§ 35A-8-407. Powers of housing authority.

(1) An authority has perpetual succession and all the powers necessary to carry out the purposes of this part.

(2) An authority may:

(a) sue and be sued;

(b) have a seal and alter it;

(c) make and execute contracts and other instruments necessary to the exercise of its powers;

(d) make, amend, and repeal bylaws and rules;

(e) within its area of operation, prepare, carry out, and operate projects and provide for the acquisition, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, improvement, extension, alteration or repair of any project;

(f) undertake and carry out studies and analyses of housing needs within its area of operation and ways of meeting those needs, including data with respect to population and family groups and its distribution according to income groups, the amount and quality of available housing, including accessible housing, and its distribution according to rentals and sales prices, employment, wages and other factors affecting the local housing needs and meeting these needs;

(g)

(i) make the results of studies and analyses available to the public and the building, housing, and supply industries; and

(ii) engage in research and disseminate information on housing programs;

(h) utilize, contract with, act through, assist, and cooperate or deal with any person, agency, institution, or organization, public or private, for the provision of services, privileges, works, or facilities, or in connection with its projects;

(i) notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this part or in any other provision of law:

(i) agree to any conditions attached to federal financial assistance relating to the determination of prevailing salaries or wages or payment of not less than prevailing salaries or wages or compliance with labor standards in the development or administration of projects;

(ii) include in any contract awarded or entered into in connection with a project stipulations requiring that the contractor and all subcontractors comply with requirements as to minimum salaries or wages and maximum hours of labor; and

(iii) comply with any conditions attached to the financial aid of the project;

(j) lease, rent, sell, or lease with the option to purchase any dwellings, lands, buildings, structures, or facilities embraced in a project;

(k) subject to the limitations contained in this part with respect to the rental or charges for dwellings in housing projects, establish and revise the rents or charges for the dwellings;

(l) own, hold, and improve real or personal property;

(m) purchase, lease, obtain options upon, acquire by gift, grant, bequest, devise, or otherwise any real or personal property or any interest in it;

(n) sell, lease, exchange, transfer, assign, pledge, or dispose of real or personal property or any interest in it;

(o) make loans for the provision of housing for occupancy by persons of medium and low income;

(p) make loans or grants for the development and construction of accessible housing;

(q) insure or provide for the insurance, in stock or mutual companies, of real or personal property or operations of the authority against any risks or hazards;

(r) procure or agree to the procurement of government insurance or guarantees of the payment of any bonds, in whole or in part, issued by the authority, including the power to pay premiums on the insurance;

(s) invest money held in reserves, sinking funds, or any funds not required for immediate disbursement in property or securities in which savings banks may legally invest money subject to their control;

(t) redeem its bonds at the redemption price established or purchase its bonds at less than redemption price, with all bonds that are redeemed or purchased to be canceled;

(u) within its area of operation, determine where blighted areas exist or where there is unsafe, insanitary, or overcrowded housing;

(v) make studies and recommendations relating to the problem of clearing, replanning, and reconstructing blighted areas, and the problem of eliminating unsafe, insanitary, or overcrowded housing and providing dwelling accommodations and maintaining a wholesome living environment for persons of medium and low income, and cooperate with any public body or the private sector in action taken in connection with those problems;

(w) acting through one or more commissioners or other persons designated by the authority, conduct examinations and investigations and hear testimony and take proof under oath at public or private hearings on any matter material for its information;

(x) administer oaths, issue subpoenas requiring the attendance of witnesses or the production of books and papers, and issue commissions for the examination of witnesses outside the state who are unable to appear before the authority or are excused from attendance;

(y) make available to appropriate agencies, including those charged with the duty of abating or requiring the correction of nuisances or like conditions or of demolishing unsafe or insanitary structures within its area of operation, its findings and recommendations with regard to any building or property where conditions exist that are dangerous to the public health, morals, safety, or welfare; and

(z) exercise all or any part or combination of the powers granted under this part.

(3)

(a) If there are two or more housing authorities established within a county of the first or second class, then those housing authorities shall create a uniform online application for the housing choice voucher program with links to each of the housing authorities within the county.

(b) As used in Subsection (3)(a), "housing choice voucher program" means the federal government's housing assistance program administered by a housing authority, which enables low-income families, the elderly, and the disabled to secure decent, safe, and sanitary housing in the private market.

(4) No provision of law with respect to the acquisition, operation, or disposition of property by other public bodies is applicable to an authority unless the Legislature specifically states that it is.

Renumbered and Amended by Chapter 212, 2012 General Session