(A) Continued existence as housing agency.
(1) The local Housing Authority established under prior state law and in existence on January 1, 2000, shall have continued existence as a housing agency under the state’s Housing Agency Act, being Neb. RS 71-1572 et seq.
(2) The local housing agency shall conduct its operations consistent with the state’s Housing Agency Act. All property, rights in land, buildings, records and equipment and any funds, money, revenue, receipts or assets of the Authority belong to the agency as successor. All obligations, debts, commitments and liabilities of the Authority are obligations, debts, commitments and liabilities of the successor agency.
(3) Any resolution by the Authority and any action taken by the Authority prior to January 1, 2000, with regard to any project or program which is to completed within or to be conducted for a 12-month period following January 1, 2000, and which resolution or action is lawful under state law as it existed prior to January 1, 2000, is a lawful resolution or action of the successor agency and binding upon the successor agency and enforceable by or against the agency notwithstanding that such resolution or action is inconsistent with, not authorized by, or prohibited under the provisions of the state’s Housing Agency Act.
(4) All commissioners of the local housing agency and all officers, legal counsel, technical experts, directors and other appointees or employees of the agency holding office or employment by virtue of any such prior law on January 1, 2000, shall be deemed to have been appointed or employed under the state’s Housing Agency Act.
(Prior Code, § 2-206)
(B) Ownership. The Municipal Housing Authority is owned by the city and operated through the Housing Authority Commission. The Housing Authority shall constitute a body corporate and politic and shall have all the powers necessary or convenient to carry out and effectuate the purposes and provisions of the state’s Housing Authority Act.
(Prior Code, § 2-207)
(C) Definitions. Except as otherwise specifically provided, the definitions and terms set out in the state statutes relating to housing authorities under the state’s Housing Authority Act are hereby adopted by reference as they now exist or may hereafter be amended.
(Prior Code, § 2-208)
(D) Operation and management.
(1) The Authority shall at all times observe the following duties with respect to rentals and tenant selection.
(a) It may rent or lease dwelling accommodations therein only to persons of low income, elderly or handicapped persons of low income and displaced persons in need.
(b) There shall be no discrimination in the eligibility or occupancy of tenants on the basis of race, sex, marital status, religion, color, creed, national origin or ancestry.
(c) The Authority shall not accept any person as a tenant in any dwelling in the housing project if the persons who occupy the dwelling have an aggregate annual income which equals or exceeds the amount which the Authority has conclusively determined to be sufficient to enable one to secure safe, sanitary and un-congested dwelling accommodations within the area served by the Authority and to provide an adequate standard of living.
(d) The Authority may rent or lease to a tenant a dwelling consisting of a number of rooms which is deemed necessary to provide safe and sanitary accommodations to the occupants without overcrowding.
(e) The Authority shall fix income limits for occupancy and rents after taking into consideration:
1. The family size, composition, age, physical handicaps and other factors which might affect the rent-paying ability of the person; and
2. The economic factors which affect the financial stability and solvency of the project.
(f) The Authority may accept as a tenant any displaced person or persons in need, regardless of income, but in no event shall such person or persons remain as a tenant or tenants of the Authority for more than a period of six months unless such persons also qualify as persons of low income, elderly or handicapped persons of low income.
(g) All persons of low income, elderly or handicapped persons of low income or displaced persons in need, shall be entitled to the benefits of this chapter, and the Authority may establish rules and regulations consistent with the purposes of this chapter concerning eligibility and occupancy of the housing project or other such shelter.
(h) Nothing herein shall prohibit the right of the Authority to inquire into the financial condition, family composition, medical, personal and employment history of any tenant or prospective tenant.
(i) The Authority shall prohibit subletting by tenants.
(2) The Authority may establish from time to time rules and regulations consistent with federal and state laws and regulations and the purposes of this section concerning the termination of tenancy. Any tenant so terminated shall be sent a written notice of termination setting out the reasons for such termination, and any tenant served with a notice shall be given the opportunity to contest the termination in an appropriate hearing, except that tenants who have created or maintained a threat constituting a serious and clear danger to the health or safety of other tenants or Authority employees need not be given such a hearing by the Authority. Such notice may provide that if the tenant fails to pay his or her rent or comply with any covenant or condition of his or her lease, or the rules and regulations of such Authority, or cure a violation or default thereof, as the case may be, as specified in such notice, or follow the procedure for a hearing as set forth in the notice, all within the time or times set forth in such notice, the tenancy shall then be automatically terminated and no other notice or notices need be given of such termination or the intent to terminate the tenancy, and upon such termination, and without any notice other than as provided for in this section, the Authority may file suit against any tenant for recovery of possession of the premises and may recover the same as provided by law.
(3) The Authority may establish from time to time rules and regulations consistent with the purposes of this section concerning personal property of tenants and other persons located in projects of the Authority, and if such personal property is not removed from a dwelling unit at the time of the termination of the lease, at the time of vacation or abandonment of the dwelling unit, or at the time of the death of any tenant, then the Authority may remove the same and store such property at the tenant’s risk and expense. In the event that possession of such personal property is not taken by the tenant or other person authorized by law to take possession within 45 days after such termination, vacation or abandonment, and any storage removal charges remain unpaid, then the Authority may, at its option, dispose of the personal property in any manner which the Authority deems fit, except that any proceeds from the disposal of such personal property shall be paid to the General Fund of the body which created the Authority. No tenant or other person shall have any cause of action against the Authority for such removal or disposition of such personal property.
(Prior Code, § 2-209)
(E) Rules and regulations.
(1) The Housing Authority may establish from time to time rules and regulations consistent with the purposes of this section concerning the priority of eligible applicants for occupancy.
(2) The Authority may give preferential treatment to applicants who are service members or veterans, relatives of service members or veterans, to disabled service members or veterans, the elderly or disabled, those in urgent need of adequate housing or who have no adequate source of income; provided, that in any such system of priority, displaced persons in need shall have a priority ahead of all other persons; and provided further, that no tenant in good standing then in occupancy and qualified for continued occupancy shall have his or her tenancy terminated in order to provide dwelling units for classes or categories of applicants as the Authority may establish.
(Prior Code, § 2-210)
(F) Reports. The Housing Authority shall keep an accurate account of all its activities and of all its receipts and disbursements and shall make an annual report at the second regular meeting in January of each year to the City Council.
(Prior Code, § 2-211) (Ord. 394, passed 2-8-1983; Ord. 395, passed 2-8-1983; Ord. 696, passed 10-10-2000)
Statutory reference:
Similar provisions, see Neb. RS 71-1572 through 71-15,168 and 71-1576