reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 121b § 38c (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVII - Public Welfare|Chapter 121b - Housing and Urban Renewal|Section 38c - Program to Conduct Annual Surveys of Public Housing Residents

Section 38C. The department shall establish and implement a program to conduct annual surveys of public housing residents. The department shall develop the annual survey in conjunction with stakeholders, including public housing residents. The survey shall be conducted by the department and shall preserve the anonymity of the residents. The survey shall be conducted in languages which reflect the native languages spoken by tenants residing in the housing authorities and the survey respondents shall be allowed to respond in their native language. The survey shall include, at a minimum, questions about maintenance and repair of units, housing authority communication to residents, resident participation in housing authority governance, resident safety and resident services, including, but not limited to, job training programs. The department shall establish procedures to conduct physical inspections of a representative sample of units in conjunction with the survey; provided further, that the results of the survey shall be used to evaluate the housing authority's performance under section 26B. Housing authorities shall have the right to respond to the results of the surveys in writing within 60 days of the results being transmitted to the housing authority by the department.
MA Gen L ch 121b § 41 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVII - Public Welfare|Chapter 121b - Housing and Urban Renewal|Section 41 - State Financial Assistance; Housing for Elderly Persons of Low Income

Section 41. The commonwealth, acting by and through the department, may enter into a contract or contracts with a housing authority for state financial assistance in the form of a grant by the commonwealth for the development cost of a housing project or projects or a part or parts of a housing project or projects for elderly persons of low income. The total amount of grants financed by bonds authorized prior to September first, nineteen hundred and eighty-three shall not exceed the sum of seven hundred and one million dollars; provided, however, that the amount expended pursuant to this section during any one fiscal year shall not exceed thirty-three million three hundred thousand dollars. The contract or contracts for financial assistance may provide for additional state financial assistance in the form of a guarantee by the commonwealth of notes of the housing authority issued to temporarily finance the development cost of such a project but the amount guaranteed on account of any project shall not exceed the amount of grant for that project. The total amount of all notes guaranteed pursuant to this section prior to September first, nineteen hundred and eighty-three shall not exceed seven hundred and one million dollars, exclusive of notes which may be issued for refunding purposes. Any excess between the completed cost of a project as determined by the department and the notes outstanding therefore may be retired from the proceeds of such notes and if so retired, shall not be used in computing the total amount of notes guaranteed by the commonwealth under this section. The provisions of sections thirty-four, thirty-four B and thirty-five shall, so far as apt, be applicable to contracts, grants, guarantees and notes authorized by this section.
MA Gen L ch 121b § 41a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVII - Public Welfare|Chapter 121b - Housing and Urban Renewal|Section 41a - State Financial Assistance; Housing for Handicapped Persons of Low Income

Section 41A. The commonwealth acting through and by the department, may enter into a contract or contracts with a housing authority for financial assistance in the form of a grant by the commonwealth of the development cost of a project or projects or a part or parts of a project or projects for handicapped persons of low income or families of low income of which one or more persons is handicapped. The total amount of grants financed by bonds authorized prior to September first, nineteen hundred and eighty-three shall not exceed the sum of twenty-five million dollars. Such contract or contracts may provide for additional state financial assistance in the form of a guarantee by the commonwealth of notes of the housing authority issued to finance temporarily the development cost of such a project but the amount guaranteed on account of any project shall not exceed the amount of grant for that project. The total amount of all notes guaranteed pursuant to this section prior to September first, nineteen hundred and eighty-three shall not exceed the sum of twenty-five million dollars, exclusive of notes which may be issued for refunding purposes. Housing units for handicapped persons of families of low income, of which one or more persons is handicapped, provided as a project or a part of a project for housing for elderly persons and subject to a contract for financial assistance pursuant to section forty-one, shall not be included in the computation of the dollar or unit limits of this section. The provisions of sections thirty-four, thirty-four B and thirty-five, shall, so far as apt, be applicable to contracts for financial assistance, grants, notes and guarantees authorized under this section. The department shall report to the general court the use for which such funds were expended prior to requesting additional funds for further construction under this program.
MA Gen L ch 121b § 42 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVII - Public Welfare|Chapter 121b - Housing and Urban Renewal|Section 42 - Rental Assistance Program; Declaration of Necessity

Section 42. It is hereby declared (a) that there does not now exist within the commonwealth an adequate supply of decent, safe and sanitary dwelling and such other housing units subject to regulations promulgated by the department not inconsistent with the standards required for dwelling units, which are available at rents which families of low income and handicapped persons of low income or families of low income of which one or more persons is handicapped can afford without depriving themselves of the other necessities of life, (b) that the elimination of decadent or substandard areas in the commonwealth and the rehousing of the families now in such areas, many of them of low income, in decent, safe and sanitary housing is a public necessity, (c) that experience has demonstrated that the construction of the new low-rent housing projects on the large scale required to provide the needed dwelling and said other housing units would be unduly expensive and would generate undesirable social consequences, (d) that there exists a supply of moderate rental dwelling and said other housing units within the commonwealth presently under construction or vacant which could be used to house such families of low income and handicapped persons of low income or families of low income of which one or more persons is handicapped as cannot presently afford decent, safe and sanitary housing, provided public funds are available to supplement the portion of their income which they can afford to spend on housing, and (e) a program of rental assistance operated through the housing authorities in the cities and towns would help end the undesirable concentration and segregation of families of low income, in separate, concentrated areas of our cities and towns and help give every citizen an equal opportunity to enjoy decent, safe and sanitary housing in a neighborhood of his own choice.
MA Gen L ch 121b § 43a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVII - Public Welfare|Chapter 121b - Housing and Urban Renewal|Section 43a - Rental Assistance Program; Relocation of Residents; Leased Housing Units

Section 43A. If a person resides in a private dwelling unit or such other housing unit subject to regulations promulgated by the department of housing and community development not inconsistent with the standard required for dwelling units leased by a local housing authority under any federal or state rent subsidy program and if that unit does not meet reasonable standards of human habitation, provided that the tenant shall not have caused such conditions, and the authority has terminated the lease as to said substandard unit then the resident may vacate the substandard unit and may relocate in another unit. The housing authority shall assist the resident in locating another unit. The rental subsidy shall be withdrawn from the vacated substandard unit and shall be transferred to the unit in which the resident may relocate. If the alternate dwelling unit or said other housing unit is standard or if the owner of said unit agrees to make the unit standard and if the rental thereof is reasonable and acceptable to the housing authority in accordance with section forty-three, and if the owner of said unit is willing to enter into a leasing agreement with said authority, said authority shall expeditiously execute a lease for occupancy of said unit by said resident under the guidelines of the rent subsidy program affected.  Whenever a local housing authority determines that a unit leased by it under a federal or state rent subsidy program is going to be withdrawn from such program by termination or expiration of the rental agreement with the owner of said unit, the occupant of said unit may relocate to another unit. Such unit shall be leased by the Authority, provided that it meets all the requirements of the subsidy program under which the original unit was leased.
MA Gen L ch 121b § 44a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVII - Public Welfare|Chapter 121b - Housing and Urban Renewal|Section 44a - Leasing of Housing Units in Mhfa Projects for Replacement or Relocation Housing Authorized

Section 44A. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a housing authority, in addition to its other powers and for the purpose of replacing dwelling units or said other housing units subject to regulations promulgated by the department of community affairs not inconsistent with the standards required for dwelling units for persons and families of low income which will be eliminated through the demolition, clearance, sale or other disposition of low rent housing projects or to provide relocation housing for persons and families of low income and elderly persons of low income displaced thereby, may lease dwelling units or said other housing units in projects financed by the MHFA for a period not to exceed forty years from the completion of such MHFA project, as determined by the department. The requirements with respect to rentals and tenant selection for low rent housing projects shall apply to units leased by such housing authorities pursuant to this section, except that preference shall be given to displaced occupants of the low rent housing projects so demolished, cleared, sold or otherwise disposed of.
MA Gen L ch 121b § 47 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVII - Public Welfare|Chapter 121b - Housing and Urban Renewal|Section 47 - Urban Renewal Programs; Acquisition by Eminent Domain; Notice; Petition

Section 47. Notwithstanding any contrary provision of this chapter, an urban renewal agency may, with the consent of the department and municipal officers, and after a temporary loan contract for the purpose has been executed under the federal Housing Act of 1949, as amended, take by eminent domain, as provided in clause (d) of section eleven, or acquire by purchase, lease, gift, bequest or grant, and hold, clear, repair, operate and, after having taken or acquired the same, dispose of land constituting the whole or any part or parts of any area which, after a public hearing of which the land owners of record have been notified by registered mail and of which at least twenty days notice has been given by publication in a newspaper having a general circulation in the city or town in which the land lies it has determined to be a decadent, substandard or blighted open area and for which it is preparing an urban renewal plan, and for such purposes may borrow money from the federal government or any other source or use any available funds or both; provided, however, that no such taking or acquisition shall be effected until the expiration of thirty days after the urban renewal agency has notified the land owner of record by registered mail and has caused a notice of such determination to be published, in a newspaper having general circulation in such city or town. Within thirty days after publication of the notice of such determination, any person aggrieved by such determination may file a petition in the supreme judicial or superior court sitting in Suffolk county for a writ of certiorari against the urban renewal agency to correct errors of law in such determination, which shall be the exclusive remedy for such purpose; and the provisions of section one D of chapter two hundred and thirteen, and of section four of chapter two hundred and forty-nine, shall apply to said petition except as herein provided with respect to the time for the filing thereof.
MA Gen L ch 121b § 49 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVII - Public Welfare|Chapter 121b - Housing and Urban Renewal|Section 49 - Sale or Lease of Property Acquired for Urban Renewal Project

Section 49. If an urban renewal agency shall sell or lease any property acquired by it for an urban renewal project, the terms of such sales or leases shall obligate the purchasers or lessees, (a) to devote the land to the use specified in the urban renewal plan for said land; (b) to begin the building of their improvements within a reasonable time; provided, however, that, with respect to any improvements of a type which any federal agency, as defined in subsection (b) of section 3 of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended, is otherwise authorized to make, this clause shall apply to such federal agency only to the extent that it is authorized, and funds have been made available, to make the improvements involved; (c) to give preference in the selection of tenants for dwelling units built in the project area to families displaced therefrom because of clearance and renewal activity who desire to live in such dwelling units and who will be able to pay rents or prices equal to rents or prices charged other families for similar or comparable dwelling units built as a part of the same redevelopment; and (d) to comply with such other conditions as are deemed necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter, or requirements of federal legislation or regulations under which loans, grants or contributions have been made or agreed to be made to meet a part of the cost of the project. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as limiting the power of an urban renewal agency in the event of a default by a purchaser or lessee of land in an urban renewal project to retake title to and possession of the property sold or leased free from the obligations in the conveyance or lease thereof.
MA Gen L ch 121b § 50 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVII - Public Welfare|Chapter 121b - Housing and Urban Renewal|Section 50 - Delegation of Power to Municipality to Plan and Undertake Urban Renewal Project

Section 50. An urban renewal agency is hereby authorized to delegate to a city or town or other public body or to any board or officer of a city, town or other public body any of the powers or functions of the agency with respect to the planning or undertaking of an urban renewal project in the area in which such city, town or other public body is authorized to act, and such city, town or other public body, or such board or officer thereof, is hereby authorized to carry out or perform such powers or functions for the agency. Any public body is hereby authorized to enter into agreements which may extend over the period of a loan to the urban renewal agency by the federal government, notwithstanding any provision of rule of law to the contrary, with any other public body or bodies respecting action to be taken pursuant to any of the powers granted by this chapter, including the furnishing of funds or other assistance, in connection with an urban renewal plan or urban renewal project. An urban renewal agency, to the greatest extent it determines to be feasible in carrying out the provisions of this chapter, shall afford maximum opportunity consistent with the sound needs of the city or town as a whole for the rehabilitation or redevelopment of decadent, substandard or blighted open areas by private enterprise.
MA Gen L ch 121b § 51 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVII - Public Welfare|Chapter 121b - Housing and Urban Renewal|Section 51 - Redevelopment Authority Taking Over Project Initiated by Housing Authority

Section 51. A housing authority of a city or town which, prior to the organization of a redevelopment authority in such city or town, has initiated an urban renewal project may complete, operate and maintain such project notwithstanding such organization of a redevelopment authority; provided, however, that if the municipal officers of such city or town so order and with the consent in writing of the holders of any bonds, notes or certificates of indebtedness of the housing authority issued for such project and then outstanding, the redevelopment authority shall take over a planned or existing urban renewal project initiated by a housing authority. The initiating authority shall use its best efforts promptly to secure the consent of all such holders and, all necessary consents having been secured, shall promptly execute an agreement with the authority which is to take over such project. Thereupon such authority shall assume, exercise, continue, perform and carry out all undertakings, obligations, duties, rights, powers, plans and activities with respect to such project and the authority which initiated the project shall have no powers and duties with respect to such project.
MA Gen L ch 121b § 52 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVII - Public Welfare|Chapter 121b - Housing and Urban Renewal|Section 52 - Accounts and Reports of Urban Renewal Agencies; Civil Service Rules

Section 52. Each urban renewal agency shall keep an accurate account of all its activities, receipts and expenditures in connection with the planning and execution of urban renewal projects and shall annually in the month of January make a report of such activities, receipts and expenditures to the department, the state auditor and the mayor of the city or to the selectmen of the town within which such authority is organized, such reports to be in a form prescribed by the department and approved by the state auditor; provided, that such form shall not be inconsistent with any federal legislation and shall conform as closely as may be to such legislation. The department or state auditor shall have the power to examine into the properties and records of urban renewal agencies and to prescribe methods of accounting, not inconsistent with federal legislation, for such activities, receipts and expenditures.  A veteran, as defined in section one of chapter thirty-one, who holds an office or position in the service of a redevelopment authority not classified under said chapter thirty-one, and has held such office or position for not less than three years, shall not be involuntarily separated from such office or position except subject to and in accordance with the provisions of sections forty-one to forty-five, inclusive of said chapter thirty-one to the same extent as if said office or position were classified under said chapter. If the separation in the case of such unclassified offices or positions results from lack of work or lack of money, such a veteran shall not be separated from his office or position while similar offices or positions in the same group or grade, as defined in section forty-five of chapter thirty, exist unless all such offices or positions are held by such veterans, in which case such separation shall occur in the inverse order of their respective original appointments.  No person permanently employed by a redevelopment authority, who is not classified under chapter thirty-one, shall, after having actually performed the duties of his office or position for a period of six months, be discharged, removed, suspended, laid off, transferred from the latest office or employment held by him without his consent, lowered in rank or compensation, nor shall his office or position be abolished, except for just cause and in the manner provided by sections forty-one to forty-five, inclusive, of chapter thirty-one.  Any employee who has transferred from a housing authority to a redevelopment authority in the same city or town shall, for the purposes of this section, be credited for the period of time in which he was employed by a housing authority.
MA Gen L ch 121b § 53 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVII - Public Welfare|Chapter 121b - Housing and Urban Renewal|Section 53 - Application for Urban Renewal Assistance Grant or Urban Revitalization and Development Grant

Section 53. Any city or town, acting by and through its urban renewal agency, may apply to the department for an urban renewal assistance grant to meet in part the cost of an approved urban renewal project. Any city or town, acting by and through its urban renewal agency, may apply to the department for an urban revitalization and development grant to meet in part the cost of an approved urban revitalization and development project. Such application shall be in the form prescribed by the department, and shall be accompanied by such additional information, drawings, plans, reports, estimates and exhibits as the department may require. The department may make such rules and regulations as are necessary to effectuate the purposes of this section and sections fifty-four to fifty-seven, inclusive.