AN ACT STATEMENT OF MOTIVES

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1 (S. B. 2416) (No. 102) (Approved June 17, 2000) AN ACT To amend subsections (a), (b), and (c), and add a new subsection (d) to Section 2, and amend Sections 4, 6, 8, and 9 of Act No. 85 of July 2, 1987, in order to establish the different categories of residents who qualify for the final disposition of housing in the Vista Hermosa Urbanization in the municipality of Humacao, as well as the benefits to which they shall be eligible, and for other purposes. STATEMENT OF MOTIVES Act No. 85, was approved on July 2, 1987, to authorize the Secretary of the Department of Housing to adopt a plan for the development, financing, and disposition of housing in behalf of a group of families from the Ciudad Cristiana urbanization, located in the municipality of Humacao, who were temporarily relocated in housing units belonging to the Department of Housing or the agencies attached to it. This statute was approved to offer the former residents of the Ciudad Cristiana urbanization an option to acquire housing after the Government ordered the eviction of their houses located in the Ciudad Cristiana Urbanization in February of 1985, and the relocation of all the residents of said community. At that time, it was alleged that the relocation constituted a measure for the protection of the health of the residents of Ciudad Cristiana. Pursuant to the abovementioned Act No. 85, a new urbanization known as Vista Hermosa was developed in the municipality of Humacao for the relocation of the former residents of Ciudad Cristiana. This statute provided

2 that the residential units in the Vista Hermosa urbanization would be sold for an estimated price of forty thousand (40,000) dollars to the former residents of Ciudad Cristiana. Every eligible family was granted an eighteen thousand (18,000) dollar bonus that, along with the proceeds of the mortgage loan of twenty-two thousand (22,000) dollars that the Housing Bank and Finance Agency would give them, would grant to them to acquire the units in the Vista Hermosa urbanization. Almost thirteen (13) years have passed since the approval of Act No. 85, and the bona fide former residents of the Ciudad Cristiana Urbanization have not yet received the property deeds to the homes they have occupied for so many years. These persons who were evicted from their homes in the Ciudad Cristiana urbanization by request of the government administration at that time, do not have the financial capacity to constitute a mortgage that, upon noncompliance, would lead to a mortgage foreclosure proceeding. It is unfair that after such a long time, and under the previously described circumstances, these families do not hold a recordable title that will offer them the satisfaction of being the owners of the properties that constitute their homes. Framed within the purpose of offering a fair remedy that enables the objective of granting them full enjoyment of their homes, this Act has the purpose of offering such a remedy. Besides offering the former residents of Ciudad Cristiana the satisfaction and the security of owning their own home without having to encumber it with a mortgage. This statute also offers options for those persons or families that can reliably demonstrate that they live in the residential units of the Vista Hermosa urbanization as a result of a transfer in their behalf executed by the former residents of the Ciudad

3 Cristiana Urbanization, as well as for those who acquired the units with their own money or through a mortgage loan. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF PUERTO RICO: Section 1.- Subsections (a), (b), and (c) are hereby amended and a new subsection (d) is added to Section 2 of Act No. 85 of July 2, 1987, to read as follows: Section 2.- The Secretary of the Department of Housing shall adopt a plan for the disposal and sale of the housing units specified in Section 1 of this Act, which shall conform to the following norms and criteria: a) The bona fide residents of the Ciudad Cristiana Urbanization that upon the date of approval of this Act are living in the residence that was assigned to them, shall receive, free of charge, the transfer of the ownership of the residential unit that constitutes their home. A bona fide resident shall mean every former resident of the Ciudad Cristiana Urbanization, according to the inventory of the Department of Housing, that still continue to reside in the residential units of the Vista Hermosa Urbanization. b) The bona fide residents that already paid the twenty-two thousand (22,000) dollars provided in Act No. 85 of July 22, 1987, and have no mortgage lien, shall be reimbursed for the sum paid up to a maximum of twenty-two thousand (22,000) dollars. If there were any mortgage lien constituted for the purchase of the property, said sum shall be applied, in the first case, to the balance or payment to said mortgage and if there were any excess, it shall correspond to the bona fide former resident. The funds to deal with this group shall originate from

4 the sale of the units of the Vista Hermosa Project that shall be sold by the Office for the Administration of Assets of the defunct Urban Renewal and Housing Corporation (CRUV, its Spanish acronym). c) The persons that are able to reliably provide evidence through a written document, that the bona fide former resident of the Ciudad Cristiana Urbanization transferred the residential unit in the Vista Hermosa urbanization to their favor, shall acquire the unit they occupy for twenty-two thousand (22,000) dollars, by means of a loan that may be granted by the Housing Bank and Finance Agency or by the financial institution that the buyer chooses. A term of one hundred eighty (180) calendar days shall be granted after the approval of this Act, to make the sale transaction with the Office for the Administration of Assets of the defunct CRUV official, and, if it is not done within the mentioned term, the person shall vacate the unit within a term of thirty (30) days, after the one hundred eighty (180) day term has elapsed. d) In those cases of occupants of units in the Vista Hermosa urbanization not contemplated in the three (3) preceding categories, they shall sign a lease contract or acquire said units through a purchase, pursuant to the norms and procedures established by the Office for the Administration of the Assets of the defunct CRUV. Section 2.- Section 4 of Act No. 85 of July 2, 1987, is hereby amended to read as follows:

5 Section 4.- The persons who do not appear at the signing of the deeds within the term that the Secretary of the Department of Housing determines by regulations, shall be declared ineligible for the purposes of this Act, and without a right to occupy the dwelling. Section 3.- Section 6 of Act No. 85 of July 2, 1985, is hereby amended, to read as follows: Section 6.- The following conditions which shall constitute a real lien on the property shall be made a part of the bill of sale as restricting conditions for the transfer: The beneficiary mentioned in subsections (a) and (b) of Section 2 shall have the obligation of reimbursing to the Office for the Administration of Assets of the defunct CRUV, and/or to the Department of Housing the amount of twenty-two thousand (22,000) dollars if within the term of six (6) years after the date of the granting of the property title, he sells, barters, bequeaths, or otherwise conveys the real property acquired in the Vista Hermosa Urbanization. Regarding the beneficiaries mentioned in subsection (b) of Section 2, it shall be required that, simultaneous to the receipt of the twenty-two thousand (22,000) dollar reimbursement, they execute a public document or deed that consigns the restrictive conditions described in subsection (a) of this Section. In the event of the death of the buyer, his ascendants or descendants shall not be bound to execute the reimbursement provided above if the property had been legitimately conveyed to them by testamentary or interstate succession. If the heirs acquire ownership of the property within the six (6) year period mentioned above, and within that same period, decide to sell, barter, bequest or otherwise convey the property, they shall be bound to make the reimbursement as stated above.

6 ... Section 4.- Section 8 of Act No. 85 of July 2, 1987, is hereby amended to read as follows: Section 8.- If there were vacant homes after the group of families eligible under this Act, the Secretary of the Department of Housing may authorize the Office for the Administration of Assets of the defunct CRUV to dispose of said homes in behalf of other families or persons who lack an adequate home. In said cases, both the sale price and the selection and adjudication criteria shall be done according to the provisions of other applicable laws. In no case shall the acquiring families be entitled to the subsidies or bonuses provided in this Act. Section 5.- Section 9 of Act No. 85 of July 2, 1987, is hereby amended, to read as follows: Section 9.- The Secretary of the Department of Housing shall amend the regulations pursuant to what is necessary and consistent with the purposes of this Act, and shall establish the criteria and the procedure to be used to grant the benefits granted awarded hereby, within sixty (60) days following the effective date of this Act. The rules and regulations adopted by virtue of this Act shall prevail over any other norms or regulations of the Office for the Administration of Assets of the defunct CRUV, in effect which establish the requirements or criteria, the acquisition of homes, and that regulate thus sale, provided that the families or persons are entitled to its benefits pursuant to this Act. Section 6.- This Act shall take effect immediately after its approval.

7 CERTIFICATION I hereby certify to the Secretary of State that the following Act No. 102 (S.B. 2416) of the 7 th Session of the 13 th Legislature of Puerto Rico: AN ACT to amend subsections (a), (b), and (c), and add a new subsection (d) to Section 2, and amend Sections 4, 6, 8, and 9 of Act No. 85 of July 2, 1987, in order to establish the different categories of residents who qualify for the final disposition of housing in the Vista Hermosa Urbanization in the municipality of Humacao, as well as the benefits to which they shall be eligible, and for other purposes, has been translated from Spanish to English and that the English version is correct. In San Juan, Puerto Rico, today 17 th of November of Elba Rosa Rodríguez-Fuentes Director

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