(a) There is created a body corporate and politic to be known as the Georgia Housing and Finance Authority which shall be deemed to be an instrumentality of the state, and not a state agency, and a public corporation performing an essential governmental function.

(b) The authority is assigned to the Department of Community Affairs for administrative purposes only.

(c) The authority shall consist of the same persons who comprise the Board of Community Affairs. The members are subject to the code of ethics covering members of boards, commissions, and authorities as contained in Code Sections 45-10-3 through 45-10-5 and are subject to removal for violation of the code of ethics as provided in those Code sections. Any vacancy created by any such removal for cause shall be filled by the Governor. Each member shall serve under the same terms and conditions as provided for in Code Section 50-8-4.

(d) The terms of all members of the authority serving immediately prior to July 1, 1996, shall expire effective July 1, 1996.

(e) At each July meeting, the authority shall elect from its membership a chair, a vice chair, a secretary, and such other officers as it may determine from time to time. Officers shall serve for a term of one year beginning with their election and qualification and ending with the election and qualification of their respective successors. No person shall hold the same office for more than one consecutive term, and no member of the authority shall hold more than any one office of the authority.

(f) The members of the authority shall receive the same expense allowance per day as that received by members of the General Assembly, plus actual transportation expenses incurred while traveling by public carrier or the allowance authorized for state officials and employees for the use of a personal automobile, for each day a member is in attendance at a meeting of the authority or a committee meeting of the authority. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no member shall receive an expense allowance or transportation reimbursement if said member is entitled to receive an expense allowance, transportation reimbursement, or per diem allowance for performance of duties as a member of the Board of Community Affairs for work performed on that day.

(g) Except for the authorization of the issuance of bonds, the authority may delegate to the executive director such powers and duties as it may deem proper.

(h) The commissioner of community affairs shall be the executive director of the authority. The executive director shall appoint such directors, deputies, and assistants as may be necessary to manage the operations of the authority and may organize the authority into such divisions, sections, or offices as may be deemed necessary or convenient.

(i) No part of the funds of the authority shall inure to the benefit of or be distributed to its members or officers or other private persons, except that the authority shall be authorized and empowered to pay reasonable compensation for services rendered and to reimburse expenses incurred. In addition, the authority shall be authorized and empowered to make loans and grants, allocate credits, provide financial assistance, and otherwise exercise its other powers in furtherance of its corporate purposes. No such loans or grants or financial assistance shall be made to, no credits shall be allocated to, and no property shall be purchased or leased from or sold, leased, or otherwise disposed of to any member or officer of the authority in his or her individual capacity or by virtue of partnership or ownership of a for profit corporation. This subsection does not preclude loans or grants to, or financial assistance or allocation of credit to, or purchase or lease from or sale, lease, or disposal of property to any subsidiary corporation of the authority.

(j) The Attorney General shall provide legal services for the authority, and, in connection therewith, Code Sections 45-15-13 through 45-15-16 shall be fully applicable.