Code of the District of Columbia

§ 42–2802. Housing Production Trust Fund established.

(a) There is established the Housing Production Trust Fund as a permanent revolving special revenue fund within the Governmental Funds of the District apart from the General Fund consisting of identifiable, renewable, and segregated capital, which shall be administered by the Department to provide assistance in housing production for targeted populations.

(b) The Fund shall be used to provide:

(1) Pre-development loans for nonprofit housing developers;

(2) Grants for architectural designs for adaptive re-use of previously nonresidential structures;

(3) Loans to develop housing and provide housing services for low- and very low-income elderly persons who have special needs;

(4) Bridge loans and gap financing to reduce up-front costs and costs of residential development and to keep a housing project in operation, if circumstances change adversely during development;

(5) Loans for first-effort model projects;

(6) Financing for the construction of new housing, or rehabilitation or preservation of existing housing;

(7) Financing for site acquisition, construction loan guarantees, collateral, or operating capital;

(8) Loans or grants to finance on-site child development facilities for proposed housing or commercial development projects;

(8A) Loans authorized through the Homestead Housing Preservation Program in § 42-2107;

(8B) Payments to a person contracted to perform services under § 42-2105.01;

(9) Other loans and grants for housing production determined by the Department to be consistent with the purposes of this chapter;

(10)(A) Funds for the administration of the Fund, not to exceed 15% per fiscal year of the funds deposited into the Fund pursuant to subsection (c) of this section; and

(B) Costs associated with the application or implementation of projects pursuant to § 42-2858.01 shall not be considered administration of the Fund for purposes of this paragraph[; and]

(11)(A) Funds for the New Communities Initiative as that term is defined in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph; provided, that the use of the funds for the initiative is consistent with the provisions and purposes of this section and meets the requirements of § 42-2812.03(d) and the rules promulgated pursuant to this chapter.

(B) For the purposes of this paragraph, the term “New Communities Initiative” means a large scale and comprehensive plan, submitted by the Mayor to the Council for approval, that provides housing infrastructure with a special focus on public housing, provides critical social support services, decreases the concentration of poverty and crime, enhances access to education, and provides training and employment education to neighborhoods where crime, unemployment, and truancy converge to create intractable physical and social conditions.

(b-1)(1) At least 40% of the funds obligated to new projects for a future expenditure from the Fund during a fiscal year shall be for the purposes of assisting in the provision of housing opportunities for very low-income households, which includes individuals who have previously been incarcerated for or convicted of a felony under state or federal law and who are otherwise entitled to services and assistance pursuant to this chapter, including maximizing the possibility of home ownership. The Mayor shall submit a written request to the Council for a waiver of the 40% requirement if, by the last day of the 3rd quarter of the fiscal year, the Mayor has not received a sufficient number of viable housing proposals. The Council shall approve or disapprove the waiver by resolution within 30 days, and the resolution shall be deemed disapproved if the Council does not act within this 30-day period.

(2) At least 50% of the funds obligated to new projects for a future expenditure from the Fund during a fiscal year shall be for the purposes of assisting in the provision of housing opportunities for extremely low-income households, including maximizing the possibility of home ownership. The Mayor shall submit a written request to the Council for a waiver of the 50% requirement if, by the last day of the 3rd quarter of the fiscal year, the Mayor has not received a sufficient number of viable housing proposals. The Council shall approve or disapprove the waiver by resolution within 30 days, and the resolution shall [be] deemed disapproved if the Council does not act within this 30-day period.

(3) At least 50% of the funds obligated to new projects for a future expenditure from the Fund during a fiscal year shall be for the purposes of assisting in the provision of rental housing. The Mayor shall submit a written request to the Council for a waiver of the 50% requirement if, by the last day of the 3rd quarter of the fiscal year, the Mayor has not received a sufficient number of viable rental housing proposals. The Council shall approve or disapprove the waiver by resolution within 30 days, and the resolution shall be deemed approved if the Council does not act within the 30-day period.

(b-2)(1) An amount not to exceed $16 million of the funds deposited into the Fund may be used by the Mayor to secure bonds issued for the benefit of the New Communities Initiative or other purposes consistent with the Housing Production Trust Fund uses and pursuant to subsection (b)(11) of this section; provided, that securitization above $16 million may only occur upon certification by the Mayor that resources are needed to fulfill the New Communities projects.

(2) Council authorization by act shall be required for any amount above $16 million in the Fund to secure financing for the New Community Initiative or other purposes consistent with the Housing Production Trust Fund uses.

(3) This subsection shall not apply to the new issuance of bonds after May 1, 2013.

(b-3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or any other law to the contrary, $4 million of the funds deposited into the Fund may be made available by the Mayor to the Workforce Housing Land Trust. The uses of the funds shall be governed exclusively by the provisions of the Land Trust Plan and the requirements of subchapter III-A of Chapter 10 of Title 6 [§ 6-1061.01 et seq.].

(b-4)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or any other law, the Mayor may transfer an amount not to exceed $18 million from the Fund to the Rent Supplement Fund established by § 6-226(d)(1), for the purpose of funding in fiscal year 2012 the assistance programs set forth in §§ 6-226 through 6-229.

(2) None of the funds transferred to the Rent Supplement Fund pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be used for administrative costs.

(3) If, pursuant to the Contingency for Additional Estimated Revenue Act of 2011, effective September 20, 2012 (D.C. Law 19-168; 59 DCR 8025) [Subtitle P of Title VII of D.C. Law 19-21], the appropriation for the District of Columbia Housing Authority is increased by an amount by which a revised revenue estimate exceeds the revenue estimate of the Chief Financial Officer of the District of Columbia dated February 28, 2011, the transfer set forth in paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be reduced by an equal amount.

(b-5) Repealed.

(b-6) Notwithstanding any provision of []this chapter] or any other law, the Mayor may in Fiscal Year 2024 transfer the following from the Fund:

(1) $4 million to the Home Purchase Assistance Program; and

(2) $2 million to the Neighborhood-Based Activities Program to support the Heirs Property Program.

(c) There shall be deposited in the Fund:

(1) Fee option contributions made by commercial developers under a commercial linked development policy to be established by statute by the Council;

(2) Community development program contributions made pursuant to subchapter I of Chapter 7 of Title 26, as determined by the Superintendent of Banking and Financial Institutions in consultation with the Department;

(3) Appropriated amounts;

(4) Grants, fees, donations, or gifts from public and private sources;

(5) Repayments of principal and interest on loans provided from the Fund;

(6) Proceeds realized from the liquidation of security interests held by the District under terms of assistance provided from the Fund;

(7) Interest earned from the deposit or investment of monies from the Fund;

(8) All revenues, receipts, and fees of whatever source derived from the operation of the Fund;

(9) Repealed.

(10) Any fee or portion of an application fee that the Zoning Commission, by rule, may require an applicant for a Planned Unit Development to pay when the applicant proposes a housing production option or fee option in connection with a planned unit development application, to the extent that the Zoning Commission designates that the fee or portion of that fee shall be allocable to the Fund;

(11) Available community development block grants;

(12) Repealed.

(13) Repealed.

(14)(A) Repayments of loans, including principal and interest, provided under § 42-2107; and

(B) Proceeds realized from the liquidation of any security interests held by the District under the terms of assistance provided from the fund through the Homestead Housing Preservation Program established in Chapter 21 of this title;

(15) $5 million on October 1, 2002;

(16) Beginning October 1, 2003, amounts deposited pursuant to §§ 47-919 and 42-1122.

(16A) Repealed.

(17) All fines collected pursuant to § 6-1041.03, which shall be used exclusively to fund the Mayor’s purchase of dwelling units for sale or rental to eligible households as authorized by § 6-1041.04(c); and

(18) As of April 16, 2020, all fees above $692,000 annually collected pursuant to §§ 42-3402.04 and 42-3509.10.

(c-1) [Not funded].

(d) The Department shall:

(1) Periodically review Fund revenue sources to determine what additional revenue sources may be required to assure the continuation of the Fund and its programs and shall request Council action to access revenue sources otherwise unavailable to the Department;

(2) File with the Chairperson of the Council committee with oversight jurisdiction over the Department of Housing and Community Development quarterly reports on activities and expenditures, which shall include a list of the Fund loan repayments due and paid during the reporting period and identify all developers who are not in compliance with loan agreement terms.

(2A) Create and maintain a publicly available database of all Fund loans, which shall include loan agreements with the name of the developer, date of the award, loan amount, interest rate, number of affordable housing units created with the loan, income levels served by the housing units, period of time units shall remain affordable, and status of the developer's compliance with the loan agreement.

(3) Conduct annual audits, publish annual reports, hold public hearings, and make annual assessments of the continued housing needs of targeted populations;

(4) Monitor for compliance written agreements entered into by the Department and commercial developers pursuant to this chapter;

(5) Provide outreach and housing production counseling and technical assistance to individuals or groups interested in producing housing for targeted populations as provided in § 42-2803(b);

(6) Encourage profit and nonprofit developers to produce housing units of 3 or more bedrooms designed to accommodate large families and to produce child development facilities in a housing development;

(7) Give priority to nonprofit housing developers for receipt of loans from the Fund;

(8) Notwithstanding any other applicable law, ensure that the provisions of § 42-2802.02 are enforced; and

(9) Within 10 business of written notification to the selected applicants that one or more proposals received in response to a Request for Proposals ("RFP") has been selected for further underwriting to produce new affordable housing or to preserve existing affordable housing, the Department shall release to the Council:

(A) A written report that provides aggregated information on the affordable housing units that would be produced or preserved from all proposals that met the Department's minimum requirements, including the number of housing units proposed in the following categories:

Affordability Level Total Number of Proposed Units
Selected Project Proposals All Project Proposals that Met Minimum Requirements
Extremely low income
Very low income
Low income
Total Affordable Units

(B) The total number of project proposals received;

(C) The total number of project proposals that met the Department's minimum requirements;

(D) For the project proposals selected for further underwriting by the Department, the:

(i) Names of all corporate entities and related principals with a proposed ownership interest in the project's ownership entity that are known at the time of the application;

(ii) Funding amount requested for each project;

(iii) Percentage contribution of the Fund amount compared to the project's total funding sources;

(iv) Total number of affordable housing units per project proposal;

(v) Number of extremely low-income housing units per project proposal, the number of very low-income housing units per project proposal, the number of low-income housing units per project proposal, and the amount of Local Rent Supplement assistance proposed for the project;

(E) The median for any score derived from the criteria outlined in the RFP used to rank projects that met the Department's minimum requirements; and

(F) A written rationale for the selection of each project ultimately selected by the Department for further underwriting, including any score derived from the criteria outlined in the RFP used to rank projects, and an explanation of any cause for a deviation in the final selections announced by the Department from the ranking based on the criteria outlined in the RFP alone, including distribution of housing units in planning areas with unmet affordability needs and the efficient utilization of available funding sources.

(d-1) All information included in the quarterly reports submitted pursuant to subsection (d)(2) of this section shall be consistent with the District's internal accounting reporting systems and the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report.

(e) Money in the Fund shall not be used in connection with any property identified in section 2(a) of the Historic Preservation of Derelict District Properties Act of 2016, effective March 11, 2017 (D.C. Law 21-223; 64 DCR 182).

(f)(1) In the fiscal year before a fiscal year in which Fund dedicated tax revenues will be collected, the Department may solicit proposals and rank recipients in funding order for the expenditure of those tax revenues that will be dedicated to the Fund in the next fiscal year; provided, that the dedicated tax revenues are not otherwise committed or appropriated for other purposes and are certified in the approved financial plan for the next fiscal year.

(2) Repealed.