New Jersey-2016-S1476-Introduced

An Act establishing a housing purchase matching grant program for certain members of the reserve component of the United States Armed Forces and the New Jersey National Guard, supplementing and amending P.L.1983, c.530, and making an appropriation.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. (New section) a. The New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency shall establish a matching grant program for the purposes of assisting certain members of the reserve component of the United States Armed Forces and the New Jersey National Guard in the purchase of a home. The program shall be coordinated with the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs. The program may be interfaced with any program currently administered by the agency for first time homebuyers, but a recipient shall not be required to meet the other eligibility criteria of any other homebuyer program in order to be eligible to participate in the matching grant program.

b. Matching grants shall be made on the basis of available funds to eligible military personnel on a dollar for dollar matching fund basis, up to a maximum of $10,000. The funds may be applied to closing costs, equity payments, or for any other purpose which assists the recipient in purchasing a home.

c. In order to be eligible for a matching grant, a member of the reserve component of the United States Armed Forces or the New Jersey National Guard, at the time of application, shall provide proof of at least 90 days of service on active duty in:

Operation Noble Eagle;

Operation Enduring Freedom; or

Operation Iraqi Freedom.

There shall be no income eligibility for the program; provided, however, that the agency may give priority to those applicants who are also eligible for assistance under other programs administered by the agency, such as the first time home-buyer program. Applicants shall not be eligible for more than one matching grant under the program.

2. (New section) The agency, in consultation with the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs, shall promulgate such regulations as necessary to effectuate this act in accordance with the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.).

3. Section 5 of P.L.1983, c.530 (C.55:14K-5) is amended to read as follows:

5. In order to carry out the purposes and provisions of this act, the agency, in addition to any powers granted to it elsewhere in this act, shall have the following powers:

a. To adopt bylaws for the regulation of its affairs and the conduct of its business; to adopt an official seal and alter the same at pleasure; to maintain an office at such place or places within the State as it may designate; to sue and be sued in its own name;

b. To conduct examinations and hearings and to hear testimony and take proof, under oath or affirmation, at public or private hearings, on any matter material for its information and necessary to carry out the provisions of this act;

c. To issue subpenas requiring the attendance of witnesses and the production of books and papers pertinent to any hearing before the agency, or before one or more of the members of the agency appointed by it to conduct a hearing;

d. To apply to any court, having territorial jurisdiction of the offense, to have punished for contempt any witness who refuses to obey a subpena, or who refuses to be sworn or affirmed to testify, or who is guilty of any contempt after summons to appear;

e. To acquire by purchase, gift, foreclosure or condemnation any real or personal property, or any interest therein, to enter into any lease of property and to hold, sell, assign, lease, encumber, mortgage or otherwise dispose of any real or personal property, or any interest therein, or mortgage lien interest owned by it or under its control, custody or in its possession and release or relinquish any right, title, claim, lien, interest, easement or demand however acquired, including any equity or right of redemption, in property foreclosed by it and to do any of the foregoing by public or private sale, with or without public bidding, notwithstanding the provisions of any other law;

f. To acquire, hold, use and dispose of its income revenues, funds and moneys;

g. To adopt rules and regulations expressly authorized by this act and such additional rules and regulations as shall be necessary or desirable to carry out the purposes of this act. The agency shall adopt regulations which provide for consultation with housing sponsors regarding the formulation of agency rules and regulations governing the operation of housing projects and which require the agency to consult with the affected housing sponsor prior to taking any and all specific proposed agency actions relating to the sponsor's housing project. The agency shall publish all rules and regulations and file them with the Secretary of State;

h. To borrow money or secure credit on a temporary, short-term, interim or long-term basis, and to issue negotiable bonds and to secure the payment thereof and to provide for the rights of the holders thereof;

i. To make and enter into and enforce all contracts and agreements necessary, convenient or desirable to the performance of its duties and the execution of its powers under this act, including contracts or agreements with qualified financial institutions for the servicing and processing of eligible loans owned by the agency;

j. To appoint and employ an executive director, who shall be the chief executive officer of the agency, and additional officers, who need not be members of the agency as the agency deems advisable, and to employ architects, engineers, attorneys, accountants, construction and financial experts and other employees and agents as may be necessary in its judgment and to determine their qualifications, terms of office, duties and compensation; and to promote and discharge such officers, employees and agents, all without regard to the provisions of Title 11 of the Revised Statutes, Civil Service;

k. To contract for and to receive and accept any gifts, grants, loans or contributions from any source, of money, property, labor or other things of value, to be held, used and applied to carry out the purposes of this act subject to the conditions upon which the grants and contributions may be made, including, but not limited to, gifts or grants from any department or agency of the United States or the State for payment of rent supplements to eligible families or for the payment in whole or in part of the interest expense for a housing project or for any other purpose consistent with this act;

l. To enter into agreements to pay annual sums in lieu of taxes to any political subdivision of the State with respect to any real property owned or operated directly by the agency;

m. To procure insurance against any loss in connection with its operations, property and other assets (including eligible loans) in the amounts and from the insurers it deems desirable;

n. To the extent permitted under its contract with the holders of bonds of the agency, to consent to any modification with respect to rate of interest, time and payment of any installment of principal or interest, security or any other terms of any loan to an institutional lender, eligible loan, loan commitment, contract or agreement of any kind to which the agency is a party;

o. To the extent permitted under its contract with the holders of bonds of the agency, to enter into contracts with any housing sponsor containing provisions enabling the housing sponsor to reduce the rental or carrying charges to persons unable to pay the regular schedule of charges where, by reason of other income or payment from the agency, any department or agency of the United States or the State, these reductions can be made without jeopardizing the economic stability of the housing project;

p. To make and collect the fees and charges it determines are reasonable;

q. To the extent permitted under its contract with the holders of bonds of the agency, to invest and reinvest any moneys of the agency not required for immediate use, including proceeds from the sale of any obligations of the agency, in obligations, securities or other investments as the agency deems prudent. All functions, powers and duties relating to the investment or reinvestment of these funds, including the purchase, sale or exchange of any investments or securities may, upon the request of the agency, be exercised and performed by the Director of the Division of Investment in the Department of the Treasury, in accordance with written directions of the agency signed by an authorized officer, without regard to any other law relating to investments by the Director of the Division of Investment;

r. To provide, contract or arrange for, where, by reason of the financing arrangement, review of the application and proposed construction of a project is required by or in behalf of any department or agency of the United States, consolidated processing of the application or supervision or, in the alternative, to delegate the processing in whole or in part to any such department or agency;

s. To make eligible loans, and to participate with any department, agency or authority of the United States or of any state thereof, this State, a municipality, or any banking institution, foundation, labor union, insurance company, trustee or fiduciary in an eligible loan, secured by a single participating mortgage, by separate mortgages or by other security agreements, the interest of each having equal priority as to lien in proportion to the amount of the loan so secured, but which need not be equal as to interest rate, time or rate of amortization or otherwise, and to undertake commitments to make such loans;

t. To assess from time to time the housing needs of any municipality which is experiencing housing shortages as a result of the authorization of casino gaming and to address those needs when planning its programs;

u. To sell any eligible loan made by the agency or any loan to an institutional lender owned by the agency, at public or private sale, with or without bidding, either singly or in groups, or in shares of loans or shares of groups of loans, issue securities, certificates or other evidence of ownership secured by such loans or groups of loans, sell the same to investors, arrange for the marketing of the same; and to deposit and invest the funds derived from such sales in any manner authorized by this act;

v. To make commitments to purchase, and to purchase, service and sell, eligible loans, pools of loans or securities based on loans, insured or issued by any department or agency of the United States, and to make loans directly upon the security of any such loan, pools of loans or securities;

w. To provide such advisory consultation, training and educational services as will assist in the planning, construction, rehabilitation and operation of housing including but not limited to assistance in community development and organization, home management and advisory services for residents and to encourage community organizations and local governments to assist in developing housing;

x. To encourage research in and demonstration projects to develop new and better techniques and methods for increasing the supply, types and financing of housing and housing projects in the State and to engage in these research and demonstration projects and to receive and accept contributions, grants or aid, from any source, public or private, including but not limited to the United States and the State, for carrying out this purpose;

y. To provide to housing sponsors, through eligible loans or otherwise, financing, refinancing or financial assistance for fully completed, as well as partially completed, projects which may or may not be occupied, if the projects meet all the requirements of this act, except that, prior to the making of the mortgage loans by the agency, said projects need not have complied with sections 7a.(9) and 42 of this act;

z. To encourage and stimulate cooperatives and other forms of housing with tenant participation;

aa. To promote innovative programs for home ownership, including but not limited to lease-purchase programs, employer-sponsored housing programs, [and] tenant cooperatives, and grant programs for certain members of the reserve component of the United States Armed Forces and the New Jersey National Guard established pursuant to P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill);

bb. To set aside and designate, out of the funds that are or may become available to it for the purpose of financing housing in this State pursuant to the terms of this act, certain sums or proportions thereof to be used for the financing of housing and home-ownership opportunities, including specifically lease-purchase arrangements, provided by employers to their employees through nonprofit or limited-dividend corporations or associations created by employers for that purpose; and to establish priority in funding, offer bonus fund allocations, and institute other incentives to encourage such employer-sponsored housing and home-ownership opportunities;

cc. Subject to any agreement with bondholders, to collect, enforce the collection of, and foreclose on any property or collateral securing its eligible loan or loans to institutional lenders and acquire or take possession of such property or collateral and sell the same at public or private sale, with or without bidding, and otherwise deal with such collateral as may be necessary to protect the interests of the agency therein;

dd. To administer and to enter into agreements to administer programs of the federal government or any other entity which are in furtherance of the purposes of this act;

ee. To do and perform any acts and things authorized by this act under, through, or by means of its officers, agents or employees or by contract with any person, firm or corporation; and

ff. To do any acts and things necessary or convenient to carry out the powers expressly granted in this act.

(cf: P.L.1983, c.530, s.5)

4. There is appropriated $2,000,000 from the General Fund to the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency for the purposes of this act.

5. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill establishes a matching grant program for certain members of the reserve component of the United States Armed Forces and the New Jersey National Guard, to assist them in purchasing a home. The program is established in the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency in coordination with the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs. The program may be interfaced with any program currently administered by the agency for first time homebuyers, although a recipient need not meet the other eligibility criteria of any other homebuyer program in order to be entitled to participate in the matching grant program.

Matching grants shall be made on the basis of available funds to eligible personnel on a dollar for dollar matching fund basis, up to a maximum of $10,000. The funds may be applied to closing costs, equity payments, or for any other purpose which assists the recipient in purchasing a home.

There shall be no income eligibility for the program; however, the agency may give priority to those applicants who are also eligible for assistance under other programs administered by the agency, such as the first time home-buyer program. Applicants shall not be eligible for more than one matching grant under the program.

In order to be eligible for a matching grant, a member of the reserve component of the United States Armed Forces or the New Jersey National Guard, at the time of application shall provide proof of at least 90 days of service on active duty in:

Operation Noble Eagle;

Operation Enduring Freedom; or

Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The bill appropriates $2 million from the General Fund to the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency to fund the grant program.