(1) providing rural housing for poor families in 
the United States has been an important goal, and 
the primary reason for enactment, of the Housing 
Act of 1949; 
(2) rural multifamily housing financed under 
the section 515 of the Housing Act of 1949 has been 
an essential resource for providing affordable hous-
ing for some of the Nation’s poorest families; 
(3) the majority of the approximately 16,000 
projects financed under section 515 that currently 
have loans outstanding were constructed more than 
25 years ago and need new financing in order to 
continue to provide decent, affordable housing for 
families eligible to reside in such housing; 
(4) many owners of such projects are working 
to transfer the properties, which often involves 
leveraging Federal resources with private and com-
mercial resources; and 
(5) the Secretary of Agriculture should protect 
the portfolio of section 515 projects by making ad-
ministrative and procedural changes to process own-
ership transfers in a commercially reasonable time 
and manner when such transfers will further the 
preservation of such projects for use as affordable 
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housing for families eligible to reside in such hous-
ing. 
SEC. 3. TRANSFERS OF SECTION 515 RURAL MULTIFAMILY 
HOUSING PROJECTS. 
Section 515(h) of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 
U.S.C. 1485) is amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘(1) CONDITION.—’’ after 
‘‘(h)’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraphs: 
‘‘(2) TRANSFERS FOR PRESERVATION AND REHA-
BILITATION OF PROJECTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make 
such administrative and procedural changes as may 
be necessary to expedite the approval of applications 
to transfer ownership of projects for which a loan is 
made or insured under this section for the preserva-
tion, continued use restriction, and rehabilitation of 
such projects. Such changes may include changing 
approval procedures, increasing staff and resources, 
improving outreach to project sponsors regarding in-
formation that is required to be submitted for such 
approvals, changing approval authority between na-
tional offices and the State and local offices, simpli-
fying approval requirements, establishing uniformity 
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of transfer requirements among State offices, and 
any other actions which would expedite approvals. 
‘‘(B) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary of Agri-
culture shall consult with the Commissioner of the 
Internal Revenue Service and the Secretary of Hous-
ing and Urban Development, and take such actions 
as are appropriate in conjunction with such con-
sultation, to simplify the coordination of rules, regu-
lations, forms (including applications for transfers of 
project ownership), and approval requirements for 
housing projects for which assistance is provided by 
the Secretary of Agriculture and under any low-in-
come housing tax credits under section 42 of the In-
ternal Revenue Code of 1986 or tax-exempt housing 
bonds. The Secretary of Agriculture shall involve the 
State Rural Development offices of Department of 
Agriculture and the Administrator of the Rural 
Housing Service in the consultations under this sub-
paragraph as the Secretary considers appropriate. 
‘‘(C) PRESERVATION AND REHABILITATION.— 
The Secretary shall actively facilitate transfers of 
the ownership of projects that will result in the pres-
ervation, continued use restriction, and rehabilitation 
of such projects. 
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‘‘(D) FINAL AUTHORITY OVER TRANSFERS.— 
The Office of Rental Housing Preservation of the 
Rural Housing Service, established under section 
537 (42 U.S.C. 1490p–1), shall have final regu-
latory authority over all transfers of properties for 
which a loan is made or insured under this section, 
and such Office may, with respect to such transfers, 
work with and seek recommendations from the State 
Rural Development offices of the Department of Ag-
riculture. 
‘‘(E) DEADLINES FOR PROCESSING OF TRANS-
FER APPLICATIONS.— 
‘‘(i) PROCEDURE.—If a complete applica-
tion, as determined by the Secretary, for a 
transfer of ownership of a project or projects is 
not processed, and approved or denied, by the 
State Rural Development office to which it is 
submitted before the applicable deadline under 
clause (ii)— 
‘‘(I) such State or local office shall 
not have any further authority to approve 
or deny the application; 
‘‘(II) such State or local office shall 
transfer the application in accordance with 
subclause (III); and 
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‘‘(III) such application shall be proc-
essed, and approved or denied, in accord-
ance with clause (iii) and only by the Of-
fice of Rental Housing Preservation, which 
may make the final determination with the 
assistance of other Rural Development em-
ployees. 
‘‘(ii) DEADLINE
FOR
STATE
AND
LOCAL 
OFFICES.—The applicable deadline under this 
clause for processing, and approval or denial, of 
a complete application for transfer of ownership 
of a project, or projects, shall be the period that 
begins upon receipt of the complete application 
by the State Rural Development office to which 
it is submitted and consists of— 
‘‘(I) in the case of an application for 
transfer of ownership of a single project, 
45 days; 
‘‘(II) in the case of an application for 
transfer of ownership of multiple projects, 
but not exceeding 10 projects, 90 days; 
and 
‘‘(III) in the case of an application for 
transfer of ownership of 11 or more 
projects, 120 days. 
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‘‘(iii) DEADLINE FOR OFFICE OF RENTAL 
HOUSING PRESERVATION.—In the case of any 
complete application for a transfer of ownership 
of a project, or projects, that is transferred pur-
suant to clause (i), shall be processed, and ap-
proved or denied, before the expiration of the 
period that begins upon receipt of the complete 
application and consists of— 
‘‘(I) in the case of an application for 
transfer of ownership of a single project, 
30 days; 
‘‘(II) in the case of an application for 
transfer of ownership of multiple projects, 
but not exceeding 10 projects, 60 days; 
and 
‘‘(III) in the case of an application for 
transfer of ownership of 11 or more 
projects, 120 days. 
‘‘(iv) APPEALS.—Only decisions regarding 
complete applications shall be appealable to the 
National Appeals Division of the Department of 
Agriculture.’’. 
SEC. 4. REPORT. 
Not later than July 1, 2008, the Secretary of Agri-
culture shall submit a report to the Committee on Finan-
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cial Services of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of 
the Senate that— 
(1) identifies the actions that the Secretary has 
taken to coordinate with other Federal agencies, in-
cluding the Department of Housing and Urban De-
velopment and the Internal Revenue Service, and, in 
particular, with the program for rental assistance 
under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 
1937, the multifamily mortgage insurance programs 
under title II of the National Housing Act, the pro-
gram under section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986 for low-income housing tax credits, and the 
program for tax-exempt bonds under section 142 of 
such Code; 
(2) identifies and describes any resulting im-
provements within Rural Housing Service of the De-
partment of Agriculture in expediting the transfer of 
ownership of projects with loans made or insured 
under section 515 of the Housing Act of 1949; and 
(3) makes recommendations for any legislative 
changes that are needed for the prompt processing 
of applications for such ownership transfers and for 
the transfer of such projects. 
Æ 
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