2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVENTEEN - Housing (§§ 1 — 1546) › Chapter 33 - New Housing Operation Copartnership Program (§§ 891 — 902) › § 898 - Sale of public lands for affordable and middle-class housing

The agencies of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico including public corporations are hereby empowered to sell upon approval of the Planning Board, any land owned by them, or any interest therein, to natural or juridical persons and subject to the following conditions:
(a) That the land subject to any sale is included in the property inventory of the Government of Puerto Rico and its public corporations.
(b) That the lands are fit for the development of housing units pursuant to the regulations of the Puerto Rico Planning Board.
(c) That such lands are not needed for public works and Government programs that have a higher priority, but may be useful for the development of affordable or middle-class housing.
(d) That the buyer devotes them to the development of affordable housing units to be sold or rented to low or moderate income families or to middle class housing to be sold to middle class families.
(e) The sales price shall be the market value arrived at through an appraisal carried out by the Secretary of the Treasury or by the agency or public corporation that owns them. If the economic viability of the project is adversely affected by the amount of such appraisal, it may be jointly revised by the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Housing, and the President of the Government Development Bank; Provided, That the sales price may be reduced to not more than thirty percent (30%) of the appraisal value. However, the final sales price shall never be less than the acquisition cost, plus the cost of land improvement pursuant to a certification to such effects by the agency disposing of said real property. Whenever public entities are owners of repossessed housing, reasonable transactions shall be allowed to enable and promote residential use.
Applicability.— Units that, as of the effective date of this act, are subject to a purchase option or purchase agreement at a particular price shall be considered affordable housing, provided that their sales price does not exceed the price agreed on in said option or purchase agreement. The owner of a unit whose sales price exceeds that of the option or purchase agreement, before the effective date of this act, may not claim the tax benefits established thereunder and shall be required to notify the change in price and the corresponding reasons therefor to the program administrator.
Government entities, agencies, public corporations, and municipalities that own properties or residential plots may establish swift and effective mechanisms to dispose of the same in order to provide housing to extremely needy persons or families, as regulated by the Department of Housing.
In each transaction for the sale of land, the Secretary of Housing, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the President of the Government Development Bank shall jointly ensure that an obligation is issued as subordinated to the difference between the appraised value and the agreed sales price. The purpose thereof is to guarantee that the deferred value shall return to the public treasury in the event of a subsequent profitable sale of the individual units, or the sale and exchange of one of the rental housing projects within the periods established by regulations, and that the construction activities of the housing projects to be developed begin after the approval of this act and before December 31st, 2018.
History —June 26, 1987, No. 47, p. 159, § 8; Dec. 29, 1989, No. 2, p. 643, § 5; Dec. 10, 1993, No. 121, § 4; Jan. 20, 1995, No. 19, § 1; Aug. 28, 1997, No. 105, § 4; Dec. 31, 1999, No. 369, § 4; Aug. 17, 2001, No. 118, § 6; May 11, 2004, No. 114, § 4; Dec. 14, 2007, No. 198, § 4; May 12, 2011, No. 72, § 3; Aug. 10, 2011, No. 171, § 1, retroactive to July 1, 2011; Nov. 17, 2015, No. 187, § 39.