II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3363 

To expedite the transfer of ownership of rural multifamily housing projects 

with loans made or insured under section 515 of the Housing Act 

of 1949 so that such projects are rehabilitated and preserved for use 

for affordable housing. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 30, 2008 

Mr. TESTER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To expedite the transfer of ownership of rural multifamily 

housing projects with loans made or insured under section 515 of the Housing Act of 1949 so that such 

projects are rehabilitated and preserved for use for affordable housing. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Section 515 Rural 

5 Housing Property Transfer Improvement Act of 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) providing rural housing for poor families in 

2 the United States has been an important goal, and 

3 the primary reason for enactment, of the Housing 

4 Act of 1949; 

5 (2) rural multifamily housing financed under 

6 the section 515 of the Housing Act of 1949 has been 

7 an essential resource for providing affordable hous8 ing for some of the Nation’s poorest families; 

9 (3) the majority of the approximately 16,000 

10 projects financed under section 515 that currently 

11 have loans outstanding were constructed more than 

12 25 years ago and need new financing in order to 

13 continue to provide decent, affordable housing for 

14 families eligible to reside in such housing; 

15 (4) many owners of such projects are working 

16 to transfer the properties, which often involves 

17 leveraging Federal resources with private and com18 mercial resources; and 

19 (5) the Secretary of Agriculture should protect 

20 the portfolio of section 515 projects by making ad21 ministrative and procedural changes to process own22 ership transfers in a commercially reasonable time 

23 and manner when such transfers will further the 

24 preservation of such projects for use as affordable 


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1 housing for families eligible to reside in such hous2 ing. 

3 SEC. 3. TRANSFERS OF SECTION 515 RURAL MULTIFAMILY 

4 HOUSING PROJECTS. 

5 Section 515(h) of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 

6 U.S.C. 1485) is amended— 

7 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1) CONDITION.—’’ after 

8 ‘‘(h)’’; and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(2) TRANSFERS FOR PRESERVATION AND REHA11 BILITATION OF PROJECTS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make 

13 such administrative and procedural changes as may 

14 be necessary to expedite the approval of applications 

15 to transfer ownership of projects for which a loan is 

16 made or insured under this section for the preserva17 tion, continued use restriction, and rehabilitation of 

18 such projects. Such changes may include changing 

19 approval procedures, increasing staff and resources, 

20 improving outreach to project sponsors regarding in21 formation that is required to be submitted for such 

22 approvals, changing approval authority between na23 tional offices and the State and local offices, simpli24 fying approval requirements, establishing uniformity 


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1 of transfer requirements among State offices, and 

2 any other actions which would expedite approvals. 

3 ‘‘(B) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary of Agri4 culture shall consult with the Commissioner of the 

5 Internal Revenue Service and the Secretary of Hous6 ing and Urban Development, and take such actions 

7 as are appropriate in conjunction with such con8 sultation, to simplify the coordination of rules, regu9 lations, forms (including applications for transfers of 

10 project ownership), and approval requirements for 

11 housing projects for which assistance is provided by 

12 the Secretary of Agriculture and under any low-in13 come housing tax credits under section 42 of the In14 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 or tax-exempt housing 

15 bonds. The Secretary of Agriculture shall involve the 

16 State Rural Development offices of Department of 

17 Agriculture and the Administrator of the Rural 

18 Housing Service in the consultations under this sub19 paragraph as the Secretary considers appropriate. 

20 ‘‘(C) PRESERVATION AND REHABILITATION.— 

21 The Secretary shall actively facilitate transfers of 

22 the ownership of projects that will result in the pres23 ervation, continued use restriction, and rehabilitation 

24 of such projects. 


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1 ‘‘(D) FINAL AUTHORITY OVER TRANSFERS.— 

2 The Office of Rental Housing Preservation of the 

3 Rural Housing Service, established under section 

4 537, shall have final regulatory authority over all 

5 transfers of properties for which a loan is made or 

6 insured under this section, and such Office may, 

7 with respect to such transfers, work with and seek 

8 recommendations from the State Rural Development 

9 offices of the Department of Agriculture. 

10 ‘‘(E) DEADLINES FOR PROCESSING OF TRANS11 FER APPLICATIONS.— 

12 ‘‘(i) PROCEDURE.—If a complete applica13 tion, as determined by the Secretary, for a 

14 transfer of ownership of a project or projects is 

15 not processed, and approved or denied, by the 

16 State Rural Development office to which it is 

17 submitted before the applicable deadline under 

18 clause (ii)— 

19 ‘‘(I) such State or local office shall 

20 not have any further authority to approve 

21 or deny the application; 

22 ‘‘(II) such State or local office shall 

23 transfer the application in accordance with 

24 subclause (III); and 


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1 ‘‘(III) such application shall be proc2 essed, and approved or denied, in accord3 ance with clause (iii) and only by the Of4 fice of Rental Housing Preservation, which 

5 may make the final determination with the 

6 assistance of other Rural Development em7 ployees. 

8 ‘‘(ii) DEADLINE FOR STATE AND LOCAL

9 OFFICES.—The applicable deadline under this 

10 clause for processing, and approval or denial, of 

11 a complete application for transfer of ownership 

12 of a project, or projects, shall be the period that 

13 begins upon receipt of the complete application 

14 by the State Rural Development office to which 

15 it is submitted and consists of— 

16 ‘‘(I) in the case of an application for 

17 transfer of ownership of a single project, 

18 45 days; 

19 ‘‘(II) in the case of an application for 

20 transfer of ownership of multiple projects, 

21 but not exceeding 10 projects, 90 days; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(III) in the case of an application for 

24 transfer of ownership of 11 or more 

25 projects, 120 days. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) DEADLINE FOR OFFICE OF RENTAL

2 HOUSING PRESERVATION.—In the case of any 

3 complete application for a transfer of ownership 

4 of a project, or projects, that is transferred pur5 suant to clause (i), shall be processed, and ap6 proved or denied, before the expiration of the 

7 period that begins upon receipt of the complete 

8 application and consists of— 

9 ‘‘(I) in the case of an application for 

10 transfer of ownership of a single project, 

11 30 days; 

12 ‘‘(II) in the case of an application for 

13 transfer of ownership of multiple projects, 

14 but not exceeding 10 projects, 60 days; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(III) in the case of an application for 

17 transfer of ownership of 11 or more 

18 projects, 120 days. 

19 ‘‘(iv) APPEALS.—Only decisions regarding 

20 complete applications shall be appealable to the 

21 National Appeals Division of the Department of 

22 Agriculture.’’. 

23 SEC. 4. REPORT. 

24 Not later than July 1, 2008, the Secretary of Agri25 culture shall submit a report to the Committee on BankVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:05 Aug 01, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3363.IS S3363

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1 ing, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the 

2 Committee on Financial Services of the House of Rep3 resentatives that— 

4 (1) identifies the actions that the Secretary has 

5 taken to coordinate with other Federal agencies, in6 cluding the Department of Housing and Urban De7 velopment and the Internal Revenue Service, and, in 

8 particular, with the program for rental assistance 

9 under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 

10 1937, the multifamily mortgage insurance programs 

11 under title II of the National Housing Act, the pro12 gram under section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code 

13 of 1986 for low-income housing tax credits, and the 

14 program for tax-exempt bonds under section 142 of 

15 such Code; 

16 (2) identifies and describes any resulting im17 provements within Rural Housing Service of the De18 partment of Agriculture in expediting the transfer of 

19 ownership of projects with loans made or insured 

20 under section 515 of the Housing Act of 1949; and 

21 (3) makes recommendations for any legislative 

22 changes that are needed for the prompt processing 

23 of applications for such ownership transfers and for 

24 the transfer of such projects. 

Æ 


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