2006 Minnesota Statutes

462A.02 POLICY.
    Subdivision 1. Findings; housing shortage. It is hereby found and declared that as a result
of public actions involving highways, public facilities and urban renewal activities, and as a result
of the spread of deteriorated housing and blight to formerly sound urban and rural neighborhoods,
and as a result of the inability of private enterprise and investment to produce without public
assistance a sufficient supply of decent, safe and sanitary residential dwellings at prices and
rentals which persons and families of low and moderate income can afford, there exists within
the state of Minnesota a serious shortage of decent, safe and sanitary housing at prices or rentals
within the means of persons and families of low and moderate income.
    Subd. 2. Inimical; affects growth, prosperity. It is further declared that this shortage of
housing for low and moderate income families is inimical to the safety, health, morals and welfare
of the residents of the state and to the sound growth and development of its communities. An
adequate supply of housing of a variety of housing types serving persons and families of all income
levels and properly planned and related to public transportation, public facilities, public utilities
and sources of employment and service is essential to the orderly growth and prosperity of the
state and its communities. Present patterns of providing housing unduly limit the housing options
for many people in the state's urban centers, smaller communities and nonmetropolitan areas.
    Subd. 3. Negative patterns. It is further declared that continuing present patterns of
providing housing in the state will limit the ability of the private building industry and the
investment industry to produce, without assistance, the needed construction of sanitary, decent
and safe residential dwellings at prices or rentals which persons and families of low and moderate
income can afford, will result in a failure to provide sufficient long term mortgage financing for
housing for low and moderate income families, and will not assure that additional housing will be
provided in sufficient quantity in the areas of need and demand.
    Subd. 4. State program needed. It is further declared that housing assistance programs
provided by the federal government are inadequate both in the amount of housing given
assistance and the number of dollars available for assistance and that it will not be possible to
meet the housing needs of low and moderate income families in Minnesota without state action to
supplement federal programs. The legislature also finds that the provision of additional federal
resources to assist in the reduction of housing costs for low and moderate income families is
dependent upon the state of Minnesota providing administrative capability and a state housing
finance program to add to and more effectively utilize federal funds. It is further declared that
the provision of an adequate supply of housing for low and moderate income families has been
greatly restricted by the rapidly increasing costs of financing housing and that providing an
adequate supply of housing to meet the needs of low and moderate income families will not be
possible until and unless the cost of mortgage financing for housing for low and moderate income
families is reduced by state action.
    Subd. 5. Agency is for public purpose. It is further declared that in establishing a Minnesota
housing finance agency, the legislature is acting in all respects for the benefit of the people of the
state of Minnesota to serve a public purpose in improving and otherwise promoting their health,
welfare and prosperity and that the Minnesota housing finance agency, as created and established,
is empowered to act on the behalf of the people of the state of Minnesota in serving this public
purpose for the benefit of the general public.
    Subd. 6. Meeting need is a public purpose. It is further declared that it is a valid public
purpose to construct housing for low and moderate income families who would otherwise
be unable to obtain adequate housing at prices or rentals they could afford, to encourage such
construction in the areas of need and demand with a reasonable balance between nonmetropolitan
and metropolitan areas of the state, and to assist in the elimination of substandard housing
conditions and to prevent the recurrence of such conditions by housing persons of varied
economic means and a wide range of incomes in the same developments and neighborhoods
properly planned and related to public facilities and sources of employment and services and to
provide the necessary powers to accomplish these public purposes.
    Subd. 7. Cooperation and coordination with feds. It is further declared that housing
assistance programs provided by the federal government frequently require cooperation by or
coordination with an agency of state government and that the availability of particular housing
assistance programs of the federal government may depend upon the existence of an agency
in state government with the authority and capacity to coordinate and administer such federal
housing assistance programs.
    Subd. 8. Rehabilitation. It is further found and declared that many residential dwellings
occupied by persons and families of low and moderate income do not conform to building,
housing maintenance, fire, health or other state, county and city codes and standards applicable to
housing; that many have a market value substantially below the market value that they would
have if rehabilitated; that many are substantially less desirable to live in than they would be if
rehabilitated; that many are substantially defective or are inadequate for the number of persons
occupying them; that many are uninsurable because of fire risks; that many owners of such
dwellings cannot afford to make the needed repairs and improvements without expending more
than a reasonable portion of their income for housing, and some are unable to afford any
additional amount for housing; and that existing private and public means of enterprise and
investment cannot provide financing or assistance on terms and conditions within the means of
many such owners. These conditions are adverse to the safety, health, and welfare of the citizens
of the state, and contrary to the public policy of preventing and eliminating blight in urban and
rural areas. The rehabilitation of such housing is more economical and less disruptive than
replacement and the relocation of the occupants. It is therefore a valid public purpose for the state
to preserve and promote the safety, health, and welfare of its citizens by exercise of the powers
granted to the Minnesota housing finance agency in this chapter.
    Subd. 9. Special needs residential care. It is further declared that the health, welfare,
and personal interests of persons who are mentally ill, developmentally disabled, physically
disabled, and drug dependent citizens of Minnesota and who are or may be in need of residential
care are better served through the development of a comprehensive, community-based system
of treatment and care which requires the availability of adequate financing for the construction,
renovation, or rehabilitation of residential care facilities as well as sufficient funds for their
operational start-up costs.
    Subd. 10. Energy conservation. It is further declared that supplies of conventional energy
resources are rapidly depleting in quantity and rising in price and that the burden of these
occurrences falls heavily upon the citizens of Minnesota generally and persons of low and
moderate income in particular. These conditions are adverse to the health, welfare, and safety
of all of the citizens of this state. It is further declared that it is a public purpose to ensure the
availability of financing to be used by all citizens of the state, while giving preference to low and
moderate income people, to assist in the installation in their dwellings of reasonably priced energy
conserving systems including the use of alternative energy resources and equipment so that by
the improvement of the energy efficiency of all housing, the adequacy of the total energy supply
may be preserved for the benefit of all citizens.
    Subd. 11. Long-term affordability. It is further declared that it is in the best interests of the
citizens of the state of Minnesota that public money used for the purposes of this chapter be used
in a manner that best assures the long-term affordability of housing to low- and moderate-income
citizens. To achieve that public purpose, the agency shall consider, in the making of grants and
loans and other uses of agency resources, the degree to which such grants, loans, and other uses
will assure the long-term affordability of the housing, by use of the neighborhood land trust
model or other techniques.
History: 1971 c 702 s 2; 1973 c 515 s 1; 1974 c 441 s 1-3; 1976 c 218 s 1; Ex1979 c 2 s 44;
1982 c 581 s 24; 1983 c 301 s 203; 1991 c 287 s 4; 2002 c 221 s 44; 2005 c 56 s 1