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Torres signs bill to expand, supplement NMHC, HUD housing assistance
Gov. Ralph DLG Torres last week signed Senate Bill 20-7 into Public Law 20-18 to expand the use of the Northern Marianas Housing Corp. agreement payments to include supplementing and leveraging NMHC and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 8 Housing Assistance and loans programs as well as other federal and local housing and community programs administered by NMHC.
Authored by Senate President Arnold Palacios (R-Saipan), the bill will eliminates the lease agreement requirement to replace the Annex housing units located in Garapan because there are sufficient housing assistance units or vouchers to accommodate recipients.
According to Torres, Public Law 6-34, which authorized NMHC to lease certain lands for commercial development in the North Garapan Subdivision, required that all 45 existing housing units be replaced.
“I applaud Senate President Palacios for the authoring of this bill which found that although NMHC opted out of the US HUD Section 8 Housing Assistance Payment Contracts for the subdivision, none of the tenants were displaced and were in fact accommodated through housing assistance vouches or the HOME program. Amending and repealing this portion will better suit the needs of NMHC and our community,” Torres said.
The law will further allow for working capital to NMHC’s direct family home loan program and to assist in providing infrastructure for existing and future village homestead developments for the island of Saipan, Tinian, Rota, and the Northern Islands for low to moderate income families.
The law will further defray the costs of administering and managing NMHC’s housing assistance, housing loan and loan guarantee programs and other programs NMHC may administer in the future.
