Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 111 Part 2.djvu/307

 PUBLIC LAW 105-65—OCT. 27, 1997 111 STAT. 1387 retaining the low-income affordability and availability of this housing; (B) address physical and economic distress of this housing and the failure of some project managers and owners of projects to comply with management and ownership rules and requirements; and (C) transfer and share many of the loan and contract administration functions and responsibilities of the Secretary to and with capable State, local, and other entities; and (12) the authority and duties of the Secretary, not including the control by the Secretary of applicable accounts in the Treasury of the United States, may be delegated to State, local or other entities at the discretion of the Secretary, to the extent the Secretary determines, and for the purpose of carrying out this Act, so that the Secretary has the discretion to be relieved of processing and approving any document or action required by these reforms. (b) PURPOSES.— Consistent with the purposes and requirements of the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993, the purposes of this subtitle are— (1) to preserve low-income rental housing affordability and availability while reducing the long-term costs of project-based assistance; (2) to reform the design and operation of Federal rental housing assistance programs, administered by the Secretary, to promote greater multifamily housing project operating and cost efficiencies; (3) to encourage owners of eligible multifamily housing projects to restructure their FHA-insured mortgages and project-based assistance contracts in a manner that is consistent with this subtitle before the year in which the contract expires; (4) to reduce the cost of insurance claims under the National Housing Act related to mortgages insured by the Secretary and used to finance eligible multifamily housing projects; (5) to streamline and improve federally insured and assisted multifamily housing project oversight and administration; (6) to resolve the problems affecting financially and physically troubled federally insured and assisted multifamily housing projects through cooperation with residents, owners. State and local governments, and other interested entities and individuals; (7) to protect the interest of project owners and msmagers, because they are partners of the Federal Government in meeting the affordable housing needs of the Nation through the section 8 rental housing assistance program; (8) to protect the interest of tenants residing in the multifamily housing projects at the time of the restructuring for the housing; and (9) to grant additional enforcement tools to use against those who violate agreements and program requirements, in order to ensure that the public interest is safeguarded and that Federal multifamily housing programs serve their intended purposes.

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