Current through Pa Acts 2024-53, 2024-56 through 2024-92
Section 1680.103 - DefinitionsAs used in this act unless otherwise indicated--
(1)"Agency" means the "Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency," the public body, corporate and politic, created by this act.(2)"Board" means the governing body of the agency.(3)"Bonds" and "notes" mean the bonds and notes which the agency is authorized to issue pursuant to Article V-A of this act.(4)"Federal agency" means the United States of America, the President or any department of the United States or any corporation, agency or instrumentality, heretofore or hereafter created, designated or established by the United States.(5)"Mortgage" means a lien, other than a judgment, on a fee simple estate or leasehold in real property located in Pennsylvania, together with the credit instruments, if any, secured thereby; the term "mortgage," includes both insured mortgages and those which are not insured.(6)"Insured mortgage" means a mortgage insured or approved to be insured or guaranteed by a Federal agency and shall include instruments or certificates which are guaranteed by a Federal agency and secured by insured or guaranteed mortgages.(7)"Act" means this act and the rules and regulations adopted by the agency hereunder.(8)"Annual income" shall mean the total annual income of all members of a family, from whatever source derived, including but not limited to, pension, annuity, retirement and social security benefits; provided, however, that there may be excluded from income (i) such reasonable allowances for dependents, (ii) such reasonable allowances for medical expenses, (iii) all or any proportionate part of the earnings of gainfully employed minors or family members other than the chief wage earner, or (iv) such income as is not received regularly, as the agency by rule or regulation may determine.(9)"Earned surplus" shall have the same meaning as in generally accepted accounting standards.(10)"Elderly or elderly person or persons" shall mean any individual who is qualified, by reason of age, to draw benefits from Federal Old Age and Survivors Insurance or from any other pension or annuity in which the age of the recipient is the criterion for entitlement, or in the absence of entitlement to insurance of the above types, one who has attained the age at which Federal Old Age and Survivors Insurance benefits would be payable if the individual had been covered by that insurance system.(11)"Mortgagor" shall mean individuals, joint ventures, partnerships, limited partnerships, trusts, corporations, cooperatives and condominiums, whether nonprofit or organized for profit.(12)"F.H.A." shall mean the Federal Housing Administration, United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and any successor to its functions.(13)"Low income persons or families" and "moderate income persons or families" shall mean families and persons who cannot afford to pay the amounts at which private enterprise, without the assistance of this act is providing a substantial supply of decent, safe and sanitary housing. The income limits for the admission of such families and persons to projects shall be those established pursuant to the rules and regulations established by the agency.(14)"Moderate rentals" shall mean rent charges less than those rents generally charged for new dwelling units of comparable size and location built by the unassisted efforts of private enterprise and financed at then current market interest rates.(15)"Low rentals" shall mean rent charges at least ten percent lower than moderate rentals.(16)"Rent" or "rentals" shall mean the charges paid by moderate and low-income persons for occupancy in a project under this act, whether the project is operated on a landlord-tenant basis or as a condominium or cooperative.(17)"Project" shall mean a number of dwelling units constructed, rehabilitated or converted to a cooperative or condominium with the assistance of a mortgage loan from the agency, including the acquisition, construction or rehabilitation of lands, buildings, equipment, improvements and other ancillary facilities such as, but not limited to streets, sewers, utilities, parks, site preparation, landscaping, and such ancillary facilities, offices and other nonhousing facilities such as administrative, community, health, recreational, educational and welfare facilities as the agency determines to be necessary, convenient or desirable appurtenances and including the acquisition, construction or rehabilitation of such ancillary commercial facilities as the agency determines to be necessary to make the remainder of the project economically feasible.(18)"Total project cost" means the sum total of all costs incurred in the development of a project, which are approved by the agency as reasonable and necessary, which costs shall include, but are not necessarily limited to, (i) cost of land acquisition and any buildings thereon, (ii) cost of site preparation, demolition and development, (iii) architect, engineer, legal, agency and other fees paid or payable in connection with the planning, execution and financing of the project, (iv) cost of necessary studies, surveys, plans and permits, (v) insurance, interest, financing, tax and assessment costs and other operating and carrying costs during construction, (vi) cost of construction, reconstruction, fixtures, and equipment related to the real property, (vii) cost of land improvements, (viii) necessary expenses in connection with initial occupancy of the project, (ix) a reasonable profit or fee to the builder and developer, (x) an allowance established by the agency for working capital and contingency reserves, and reserves for any anticipated operating deficits during the first two years of occupancy, (xi) the cost of such other items, including tenant relocation, as the agency shall determine to be reasonable and necessary for the development of the project, less any and all net rents and other net revenues received from the operation of the real and personal property on the project site during construction. All costs shall be subject to approval and audit by the agency. The agency may adopt rules and regulations specifying in detail the types and categories of cost which shall be allowable if actually incurred in the construction or reconstruction of a project.
(19)"Federal housing assistance program" means a housing assistance program under which a mortgage loan or project receives assistance from a Federal agency, department or other Federally related entity in the form of a Federal guarantee, insurance, co-insurance, interest reduction payments, rental subsidies, commitment for permanent financing of a project upon completion of construction, or other assistance, pursuant to section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended by the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 ; section 236 of the National Housing Act of 1934 ; section 802 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 ; section 244 of the National Housing Act of 1934 , as amended by the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974;section 101 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965 ; section 23 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 ; section 515 of Title V of the Housing Act of 1949 ; and any similar or other program or programs which amend, supplement, replace or succeed such a program.(20)"Lending institution" means any bank, bank and trust company, trust company, savings bank, national banking association, Federal national mortgage association, approved mortgage banker, FHA approved mortgage service company, savings and loan association, Federal savings and loan association, building and loan association, credit union or other financial institution which customarily provides service or otherwise aids in the financing of mortgages on residential housing in the Commonwealth.1959, Dec. 3, P.L. 1688, Art. I, § 103. Amended 1972, Dec. 5, P.L. 1259, No. 282, § 1, eff. Jan. 11, 1973; 1976 , April 7, P.L. 73, No. 33, § 1, imd. effective; 1981, Dec. 31, P.L. 594, No. 176, § 2, effective 1/1/1982; 1983 , Dec. 23, P.L. 385, No. 91, § 1, imd. effective.