2019 US Virgin Islands Code
Title 21 - Homesteads and Home Loans
Chapter 3A - Homeownership Act of 2004
§ 142. Legislative findings and purposes

(a) There exists a serious shortage of residential, moderate-income housing in the Territory;

(b) The lack of moderate-income housing is injurious to the health, safety and welfare of the people of the Virgin Islands and retards the economic development of the people of the Virgin Islands;

(c) A steady program of uninterrupted housing construction for moderate-income families will contribute substantially to foster economic stability in the Territory;

(d) The sporadic availability in the past of construction and mortgage financing has contributed to the shortage of moderate housing and stunted the economic development of the people living in the Territory;

(e) The scarce availability of affordable land for the purposes of moderate income housing has contributed mightily to the shortage of moderate-income housing in the Territory which is commensurate with the salaries of the residents of the Virgin Islands, and the scarcity of land has contributed to the rising cost of moderate housing in the Territory;

(f) The Government of the Virgin Islands has in its possession thousands of acres of real property;

(g) The Government of the Virgin Islands must increase its tax base in order to ensure the delivery of services to the residents of the Virgin Islands and to provide fair, adequate wages to the employees of the Government of the Virgin Islands;

(h) The federal government and federal agencies, such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, through their programs, such as the American Dream Commitment, Catch the Dream and America's Affordable Communities Initiative, have committed to providing mortgage funding to all Americans;

(i) The Legislature of the Virgin Islands further finds that the Government of the Virgin Islands is owed between $80 and $120 million dollars in delinquent property taxes and that many families are in danger of losing their family land due to delinquent property taxes;

(j) It is the purpose of this legislation to provide a program to stimulate both the economy and the moderate housing construction market of the Virgin Islands by the passage of this Act that is intended to build a minimum of 500 homes annually in the Virgin Islands for the next five years;

(k) The cost of homes shall range from $60,000 to $180,000 for a medium cost of $120,000 to ensure that $60,000,000 are generated in home sales per year and $300,000,000 over the span of the next five years;

(l) The distribution of the homes shall be 350 on St. Croix, 100 on St. Thomas, and 50 on St. John; and

(m) The programs, powers and authority established by this chapter are valid public undertakings within the meaning of section 8(b)(i) of the Revised Organic Act of 1954.