Section 265.39.2. Definitions.

When used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

“Activity” means one or more specific housing activities, projects or programs assisted through the HOME investment partnerships program.

“Administrative plan” means a document that a HOME recipient establishes that describes the operation of a funded activity in compliance with all state and federal requirements.

“CHDO” means a community housing development organization, which is a nonprofit organization registered with the Iowa secretary of state and certified as such by IFA, pursuant to 24 CFR 92.2 (July 24, 2013).

“Consolidated plan” means the state’s housing and community development planning document and the annual action plan update approved by HUD.

“Contract” means a binding written agreement between IFA and the recipient or subrecipient for the purpose of utilizing HOME funds to build, buy or rehabilitate (or both buy and rehabilitate) affordable housing for rent or homeownership or to provide direct rental assistance to low-income people.

“Developer” means any individual or entity responsible for initiating and controlling the development process and ensuring that all phases of the development process, or any material portion thereof, are accomplished. The development process applies to transitional housing, rental housing, rehabilitation and rental housing new construction.

“Development subsidies” means financial assistance provided to developers of newly constructed, single-family housing to address the added costs of constructing housing. In such cases, the total cost of development is likely to exceed the sales price or the appraised fair market value of the housing. Additional costs might include labor, materials and equipment; professional design and construction oversight costs; and required third-party energy efficiency verification and certification costs.

“Displaced homemaker” means an individual who (1) is an adult; (2) has not worked full-time/full-year in the labor force for a number of years but has, during such years, worked primarily without remuneration to care for the home and family; and (3) is unemployed or underemployed and is experiencing difficulty in obtaining or upgrading employment.

“Energy Star” means a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy that establishes standards and practices to improve energy efficiency.

“Energy Star certification” means a property meets strict guidelines for energy efficiency set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), making the property 20 to 30 percent more efficient than standard homes. Homes achieve this level of performance through a combination of energy-efficient improvements, including effective insulation systems, high-performance windows, tight construction and ducts, efficient heating and cooling equipment, and Energy Star-qualified lighting and appliances.

“Energy Star rater” means a certified inspector who works closely with the builder throughout the construction process to help determine the needed energy-saving equipment and construction techniques and to conduct required on-site diagnostic testing and inspections to document that the home is eligible to earn the Energy Star certification.

“First-time homebuyer”  or “homebuyer”  means an individual or an individual and the individual’s spouse who have not owned a home during the three-year period before the purchase of a home with HOME assistance, except that an individual who is a displaced homemaker or single parent may not be excluded from consideration as a first-time homebuyer on the basis that the individual, while a homemaker, owned a home with the individual’s spouse or resided in a home owned by a spouse; and an individual may not be excluded from consideration on the basis that the individual owns or owned, as a principal residence during the three-year period before purchase of a home with HOME assistance, a dwelling unit whose structure is (1) not permanently affixed to a permanent foundation in accordance with local or other applicable regulations or (2) not in compliance with state, local or model building codes and cannot be brought into compliance with such codes for less than the cost of constructing a permanent structure.

“Fully accessible unit” means a unit designed and constructed for full accessibility in accordance with Section 1002 of the International Code Council (ICC) A117.1.

“HOME” means the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, authorized by the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act of 1990.

“HUD” means the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“IDIS” means the HUD Integrated Disbursement and Information System.

“IFA” means the Iowa finance authority.

“Lead hazard reduction or abatement carrying costs” means the additional costs incurred by lead professionals to ensure that target housing is lead-safe at the completion of rehabilitation. “Lead hazard reduction or abatement carrying costs” includes, but is not limited to, required notifications and reports, lead hazard or abatement evaluations, revisions to project specifications to achieve lead safety, lead hazard reduction or abatement oversight, and clearance testing and final assessment.

“LIHTC” means low-income housing tax credits and federal tax incentives created through the Tax Reform Act of 1986 and allocated through IFA for affordable rental housing development.

“Local financial support” means financial investment by the recipient through the use of the recipient’s own discretionary funds that are a permanent financial contribution or commitment applied to and related to the objectives of the housing activity or project assisted through the HOME partnership program and that are used during the same time frame as the requested housing activity or project.

“Local support” means involvement, endorsement and investment by local citizens, local organizations or the governing body of the local government in which the housing project is located. The local support shall promote the objectives of the housing activity or projects assisted through HOME.

“Low-income” means families whose annual incomes do not exceed 80 percent of the median income for the area, as determined by HUD. An individual does not qualify as a low-income family if the individual is enrolled as a student at an institution of higher education; is under 24 years of age; is not a veteran of the United States military; is unmarried; does not have a dependent child; and is not otherwise individually low-income or does not have parents who qualify as low-income.

“Multifamily housing” means a structure with five or more dwelling units serving five or more family residences.

“Net proceeds” means the amount determined by calculating the difference between the sale price and the amount of the outstanding principal loan balance owed plus any seller’s reasonable and customary closing costs associated with the sale.

“New construction rental units” means the on-site construction or erection of a building, or buildings, for the purpose of providing rental housing units. New construction rental units include conventional, on-site, stick-built construction and on-site erection or fabrication of manufactured housing units or components of units. New construction rental units also include the addition of any rental units outside the existing walls (the building envelope) of an existing building, or buildings, that are part of a rental rehabilitation, renovation or conversion project.

“Period of affordability” means the length of time a recipient or subrecipient must impose the rent or occupancy income restrictions on the units assisted by HOME funds as established by federal program requirements.

“Program income” means gross income received by the participating jurisdiction, state recipient, or a subrecipient directly generated from the use of HOME funds or matching contributions.

“Project” means a site or sites together with any building (including a manufactured housing unit) or buildings located on the site(s) that are under common ownership, management, and financing and are to be assisted with HOME funds as a single undertaking. The project includes all the activities associated with the site and building. For tenant-based rental assistance, project means assistance to one or more families.

“Project completion” means that all construction work and title transfer (if applicable) are completed and the final draw of HOME funds has been disbursed. In addition:

        1.            For homebuyer projects, the beneficiary data have been entered into IDIS;

        2.            For rental projects, the units have all been initially occupied and the unit data have been entered into IDIS;

        3.            For tenant-based rental assistance projects, all HOME funds associated with the tenant-based rental assistance contract have been disbursed and beneficiary data have been entered into IDIS.

“Qualified veteran” means a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service and who was discharged or released therefrom under conditions other than dishonorable.

“Reasonable and customary closing costs” means:

        1.            Seller’s reasonable and customary closing costs incurred include, but are not limited to: abstract updating, title search fees, document preparation fees, bringing current the seller’s county taxes, and real estate commission fees. Ineligible costs include, but are not limited to: lender discount points, allowances, inspection fees, and buyer closing costs.

        2.            Buyer’s reasonable and customary closing costs incurred include, but are not limited to: lender origination fees, credit report fees, fees for the title evidence or title opinion, fees for recording and filing of legal documents, attorneys’ fees, appraisal fees, and required inspection fees. Ineligible costs under this definition include, but are not limited to: prepayment of taxes, prepayment of insurance, lender discount points and seller’s closing costs.

“Recaptured funds” means HOME funds which are recouped by the recipient when the housing unit assisted by the HOME program homebuyer funds does not continue to be the principal residence of the assisted homebuyer for the full period of affordability.

“Recipient” means the entity under contract with IFA to receive HOME funds and undertake the funded housing activity.

“Repayment” means HOME funds which the recipient shall repay to IFA because the funds were invested in a project or activity that is terminated before completion or were invested in a project or activity which failed to comply with federal program requirements.

“Single-family housing unit” means a one- to four-family residence, combination of manufactured housing unit and lot, or manufactured housing lot.

“Single parent” means an individual who (1) is unmarried or is legally separated from a spouse; and (2) has one or more minor children of whom the individual has custody or joint custody, or is pregnant.

“Subrecipient” means a public agency or nonprofit organization selected by IFA to administer all or a portion of an activity to produce affordable housing, provide down payment assistance, or provide tenant-based rental assistance under the HOME program. A public agency or nonprofit organization that receives HOME funds solely as a developer or owner of housing is not a subrecipient. The selection of a subrecipient by IFA is not subject to the procurement procedures and requirements under federal or state law.

“Technical services” means all services that are necessary to carry out individual, scattered site activities including but not limited to: (1) conducting initial inspections, (2) work write-up or project specification development, (3) cost estimate preparation, (4) construction supervision associated with activities that do not require an architect or engineer, (5) lead hazard reduction or lead abatement need determination and oversight, (6) lead hazard reduction or abatement carrying costs, (7) temporary relocation coordination, (8) financing costs such as security agreement preparation and recording or filing fees, (9) processing of individual applications for assistance, (10) income eligibility determination and verification, (11) value determination (new construction) or after rehabilitation value determination (existing structures), and (12) project-specific environmental clearance processes.

“Technical services provision” means the cost to provide other individual housing project-related services such as: (1) financing costs (security agreement preparation, recording and filing fees), (2) processing individual applications for assistance, (3) income eligibility determination and verification, (4) after rehabilitation value determination, and (5) project-specific environmental clearance.

“Very low-income” means families whose annual incomes do not exceed 50 percent of the median income for the area, as determined by HUD. An individual does not qualify as a very low-income family if the individual is enrolled as a student at an institution of higher education; is under 24 years of age; is not a veteran of the United States military; is unmarried; does not have a dependent child; and is not otherwise individually very low-income or does not have parents who qualify as very low-income.

[ARC 8963B, IAB 7/28/10, effective 7/8/10; ARC 9284B, IAB 12/15/10, effective 1/19/11; ARC 9764B, IAB 10/5/11, effective 11/9/11; ARC 0500C, IAB 12/12/12, effective 11/19/12; ARC 1140C, IAB 10/30/13, effective 12/4/13]