(A) Sale or rental to general public.
(1) Every moderately priced dwelling unit required under this chapter must be offered to the general public for sale or rental to a good-faith purchaser or renter to be used for his or her own residence, except units offered for sale or rent by a designated housing agency or non-profit corporation, whose purpose is to provide housing for persons of moderate income.
(2) Before offering any moderately priced dwelling units, the applicant must notify the Department of the proposed offering and the date on which the applicant will be ready to begin the marketing to eligible persons. The notice must set forth the number of units offered, the bedroom mix, the floor area for each type, a description of the amenities offered in each unit and a statement of the availability of each unit for sale or rent, including information regarding any mortgage financing available to buyers of the designated unit. The applicant must also give the Department a vicinity map of the offering, a copy of the approved development, subdivision or site plan, as appropriate, and such other information or documents as the Director finds necessary. The Department must maintain a list of eligible persons of moderate income and, in accordance with procedures established by the Director, must notify eligible persons of the offering.
(3) After receiving the offering notice, the Department must determine whether the offering notice is complete. If the Department finds that the offering notice is complete, it will offer the units to eligible persons on a lottery basis. The Department must notify the applicant when the 90 day priority marketing period for the MPDUs may begin.
(4) The Director may establish a buyer and renter selection system that considers household size, county residency, employment in the county, and length of time since the person was certified for the MPDU program. Each eligible person must be notified of the availability of any MPDU which would meet that person’s housing needs, and be given an opportunity to buy or rent an MPDU during the priority marketing period in the order of that person’s selection priority ranking.
(5) The priority marketing period for new units ends 90 days after the initial offering date approved by the Department. The priority marketing period for resold or re-rented units ends 60 days after the Department notifies the seller of the approved resale price or vacancy of the rental unit. The Department may extend a priority marketing period when eligible persons are interested in buying or renting a unit.
(6) Every buyer or renter of an MPDU must occupy the unit as his or her primary residence during the control period. Each buyer and renter must certify before taking occupancy that he or she will occupy the unit as his or her primary residence during the control period. The Director may require an owner who does not occupy the unit as his or her primary residence to offer the unit for resale to an eligible person under the resale provisions of § 1-6A-9.
(7) During the initial control period after the original sale, and for as long thereafter as the MPDU is owned by the initial MPDU owner, no liens will be permitted, without the written approval of the Director, on the MPDU property other than liens for unpaid real estate taxes or assessments for infrastructure improvements, except for the original purchase money mortgage and any liens validly recorded for unpaid homeowner association fees. Upon application to and approval by the Director, subordinate liens may be placed, if not prohibited by the purchase money mortgagee’s deed of trust, for improvements to the MPDU property which would enhance the market value of the property by at least 110% of the subordinate lien requested.
(8) An owner of an MPDU, except a housing agency or nonprofit corporation designated by the Director, must not rent the unit to another party unless the Director finds sufficient cause to allow temporary rental of the unit under applicable regulations, which may include maximum rental levels. Any MPDU owner who is allowed to rent a unit temporarily must agree to amend the applicable MPDU covenants to extend the control period for a time equal to the temporary rental period.
(9) Any rent obtained for an MPDU that is rented without the Director’s authorization must be paid into the Housing Initiative Fund by the owner within 90 days after the Director notifies the owner of the rental violation. Any amount unpaid after 90 days is grounds for a lien against the unit, and the Director may obtain a judgment and record the lien.
(10) An applicant must not sell or lease any unit without first obtaining a certificate of eligibility from the buyer or lessee. A copy of each certificate must be furnished to the Department and maintained on file by the Department. Before the sale by an applicant or by a designated housing agency or nonprofit corporation to any buyer of any MPDU who does not possess a certificate of eligibility, the applicant, agency or non-profit corporation must ask the Department whether the certificates on file show that the proposed buyer had previously bought another MPDU. A person must not buy a second MPDU unless no first-time buyer is qualified to buy that unit. The Director may waive this restriction for good cause.
(11) If an MPDU owner dies, at least 1 heir, legatee, or other person taking title by will or by operation of law must occupy the MPDU during the control period under this section, or the owner of record must sell the MPDU as provided in § 1-6A-9.
(B) Designated housing development agency or nonprofit corporation.
(1) In view of the critical, long-term public need for housing for families of moderate income, a housing development agency or nonprofit corporation designated by the Director has the option to buy or lease, for its own programs or programs administered by it, up to 40% of all MPDUs which are not sold or rented under any other federal, state, or local program.
(a) The County may buy or lease up to 33-1/3% of the MPDUs not sold or rented under any other federal, state, or local program. Any designated agency or nonprofit corporation may buy or lease:
1. Any MPDUs in the first 33-1/3% that the County has not bought or leased; and
2. The remainder of the 40%.
(b) This option may be assigned to persons of moderate income who are eligible for assistance under any federal, state, or local programs. The Director must adopt standards and priorities for designating nonprofit corporations under this subsection. These standards must require the nonprofit corporation to demonstrate its ability to operate and maintain MPDUs satisfactorily on a long-term basis.
(2) The Department must notify the designated agency or nonprofit corporation promptly after receiving notice from the applicant under subsection (A) of the availability of MPDUs. If the designated agency exercises its option, it must submit to the applicant, within 30 calendar days after the Department notifies the agency under subsection (B), a notice of intent to exercise its option for specific MPDUs covered by this option. Any MPDUs not bought or leased under this subsection must be sold or rented only to eligible persons under subsection (B) during the priority marketing period for eligible persons to buy or lease.
(3) In exercising this option, any designated agency or nonprofit corporation must designate the units by reference to number, type, size and amenities of the units selected if the designation does not result in any 1 type of unit exceeding by more than 40% the total units of that type which are sold or rented under this section, unless the applicant agrees otherwise. The notice required under subsection (B)(2) must state which MPDUs are to be offered for sale and which are to be offered for rent, and the designated agency or nonprofit corporation may buy only units which are offered for sale and may lease only units which are offered for rent. The designated agency or nonprofit corporation must decide whether it will exercise its option within 45 days after it receives the original notice.
(4) The designated agency or non-profit corporation acquiring MPDUs for the purpose of renting these units are responsible to the Department for the management of these units so as not to adversely affect the community in which they are located. Homeowner Associations may file a complaint in writing with the Department. Complaints which are determined by the Department to be valid and which are not resolved may result in the designated agency or non-profit corporation forfeiture of the right to purchase future units.
(Ord. 02-25-321, 11-21-2002; Ord. 14-23-678, 11-13-2014; Bill No. 22-27, 10-18-2022)