and larger families, as determined by the Secretary. The Secretary shall issue regulations to carry out this section. The regulations issued under this subsection shall include— requirements for a process for application to, and selection by, each State or State designated entity for activities meeting the State or State designated entity’s priority housing needs to be funded with grant amounts under this section, which shall provide for priority in funding to be based upon— If, after July 30, 2008, in any year, there is enacted any provision of Federal law establishing an affordable housing trust fund other than under this chapter for use only for grants to provide affordable rental housing and affordable homeownership opportunities, and the subsequent year is a year referred to in subsection (c), the Secretary shall in such subsequent year and any remaining years referred to in subsection (c) transfer to such affordable housing trust fund the aggregate amount allocated pursuant to subsection (c) in such year. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, assistance provided using amounts transferred to such affordable housing trust fund pursuant to this subsection may not be used for any of the activities specified in clauses (i) through (vi) of subsection (c)(9)(D). Any grant under this section to a grantee by a State or State designated entity, any assistance provided to a recipient by a State or State designated entity, and any grant, award, or other assistance from an affordable housing trust fund referred to in subsection (h) shall be considered a Federal award for purposes of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note). Upon the request of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Secretary shall obtain and provide such information regarding any such grants, assistance, and awards as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget considers necessary to comply with the requirements of such Act, as applicable, pursuant to the preceding sentence.