§384. Definitions
The following terms, wherever used or referred to in this Part, have the following respective meanings, unless otherwise provided in this Part or unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context:
(1) "Affiliate" means any corporation, entity, partnership, venture, syndicate, or arrangement in which a local housing authority has an ownership or governance interest of less than a majority.
(2) "Affordable housing" means dwelling units that may be rented or purchased, as the case may be, by persons of eligible income as defined herein with or without government assistance.
(3) "Arrangement" means a legal relationship with another party that may include but shall not be limited to a general or limited partnership; joint venture; syndicate or syndication; corporation; limited liability company; corporation or partnership; an unincorporated association; a cooperative; a consortium; and all other structures, organizations, and forms of legal relationships with third parties.
(4) "Area of operation" means the geographical area within which a local housing authority may own or operate housing developments as more particularly set forth in R.S. 40:396.
(5) "Municipality" means and includes any political subdivision of this state known as a city, town, or village which is an incorporated unit of general local government.
(6) "Parish" means and includes any political subdivision of this state known as a parish, which is a unit of general local government.
(7) "Commissioner" means a person serving on the governing board of a local housing authority, including any person identified under prior law as a "member" of a housing authority.
(8) "Community facility" means real and personal property suitable for recreational, educational, health, or welfare purposes, including but not limited to buildings, equipment, and parks and other spaces or structures.
(9) "Development" or "housing development" means and includes all dwellings and associated appurtenances, including real and personal property, and all other facilities and improvements of every kind and description which a local housing authority may own or operate or in which it may hold an interest under this Chapter; all land upon which such dwellings, appurtenances, and facilities are situated; all work and activities undertaken by a local housing authority or others relating to the creation of such property; all tangible and intangible personal property relating thereto, including all leases, licenses, agreements, and other instruments and all rights and obligations arising thereunder, establishing or confirming ownership, title, or right of use or possession in or to any such property by a local housing authority, all as more particularly described and authorized in this Chapter.
(10) "Establishing a housing authority" means taking all actions required under R.S. 40:392 or 411 to be taken by the governing body of a municipality or parish, or in the case of a regional or consolidated housing authority by the governing bodies of all political subdivisions participating therein, for a housing authority to conduct business and to exercise its powers. In the case of a housing authority existing on August 15, 1997, "established" means that such authority has been authorized to conduct business and exercise its powers in accordance with prior law.
(11) "Family" means two or more persons that includes a husband or father and/or wife or mother and/or one or more children, that a local housing authority accepts for occupancy of a dwelling or to which such authority offers or provides other assistance, as particularly defined in the eligibility and occupancy standards adopted by the authority. For the limited purposes of any reference to the term family or household in this Part, such terms shall also include a person who is elderly, a person with a disability, and any other person who may be unmarried or without children.
(12) "Guest" means any person, not a resident of such development, who is present within a development, or any person, not a resident in a dwelling, who is present within such dwelling in a development, as an invitee of or otherwise with the acquiescence or consent of a resident of such development or dwelling, as the case may be.
(13) "Hold an interest" means ownership or control of or participation in an arrangement with respect to a development by a local housing authority or any affiliate thereof.
(14) "Household" means a family as defined in Paragraph (11) of this Section.
(15) "Housing authority" or "authority" means and includes both a local housing authority established pursuant to R.S. 40:391 or 392 and a regional or consolidated housing authority established pursuant to R.S. 40:411. Wherever the context requires or permits, this term shall be deemed to include a subsidiary of a housing authority.
(16) "Local housing authority" or "authority" means a public body, corporate and politic, previously established, or to be established, by a municipality or a parish pursuant to the authority provided in this Chapter, exercising necessary and essential governmental functions for the purposes stated in this Chapter in matters of statewide concern, although its operations are local in nature. It is a political subdivision of this state, independent from the municipality or parish which established or establishes it or which may appoint some or all of its commissioners, and is not a state agency for any purpose, including R.S. 42:421(B). Any reference in this Chapter to a local housing authority shall also be deemed to include a "housing authority" or a "regional or consolidated housing authority" unless the context clearly otherwise requires. "Local housing authority" also includes any housing authority established under prior law.
(17) "Mixed finance development" means a development that is financed both by funding derived from the private sector and funding provided by the federal government that is permitted to be used for the development of affordable housing.
(18) "Mixed income development" means a housing development intended to be and which in fact is occupied both by persons of eligible income and by persons other than those of eligible income.
(19) "Mixed use development" means a development that includes both residential and non-residential uses.
(20) "Person" shall include a family and, where the context so requires, a household.
(21) "Persons of eligible income" means:
(a) With respect to state or federally funded activities or developments, individuals or families who meet the applicable income requirements of the state or federal program involved, if any such state or federal income requirements are applicable, and, if none are so applicable, then individuals or families who meet the requirements of Subparagraph (b) of this Paragraph.
(b) With respect to activities and developments other than those to which Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph is applicable, individuals or families who, in the determination of the local housing authority, lack sufficient income or assets, taking into account all resources available to such individuals or families from whatever source derived or reasonably derivable, to enable them, without undue hardship or governmental financial assistance, to purchase or rent, as the case may be, decent, safe, and sanitary dwellings of adequate size.
(c) Whenever any provision of Part I, II, or III of this Chapter refers to persons of eligible income with specific reference to this Subparagraph, "persons of eligible income" includes not only the persons described in Subparagraph (b) of this Paragraph, but also individuals and families whose income does not exceed one hundred fifty percent of the maximum income standard applicable under Subparagraph (b) of this Paragraph.
(22) "Public agency" means and includes:
(a) Any parish; municipality; school, drainage, tax improvement or other district; local housing authority; department, division, or political subdivision of this state or another state; housing authority, housing finance agency, or housing trust of this state or another state; and any other agency, bureau, office, authority, or instrumentality of this state or another state.
(b) Any board, agency, commission, division, or other instrumentality of a municipality or parish.
(c) Any board, commission, agency, department, or other instrumentality of the United States, or any political subdivision or governmental unit of any of them.
(23) "Regional housing authority" or "consolidated housing authority", as the case may be, means a public body, corporate and politic, and a governmental subdivision of this state, formed by two or more parishes pursuant to the authority provided in R.S. 40:411(A), or by two or more municipalities pursuant to the authority in R.S. 40:411(B), exercising necessary and essential governmental functions for the purposes stated in this Chapter in matters of statewide concern, although its operations are local or regional in nature. It is a political subdivision of this state, independent from political subdivisions of this state which established it or which may appoint some or all of its commissioners.
(24) "Representative" means a commissioner, officer, employee, or agent of a local housing authority.
(25) "Resident" means a person residing in a development of a housing authority, with the consent of such authority, according to its policies, rules, and procedures.
(26) "State" means the state of Louisiana and its duly constituted government.
(27) "Subsidiary" means any corporation, entity, partnership, venture, syndicate, or arrangement in which a local housing authority shall participate by holding an ownership interest or participating in its governance, in which commissioners, officers, employees, and agents of such authority constitute a majority of the governing body of such entity.
(28) "Criminal history record information" means information collected by criminal justice agencies on individuals consisting of identifiable descriptions and records of convictions and any disposition arising therefrom, including sentencing, correctional supervision, and release, but does not include information collected for intelligence or investigatory purposes, nor does it include any identification information which does not indicate involvement of the individual in the criminal justice system.
Acts 1997, No. 1188, §1; Acts 2003, No. 1083, §2, eff. July 2, 2003; Acts 2009, No. 128, §1; Acts 2014, No. 811, §22, eff. June 23, 2014.