Montana Code Annotated 2023

TITLE 90. PLANNING, RESEARCH, AND DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 6. COMMUNITY IMPACT -- PLANNING AND ABATEMENT

Part 1. Financing of Housing

Definitions

90-6-103. Definitions. As used in this part, unless the context requires otherwise, the following definitions apply:

(1) "Board" means the board of housing created in 2-15-1814.

(2) "Bond" means any bonds, notes, debentures, interim certificates, or other evidences of financial indebtedness issued by the board pursuant to this part, including those on which interest payments are taxable and those on which interest payments are tax exempt.

(3) "Capital reserve account" means the capital reserve account provided for in 90-6-107.

(4) "Department" means the department of commerce provided for in Title 2, chapter 15, part 18.

(5) "Federally insured mortgage" means a mortgage loan for land development or residential housing insured or guaranteed by the United States or a governmental agency or instrumentality of the United States or a commitment by the United States or a governmental agency or instrumentalities of the United States to insure a mortgage.

(6) "Federally insured security" means an evidence of indebtedness insured or guaranteed as to repayment of principal and interest by the United States or an instrumentality of the United States.

(7) "Governmental agency" means any department, division, public corporation, public agency, political subdivision, or other public instrumentality of the state, the federal government, any other state or public agency, or any two or more of the entities listed in this subsection.

(8) "Housing development" means single-family homes, multifamily projects, housing for the elderly projects, nursing home projects, personal-care projects, and any work or undertaking financed in whole or in part under this part for the primary purpose of acquiring, constructing, or rehabilitating accommodations for persons or families of lower income in need of housing. An undertaking may include any buildings, land, equipment, facilities, or other real or personal properties that are necessary, convenient, or desirable in connection with a development, including but not limited to streets, sewers, utilities, parks, site preparation, landscaping, and other nonhousing facilities that the board determines to be necessary, convenient, or desirable.

(9) "Housing development costs" means the sum total of all costs incurred in a housing development approved by the board as reasonable and necessary, including but not limited to:

(a) cost of land acquisition and any buildings on the land, including payments for options, deposits, or contracts to purchase properties on the proposed housing development site or payments for the purchase of properties;

(b) cost of site preparation, demolition, and clearing;

(c) architectural, engineering, legal, accounting, corporation, and other fees paid or payable in connection with the planning, execution, and financing of the housing development and the finding of an eligible mortgagee or mortgagees for the housing development;

(d) cost of necessary studies, surveys, plans, and permits;

(e) insurance, interest, financing, tax and assessment costs, and other operating and carrying costs during construction;

(f) cost of construction, rehabilitation, reconstruction, fixtures, furnishings, equipment, machinery, apparatus, and similar facilities related to the real property;

(g) cost of land improvements, including landscaping and offsite improvements, whether or not the costs have been paid in cash or in a form other than cash;

(h) necessary expenses in connection with initial occupancy of the housing development;

(i) a reasonable profit and risk fee in addition to job overhead to the general contractor and, if applicable, a limited-profit housing sponsor;

(j) an allowance established by the board for working capital and contingency reserves and reserves for any anticipated operating deficits during construction and initial occupancy;

(k) cost of other items, including tenant relocation, that the board determines to be reasonable and necessary for the housing development, less any net rents and other net revenue received from the operation of the real and personal property on the development site during the construction.

(10) "Housing sponsor" means individuals, joint ventures, partnerships, limited partnerships, trusts, firms, associations, corporations, governmental agencies, limited-profit housing sponsors, nonprofit corporations, or other legal entities or any combination of the entities listed in this subsection that are:

(a) approved by the board;

(b) qualified to either own, construct, acquire, rehabilitate, operate, manage, or maintain a housing development;

(c) subject to the rules of the board and other terms and conditions set forth in this part.

(11) "Lending institution" means any public or private entity or governmental agency approved by the board maintaining an office in this state and authorized by law to make or participate in making residential mortgages in the state.

(12) "Limited-profit housing sponsor" means a corporation, trust, partnership, association, other entity, or an individual restricted as to distribution of income and regulated as to rents, charges, rate of return, and methods of operation as the board determines necessary to carry out this part.

(13) "Mortgage" means a mortgage deed, deed of trust, or other instrument that constitutes a valid lien on real property in fee simple or on a leasehold under a lease having a remaining term at the time that the mortgage is acquired that does not expire for at least that number of years beyond the maturity date of the obligation secured by the mortgage established by the board as necessary to protect its interest as mortgagee.

(14) "Mortgage loan" means an interest-bearing obligation secured by a mortgage on land and improvements in the state.

(15) "Nonprofit housing sponsor" means a housing cooperative formed under Title 35, chapter 15, or a nonprofit corporation formed under Title 35, chapter 2, restricted as to distribution of income and regulated as to rents, charges, rate of return, and methods of operation as the board determines necessary, and whose articles of incorporation provide in addition that:

(a) the organization has been organized exclusively to provide housing developments for persons and families of lower income;

(b) all the income and earnings of the organization must be used exclusively for housing development purposes and part of the net income or net earnings of the organization may not inure to the benefit or profit of any private individual, firm, corporation, partnership, or association;

(c) the organization is in no manner controlled or under the direction or acting in the substantial interest of any private individual, firm, partnership, or association seeking to derive profit or gain from the organization or seeking to eliminate or minimize losses in any transactions with the organization, except that the limitations apply to members of a cooperative only to the extent provided by rules of the board;

(d) the operations of the organization may be supervised by the board and the organization will enter into agreements with the board to regulate planning, development, and management of any housing development undertaken by the organization and the disposition of the property or other interests of the organization.

(16) "Persons and families of lower income" means persons and families with insufficient personal or family income or other financial resources who require assistance under this part, as determined by the board, taking into consideration:

(a) the amount of the total personal and family income, assets, and other financial resources available for housing needs;

(b) the size of the family;

(c) the eligibility of persons and families under federal housing assistance of any type based on lower income or a functional or physical disability;

(d) the ability of persons and families to compete successfully in the normal housing market and to pay the amount at which private enterprise is providing decent, safe, and sanitary housing;

(e) the availability and cost of housing in particular areas; and

(f) needs of particular persons or families because of age or physical disabilities.

(17) "Rehabilitation" means the repair, reconstruction, or improvement of an existing structure to provide decent, safe, and sanitary housing or to conform housing with state or local health, building, fire prevention, and safety codes as determined by the board.

History: En. 35-503 by Sec. 3, Ch. 461, L. 1975; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 163, L. 1977; R.C.M. 1947, 35-503; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 357, L. 1979; amd. Sec. 11, Ch. 274, L. 1981; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 90, L. 1983; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 359, L. 1983; amd. Sec. 79, Ch. 472, L. 1997.