ENROLLED
H. B. 4468
(By Delegates Manuel, Doyle and Tabb)
[Passed March 12, 2004; in effect ninety days from passage.]
AN ACT to amend and reenact §16-15-7 and §16-15-18 of the code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to allowing
housing development authorities to pay for persons of eligible
income the costs of preparation of any title instrument, deed
of trust, note or security instrument, the costs of recording
any title instrument, deed of trust, note or security
instrument and the amount of impact fees imposed.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §16-15-7 and §16-15-18 of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 15. STATE HOUSING LAW.
§16-15-7. Authority a body corporate and politic; powers;
investigations or examinations.
(a) An authority is a body both corporate and politic,
exercising public powers, and having all the powers necessary or convenient to carry out and effectuate the purposes and provisions
of this article, including the following powers in addition to
others granted:
(1) To investigate living and housing conditions in the
authority's area of operation and the means and methods of
improving the conditions;
(2) To determine whether unsanitary or substandard housing
conditions exist;
(3) To study and make recommendations concerning the city or
county plan in relation to the problems of clearing, replanning,
redevelopment and reconstruction of areas in which unsanitary or
substandard conditions exist, and the providing of housing
accommodations for persons of low and moderate income, and to
cooperate with any city, county or regional planning agency, to
prepare, carry out and operate developments;
(4) To provide for the construction, reconstruction,
redevelopment, improvement, alteration or repair of any development
or any part of a development;
(5) To take over by purchase, lease or otherwise any
development undertaken by any government;
(6) To act as agent for the federal government in connection
with the acquisition, construction, operation or management of a
development or any part of a development;
(7) To arrange with the city or with a government for the furnishing, planning, replanning, opening or closing of streets,
roads, roadways, alleys or other places or facilities, or for the
acquisition by the city, county, state or federal government or any
agency, instrumentality or subdivision thereof, of property,
options or property rights or for the furnishing of property or
services in connection with a development;
(8) To sell, lease or rent any of the housing or other
accommodations of any of the lands, buildings, structures or
facilities embraced in any development, and to establish and revise
the rents or charges therefor;
(9) To enter upon any building or property in order to conduct
investigations or to make surveys or soundings; to purchase, lease,
obtain options upon, acquire by eminent domain or otherwise, sell,
exchange, transfer, assign or mortgage any property real or
personal or any interest therein;
(10) To acquire any property real or personal or any interest
therein from any person, firm, corporation, or the city, county,
state or federal government or any agency, instrumentality or
subdivision thereof, by gift, grant, bequest or devise; to own,
hold, clear and improve property; in its discretion, to insure or
provide for the insurance of the property or operations of the
authority against risks as the authority considers advisable;
(11) To borrow money upon its bonds, notes, debentures or
other evidences of indebtedness, and to secure them by mortgages upon property held or to be held by it or by pledge of its
revenues, or in any other manner;
(12) To invest any funds held in reserves or sinking funds, or
any funds not required for immediate disbursement in property or
securities in which savings banks may legally invest funds subject
to their control;
(13) To sue and be sued;
(14) To have a seal, and to alter it;
(15) To have perpetual succession;
(16) To make and execute contracts and other instruments
necessary or convenient to the exercise of the powers of the
authority;
(17) To form and operate nonprofit corporations and other
affiliates of every kind and description, which may be wholly or
partially owned or controlled, for carrying out the purposes of
this article and in connection with the exercise of any of the
powers of a housing authority;
(18) To participate in cooperative arrangements with persons
and for-profit entities whose purpose is solely that of pecuniary
gain, as well as with nonprofit entities and persons who seek no
pecuniary gain. The participation of a housing authority in any
arrangement with other persons or entities, including for-profit
persons and entities, may not cause any activity engaged in by the
authority to be characterized as proprietary nor deprive the authority of any privilege or immunity otherwise existing under
law;
(19) To participate as a general or limited partner,
coventurer, shareholder, or otherwise as a principal, an investor,
a lender, a guarantor, a contracting party, or in any other manner,
all upon terms and conditions, and with rights and obligations, as
the governing board of the housing authority shall, from time to
time, in its discretion determine to be appropriate;
(20) To make and, from time to time, amend and repeal bylaws
and rules not inconsistent with this article to carry into effect
the powers and purposes of the authority;
(21) To conduct examinations and investigations and to hear
testimony and take proof under oath at public or private hearings
on any matter material for its information;
(22) To issue subpoenas requiring the attendance of witnesses
or the production of documents and things, for the examination of
witnesses who are out of the state or unable to attend before the
authority, or excused from attendance;
(23) To pay, in whole or in part, for any person of eligible
income the costs of preparation of any title instrument, deed of
trust, note or security instrument, the costs of recording any
title instrument, deed of trust, note or security instrument, and
any impact fee levied pursuant to article twenty, chapter seven of
this code, with the condition that in the event the person receiving a payment under this subdivision sells the property
attributable to the payment within five years from receiving the
payment, the person will repay the full amount of the payment to
the authority; and
(24) To do all things necessary or convenient to carry out the
powers given in this article.
(b) Any of the investigations or examinations provided for in
this article may be conducted by the authority or by a committee
appointed by it, consisting of one or more members thereof, or by
counsel, or by an officer or employee specifically authorized by
the authority to conduct it. Any member of the authority, its
counsel, or any person designated by it to conduct an investigation
or examination, shall have power to administer oaths, take
affidavits and issue subpoenas.
§16-15-18. Duties of authority and limitation of powers.
(a) In the operation or management of housing developments an
authority shall at all times observe the following duties with
respect to rentals, tenant selection and home ownership:
(1) It may rent or lease dwellings in the developments only to
persons of eligible income and at rentals within the financial
reach of the persons;
(2) It may rent or lease to a tenant housing consisting of the
number of rooms, but no greater number, which it considers
necessary to provide safe and sanitary accommodations to the proposed occupants, without overcrowding;
(3) Subject only to the limitations contained in this article
or imposed by the federal government, an authority may lease or
rent any dwellings, facilities or other real or personal property
owned, controlled, or possessed by the authority, or with respect
to which the authority has contractual rights permitting the lease
or rental, for terms, upon conditions and lease terms and in
exchange for rentals as the authority may from time to time in its
discretion determine; further, and without limiting the foregoing,
to establish rents in a manner and in amounts as the authority
considers appropriate, including, but not limited to, rents based
upon family income, (determined with adjustments and exclusions as
the authority considers appropriate,) minimum rents, flat rents,
graduated rents, rent ranges, and maximum rents, (any of which may
vary among the authority's developments,) and to establish any
other standards and conditions relating to rentals that the
authority considers appropriate to carry out the purposes of this
article;
(4) At and subsequent to an acquisition of occupied property,
a housing authority may permit existing tenants in the property to
remain in occupancy upon terms and conditions and for periods as
the authority considers appropriate, notwithstanding that the
tenants do not qualify as persons of eligible income;
(5) A housing authority may operate programs to increase home ownership by residents of its developments and by other persons of
eligible income; and may acquire, rehabilitate, construct,
reconstruct, sell, convey, lease, option, and take all other
actions considered appropriate to achieve home ownership of
dwellings and associated property by persons of eligible income.
In connection with any program to encourage ownership, a housing
authority may dispose of dwellings and other associated property in
exchange or for fair market purchase prices, and upon terms and
conditions, as the authority considers appropriate;
(6) To develop, acquire, own, lease and operate properties and
facilities that are nonresidential in character, which are used for
office, administrative, management, maintenance, commercial, or
educational purposes, or providing services, or carrying out any
other purpose authorized under this article; to acquire, own,
lease, and operate properties and facilities that are both
residential and nonresidential in character;
(7) To develop, acquire, own, or lease community facilities,
and to provide such facilities to any public agency or to any
person, agency, institution, or organization, public or private,
for recreational, educational, health or welfare purposes for the
benefit and use of the housing authority or occupants of its
developments, or persons of eligible income, elderly or handicapped
persons, or any combination of the foregoing; to operate or manage
community facilities, itself, or as agent or any public agency, or any person, institution, or organization, public or private; and to
receive compensation therefor, if any, as the parties may agree;
community facilities may be utilized by private persons or
organizations with or without charge, upon a determination by the
authority that the utilization would be advisable to promote the
public purposes of this article;
(8) To carry out plans, programs, contracts and agreements of
every kind and description and to provide grants, loans, guarantees
and other financial assistance to public or private persons or
entities, whether nonprofit or for-profit, in order to
rehabilitate, maintain, procure, and preserve existing affordable
housing stocks in safe, decent and sanitary condition and to ensure
that they remain affordable to persons of eligible income; and
(9) To pay, in whole or in part, for any person of eligible
income the costs of preparation of any title instrument, deed of
trust, note or security instrument, the costs of recording any
title instrument, deed of trust, note or security instrument, and
any impact fee levied pursuant to article twenty, chapter seven of
this code, with the condition that in the event the person
receiving a payment under this subdivision sells the property
attributable to the payment within five years from receiving the
payment, the person will repay the full amount of the payment to
the housing authority.
(b) A housing authority shall conduct its affairs in accordance with sound financial and business practices, taking into
account the nature of its activities and intended purpose.
Therefore, a housing authority shall establish and charge rents no
higher than it determines to be necessary to produce revenue which,
together with all other available money, revenue, income and
receipts of the authority from whatever source derived, will be
sufficient:
(1) To pay when due all indebtedness of the authority;
(2) To pay all administrative and other costs of operating the
authority's developments and programs of assistance;
(3) To pay the administrative and other costs of the
maintenance, rehabilitation, renovation, repair, and replacement of
the authority's developments and other property;
(4) To otherwise carry out its purposes under this article,
including acquiring or creating additional housing developments and
acquiring or improving property for other purposes authorized under
this article, including community facilities, commercial
facilities, and all other facilities and developments authorized
under this article;
(5) To pay the costs of insurance, including the costs of
claims, liabilities, losses and other expenses incurred in
connection with any self-insurance program;
(6) To provide funds for all required payments in lieu of
taxes;
(7) To make all payments required under and otherwise fully
perform the authority's obligations under any contract, agreement,
or arrangement entered into by the authority, including without
limitation, those required in connection with any partnership or
joint venture entered into by the authority;
(8) To perform the terms of any commitment or guarantee issued
or given by the authority;
(9) To provide a reasonable return on the value of the
property so as to enable the housing authority to continue to
fulfill its duties, including, but not limited to, the acquisition
of additional housing developments, land acquisition, acquisition
or construction of buildings, equipment, facilities or other real
or personal property for public purposes, including parks or other
recreational, educational, welfare or community facilities within
its area of operation;
(10) To accommodate economic factors which affect the
financial stability and solvency of the authority's developments
and programs;
(11) To pay the cost of actions occasioned by natural
disasters and other emergencies; and
(12) To create and maintain operating and capital reserves
that are reasonable and adequate to ensure the authority's ability
to make all payments referred to herein and any other matter with
respect to which the authority, in its discretion reasonably exercised, determines that the creation and maintenance of a
reserve is appropriate.
Nothing in this section limits the amount which a housing
authority may charge for nondwelling facilities or for dwelling
facilities that are not rented to persons of eligible income:
Provided, That the authority's actions do not conflict with the
purposes of this article:
Provided, however, That a housing
authority may allow police officers and maintenance and management
employees, not otherwise eligible for residence, to reside in its
developments.
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