Title 42
State Affairs and Government

Chapter 55
Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation

§ 42-55-3. Definitions.

The following words and terms, unless the context clearly indicates a different meaning, shall have the following meanings:

(1) “Bonds, notes, and other obligations” or “bonds, bond anticipation notes, or other obligations” means any bonds, notes, debentures, interim certificates, or other evidences of financial indebtedness issued by the corporation pursuant to this chapter.

(2) “Corporation” means the Rhode Island housing and mortgage finance corporation created by this chapter.

(3) “Earned surplus” shall have the same meaning as in generally accepted accounting standards.

(4) “Energy saving improvements” means improvements for the purpose of promoting energy savings or efficiency in residential housing and shall include, but not be limited to, the installation or upgrading of ceiling, wall, floor, and duct insulation, storm windows and doors, caulking and weather stripping, solar, passive or other alternative energy sources, hot water heaters, heating or cooling systems, and any other improvements of a similar nature as may from time to time be determined by the corporation.

(5) “Federally insured mortgage” means a mortgage loan for land development or residential housing or healthcare facilities insured or guaranteed by the United States or a governmental agency or instrumentality of the United States, or a commitment by the United States or a governmental agency or instrumentality of the United States to insure that mortgage.

(6) “Federal mortgage” means a mortgage loan for land development or residential housing or healthcare facility made by the United States or a governmental agency or instrumentality of the United States or for which there is a commitment by the United States or a governmental agency or instrumentality of the United States to make that mortgage loan.

(7) “Governmental agency” or “instrumentality” means any department, division, public corporation, public agency, political subdivision, or other public instrumentality of the state, the federal government, any other state or public agency, or any two (2) or more of these.

(8) “Healthcare facilities” means real property (or a lease of the fee of real property) located in the state and improved by buildings, structures, or other improvements, including fixtures and equipment, constituting a facility providing services by or under the supervision of a physician or, in the case of a dental clinic or dental dispensary, of a dentist, for the prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of a human disease, pain, injury, deformity, or physical condition or constituting a facility providing to occupants nursing care to sick, invalid, infirm, disabled, or convalescent persons in addition to lodging and board or health-related service or providing nursing care and health-related service to persons who are not occupants of the facilities, or unimproved if the proceeds of an eligible mortgage shall be used for the purpose of erecting these buildings, structures, or other improvements.

(9) “Housing development” or “housing project” means any work or undertaking, whether new construction or rehabilitation, constituting a single family or multi-family residence including without limitation mobile homes and shelters, which are designed and financed pursuant to the provisions of this chapter for the primary purpose of providing sanitary, decent, and safe dwelling accommodations for persons and families of low or moderate income in need of housing; this undertaking may include any buildings, land, equipment, facilities, or other real or personal properties which are necessary, convenient, or desirable in connection therewith, including, but not limited to, streets, sewers, utilities, parks, site preparation, landscaping, and those stores, offices, and other non-housing facilities such as administrative, community, health, recreational, educational, commercial, and welfare facilities that the corporation determines to be necessary, convenient, or desirable.

(10) “Housing development costs” means the sum total of all costs incurred in the development of a housing development or housing project, which are approved by the corporation as reasonable and necessary, which costs shall include, but are not necessarily limited to:

(i) Cost of land acquisition and any buildings thereon, including payments for options, deposits, or contracts to purchase properties on the proposed housing project or housing development site or payments for the purchase of the properties;

(ii) Cost of site preparation, demolition, and clearing;

(iii) Architectural, engineering, legal, accounting, corporation, and other fees paid or payable in connection with the planning, execution, and financing of the housing development and for finding an eligible mortgagee or mortgagees for the housing development;

(iv) Cost of necessary studies, surveys, plans, and permits;

(v) Insurance, interest, financing, tax and assessment costs, and other operating and carrying costs during construction;

(vi) Cost of construction, rehabilitation, reconstruction, fixtures, furnishings, equipment, machinery, apparatus, and similar facilities related to the real property;

(vii) Cost of land improvements, including without limitation, landscaping and off-site improvements, whether or not these costs have been paid for in cash or in a form other than cash;

(viii) Necessary expenses in connection with initial occupancy of the housing development or housing project;

(ix) A reasonable profit and risk fee in addition to job overhead to the general contractor and, if applicable, a limited profit housing sponsor;

(x) An allowance established by the corporation for working capital and contingency reserves, and reserves for any anticipated operating deficits during construction and for the first two (2) years of occupancy; and

(xi) The cost of any other items, including tenant relocation, that the corporation shall determine to be reasonable and necessary for the development of the housing development, less any and all net rents and other net revenues received from the operation of the real and personal property on the development site during construction.

(11) “Housing sponsor,” “healthcare sponsor” or “sponsor” means individuals, joint ventures, partnerships, limited partnerships, trusts, firms, associations, or other legal entities or any combination thereof, corporations, cooperatives, and condominiums, approved by the corporation as qualified either to own, construct, acquire, rehabilitate, operate, manage, or maintain a housing development, housing project or residential housing or healthcare facilities whether for profit, nonprofit, or organized for limited profit subject to the regulatory powers of the corporation and other terms and conditions set forth in this chapter.

(12) “Land development” means the process of acquiring land primarily for residential housing construction for persons and families of low and moderate income, or for construction of healthcare facilities, and making, installing, or constructing nonresidential housing or healthcare facility improvements, including water, sewer, and other utilities, roads, streets, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, storm drainage facilities, and other installations or works, whether on or off the site, which the corporation deems necessary or desirable to prepare the land primarily for residential housing or healthcare facility construction within the state.

(13) “Mortgage” means a mortgage deed, deed of trust, security agreement or other instrument which shall constitute a lien on real property in fee simple or on a leasehold under a lease having a remaining term, at the time the mortgage is acquired, which does not expire for at least that number of years beyond the maturity date of the obligation secured by the mortgage as is equal to the number of years remaining until the maturity date of the obligation and on related personal property constituting the housing development, housing project, or residential housing.

(14) “Mortgage lender” means any bank or trust company, federal national mortgage association approved mortgage banker, savings bank, savings and loan association, industrial bank, credit union, national banking association, federal savings and loan association, or federal credit union, or other financial institutions or governmental agencies which are eligible to provide service or otherwise aid in the financing of mortgages on single family residential housing or multifamily residential housing or healthcare facilities located in the state.

(15) “Mortgage loan” means an interest-bearing obligation secured by a mortgage on land and improvements in the state constituting a housing development or housing project or healthcare facility or residential housing.

(16) “Multi-family residential housing” means residential housing consisting of five (5) or more family units.

(17) “Municipality” means any city, town, or other political subdivision of the state.

(18) “Persons and families of low and moderate income” means persons and families irrespective of race, creed, national origin, or sex deemed by the corporation to require any assistance made available by this chapter on account of insufficient personal or family income, taking into consideration, without limitation, such factors as:

(i) The amount of the total income of those persons and families available for housing needs;

(ii) The size of the family;

(iii) The cost and condition of housing facilities available;

(iv) The eligibility of those persons and families for federal housing assistance of any type predicated upon a low income basis or upon the basis of the age of the persons;

(v) The ability of those persons and families to compete successfully in the normal housing market and to pay the amounts at which private enterprise is providing decent, safe, and sanitary housing, and deemed by the corporation to be eligible to occupy residential housing constructed and financed, wholly or in part, with insured construction loans or insured mortgages, or with other public or private assistance.

(19) “Real property” means all lands including improvements and fixtures thereon, and property of any nature appurtenant thereto, or used in connection therewith, and every estate, interest, and right, legal or equitable, therein, including terms of years and liens by way of judgment, mortgage, or otherwise and the indebtedness secured by those liens.

(20) “Residential housing” means:

(i) A specific work or improvement within this state whether in single family or multi-family units undertaken primarily to provide dwelling accommodations for persons and families of low and moderate income and for the elderly, including the acquisition, construction, or rehabilitation of land, buildings, and improvements thereto, and other non-housing facilities incidental or appurtenant thereto; and

(ii) Existing housing owned and occupied by, and shelters for, persons or families of low or moderate income or the elderly.

(21) “Shelter” means an entity or organization located in the state which provides on-site temporary residential shelter to homeless, abused, battered, or neglected individuals and/or families, and which receives a portion of its operating funds from the state.

(22) “Single family residential housing” means residential housing consisting of four (4) or fewer family units.

(23) “State” means the state of Rhode Island.