Sponsored by:
Assemblyman RONALD S. DANCER
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Creates housing purchase matching grant program for members of United States Armed Forces and New Jersey National Guard who have served in certain military operations.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act establishing a housing purchase matching grant program for certain members of the United States Armed Forces and New Jersey National Guard, supplementing and amending P.L.1983, c.530, and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) a. The New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency shall establish a matching grant program for the purposes of assisting certain members of the United States Armed Forces and the New Jersey National Guard in the purchase of a home. The program shall be coordinated with the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. The program may be interfaced with any program currently administered by the agency for first time homebuyers, but a recipient shall not be required to meet the other eligibility criteria of any other homebuyer program in order to be eligible to participate in the matching grant program.
b. Matching grants shall be made on the basis of available funds to eligible military personnel on a dollar for dollar matching fund basis, up to a maximum of $10,000. The funds may be applied to closing costs, equity payments, or for any other purpose which assists the recipient in purchasing a home.
c. In order to be eligible for a matching grant, a member of the United States Armed Forces or the New Jersey National Guard, at the time of application, shall provide proof of:
(1) at least 90 days of service on active duty in Operation Noble Eagle; Operation Enduring Freedom; or Operation Iraqi Freedom;
(2) legal residency in the State of New Jersey; and
(3) intent to purchase a principal residence in the State of New Jersey.
There shall be no income eligibility for the program, however, the agency may give priority to those applicants who are also eligible for assistance under other programs administered by the agency, such as the first time home-buyer program. Applicants shall not be eligible for more than one matching grant under the program. For the purposes of this act, members of the United States Armed Forces includes both active and reserve component members.
2. (New section) The
agency, in consultation with the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs,
shall promulgate such regulations as necessary to effectuate this act in
accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1
et seq.).
3. Section 5 of P.L.1983, c.530 (C.55:14K-5) is amended to read as follows:
5. In order to carry out the purposes and provisions of this act, the agency, in addition to any powers granted to it elsewhere in this act, shall have the following powers:
a. To adopt bylaws for the regulation of its affairs and the conduct of its business; to adopt an official seal and alter the same at pleasure; to maintain an office at such place or places within the State as it may designate; to sue and be sued in its own name;
b. To conduct examinations and hearings and to hear testimony and take proof, under oath or affirmation, at public or private hearings, on any matter material for its information and necessary to carry out the provisions of this act;
c. To issue [subpenas] subpoenas requiring the attendance of witnesses and the production of books and papers pertinent to any hearing before the agency, or before one or more of the members of the agency appointed by it to conduct a hearing;
d. To apply to any court, having territorial jurisdiction of the offense, to have punished for contempt any witness who refuses to obey a [subpena] subpoena, or who refuses to be sworn or affirmed to testify, or who is guilty of any contempt after summons to appear;
e. To acquire by purchase, gift, foreclosure or condemnation any real or personal property, or any interest therein, to enter into any lease of property and to hold, sell, assign, lease, encumber, mortgage or otherwise dispose of any real or personal property, or any interest therein, or mortgage lien interest owned by it or under its control, custody or in its possession and release or relinquish any right, title, claim, lien, interest, easement or demand however acquired, including any equity or right of redemption, in property foreclosed by it and to do any of the foregoing by public or private sale, with or without public bidding, notwithstanding the provisions of any other law;
f. To acquire, hold, use and dispose of its income revenues, funds and moneys;
g. To adopt rules and regulations expressly authorized by this act and such additional rules and regulations as shall be necessary or desirable to carry out the purposes of this act. The agency shall adopt regulations which provide for consultation with housing sponsors regarding the formulation of agency rules and regulations governing the operation of housing projects and which require the agency to consult with the affected housing sponsor prior to taking any and all specific proposed agency actions relating to the sponsor's housing project. The agency shall publish all rules and regulations and file them with the Secretary of State;
h. To borrow money or
secure credit on a temporary, short-term, interim or long-term basis, and to
issue negotiable bonds and to secure the payment thereof and to provide for the
rights of the
holders thereof;
i. To make and enter into and enforce all contracts and agreements necessary, convenient or desirable to the performance of its duties and the execution of its powers under this act, including contracts or agreements with qualified financial institutions for the servicing and processing of eligible loans owned by the agency;
j. To appoint and employ an executive director, who shall be the chief executive officer of the agency, and additional officers, who need not be members of the agency as the agency deems advisable, and to employ architects, engineers, attorneys, accountants, construction and financial experts and other employees and agents as may be necessary in its judgment and to determine their qualifications, terms of office, duties and compensation; and to promote and discharge such officers, employees and agents, all without regard to the provisions of Title 11 of the Revised Statutes, Civil Service;