As used in the Regional Housing Law:

A. "affordable housing" means housing that serves the needs of low- and moderate-income persons;

B. "affordable housing programs" means an ongoing delivery system of affordable housing services that assists persons of low- and moderate-income;

C. "federal government" includes the United States of America, programs of the United States department of housing and urban development, the farmers home administration and rural development administration of the United States department of agriculture or housing programs or any other agency or instrumentality, corporate or otherwise, of the United States of America;

D. "housing project" means an undertaking of an authority to:

(1) demolish, clear or remove buildings from any slum area. The undertaking may embrace the adaptation of the area to public purposes, including parks or other recreational or community purposes; or

(2) provide decent, safe and sanitary dwellings, apartments, single-family dwellings or other affordable living accommodations for low- and moderate-income persons. The undertaking may include buildings, land, equipment, facilities and other real or personal property for necessary, convenient or desirable appurtenances, streets, sewers, water service, parks, site preparation or gardening or administrative, community, health, recreational, welfare or other purposes. "Housing project" also may be applied to the planning of buildings and improvements, acquisition of property or existing structures, demolition of existing structures, construction, reconstruction, alteration and repair of improvements or buildings or any other work performed to complete housing projects;

E. "indebtedness" means any note, interim certificate, debenture or other obligation to be issued pursuant to the Regional Housing Law;

F. "local housing authority" means any municipal or county housing authority established by a municipality or county;

G. "local public body" means any county, municipality, commission, district or other political subdivision of the state;

H. "low-income person" means any individual, couple or family whose gross income does not exceed eighty percent of the person's particular area median income and who cannot afford to pay more than thirty-five percent of gross annual income for housing rent or mortgage payments; or a low-income person as defined by the federal government;

I. "moderate-income person" means any individual, couple or family whose gross annual income is not less than eighty percent of the person's particular area median income and does not exceed one hundred twenty percent of the area income;

J. "obligee" means:

(1) a holder of indebtedness issued pursuant to the Regional Housing Law or a trustee for the holder of debt;

(2) a lessor leasing to a regional housing authority or a local housing authority property used in connection with a housing project or any assignee of a lessor's interest or partial interest; or

(3) the federal government when it is a party to a contract with a regional housing authority or a local housing authority in regard to a housing project;

K. "real property" includes all lands, including improvements and fixtures on the land, property of any nature appurtenant to or used in connection with the land and every estate, interest and right, legal or equitable, in the land, including terms for years and liens by way of judgment, mortgage or other instrument and the indebtedness secured by the lien;

L. "regional housing authority" means any regional housing authority or a nonprofit housing corporation approved pursuant to Section 11-3A-9 NMSA 1978; and

M. "slum" means any area where dwellings predominate, which by reason of dilapidation, overcrowding, lack of ventilation, light or sanitary facilities or any combination of these factors is detrimental to safety, health or morals.

History: Laws 1994, ch. 132, § 3; 1995, ch. 191, § 3; 2007, ch. 50, § 1; 2009, ch. 48, § 2.

Compiler's notes. — Laws 1995, ch. 191, § 25, effective June 16, 1995, repealed Laws 1994, ch. 132, § 30, which provided for the repeal of this section on July 1, 1995.

The 2009 amendment, effective March 31, 2009, deleted former Subsection A, which defined "authority"; deleted former Subsection B, which defined "bond"; added Subsections A, B, E, F, I and L; in Paragraph (2) of Subsection D, added "moderate-income persons"; in Subsection H, changed "thirty percent of gross income" to "thirty-five percent of gross annual income"; and in Subsection J, added "regional housing authority" and "local housing authority".

The 2007 amendment, effective March 28, 2007, changed the definition of "bond" to mean bonds issued by the New Mexico mortgage finance authority.

The 1995 amendment, effective June 16, 1995, deleted "or 'housing authority'" preceding "means" in Subsection A, rewrote Subsection B, substituted the language beginning "programs of" and ending "housing programs" for "the public housing administration" in Subsection C, deleted Subsection D, which defined "slum", redesignated former Subsection E as Subsection D, substituted "or buildings or any other work performed to complete housing projects" for "and all other work in connection therewith" at the end of Subsection D, added Subsection E, rewrote Subsections F and G, substituted "other instrument" for "otherwise" in Subsection H, rewrote Subsection I, and made minor stylistic changes throughout the section.