reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVII - Public Welfare › Chapter 120a - Interstate Compact on Juveniles › Section 7 - Qualified Immunity, Defense and Indemnification

Section 7. (a) The commission's executive director and employees shall be immune from suit and liability, either personally or in their official capacity, for any claim for damage to or loss of property or personal injury or other civil liability caused or arising out of or relating to any actual or alleged act, error or omission that occurred, or that such person had a reasonable basis for believing occurred within the scope of commission employment, duties or responsibilities except that any such person shall not be protected from suit or liability for any damage, loss, injury or liability caused by the intentional or willful and wanton misconduct of any such person.
(b) The liability of any commissioner, or the employee or agent of a commissioner, acting within the scope of such person's employment or duties for acts, errors or omissions occurring within such person's state may not exceed the limits of liability set forth under the Constitution and laws of that state for state officials, employees and agents. Nothing in this section shall be construed to protect any such person from suit or liability for any damage, loss, injury or liability caused by the intentional or willful and wanton misconduct of such person.
(c) The interstate commission shall defend the executive director or the employees or representatives of the interstate commission and, subject to the approval of the attorney general of the state represented by any commissioner of a compacting state, shall defend such commissioner or the commissioner's representatives or employees in any civil action seeking to impose liability arising out of any actual or alleged act, error or omission that occurred within the scope of interstate commission employment, duties or responsibilities, or that the defendant had a reasonable basis for believing occurred within the scope of interstate commission employment, duties or responsibilities, unless the actual or alleged act, error or omission did not result from intentional or willful and wanton misconduct on the part of such person.
(d) The interstate commission shall indemnify and hold the commissioner of a compacting state or the commissioner's representatives or employees and the interstate commission's representatives or employees harmless in the amount of any settlement or judgment obtained against such persons arising out of any actual or alleged act, error or omission that occurred within the scope of interstate commission employment, duties or responsibilities, or that such persons had a reasonable basis for believing occurred within the scope of interstate commission employment, duties or responsibilities, if the actual or alleged act, error or omission did not result from intentional or willful and wanton misconduct on the part of such persons.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVII - Public Welfare › Chapter 120a - Interstate Compact on Juveniles › Section 8 - Promulgation and Publication of Rules

Section 8. (a) The interstate commission shall promulgate and publish rules in order to effectively and efficiently achieve the purposes of the compact.
(b) Rulemaking shall occur pursuant to the criteria set forth in this section and the by-laws and rules adopted pursuant thereto. Such rulemaking shall substantially conform to the principles of the ''Model State Administrative Procedures Act,'' 1981 Act, Uniform Laws Annotated, Vol. 15, p.1 (2000), or such other administrative procedures act, as the interstate commission deems appropriate, consistent with due process requirements under the United States Constitution as now or hereafter interpreted by the United States Supreme Court. All rules and amendments shall become binding, as of the date specified, as published with the final version of the rule as approved by the commission.
(c) When promulgating a rule, the interstate commission shall, at a minimum:
(1) publish the proposed rule's entire text, stating the reasons for such proposed rule;
(2) allow and invite any and all persons to submit written data, facts, opinions and arguments, which information shall be added to the record and be made publicly available;
(3) provide an opportunity for an informal hearing if petitioned by 10 or more persons; and
(4) promulgate a final rule and its effective date, if appropriate, based on input from state or local officials or interested parties.
(d) Not later than 60 days after a rule is promulgated, any interested person may file a petition in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia or in the Federal District Court where the interstate commission's principal office is located for judicial review of such rule. If the court finds that the interstate commission's action is not supported by substantial evidence in the rulemaking record, the court shall hold the rule unlawful and set it aside. For purposes of this section, evidence is substantial if it would be considered substantial evidence under the Model State Administrative Procedures Act.
(e) If a majority of the legislatures of the compacting states rejects a rule, those states may, by enactment of a statute or resolution in the same manner used to adopt the compact, cause that such rule shall have no further force and effect in any compacting state.
(f) The existing rules governing the operation of the interstate compact on juveniles superseded by this chapter shall be null and void 12 months after the first meeting of the interstate commission.
(g) Upon determination by the interstate commission that a state of emergency exists, it may promulgate an emergency rule which shall become effective immediately upon adoption, but the rulemaking procedures provided hereunder shall be retroactively applied to such rule as soon as reasonably possible, but not later than 90 days after the effective date of the emergency rule.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVII - Public Welfare › Chapter 120a - Interstate Compact on Juveniles › Section 9 - Oversight by Interstate Commission and Enforcement of Compact

Section 9. (a) The interstate commission shall oversee the administration and operations of the interstate movement of juveniles subject to this compact in the compacting states and shall monitor such activities being administered in non-compacting states which may significantly affect compacting states.
(b) The courts and executive agencies in each compacting state shall enforce this compact and shall take all actions necessary and appropriate to effectuate the compact's purposes and intent. This compact, and the rules adopted thereby, shall be received by all the judges, public officers, commissions and departments of the state government as evidence of the authorized statute and administrative rules. All courts shall take judicial notice of the compact and the rules. In any judicial or administrative proceeding in a compacting state relative to the subject matter of this compact which may affect the powers, responsibilities or actions of the interstate commission, it shall be entitled to receive all service of process in any such proceeding, and shall have standing to intervene in the proceeding for all purposes.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVII - Public Welfare › Chapter 120a - Interstate Compact on Juveniles › Section 10 - Resolution of Disputes Arising Among Compacting States and Between Compacting and Non-Compacting States

Section 10. (a) The compacting states shall report to the interstate commission on all issues and activities necessary for the administration of the compact as well as issues and activities relative to compliance with the compact and its by-laws and rules.
(b) The interstate commission shall attempt, upon the request of a compacting state, to resolve any disputes or other issues which are subject to the compact and which may arise among compacting states and between compacting and non-compacting states. The commission shall promulgate a rule providing for both mediation and binding dispute resolution for disputes among the compacting states.
(c) The interstate commission, in the reasonable exercise of its discretion, shall enforce the provisions and rules of this compact using any or all means set forth in section 16.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVII - Public Welfare › Chapter 120a - Interstate Compact on Juveniles › Section 11 - Payment of Expenses; Levy and Collection of Annual Assessment From Compacting States

Section 11. (a) The interstate commission shall pay or provide for the payment of the reasonable expenses of its establishment, organization and ongoing activities.
(b) The interstate commission shall levy on and collect an annual assessment from each compacting state to cover the cost of the internal operations and activities of the interstate commission and its staff which must be in a total amount sufficient to cover the interstate commission's annual budget as approved each year. The aggregate annual assessment amount shall be allocated based upon a formula to be determined by the interstate commission, taking into consideration the population of each compacting state and the volume of interstate movement of juveniles in each compacting state and shall promulgate a rule binding upon all compacting states which governs such assessment.
(c) The interstate commission shall not incur any obligations of any kind prior to securing the funds adequate to meet the same; nor shall the interstate commission pledge the credit of any of the compacting states, except by and with the authority of the compacting state.
(d) The interstate commission shall keep accurate accounts of all receipts and disbursements. The receipts and disbursements of the interstate commission shall be subject to the audit and accounting procedures established under its by-laws; provided, however, all receipts and disbursements of funds handled by the interstate commission shall be audited yearly by a certified or licensed public accountant and the report of the audit shall be included in and become part of the annual report of the interstate commission.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVII - Public Welfare › Chapter 120a - Interstate Compact on Juveniles › Section 12 - State Council for Interstate Juvenile Supervision

Section 12. Each member state shall create a state council for interstate juvenile supervision. While each state may determine the membership of its own state council, its membership must include at least 1 representative from the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of government, victims groups, and the compact administrator, deputy compact administrator or designee. Each compacting state shall retain the right to determine the qualifications of the compact administrator or deputy compact administrator. Each state council shall advise and may exercise oversight and advocacy relative to such state's participation in interstate commission activities and other duties as may be determined by such state including, but not limited to, development of policy relative to operations and procedures of the compact within such state.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVII - Public Welfare › Chapter 120a - Interstate Compact on Juveniles › Section 13 - Eligibility to Become Compacting State; Effective Date and Amendment of Compact

Section 13. (a) Any state, the District of Columbia, or its designee, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Marianas Islands as defined in section 2 shall be eligible to become a compacting state.
(b) The compact shall become effective and binding upon legislative enactment of the compact into law by not less than 35 of the states. The initial effective date shall be the later of July 1, 2004 or upon enactment into law by the thirty-fifth jurisdiction. Thereafter, it shall become effective and binding as to any other compacting state upon enactment of the compact into law by such state. The governors of non-member states or their designees shall be invited to participate in the activities of the interstate commission, on a non-voting basis, prior to adoption of the compact by all states and territories of the United States.
(c) The interstate commission may propose amendments to the compact for enactment by the compacting states. No amendment shall become effective and binding upon the interstate commission and the compacting states unless and until it is enacted into law by unanimous consent of the compacting states.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVII - Public Welfare › Chapter 120a - Interstate Compact on Juveniles › Section 14 - Withdrawal of Compacting State From Compact

Section 14. (a) Once effective, the compact shall continue in force and remain binding upon each compacting state but a compacting state may withdraw from the compact by repealing the statute which enacted the compact into law in such state.
(b) The effective date of withdrawal shall be the effective date of the repeal.
(c) The withdrawing state shall immediately notify the chairperson of the interstate commission, in writing, upon the introduction of legislation repealing the compact in the withdrawing state. The interstate commission shall notify the other compacting states of the withdrawing state's intent to withdraw within 60 days of its receipt thereof.
(d) The withdrawing state shall be responsible for all assessments, obligations and liabilities incurred through the effective date of withdrawal, including any obligations, the performance of which extend beyond the effective date of withdrawal.
(e) Reinstatement following withdrawal of any compacting state shall occur upon the withdrawing state reenacting the compact or upon such later date as determined by the interstate commission.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVII - Public Welfare › Chapter 120a - Interstate Compact on Juveniles › Section 16 - Judicial Enforcement

Section 16. The interstate commission may, by majority vote of the members, initiate legal action in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia or, at the discretion of the interstate commission, in the federal district wherein the interstate commission offices are located, to enforce compliance with the compact, its duly adopted rules and by-laws, against any compacting state in default. In the event judicial enforcement is necessary, the prevailing party shall be awarded all costs of such litigation, including reasonable attorneys fees.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVII - Public Welfare › Chapter 120a - Interstate Compact on Juveniles › Section 17 - Dissolution of Compact

Section 17. (a) The compact shall dissolve effective on the date of the withdrawal or default of the compacting state, which reduces membership in the compact to 1 compacting state.
(b) Upon the dissolution of this compact, the compact shall become null and void and shall be of no further force or effect, and the business and affairs of the interstate commission shall be concluded. Any surplus funds of the interstate commission shall be distributed in accordance with the by-laws.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVII - Public Welfare › Chapter 120a - Interstate Compact on Juveniles › Section 18 - Severability and Construction

Section 18. (a) The provisions of this compact shall be severable and, if any phrase, clause, sentence or provision is deemed unenforceable, the remaining provisions of the compact shall be enforceable.
(b) The provisions of this compact shall be liberally construed to effectuate its purposes.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVII - Public Welfare › Chapter 120a - Interstate Compact on Juveniles › Section 19 - Enforcement of Other Laws Conflicting With Compact

Section 19. (a) Nothing in this compact shall prevent the enforcement of any other law of a compacting state that is not inconsistent with this compact.
(b) All compacting states' laws other than state constitutions and other interstate compacts conflicting with this compact are superseded to the extent of the conflict.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVII - Public Welfare › Chapter 120a - Interstate Compact on Juveniles › Section 20 - Binding Effect of Compact Upon Compacting States

Section 20. (a) All lawful actions of the interstate commission, including all rules and by-laws adopted by the interstate commission, shall be binding upon the compacting states.
(b) All agreements between the interstate commission and the compacting states shall be binding in accordance with the terms thereof.
(c) Upon the request of a party to a conflict over meaning or interpretation of interstate commission actions, and upon a majority vote of the compacting states, the interstate commission may issue advisory opinions regarding such meaning or interpretation.
(d) In the event any provision of this compact exceeds the constitutional limits imposed on the legislature of any compacting state, the obligations, duties, powers or jurisdiction sought to be conferred by such provision upon the interstate commission shall be ineffective and such obligations, duties, powers or jurisdiction shall remain in the compacting state and shall be exercised by the agency thereof to which such obligations, duties, powers or jurisdiction are delegated by law in effect at the time this compact becomes effective.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVII - Public Welfare › Chapter 121 - Powers and Duties of the Department of Public Welfare, and the Massachusetts Hospital School

[Repealed, 1931, 426, Sec. 24; 1933, 364, Sec. 7; 1948, 310, Sec. 27; 1948, 618, Sec. 2; 1954, 508, Sec. 2; 1958, 613, Sec. 4; 1960, 313, Sec. 3; 1966, 214, Sec. 1; 1967, 658, Sec. 77; 1969, 751, Sec. 2.]
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVII - Public Welfare › Chapter 121a - Urban Redevelopment Corporations › Section 3 - Establishment of Corporations to Carry Out Projects; Number of Projects for Each Corporation; Co-Operative Corporations

Section 3. Three or more persons may associate themselves by written agreement of association in a form furnished or approved by the commissioner of corporations and taxation with intent to form a corporation for the purpose of undertaking and carrying out in the city of Boston a project authorized and approved by the Boston Redevelopment Authority or for the purpose of undertaking and carrying out in any other city or town a project authorized and approved, or to be authorized and approved, by the housing board. No such corporation shall undertake more than one project or engage in any other type of activity.
A charitable corporation organized under chapter one hundred and eighty, the property of which cannot on dissolution or otherwise inure to the benefit of any private person or entity, and which is approved by the local renewal agency, is hereby empowered to act as an Urban Redevelopment Corporation pursuant to all other provisions of this chapter, except as hereinafter provided, for the purpose of rehabilitating and improving residential housing. Such a corporation may sell any redevelopment project within fifteen years or such further time as may be provided under section ten, provided that any profits shall be employed in further redevelopment projects. Such a corporation shall be exempt from the provisions of section nine, provided that surplus earning profits from such projects, however, categorized, shall be employed in further urban redevelopment projects.
The laws relative to corporations organized under and subject to chapter one hundred and fifty-six, except section seven of said chapter, as far as consistent with the provisions of this chapter and rules and regulations made under authority thereof, shall apply to corporations so formed and such corporations are hereby declared to be instrumentalities of the commonwealth.
Any corporation organized under this chapter may, if the written agreement of association shall so provide, operate as a co-operative corporation in a manner similar to that provided in chapter one hundred and fifty-seven; provided, however, that if there is any inconsistency between the provisions of such chapter one hundred and fifty-seven and the provisions of this chapter, the provisions of this chapter shall be controlling.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVII - Public Welfare › Chapter 121a - Urban Redevelopment Corporations › Section 4 - Rules and Regulations of Housing Boards; Standards for Project Plans; Variations

[ Text of section effective until May 30, 2023. For text effective May 30, 2023, see below.]
Section 4. The housing board may make, and from time to time amend, reasonable rules and regulations in regard to the procedure for securing the approval of projects under this chapter and for the financing, construction, management and maintenance of such projects. The housing board may, for the guidance of the proponents of a project, fix general standards to which the plans of such a project shall conform. Variations from such standards may be allowed for the accomplishment of the purposes of this chapter. Such standards may contain provisions more restrictive than those imposed by applicable planning, zoning, health and building laws, ordinances, by-laws and regulations.
Chapter 121A: Section 4. Rules and regulations of housing boards; standards for project plans; variations
[ Text of section as amended by 2023, 7, Sec. 249 effective May 30, 2023. See 2023, 7, Sec. 298. For text effective until May 30, 2023, see above.]
Section 4. The housing board in consultation with the secretary of economic development, may make, and from time to time amend, reasonable rules and regulations in regard to the procedure for securing the approval of projects under this chapter and for the financing, construction, management and maintenance of such projects. The housing board may, for the guidance of the proponents of a project, fix general standards to which the plans of such a project shall conform. Variations from such standards may be allowed for the accomplishment of the purposes of this chapter. Such standards may contain provisions more restrictive than those imposed by applicable planning, zoning, health and building laws, ordinances, by-laws and regulations.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVII - Public Welfare › Chapter 121a - Urban Redevelopment Corporations › Section 5 - Application for Approval of Project; Contents

Section 5. The persons who have executed an agreement of association under section three with intent to form a corporation for the purpose of undertaking and carrying out a project in a city, other than Boston and Springfield, or in a town shall, before presenting the agreement of association to the state secretary for filing, submit to the housing board an application for its approval of the project for the carrying out of which the corporation is sought to be formed and its consent to the formation of such corporation. Such application shall specify the location of the proposed project and shall state the reasons why the project is necessary or desirable, the uses to which the project is to be put, the estimated cost of the project, and the amount of capital which it is intended to raise. Such application shall also contain in general terms a description of the buildings, structures or facilities which it is proposed to furnish, and shall be accompanied by a site plan and typical building plan and typical elevations of the proposed buildings or structures. If property is to be taken by eminent domain, the applicant shall also file a relocation plan as required pursuant to chapter seventy-nine A.
[ Second paragraph added by 2023, 7, Sec. 250 effective May 30, 2023. See 2023, 7, Sec. 298.]
Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in this chapter, whenever the application submitted to the housing board proposes the development of a project consisting solely or primarily of commercial or industrial uses, the department shall assign its responsibilities under this chapter to the secretary of economic development, with written notice to the applicant. Upon such assignment the secretary of economic development shall have authority to issue any certifications, waiver and approvals required under sections 6A and 10 and shall enter into the regulatory agreement required under section 18C.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVII - Public Welfare › Chapter 121a - Urban Redevelopment Corporations › Section 6a - Contracts; Contents; Filing; Inspection; Approval; Collection of Amounts Payable

Section 6A. As soon as any such corporation determines to carry out a project approved by the housing board, such corporation and the city in which its project has been authorized, acting by its city manager or, if there is no such official, its mayor, or the town in which its project has been authorized, acting by its selectmen, shall contract for the carrying out of such project in accordance with the application, the provisions of this chapter, and the rules, regulations and standards prescribed by the housing board for such project. Such contract may provide that, without mutual consent, any subsequent amendment of any such provisions, rules, regulations and standards shall not affect the project. Nothing in section ten shall prevent such contract from further providing for such corporation to pay to the city or town with respect to one or more years such specific or ascertainable amount in addition to the excise prescribed by section ten as may have been stated in the application.
Any such contract may further provide that such corporation may elect as of the end of any fiscal tax year ending after the fifteen year as provided in section ten to shorten the period of extension of tax exemption as further provided by section ten by written notice given to the clerk of the city or town and to the housing board not less than thirty days prior to the date upon which the assessment of property is set during any municipal fiscal tax year provided that no such action shall be permitted hereunder unless all the amenities upon which the approval of the period of extension of tax exemption was based, have been established, as certified by the housing board.
Any contract or agreement executed pursuant to this chapter shall be filed with the housing board and the office of the clerk of the city or town in which the project is located and shall be made available to any person in accordance with the twenty-sixth clause of section four of chapter seven.
Except in the city of Boston and Springfield, any contract or agreement executed pursuant to this chapter shall be adopted and approved prior to execution in the manner set forth in section six. No contract or agreement under this section shall be approved unless the signatures of a majority of the assessors is affixed thereto.
All amounts payable, in addition to the excise prescribed by section ten, pursuant to a contract or agreement executed under this section shall be in lieu of taxes assessed and levied upon the corporation's real and personal property and shall be collectible as such against the corporation and its property in accordance with chapters fifty-nine and sixty.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVII - Public Welfare › Chapter 121a - Urban Redevelopment Corporations › Section 6b - Notice of Hearing

Section 6B. The planning board shall give notice of each public hearing required by section six by publishing a notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the city or town in which the project is to be located once in each of two successive weeks, the first publication to be at least fourteen days before the day of the hearing, and by posting a notice in a conspicuous place in the city or town for at least the fourteen consecutive days immediately prior to the day of the hearing.
The planning board at least fourteen days before the day of the hearing shall mail a notice to each owner of land that is within the proposed project, or abuts the proposed project, or is across a public or private street or way from the proposed project, notwithstanding that the land of such owner lies within a city or town other than the city or town in which the project is to be located. The assessors of the city or town in which the land of such owner lies shall certify to the planning board the name and address of such owner as it appears on the tax list, and notice mailed to the name and address certified will be sufficient notice to such owner.
The planning board at least fourteen days before the day of the hearing, shall mail notices to the applicant and to all persons to whom the applicant requests in writing that notice be sent.
A notice required by this section shall contain the date, time and place of the hearing, a statement of the purpose of the hearing, a general description of the boundaries of the proposed project, a description of the types of buildings to be constructed in the proposed project, the name and address of the applicant, and a statement that section six C provides that a person aggrieved by the approval or disapproval of a project has sixty days within which to seek judicial review.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVII - Public Welfare › Chapter 121a - Urban Redevelopment Corporations › Section 7a - Purchase or Lease of Real Estate by Urban Redevelopment Corporation From Housing Authority; Approval

Section 7A. A corporation organized under section three or an insurance company or a group of insurance companies or a savings bank or group of savings banks operating under this chapter may purchase or lease from a housing authority, redevelopment authority, municipality or other public body real estate acquired by such authority, municipality or public body for land assembly and redevelopment or urban renewal purposes under chapter one hundred and twenty-one B, upon such terms and conditions, consistent with this chapter, as shall be approved by the housing board and may erect and maintain a project upon the land so acquired. Such corporation shall not be required to offer its stock to the owners of the real estate within the location of the project and such owners have no preferential right to subscribe thereto; but in all other respects the provisions of this chapter shall be applicable to corporations acting thereunder and their projects.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVII - Public Welfare › Chapter 121a - Urban Redevelopment Corporations › Section 8 - Inspection of Buildings; Proceedings Upon Violation of Rules and Regulations With Respect to Construction and Financing; Injunction

Section 8. The construction of all buildings upon a project shall be inspected by competent persons chosen by the housing board to the extent necessary to make certain that such construction is in conformity with the application as approved. Every such corporation shall be deemed to have been organized to serve a public purpose, and shall remain at all times subject to all reasonable rules and regulations applicable to its project. All real estate acquired by any such corporation and all structures erected by it shall be deemed to be acquired or erected for the purpose of promoting the public health, safety and welfare and shall be subject to the provisions of this chapter.
If the housing board shall find that a corporation has violated any of the provisions of this chapter or the requirements thereunder with respect to the construction and financing of a project, or to the payments therefor, or that the rules and regulations applicable to a project have not been complied with, or that a project is not maintained in such a way as to carry out the purpose for which it was designed, or that strip or waste caused by unreasonable use or abuse of the buildings, structures or facilities thereon exist, it shall notify the holders of any mortgages, or mortgage bonds thereon, or the trustee, if any, for the bondholders, and it may institute a proceeding in equity in its own name for the purpose of preventing, or requiring, as the case may be, by injunction or otherwise, any such act or failure or omission to act. The remedies provided in this section shall be in addition to and not in substitution for any other available remedies.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVII - Public Welfare › Chapter 121a - Urban Redevelopment Corporations › Section 9 - Limitation in Repayment of Investment in Stock; Limitations of Dividends

Section 9. Except as provided in section sixteen, the stockholders of every such corporation shall be deemed, when they subscribe to and receive the stock thereof, to have agreed that they shall at no time receive or accept from the corporation, in repayment of their investment in its stock, any sums in excess of the par value, if any, of the stock, together with cumulative dividends thereon at the rate of eight per cent per annum, or in the case of stock without par value, cumulative dividends at the rate of eight per cent per annum of the amount of consideration paid for such stock, as determined by the housing board at the time it approves the issue of such stock. No stockholder in any such corporation shall receive any dividend in any one year in excess of the aforesaid rates, except that when in any prior year or years dividends in the amount authorized to be paid by such corporation shall not have been paid in full on the said stock, the stockholders shall be entitled to receive the payment of so much of such deficiency without interest, out of any earned surplus which may be available in any succeeding year, as the board of directors of the corporation shall determine. Nothing in this section shall be applicable to the payment of dividends out of profits from the sale of capital assets of the corporation. This section shall not apply to charitable corporations organized pursuant to and meeting the standards of section three, provided that all surplus earnings from projects there specified, however categorized, shall be employed in further urban redevelopment projects.
[ Second paragraph effective until May 30, 2023. For text effective May 30, 2023, see below.]
Regarding residential housing projects, the preceding limitations on repayments and dividends shall not apply whenever the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development hereinafter referred to as HUD or the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency, hereinafter referred to as MHFA allows a change in the allowable distribution or other measure to increase the rate of return on investment, as defined by HUD or MHFA, for projects assisted by HUD or MHFA, subject to the approval of the department of housing and community development.
[ Second paragraph as amended by 2023, 7, Sec. 251 effective May 30, 2023. See 2023, 7, Sec. 298. For text effective until May 30, 2023, see above.]
Regarding residential housing projects, the preceding limitations on repayments and dividends shall not apply whenever the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development hereinafter referred to as HUD or the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency, hereinafter referred to as MHFA allows a change in the allowable distribution or other measure to increase the rate of return on investment, as defined by HUD or MHFA, for projects assisted by HUD or MHFA, subject to the approval of the executive office of housing and livable communities.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVII - Public Welfare › Chapter 121a - Urban Redevelopment Corporations › Section 11 - Acquisition and Sale of Land or Interests in Land; Approval

Section 11. Any corporation authorized to undertake or acquire projects under this chapter may lease land or interests in land, including air rights, or may acquire such land or interests therein, including air rights, in fee, by gift, purchase or exchange or with approval of the housing board and unless otherwise provided in this chapter, may take land by eminent domain under chapter seventy-nine for projects approved under section six, except the city of Boston and Springfield; provided, however, that the award of damages under section seven of said chapter seventy-nine shall be made by the housing board. Subject to rules and regulations of the housing board, any such corporation may hold, improve, subdivide, build upon, lease, manage and care for the land or interests therein, including air rights, and any buildings thereon owned or leased by such corporation.
Any such corporation may, with the approval of the housing board, and unless otherwise provided in this chapter, institute proceedings for the taking of land for its project under chapter eighty A, and the directors of a corporation organized under this chapter, or the directors or officers of insurance companies, banks or other authorized entities having the powers of directors of such corporation as provided in this chapter, shall be deemed the board of officers authorized to proceed under chapter eighty A; and the provisions of said chapter eighty A shall, so far as apt, apply to proceedings so instituted; but such directors or officers shall have no power to assess betterments.
Any such corporation shall have the power, with the approval of the housing board, to sell, exchange, give or otherwise transfer in whole or in part the land or interests therein, including air rights, leased or acquired by it under this chapter, with the buildings or other structures thereon, constituting a project or portion hereunder to any corporation organized under section three or section eighteen B, insurance company or companies authorized under section eighteen, bank or banks authorized under section eighteen A, or any other authorized entity under this chapter, a housing authority, redevelopment authority, or the commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions, agencies or instrumentalities but such land or interests therein, including air rights, buildings or other structures may be sold only subject to the further requirement that any change in the benefits and restrictions applicable to the grantee, donee or transferee and any other changes in the project shall not be valid unless approved in the manner provided in section six, except the city of Boston and Springfield, or section eighteen B, as the case may be.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVII - Public Welfare › Chapter 121a - Urban Redevelopment Corporations › Section 12 - Receipt of Loans and Grants From the Federal Government and Other Sources; Borrowing Money; Issuance of Notes and Indebtedness

Section 12. Any such corporation shall have power to receive loans and grants from the federal government or any agency or instrumentality thereof or from any other source, public or private, or to act as agent of or to co-operate with the federal government or any agency or instrumentality thereof on any project of the kind or character authorized by section three; provided that nothing in this section shall operate to impair the powers and duties of the housing board with respect to any such corporation or any project operated by it. Any such corporation shall also have power, subject to the provisions of section seven, to borrow money and to issue bonds, notes and other evidences of indebtedness and to secure the same by the mortgage of its property or the pledge of its revenues, and to do whatever is necessary or convenient to carry out and effectuate the provisions of this chapter.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, any such corporation may borrow on mortgages insured or guaranteed by the federal government or any agency or instrumentality thereof to the extent permitted by the federal government or such agency or instrumentality, and may issue such stock, enter into such agreements or perform such acts as may be required by the federal government or its agency or instrumentality in connection with such insurance or guarantee.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVII - Public Welfare › Chapter 121a - Urban Redevelopment Corporations › Section 13 - Application to Change Type and Character of Buildings on Project; Approval

Section 13. Any such corporation may apply to the housing board for leave to change the type and character of the buildings on a project. The housing board may approve such application, unless in its opinion the proposed change is a fundamental one, in which case the provisions of section five, so far as apt, shall apply to an application for such change. The housing board shall in such case transmit the application to the mayor of the city or the selectmen of the town in which the project is located, and the provisions of section six shall be applicable to their actions thereon. The housing board, if it receives a certificate evidencing the approval of the application by the mayor or the selectmen, and if it finds that the proposed change will be in the interest of the health, safety or general welfare of the city or town and that the proposed use is authorized by section three, may approve such application, and the corporation may act in accordance with such approval.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVII - Public Welfare › Chapter 121a - Urban Redevelopment Corporations › Section 14 - Contracts With Cities or Towns Relative to Public and Private Ways, Sidewalks, Parks and Other Public Improvements; Contracts for Sale, Lease or Exchange of Real Estate

Section 14. Any such corporation, in accordance with the provisions of section six, may enter into a contract with the city or town in which its project has been authorized, or with the appropriate board or officer of such city or town, and any such city or town or such board or officer may enter into a contract with such a corporation, by which such city, town, board or officer obligates itself or himself to do any or all of the following things: (a) lay out and construct, alter, relocate, change the grade of, make specific repairs upon or discontinue, public ways and construct sidewalks, adjacent to or through a project, if such action is found to be required by the common necessity and convenience; (b) cause parks, playgrounds or schools, or water, sewer or drainage facilities, or any other public improvements which it is otherwise authorized to undertake, to be laid out, constructed or furnished adjacent to or in connection with a project; (c) cause private ways, sidewalks, footpaths, ways for vehicular travel, playgrounds, or water, sewer or drainage facilities and similar improvements, to be constructed or furnished within the site of a project for the particular use of a project or of those dwelling therein.
If any city or town or a corporation wholly owned or controlled by such city or town has acquired or is about to acquire real estate by purchase or eminent domain for purposes of urban redevelopment or similar purposes, such city or town, or such corporation, may enter into a contract with a corporation organized under section three for the purchase, sale, lease or exchange of real estate held by either of the parties to such contract, in order to more effectively carry out the provisions of this chapter.
A contract under this section between a city or town or a corporation wholly owned or controlled by a city or town, and a corporation organized under section three, shall not be subject to any provision of law relating to publication or to advertising for bids. The construction of a project under this chapter shall be subject to the provisions of sections twenty-six to twenty-seven D, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and forty-nine.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVII - Public Welfare › Chapter 121a - Urban Redevelopment Corporations › Section 15 - Application of Receipts in Excess of Authorized Expenditures

Section 15. Should the gross receipts of any such corporation from the operation of a project undertaken by it under authority of this chapter, in any year exceed (1) operating and maintenance expenses together with such reserves as are necessary to create a fund to replace furnishings and worn-out equipment, including any ground rents or other payments under any lease, (2) taxes and fees, (3) interest on mortgages and other indebtedness, (4) premiums, fees or other charges or expenses incurred in connection with the insurance or guaranty of any mortgage or the insurance or guaranty of any annual return from a project, including any amounts payable to the Federal Housing Administration or any other agency or instrumentality of the United States for such purposes, (5) amortization, in accordance with the provisions of any schedule, plan or method of amortization described in any application submitted to the housing board under section five of this chapter, or in any schedule, plan or method of amortization subsequently submitted to and approved by the housing board, (6) dividends, (7) authorized transfers to surplus or reserves, and (8) other payments authorized or approved by the housing board, the amount remaining shall be applied to the payment to the city or town in which the project is located of the amount, if any, by which the taxes would have been assessed upon the real estate and tangible personal property of the corporation in such year if such real estate and tangible personal property had not been exempt from taxation, exceeded the excise paid by such corporation and distributed to such city or town in such year under section ten.
The balance, if any, may, subject to the approval of the housing board, be applied in whole or in part to reducing the indebtedness of such corporation, to renovating or to improving the property, as by installing additional facilities for the use of tenants, to the acquisition and development of additional property which shall be subject to the same control and regulation as the original project.
The charges for operation and maintenance may include insurance and reserves essential to the management of the property or necessary to meet requirements for depreciation and amortization of bonded indebtedness, but the amount set aside therefor shall be subject to the approval of the housing board. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to obligate the commonwealth, or to pledge its credit, to any payment whatsoever to any such corporation or to any stockholder, bondholder or creditor thereof.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVII - Public Welfare › Chapter 121a - Urban Redevelopment Corporations › Section 16 - Rights, Privileges, Obligations and Duties of Corporation After Period of Organization

Section 16. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, if a corporation organized under section three has carried out its obligations and performed its duties as imposed by this chapter for fifteen years from the date of its organization and for such further time any period of extension granted pursuant to section ten shall be in effect to the satisfaction of the housing board, all as evidenced by a certificate transmitted by the board to the commissioner of revenue, it shall thereafter have all of the rights and privileges of a corporation organized under or subject to chapter one hundred and fifty-six and be subject to all of the obligations and duties of such a corporation, and such corporation and its stockholders shall thereafter be free from all of the special limitations, restrictions, obligations and duties imposed upon corporations organized under section three and the stockholders thereof.