I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1722
To promote the development of affordable, quality rental housing in rural 
areas for low-income households. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 10, 2003
Mr. HINOJOSA (for himself and Mr. DAVIS of Alabama) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To promote the development of affordable, quality rental 
housing in rural areas for low-income households.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Rental Housing 
Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) There is a pressing and increasing need for 
rental housing for rural families and senior citizens, 
as evidenced by the fact that—
(A) one-third of all renters pay more than 
30 percent of their income for housing; 
(B) 20 percent of rural renters pay more 
than 50 percent of their income for housing; 
and 
(C) 92 percent of all rural renters with sig-
nificant housing problems pay more than 50 
percent of their income for housing costs, and 
60 percent pay more than 70 percent of their 
income for housing. 
(4) Rural economies are often less diverse, and 
therefore, jobs and economic opportunity are limited 
because—
(A) factors that exist in rural environ-
ments, such as remoteness and low population 
density, lead to limited access to many forces 
driving the economy, such as technology, lend-
ing, and investment; and 
(B) local expertise is often limited in rural 
areas where the economies are focused on farm-
ing or natural resource-based industries. 
(5) Rural areas have less access to credit than 
metropolitan areas since—
(A) banks and other investors that look for 
larger projects with lower risk seek metropoli-
tan areas for loans and investment; 
(B) credit that is available is often insuffi-
cient, leading to the need for interim or bridge 
financing; and 
(C) credit in rural areas is often more ex-
pensive and available at less favorable terms 
than in metropolitan areas. 
(6) The Federal Government investment in 
rural rental housing has dropped during the last 10 
years, as evidenced by the fact that—
(A) Federal spending for rural rental hous-
ing has been cut by 73 percent since 1994; and 
(B) rural rental housing unit production fi-
nanced by the Federal Government has been re-
duced by 88 percent since 1990. 
(7) To address the scarcity of rural rental hous-
ing, the Federal Government must work in partner-
ship with State and local governments, private finan-
cial institutions, private philanthropic institutions, 
and the private sector, including nonprofit organiza-
tions. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act:
(1) ELIGIBLE
PROJECT.—The term ‘‘eligible 
project’’ means a project for the acquisition, reha-
bilitation, or construction of rental housing and re-
lated facilities in an eligible rural area for occupancy 
by low-income families. 
(2) ELIGIBLE RURAL AREA.—The term ‘‘eligible 
rural area’’ means a rural area with a population of 
not more than 25,000, as determined by the most 
recent decennial census of the United States, and 
that is located outside an urbanized area. 
(3) ELIGIBLE
SPONSOR.—The term ‘‘eligible 
sponsor’’ means a public agency, an Indian tribe, a 
for-profit corporation, or a private nonprofit cor-
poration—
(A) a purpose of which is planning, devel-
oping, or managing housing or community de-
velopment projects in rural areas; and 
(B) that has a record of accomplishment in 
housing or community development and meets 
other criteria established by the Secretary by 
regulation. 
(4) LOW-INCOME FAMILIES.—The term ‘‘low-in-
come families’’ has the meaning given the term in
section 3(b) of the United States Housing Act of 
1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)).
(5) QUALIFIED
INTERMEDIARY.—The term 
‘‘qualified intermediary’’ means a State, a State 
agency designated by the Governor of the State, a 
public instrumentality of the State, a private non-
profit community development corporation, a non-
profit housing corporation, a community develop-
ment loan fund, or a community development credit 
union, that—
(A) has a record of providing technical and 
financial assistance for housing and community 
development activities in rural areas; and 
(B) has a demonstrated technical and fi-
nancial capacity to administer assistance made 
available under this Act. 
(6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Agriculture. 
(7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 
the several States of the United States, the Com-
monwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, 
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Is-
lands, Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, 
the Trust Territories of the Pacific, and any other 
possession of the United States.
SEC. 4. RURAL RENTAL HOUSING ASSISTANCE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may, directly or 
through 1 or more qualified intermediaries in accordance 
with section 5, make assistance available to eligible spon-
sors in the form of loans, grants, interest subsidies, annu-
ities, and other forms of financing assistance, to finance 
the eligible projects. 
(b) APPLICATIONS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive as-
sistance under this section, an eligible sponsor shall 
submit to the Secretary, or a qualified intermediary, 
an application in such form and containing such in-
formation as the Secretary shall require by regula-
tion. 
(2) AFFORDABILITY
RESTRICTION.—Each ap-
plication under this subsection shall include a certifi-
cation by the applicant that the housing to be ac-
quired, rehabilitated, or constructed with assistance 
under this section will remain affordable for low-in-
come families for not less than 30 years. 
(c) PRIORITY FOR ASSISTANCE.—In selecting among 
applicants for assistance under this section, the Secretary, 
or a qualified intermediary, shall give priority to providing 
assistance to eligible projects—
(1) for very low-income families (as defined in 
section 3(b) of the United States Housing Act of 
1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)); and 
(2) in low-income communities or in commu-
nities with a severe lack of affordable rental housing, 
in eligible rural areas, as determined by the Sec-
retary; or 
(3) if the applications are submitted by public 
agencies, Indian tribes, private nonprofit corpora-
tions or limited dividend corporations in which the 
general partner is a non-profit entity whose principal 
purposes include planning, developing and managing 
low-income housing and community development 
projects. 
(d) ALLOCATION OF ASSISTANCE.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this section, 
the Secretary shall allocate assistance among the 
States, taking into account the incidence of rural 
substandard housing and rural poverty in each State 
and the share of that State of the national total of 
such incidence. 
(2) SMALL STATE MINIMUM.—In making an al-
location under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 
provide each state an amount not less than 
$2,000,000.
(e) LIMITATIONS ON AMOUNT OF ASSISTANCE.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), assistance made available under this Act 
may not exceed 50 percent of the total cost of the 
eligible project. 
(2) EXCEPTION.—Assistance authorized under 
this Act shall not exceed 75 percent of the total cost 
of the eligible project, if the project is for the acqui-
sition, rehabilitation, or construction of not more 
than 20 rental housing units for use by very low-in-
come families. 
SEC. 5. DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may delegate au-
thority for distribution of assistance—
(1) to one or more qualified intermediaries in 
the State; and 
(2) for a period of not more than 3 years, at 
which time that delegation of authority shall be sub-
ject to renewal, in the discretion of the Secretary, 
for 1 or more additional periods of not more than 
3 years. 
(b) SOLICITATION.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may, in the 
discretion of the Secretary, solicit applications from
qualified intermediaries for a delegation of authority 
under this section. 
(2) CONTENTS OF APPLICATION.—Each appli-
cation under this subsection shall include— 
(A) a certification that the applicant will—
(i) provide matching funds from 
sources other than this Act in an amount 
that is not less than the amount of assist-
ance provided to the applicant under this 
section; and 
(ii) distribute assistance to eligible 
sponsors in the State in accordance with 
section 4; and 
(B) a description of—
(i) the State or the area within a 
State to be served; 
(ii) the incidence of poverty and sub-
standard housing in the State or area to 
be served; 
(iii) the technical and financial quali-
fications of the applicant; and 
(iv) the assistance sought and a pro-
posed plan for the distribution of such as-
sistance in accordance with section 4.
(3) MULTISTATE
APPLICATIONS.—The Sec-
retary may, in the discretion of the Secretary, seek 
application by qualified intermediaries for more than 
1 State. 
SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this Act $250,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 
through 2008.
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