24 C.F.R. § 590.7 Program requirements.
Title 24 - Housing and Urban Development
(a) [Reserved] (b) Development of local urban homesteading program. The applicant shall develop, in compliance with this part, a local urban homesteading program containing the following major elements: (1) Selection and management of properties. The program shall include procedures for selecting federally-owned properties suitable for homesteading and for managing the properties before conditional conveyance to homesteaders. The program shall also provide that, by accepting title to a property under this part, the LUHA assumes liability for injury or damage to persons or property by reason of a defect in the dwelling, its equipment or appurtenances, or for any other reason related to ownership of the property. (2) Homesteader selection. The program shall include equitable procedures for homesteader selection which: (i) Exclude prospective homesteaders who own other residential property; (ii) Take into account a prospective homesteader's capacity to make or cause to be made the repairs and improvements required under the homesteader agreement, including the capacity to contribute a substantial amount of labor to the rehabilitation process, or to obtain assistance from private sources, community organizations, or other sources; (iii) Provide that membership in, or other ties to, any private organization (including a qualified community organization) may not be made a factor affecting selection as a homesteader; (iv) Include locally adopted criteria reasonably matching family size to the number of bedrooms in each property for which a homesteader is being selected, provided that a prospective homesteader who is a one person household shall not be permitted to receive a property having more than two bedrooms, unless there are no larger households on the waiting list, notwithstanding the relative standing of the respective households under the low-income priority (see §590.7(b)(2)(v)). (v) Provide that, before a property is offered to other prospective homesteaders who are eligible, the property will be offered to eligible low-income families, except that properties obtained under the RTC's Affordable Housing Disposition Program (12 CFR part 1609) must be transferred to low-income families; and (vi) Include other reasonable selection criteria which are consistent with this §590.7(b)(2) and which shall be specified in the applicant's application pursuant to §590.11(a) and approved by HUD under §590.13. Such selection criteria may include preferences for the selection of neighborhood residents or other local residents, but only to the extent that they are not inconsistent with this section and with affirmative marketing objectives under §590.11(d)(5)(ii). Such preferences based on residential location may not be based upon the length of time the prospective homesteader has resided in the jurisdiction or the neighborhood. Also, persons who are employed, or who have been notified that they have been hired, in the jurisdiction shall be extended any preference available to current residents. (3) Conditional conveyance. The program shall provide for the conditional conveyance of federally-owned properties to homesteaders without any substantial consideration within one year, or less, of title transfer to the LUHA, unless otherwise approved by HUD in writing prior to the transfer. (4) Financing. The program shall provide procedures for the LUHA to undertake, or to assist the homesteader in arranging, financing for the rehabilitation required under the homesteader agreement. Where direct Federal loans under section 312 of the Housing Act of 1964 (42 USC 1452b) are used as a rehabilitation financing resource by the LUHA, the LUHA shall make reasonable efforts to assist HUD in monitoring and securing compliance with the terms of the loan during the homesteader's conditional title period. (5) Homesteader agreement. The program shall provide for the execution, concurrent with or as a part of the conditional conveyance, of a homesteader agreement between the LUHA and the homesteader which shall require the homesteader: (i) To repair, within one year from the date of conditional conveyance of the property to the homesteader, any defects that pose a substantial danger to health and safety; (ii) To make or cause to be made additional repairs and improvements necessary to meet the applicable local standards for decent, safe, and sanitary housing within three years from the date of conditional conveyance of the property to the homesteader, and to comply with any energy conservation measures designated by the LUHA as part of the repairs; (iii) To occupy the property as his or her principal residence for not less than five consecutive years from the date of initial occupancy except as otherwise approved in writing by HUD on a case-by-case basis when emergency conditions make compliance with this requirement infeasible; (iv) To permit reasonable inspections at reasonable times by employees or designated agents of the LUHA to determine compliance with the agreement; and (v) To surrender possession of, and any interest in, the property upon material breach of the homesteader agreement (including default on any rehabilitation financing secured by the property), as determined by the LUHA in accordance with this part. (6) Monitoring and selecting successor homesteaders. The program shall provide that the LUHA will monitor the homesteader's compliance with the homesteader agreement, will revoke the conditional conveyance and homesteader agreement upon any material breach by the homesteader, and, to the extent necessary and practicable, will select one or more successor homesteaders for the property. The LUHA shall make reasonable efforts to assure that any proposed successor homesteader assumes any section 312 loan on the property, subject to HUD approval of the terms of the assumption. If the LUHA selects a successor homesteader, it shall require the successor homesteader to assume the original homesteader's remaining obligations under his/her homesteader agreement and conditional conveyance in compliance with this part. (7) Fee simple title. The program shall provide for the conveyance of fee simple title to the property from the LUHA to the homesteader, or successor homesteader, without substantial consideration upon compliance with the terms of the homesteader agreement and conditional conveyance. (8) Homesteading infeasible; alternative use. If completion of homesteading proves, in the judgment of HUD, to be infeasible for any reason after a LUHA has accepted title to a federally-owned property, the LUHA shall not demolish, dispose of, rent or otherwise convert the property to its own use until HUD approves an alternative use. (c) Designation of LUHA—(1) Responsibilities. Under the requirements of this §590.7(c), the applicant shall designate a LUHA, which shall have primary responsibility for administering the local urban homesteading program for the applicant. Although the applicant may at any time amend its local urban homesteading program to designate a new LUHA, subject to HUD approval, neither the applicant nor the designated LUHA may delegate or contract out to another legal entity the function of accepting and conveying in its own name title to properties for homesteading purposes under this part. To the extent permitted by the applicant, the LUHA may use third parties as contractors, consultants, or agents to assist if in carrying out other functions and responsibilities with respect to the local urban homesteading program, by entering into a written agreement between the LUHA and the third party. No such agreement shall be deemed to relieve the LUHA or the applicant of responsibility for the thrid party's actions in connection with the local urban homesteading program. (2) Identity of LUHA. The LUHA must have legal authority to carry out a local urban homesteading program as described in this part, including the authority to accept and convey title to properties under paragraph (b) of this §590.7. To the extent consistent therewith, the applicant State or unit of general local government may: (i) Act as LUHA in its own name, while identifying within its administrative organization a lead department or agency to act as the primary contact point for HUD; (ii) Designate, and enter into a written agreement with, a legally separate public body or agency to act as LUHA in accordance with this part; or (iii) Designate, and enter into a written agreement with, a qualified community organization (as defined in the Act) to act as LUHA in accordance with this part. [54 FR 23937, June 2, 1989, as amended at 56 FR 6808, Feb. 20, 1991; 61 FR 7062, Feb. 23, 1996]
Title 24: Housing and Urban Development
PART 590—URBAN HOMESTEADING
§ 590.7 Program requirements.
