2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THREE - Executive (§§ 1 — 9311) › Chapter 20A - Department of Housing (§§ 441 — 441j) › § 441c - Powers and functions of Secretary

In addition to the powers and faculties conferred upon the Secretary by this chapter and by other laws, he/she shall have all the powers, faculties, attributions and prerogatives inherent to the office, among which are, without it being understood as a limitation, the following:
(a) To make recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature for the formulation of the public policy on housing and communal development complementary to housing and to execute the action finally adopted.
(b) To appoint, in accordance with the applicable laws, all the personnel of the Department, which shall be included in the Competitive Service.
(c) To appoint a Subsecretary. In case of absence or temporary incapacity of the Secretary, the Subsecretary shall substitute him and shall exercise all functions and attributions of the Secretary, as acting Secretary of the Department of Housing, during said absence or incapacity. In case of death, resignation or dismissal from office of the Secretary, the Subsecretary shall, during the vacancy, fulfill the latter’s functions, as acting Secretary.
(d) To plan, direct and supervise the operation of the Department and its program.
(e) To prescribe, repeal and amend regulations for the operation of the Department.
(f) To enter into contracts or agreements as may be necessary and convenient for the purposes of attaining the goals of the Department and its programs with organizations of the government of the United States of America, and with state governments, other departments, agencies, municipalities, instrumentalities or public corporations of the Commonwealth and with private institutions; he is likewise empowered to accept and receive any donations, properties or funds from appropriations, advances, loans, or any other kind of transfer from other departments, agencies, municipalities, instrumentalities or public corporations of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or organizations of the Government of the United States of America, and to accept and receive any other type of assistance or benefit when the latter originates from said government organizations or private nonprofit institutions.
(g) To enter into those contracts or agreements that may be necessary and convenient, with private enterprise and municipal administrations for the purpose of promoting and enabling the development of social interest housing, subject to the provisions of §§ 891 et seq. of Title 17 and other applicable laws. To such effects, the Secretary may purchase or acquire by any other means, sell, assign and exchange (barter) those properties and other real estate that may be useful for the development of said housing units.
(h) To acquire real property by any legal means, including without it being understood as a limitation, the following: by expropriation, purchase, option to purchase, purchase in installments, public auction, lease, cession, donation, exchange, or any other available legal mean[s], and to retain, keep, employ, make use of, or avail himself/herself of any property thus acquired and to sell, convey or otherwise lease, dispose, or transfer any of its real property, under the terms and conditions deemed appropriate, to carry out the ends and purposes of the Department such as the promotion and implementation of the housing public policy, the complementary housing development communities, and the promotion and development of urban renewal projects. Said real property is hereby declared of public use and may be directly expropriated by the Department without prior declaration of public use as provided by § 2902 of Title 32, or any provision of subsequent laws. Any procedure, transaction, agreement, or contract including, without being limited to appropriation, acquisition, sale, leasing, usufruct, or any other transfer, alienation or cession of any real property, or any other rights thereon, of which the Department is a party thereof, shall not be subject to the provisions of §§ 31—31o of Title 28, or any subsequent law or the requirement of public transaction consultation provided in § 62t of Title 23, and the regulations applicable thereto. The Department of the Housing shall not be exempted from submitting a location consultation to the Planning Board for the intended use of the acquired property. The Planning Board retain the power to determine the types of use for which the Department of Housing shall have no need to submit a location consultation for the acquired properties. In order to guarantee the public purpose of eminent domain, the Secretary of the Department of Housing shall issue a certification expressly stating the public purpose intended for the property to be acquired. The Planning Board shall issue its opinion within sixty (60) days after the presentation of the eminent domain proceeding, stating that the intended use of the property complies with the Integral Development Plan, the Four-Year Investment Program and the Land-Use Plans of Puerto Rico, and that the same allows for subsequent procedures for all public improvements, unless it has been expressly exempted from such filing through a resolution of the Planning Board. Should the Planning Board issue no opinion within sixty (60) days, it shall be deemed as approved. The opinion issued by the Planning Board shall be a directive in nature, the same shall not be sufficient cause to hold the eminent domain process. For the purposes of this chapter, Urban Renewal Projects shall mean the uses and facilities needed to create inhabitable cities and communities, among which are, without it being understood as a limitation, community, recreational, cultural, commercial, educational, artistic and housing uses and facilities of all kinds.
(i) The Secretary may, without it being understood that he/she is obligated to do so, coordinate, transact, contract, defray and carryout the necessary or convenient functions of relocation related to the fulfillment of his/her responsibilities and specifically related to the exercise of the power to acquire real property. Pursuant to this faculty, the Secretary may defray the expenses for the relocation of displaced persons, families or businesses brought about by the acquisition of real properties by or at the behest of the Department. The Secretary may establish through regulations, the terms and conditions to qualify for the payment of relocation expenses and the amounts which the Department may pay for this item, which shall not exceed the amount of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in the case of individuals or families and of twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) in the case of businesses to be relocated. In additions to said payments for relocation the Secretary may make:
(1) An additional payment of not less than twenty thousand dollars ($20,000.00) to an individual or family relocated from their main residence, or the owner or occupant of the latter for a period of not less than 180 days, as of the date the negotiations of the Department have been initiated to acquire the residence or before it is known that said negotiations would be initiated, whichever is first, or as of any other event the Secretary may determine. Said additional payment shall be made to cover the following costs:
(A) The amount, if any, which added to the cost of the residence acquired by the Department, totals an amount that represents the reasonable cost of a comparable replacement residence.
(B) The amount, if any, that would compensate said displaced individual for the increase in interest payments and other expenses required by a financial entity to finance the acquisition of a comparable replacement residence. Said amount may only be paid if the residence acquired by the Department had been mortgaged for a period of not less than 180 days, as of the date the negotiations of the Department have been initiated to acquire the residence or before it is known that said negotiations would be initiated, whichever is first, or as of any other event the Secretary may determine.
(C) The amount, if any, that represents the expenses to establish evidence of the property title, the fees for registration in the Property Registry, the mortgage insurance or other closing expenses incidental to the acquisition of a comparable replacement residence, but not including prepaid expenses.
Said additional payments shall be made solely to persons who acquire and occupy a decent, safe and sound replacement residence within one (1) year as of the date said person has received the final payment for the residence acquired by the Department. Said term may be extended for just cause by the Secretary.
(2) An additional payment of not less than five thousand dollars ($5,000) to a displaced individual or family that is not eligible for the additional payment under the preceding clause (1) of this subsection and that has been the legal occupant of the residence acquired by the Department for a period of not less than ninety (90) days, as of the date the negotiations of the Department have been initiated to acquire the residence or before it is known that said negotiations would be initiated, whichever is first, or as of any other event the Secretary may determine. Said additional payment shall be made to cover the following costs:
(A) The amount needed to enable a person to lease a comparable residence for a period not to exceed thirty-six (36) months. The Secretary may discretionally pay said amount in periodic payments to the leaseholder or directly to the lessor.
(B) Said payment, as an alternative, may be made so that said individual may acquire by purchase, a decent, safe and sound replacement residence within one (1) year as of the date the negotiations of the Department have been initiated to acquire the residence or before it is known that said negotiations would be initiated, whichever is first, or as of any other event the Secretary may determine.
(3) If a program to be implemented by the Department cannot be developed because there are no comparable residences available and the Secretary is unable to make said residences available, then the Secretary may take all the necessary steps to provide residences for the displaced individuals.
Nothing in this subsection shall be understood to be the creation of a new element of value or a cause of action in an expropriation process. The express powers conferred upon the Secretary in this subsection shall be understood to be purely discretionary and create no obligation whatsoever for the Department.
(j) To delegate on subordinate officials and to authorize the latter to subdelegate on other officials, any function or faculty assigned or conferred upon him by this or any other law, except that the faculty to promulgate regulations shall not be delegable.
History —June 10, 1972, No. 97, p. 242, § 4; Nov. 17, 1993, No. 91, § 1; Aug. 26, 2002, No. 201, § 1; Sept. 22, 2004, No. 429, § 1.