HF 427 - NYU Furman Center

State Land Use Enacted Legislation

Bill #	State	Year	Party	Topic
HF 427	MN	2024	D	Affordable housing incentives and financing, Building code reform, Environmental review

Provided by Furman

Summary

Section 119 establishes the Blue Line Light Rail Transit Extension Antidisplacement Community Prosperity Program to preserve and enhance affordable housing, small business support, job training and placement, and economic vitality and to benefit the people and sense of community along the Blue Line light rail transit extension corridor.

The Blue Line light rail transit extension corridor is defined as neighborhoods and communities within one mile of the route selected for the Blue Line and those within one mile of the former Blue Line light rail transit extension project route.
Program money must only be expended for affordable housing to support existing residents staying in place along the project corridor and for development, preservation, and access to safe affordable housing and house choice.

Section 118 establishes the Antidisplacement Community Prosperity Program Board to implement the program established in Section 119 by determining whether a potential expenditure for the Blue Line Light Rail program is for a qualifying purpose and may only approve an expenditure that is matched by nonstate funding sources.

In addition to other state agencies, the Board must review and consult with the Housing Finance Agency.

Section 18 authorizes the Housing Finance Agency to allocate housing infrastructure bonds to finance the costs of construction, acquisition, rehabilitation, conversion, and development of cooperatively owned housing that is affordable to low- and moderate-income households.
Section 23 allows the Greater Minnesota Housing Infrastructure Grant Program funds to support manufactured home developments qualifying for homestead treatment.
Section 31 restricts Local Affordable Housing Aid to counties or Tier I Cities that commit to using funds to create new or expand existing housing programs by supplementing existing locally funded housing expenditures. The same restriction applies in Section 36 for Statewide Local Housing Aid, applied to counties, Tier I Cities, or Tier II Cities.
Expands the Community Stabilization Plan established by the Housing Finance Agency to cover recapitalization of distressed buildings in addition to naturally occurring affordable housing.

Expands the definition of naturally occurring affordable housing to include single-family housing that has one to four units located in communities where market pressures or significant deferred rehabilitation needs create opportunities for displacement or the loss of owner-occupied or single-family retinal housing, and is affordable to owner-occupied households whose income does not exceed 115 percent of the greater of the state or area median income or rental households whose income does not exceed 80 percent of the greater of the state or area median income.
Defines distressed building as an existing rental housing building in which units are restricted to households whose incomes do not exceed 60 percent of the area median income, which are:
- At imminent risk of foreclosure, closure, or sale that would result in permanent loss of affordability;
- Has two or more years of negative net operating income;
- Has two or more years with a debt service coverage ratio less than one; or
- Has necessary costs of repair, replacement, or maintenance that exceed the project reserves available for such purposes.
Defines recapitalization as financing for physical and financial needs of a distressed building.
Prioritizes funding for:
- Buildings where residents where residents are at or below 30 percent of the area median income;
- Buildings at imminent risk of foreclosure, closure, or sale that would result in permanent loss of affordability;
- Operators who have a path to achieve neutral or positive net operating income within five years;
- Operators who keep subject properties affordable; and
- Buildings that are not eligible or not prioritized for other agency programs.

Instructs the Commissioner of Labor and Industry to evaluate conditions under which apartment buildings with a single stairway above three stories up to 75 feet would achieve life safety outcomes equal to or superior to currently adopted codes.
Creates a Working Group on Common Interest Communities and Homeowners Associations to study the prevalence and impact of such communities and associations and how existing laws regulating them help homeowners and tenants access safe and affordable housing.
Establishes the Task Force on Long-Term Sustainability of Affordable Housing to evaluate issues and provide recommendations relating to affordable housing sustainability, including displacement of tenants, preservation of housing previously developed with public financing, and long-term sustainability of new housing developments.
Instructs the Commissioner of the Housing Finance Agency to report on senior renters residing in properties financed by tax credits.
Clarifies that comprehensive plans adopted by cities of the first class in the metropolitan area and authorized by the Metropolitan Council do not constitute conduct that causes or is likely to cause pollution, impairment, or destruction.