SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Section 515 Rural 
Housing Property Transfer Improvement Act of 2007’’. 
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds that— 
(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 
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 
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. 
‘‘(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 
‘‘(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