Esta ley enmienda la Ley del Fideicomiso Perpetuo de Comunidades Especiales para permitir que el Fideicomiso otorgue donaciones de hasta $15,000 a residentes de Comunidades Especiales para la compra, construcción o rehabilitación de sus viviendas. La ley busca facilitar el acceso a vivienda digna para residentes de bajos ingresos en estas comunidades.
(Approved September 23, 2004)
To add a subsection (ñ) to Section 9 of Act No. 271 of November 21, 2002, known as the "Special Communities Perpetual Trust Act," and to add subsection (ñ) to allow the Trust to grant donations of up to $(15,000)$ dollars to residents of Special Communities; and for other purposes.
The creation of the Special Communities Perpetual Trust has been a vanguard financial mechanism that expedites the financing of public works in the communities.
Since its creation scarcely a year ago, the Trust has provided more than 216 million in funds for housing developments in the Special Communities in Puerto Rico. There are 4,833 housing units under construction and rehabilitation in 102 communities.
Act No. 271 of November 21, 2002, authorizes the Trust to grant personal or mortgage secured loans to the residents of Special Communities for the purchase, rehabilitation and construction of their homes. However, the poverty level of some of the residents is of such a nature that the granting of a loan is not sufficient to cover the total cost of the rehabilitation or construction of a home. Therefore, it is necessary to authorize the Trust to grant a base amount as a donation to these residents so that the cost of the construction or rehabilitation is lower and becomes affordable for the residents.
The intention of this Legislature is to extend the faculties and powers of the Trust so that it may grant an amount that shall not exceed $15,000 as a donation to those residents that qualify pursuant to the regulations to be adopted for such purposes.
Section 1.- Subsection (ñ) is hereby added to Section 9 of Act No. 271 of November 21, 2002, known as the "Special Communities Perpetual Trust Act," to read as follows: "Section 9.- Powers of the Trust The Trust shall have and may exercise all the rights and powers that are necessary and convenient to achieve its purposes, including the following:
(a) ...
(b) ...
(c) ...
(d) ...
(e) ...
(r) ...
(g) ...
(h) ...
(i) ...
(j) ...
(k) ... (1) ...
(m) ...
(n) ... (ñ) Grant donations to residents of the Special Communities which shall not exceed $15,000, to be used for the purchase,
construction or rehabilitation of the dwelling in which they live and of which they are the owners; being it understood that the disbursement shall never be made directly to the resident. The Trust shall establish the requirements and norms for the granting of the donations to low income persons and shall make the donation upon verification of the use to be made of the donation granted."
Section 2.- This Act shall take effect immediately after its approval.
I hereby certify to the Secretary of State that the following Act No. 473 (S.B. 2589) of the $7^{ ext {th }}$ Session of the $14^{ ext {th }}$ Legislature of Puerto Rico:
AN ACT to add a subsection (ñ) to Section 9 of Act No. 271 of November 21, 2002, known as the "Special Communities Perpetual Trust Act," and to add subsection (ñ) to allow the Trust to grant donations of up to $(15,000)$ dollars to residents of Special Communities; and for other purposes, has been translated from Spanish to English and that the English version is correct.
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, today $29^{ ext {th }}$ of May of 2007.
Francisco J. Domenech Director