AFFORDABLE HOUSING TRUST FUND

M.G.L. pt. Part I, tit. Title XVII, ch. c. 121D

in effect

M.G.L. c. 121D, § 1 Definitions

c. 121D, § 1. Definitions Section 1. As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings:- ''Agency'', the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency, established by section 3 of chapter 708 of the acts of 1966. ''Committee'', the advisory committee established by section 4. ''Fund'', the Affordable Housing Trust Fund established by section 2.

M.G.L. c. 121D, § 2 Affordable Housing Trust Fund; administration; annual audit; projects

c. 121D, § 2. Affordable Housing Trust Fund; administration; annual audit; projects Section 2. (a) There shall be a separate fund to be known as the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which shall be sited within the executive office of housing and livable communities. The executive office shall enter into a contract with the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency for the administration of the fund, according to guidelines promulgated by the executive office and in consultation with the advisory committee. The fund shall assist in the creation and preservation of affordable housing in the commonwealth, for the benefit of households whose incomes are not more than 110 per cent of median income as determined by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. The fund shall be an expendable trust fund and shall not be subject to appropriation. The fund shall not be subject to the commonwealth development coordinating council established in created pursuant to section 8B of chapter 6A. (b) There shall be credited to the fund, revenue from appropriations or other monies authorized by the general court and specifically designated to be credited to the fund, and gifts, grants, private contributions, repayment of loans, investment income earned on the fund's assets, and all other sources. Money remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund. (c) The agency shall maintain the fund as a separate fund, and shall cause it to be audited by an independent accountant on an annual basis in accordance with accepted accounting principles. (d) The agency shall administer assistance from the fund using only the criteria set forth under this chapter for projects owned or sponsored by non-profit or for-profit organizations, including but not limited to projects that involve complex multiple-source financing or the preservation of existing affordable housing; provided, however, that no such assistance shall be permitted unless the sponsor thereof is current on all existing mortgage obligations with the commonwealth or any subdivision thereof and provided further, that such projects may include manufactured housing communities. The agency shall enter into agreements with the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation to administer assistance from the fund for projects owned or sponsored by nonprofit organizations, after consulting the advisory committee established by section 4.

M.G.L. c. 121D, § 3 Assistance from fund; eligible activities and organizations; preferences

c. 121D, § 3. Assistance from fund; eligible activities and organizations; preferences Section 3. (a) The fund shall finance low and no interest loans, grants, subsidies, credit enhancements and other financial assistance for community affordable and mixed-income housing developments and shall pay for administering the fund; provided, however, that such assistance shall be the minimum amount necessary to make a project feasible. Activities eligible for assistance from the fund include, but are not limited to: (1) Capital grants and deferred payment loans for new construction, rehabilitation, or acquisition of housing units; (2) Capital grants and deferred payment loans for new construction, rehabilitation, or acquisition of permanent housing or transitional housing units for homeless families and individuals; (3) Mortgage insurance guarantees and other credit enhancements for eligible projects; (4) Projects making affordable housing more accessible to senior citizens and people with disabilities; (5) Matching funds for municipalities that sponsor affordable housing initiatives; (6) Down payment and closing cost assistance for first-time home buyers; (7) Matching funds for employer-based programs to assist employees in meeting their rental and homeownership housing costs; and (8) Repair, rehabilitation and modernization of existing public housing units. The fund shall expend for this purpose not less than $5 million per year. (b) Organizations that may receive assistance from the fund include governmental subdivisions, community development corporations, local housing authorities, community action agencies, community-based or neighborhood-based non-profit housing organizations, other non-profit organizations, for-profit entities and private employers. Preference shall be given to nonprofit organizations, to organizations sponsoring projects that secure private funds and to projects with the longest-term affordability restrictions. (c) Housing units constructed, rehabilitated, or acquired using funds from the fund shall remain affordable for the longest period reasonably achievable and consistent with affordability restrictions as part of the development's other funding sources. In the absence of other affordability restrictions, housing units constructed, rehabilitated, or acquired using funds from the fund shall remain affordable for not less than 30 years. (d) The fund shall give special attention to the preservation of developments which are or were subject to prepayment of a state or federally assisted mortgage or which are receiving project-based rental assistance under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937, 42 U.S.C. section 1437f, and such rental assistance is expiring; provided, however, that such funding priority shall be based on at-risk criteria to be determined by the executive office of housing and livable communities in conjunction with the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency and set forth in regulations promulgated by the executive office. (e) Funds provided for the fund may be used to write down interest rates and related costs for a program for low-income and moderate-income first-time homebuyers administered by the board of directors of the Massachusetts Housing Partnership Fund established pursuant to section 35 of chapter 405 of the acts of 1985.

M.G.L. c. 121D, § 4 Advisory committee; members

c. 121D, § 4. Advisory committee; members Section 4. (a) There shall be established an advisory committee to the fund, which shall make policy recommendations to the agency and to the executive office of housing and livable communities regarding the fund's program and funding activities. (b) The committee shall be comprised of the following 15 members: the secretary of housing and livable communities or a designee; the executive director of the Massachusetts Housing Partnership Fund or his designee; the executive director of the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation or his designee; two municipal officials appointed by the Massachusetts Municipal Association, one of whom shall be from a city and one of whom shall be from a town; one lender experienced in the financing of affordable housing and one for-profit developer of affordable housing, each appointed by the agency; an executive director of a local housing authority appointed by the Massachusetts chapter of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials; and a representative appointed by each of the following organizations: the Citizens' Housing and Planning Association, Inc., the Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance, the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations, the Massachusetts Nonprofit Housing Association, the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance and the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization. Committee members shall serve at the pleasure of the appointing authorities. (c) Chapter 268A shall apply to committee members as special state employees, but the fund may purchase from, sell to, borrow from, loan to, contract with or otherwise deal with any person in which any committee member is in any way interested or involved, if such interest or involvement is disclosed in advance to the members of the committee and recorded in the minutes of the committee meeting. No committee member having such an interest or involvement may participate in any action of the committee relating to such person. Employment by the commonwealth or service in any agency thereof shall not be deemed to be such an interest or involvement.

M.G.L. c. 121D, § 5 Annual report; contents

c. 121D, § 5. Annual report; contents Section 5. The Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency shall, as part of its annual report requirement set forth in section 14 of chapter 708 of the Acts of 1966, detail all expenditures from the fund, including but not limited to the recipient of the funds, the cost of administration, and the number of units constructed, acquired and rehabilitated.

Source: Massachusetts General Court (malegislature.gov)URL: https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXVII/Chapter121DFetched: 10/20/2026