2005 Connecticut Code - Sec. 8-430. Definitions.

      Sec. 8-430. Definitions. As used in sections 8-430 to 8-438, inclusive:

      (1) "Affordable housing" means affordable housing as defined in section 8-39a.

      (2) "Annual household income" means the total household income of all members of a household, from whatever source derived, except that the commissioner, in accordance with regulations adopted pursuant to section 8-437, may exclude from income reasonable allowances for dependents, medical expenses, income not received regularly and other items.

      (3) "Assisted housing" means housing for which eligible households pay thirty per cent or less of their annual household income or a base rent, whichever is greater.

      (4) "Base rent" means the minimum rent or carrying charge determined by the commissioner to be necessary for the operation and maintenance of a housing development, excluding rent-skewed units.

      (5) "Bonds" means any bonds, notes, interim certificates, debentures or other obligations issued by the state to provide funds for financial assistance pursuant to section 8-433.

      (6) "Carrying charge" means the sum of all amounts regularly or periodically paid by one or more residents for or with respect to the occupancy of an ownership unit, excluding any security deposit, initial membership fee or down payment paid for or with respect to the occupancy of an ownership unit.

      (7) "Carrying charge restrictions" means any terms and conditions, imposed by the commissioner with respect to ownership units in housing developments that receive financial assistance pursuant to section 8-433, to enforce compliance with the programmatic intent of sections 8-430 to 8-438, inclusive, including, without limitation, terms and conditions governing amounts to be paid as a carrying charge, the annual household income of eligible households and the types and mix of ownership units to be provided, but excluding any terms and conditions relating to income for continuing occupancy in limited equity cooperative units.

      (8) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development.

      (9) "Community facilities" means facilities determined by the commissioner to be necessary, convenient, desirable or appurtenant to a housing development, including, without limitation, administrative, health, recreational, educational, commercial and child-care facilities.

      (10) "Congregate housing" means a residential environment for the frail elderly involving independent living assisted by congregate meals, housekeeping and personal services and may include housing integrated with other forms of housing.

      (11) "Deferred loan" means a loan on which interest or a portion thereof is not payable currently, or a loan on which principal or a portion thereof is not amortized currently, or both.

      (12) "Department" means the Department of Economic and Community Development.

      (13) "Developer's fee" means the sum, if any, to be paid by the commissioner to an eligible developer, as determined by the commissioner, in connection with the construction, acquisition or related rehabilitation of a housing development that receives financial assistance pursuant to section 8-433, which may include, as applicable, a fee for the administration of a program of financial assistance to eligible developers as provided in subsection (b) of section 8-433 or for performance under a contract pursuant to subsection (c) of section 8-433.

      (14) "Disabilities" means those conditions described in subsections (a) and (b) of section 1-1f and may also include mental retardation as defined in section 1-1g and mental illness as described in the definition of "mentally ill person" in section 17a-495.

      (15) "Elderly" means persons sixty-two years of age or older.

      (16) "Eligible costs" means those costs described in section 8-432 for which the commissioner may provide financial assistance to eligible developers.

      (17) "Eligible developer" means any of the following as approved by the commissioner: (A) A nonprofit entity; (B) a community housing development corporation as defined in section 8-217; (C) any business corporation incorporated pursuant to chapter 601 or any predecessor statutes thereto or authorized to do business pursuant to chapter 601 having as one of its purposes the construction, acquisition or related rehabilitation of affordable or assisted housing, and having a certificate or articles of incorporation approved by the commissioner in accordance with regulations adopted pursuant to section 8-437; (D) any partnership, limited partnership, joint venture, sole proprietorship, trust or association having as one of its purposes the construction, acquisition or related rehabilitation of affordable or assisted housing, and having basic documents of organization approved by the commissioner in accordance with regulations adopted pursuant to section 8-437; (E) a family or person approved by the commissioner as qualified to construct, acquire or rehabilitate affordable or assisted housing with financial assistance provided pursuant to the provisions of sections 8-430 to 8-438, inclusive; or (F) any combination thereof.

      (18) "Eligible household" means a household consisting of one or more persons including, without limitation, the elderly, whose annual household income qualifies as very low income, low income, or moderate income.

      (19) "Emergency shelter" means housing determined by the commissioner to constitute temporary housing for persons or households without overnight shelter or sufficient available resources to secure such shelter, as determined by the commissioner.

      (20) "Financial assistance" means any financial assistance the commissioner may provide to eligible developers pursuant to section 8-433.

      (21) "Frail elderly" means elderly persons who have temporary or periodic difficulties with one or more essential activities of daily living, as determined by the commissioner.

      (22) "Funding source" means the source of funding for financial assistance pursuant to section 8-433 and includes, without limitation, proceeds from the sale of the state's bonds, funds provided from the state's General Fund and by the federal government and such other funding sources available for financial assistance pursuant to section 8-433.

      (23) "Guarantee" means a promise, approved by the commissioner and the State Treasurer, to pay all or any portion of a specific obligation of an eligible developer for eligible costs of an assisted housing development if the eligible developer defaults on the payment of such obligation, for which the state has provided for adequate reserves, as determined by the commissioner and the State Treasurer in accordance with regulations adopted pursuant to section 8-437.

      (24) "Habitable" means decent and safe housing that meets all applicable fire, housing, health and building code standards.

      (25) "Housing authority" means any of the public corporations created by section 8-40 and the Connecticut Housing Authority when exercising the rights, powers or duties or subject to the limitations of housing authorities pursuant to chapter 129.

      (26) "Housing development" means any work or undertaking to provide decent, safe, sanitary, habitable, affordable or assisted housing that contributes to the goal of providing housing to the full range of eligible households; including, without limitation, the creation, acquisition or improvement of buildings and other improvements to real property, land, interests in land, leasehold interests, fixtures, equipment and facilities, and other real or personal property necessary, convenient, desirable or appurtenant to the foregoing, including, without limitation, streets, sewers, water and other utility service, parking, parks, site preparation, landscaping, community facilities and facilities to dispatch related services, or any combination thereof.

      (27) "Housing partnership" means any partnership, limited partnership, joint venture, trust or association consisting of (A) one or more nonprofit entities, and (B) (i) one or more business corporations incorporated pursuant to chapter 601 or any predecessor statutes thereto or authorized to do business pursuant to chapter 601 having as a purpose the construction, acquisition or related rehabilitation of affordable or assisted housing, and having a certificate or articles of incorporation approved by the commissioner in accordance with regulations adopted pursuant to section 8-437, (ii) one or more for-profit partnerships, limited partnerships, joint ventures, sole proprietorships, trusts or associations having as a purpose the construction, acquisition or related rehabilitation of affordable or assisted housing, and having basic documents of organization approved by the commissioner in accordance with regulations adopted pursuant to section 8-437, or (iii) any combination of the entities specified in subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of this subdivision.

      (28) "Interest subsidy" means state financial assistance that reduces the cost of interest on financing obtained from a quasi-public agency defined in section 1-120 or from a source other than the state with respect to eligible costs of an affordable or assisted housing development.

      (29) "Limited equity cooperative" shall have the meaning assigned in section 47-242.

      (30) "Loan" means an interest-free or interest-bearing obligation to repay principal.

      (31) "Low income" means annual household income from fifty-one up to and including eighty per cent of the area median, as determined by the commissioner.

      (32) "Market-rate housing" means housing that rents or sells at prices that are competitive with prices generally available in the private market, as determined by the commissioner.

      (33) "Moderate income" means annual household income from eighty-one up to and including one hundred per cent of the area median, as determined by the commissioner.

      (34) "Municipal developer" shall have the meaning assigned in section 8-39.

      (35) "Municipality" means any town, city or borough.

      (36) "Mutual housing" means housing provided by an eligible developer, owned and managed by a nonprofit mutual housing association or by an entity controlled by a nonprofit mutual housing association, in which residents (A) participate in ongoing operation and management; (B) have the right to continue residing in such housing so long as they comply with the terms of their respective occupancy agreement; and (C) have an ownership interest in such occupancy agreement, conditional upon compliance with its terms, but do not possess an equity interest in such housing.

      (37) "Nonprofit entity" means a housing authority; a nonprofit corporation incorporated or authorized to do business pursuant to chapter 602 or any predecessor statutes thereto, having as one of its purposes the construction, acquisition or related rehabilitation of affordable or assisted housing and having a certificate or articles of incorporation approved by the commissioner in accordance with regulations adopted pursuant to section 8-437; a quasi-public agency, as defined in section 1-120; a municipal developer; or a municipality or agency of a municipality.

      (38) "Ownership units" means units owned by one or more residents in fee simple, units in limited equity cooperatives and units in other residential cooperatives in which one or more residents have a leasehold estate, including renewal options, of at least twenty years, excluding quasi-ownership units.

      (39) "Participation interest" means any interest in a housing development that entitles the state to a percentage of cash flow and residual value as determined by the commissioner, whether such interest constitutes a debt or equity interest. Such percentage in the case of either cash flow or residual value may be zero.

      (40) "Programmatic intent" means the general intentions and purposes of sections 8-430 to 8-438, inclusive.

      (41) "Property tax or assessment benefits" means any abatement, deferral, waiver or forgiveness of any property tax, any benefit assessment, any sewer use charge or any similar tax, assessment or charge with respect to any affordable or assisted housing development under any provision of the general statutes.

      (42) "Quasi-ownership units" means mutual housing units and other units determined by the commissioner to possess important attributes of ownership units without qualifying as ownership units.

      (43) "Rehabilitation" means renovation or reconstruction of an existing structural improvement to real property, including substantial rehabilitation.

      (44) "Related services" means services determined by the commissioner to be necessary, convenient, desirable or appurtenant to a housing development.

      (45) "Rent" means charges, excluding security deposits, down payments and membership fees, paid for occupancy of rental units or quasi-ownership units in housing developments that receive financial assistance pursuant to section 8-433.

      (46) "Rental restrictions" means any terms and conditions imposed by the commissioner with respect to rental units or quasi-ownership units in housing developments that receive financial assistance pursuant to section 8-433 to enforce compliance with the programmatic intent of sections 8-430 to 8-438, inclusive, including, without limitation, terms and conditions governing amounts to be charged as rent, the annual household income of eligible households, and the types and mix of rental units and quasi-ownership units.

      (47) "Rental supplement" means a grant-in-aid, made in accordance with regulations adopted pursuant to section 8-437, with respect to rental units or quasi-ownership units in a housing development that receives financial assistance pursuant to section 8-433, to make such units affordable to eligible households of very low income.

      (48) "Rental units" means units other than ownership units and quasi-ownership units, and includes, without limitation, housing for individuals and households, elderly housing, congregate housing, emergency shelters, transitional housing, and single-room occupancy housing, as determined by the commissioner.

      (49) "Rent-skewed unit" means any unit for which less than base rent is charged, as approved by the commissioner, in order to make such unit affordable to eligible households of very low income.

      (50) "Resale and repayment restrictions" means any terms and conditions imposed by the commissioner with respect to housing developments that receive financial assistance pursuant to section 8-433 governing the circumstances under which such housing developments or units in such housing developments may be sold, transferred, conveyed or refinanced or loans with respect to such housing developments may be prepaid.

      (51) "Resident" means a person or household residing in a housing development.

      (52) "Service supplement" means a grant-in-aid, made in accordance with regulations adopted pursuant to section 8-437, with respect to a housing development that receives financial assistance pursuant to section 8-433, to provide operating subsidy, as applicable, for community facilities and related services and for the operating costs of congregate housing.

      (53) "Shelter rent" means that portion of the rent or carrying charge paid for occupancy of the unit excluding utility charges.

      (54) "Start-up costs" means costs, as approved by the commissioner, incurred in opening a housing development, including, without limitation, costs of insurance, office equipment, furnishing of common space, maintenance equipment, advertising and marketing and necessary initial operating expenses.

      (55) "State" means the state of Connecticut.

      (56) "Subsidy recapture provision" means any mechanism for the state to recapture its net costs of providing financial assistance pursuant to sections 8-430 to 8-438, inclusive, or any portion thereof, as estimated by the commissioner. The commissioner may provide for the use of any reasonable method to estimate such costs.

      (57) "Substantial rehabilitation" means rehabilitation of an existing improvement to real property the total costs of which, as estimated by the commissioner, is equal to or greater than fifty per cent of the fair market value of the improvements after rehabilitation, not including the value of the land. The commissioner may provide for the use of any reasonable method to estimate such costs and values.

      (58) "Transitional housing" means housing for very low or low income persons or households, intended to be occupied for a period of not less than six but not more than twenty-four months, and includes, without limitation, related services and community facilities.

      (59) "Very low income" means annual household income from zero up to and including fifty per cent of the area median, as determined by the commissioner.

      (P.A. 93-309, S. 1, 29; P.A. 94-156, S. 2, 5; P.A. 95-250, S. 1; P.A. 96-211, S. 1, 5, 6; 96-256, S. 181, 209; 96-271, S. 154, 155, 254.)

      History: P.A. 93-309 effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 94-156 deleted the definition of "administrative oversight charge" and renumbered the remaining Subdivs., effective July 1, 1994; P.A. 95-250 and P.A. 96-211 replaced Commissioner and Department of Housing with Commissioner and Department of Economic and Community Development; P.A. 96-256 amended the definition of "nonprofit entity" in Subdiv. (37) by replacing reference to "chapter 600" with "chapter 602 or any predecessor statutes thereto", effective January 1, 1997; P.A. 96-271 amended the definitions of "eligible developer" and "home partnership" in Subdivs. (17) and (27), respectively, by replacing references to business corporations "incorporated or authorized to do business pursuant to chapter 599" with "incorporated pursuant to chapter 601 or any predecessor statutes thereto or authorized to do business pursuant to chapter 601", effective January 1, 1997.