§ 17-103. Findings

   (a) In general. -- The General Assembly finds that:

   (1) there are in Prince George's County:

      (i) a shortage of decent, safe, and adequate housing and continuing care facilities for the elderly;

      (ii) economically depressed areas; and

      (iii) housing in need of rehabilitation;

   (2) as a result of these conditions:

      (i) county residents are forced to occupy overcrowded, congested, and deteriorated housing and live in depressed neighborhoods; and

      (ii) many of the elderly must remain in housing that is ill-suited to their current needs and abilities;

   (3) these conditions require too much public money to be spent for protection of the public health, safety, and welfare, and for other public services and facilities;

   (4) the operation of continuing care facilities absorbs costs of health, safety, and social services of the residents of those facilities while adding to the available housing stock of the county;

   (5) private enterprise alone cannot wholly meet the need to:

      (i) relieve the shortage of decent, safe, and adequate housing and continuing care facilities;

      (ii) revitalize depressed neighborhoods; and

      (iii) rehabilitate housing;

   (6) the construction and rehabilitation of housing, including continuing care facilities for county residents, and the acquisition and expenditure of public money to produce that housing therefore do not compete with private enterprise;

   (7) a need exists for mortgage credit to be made available for constructing new housing and rehabilitating existing housing for many buyers and owners of housing who cannot afford mortgage credit at the market interest rate or get mortgage credit because the mortgage credit market is severely restricted;

   (8) (i) there is a need to:

         1. acquire, construct, and rehabilitate continuing care facilities at the least cost to those who use them;

         2. construct housing that is decent, safe, and adequate; and

         3. rehabilitate housing to make it decent, safe, and adequate; and

      (ii) it is in the public interest to expend public resources and give assistance to meet this need;

   (9) many families live in housing that is decent and safe, but is inadequate for the size of the family;

   (10) some of those families could afford to buy new housing if their existing homes could be sold to smaller families for whom the homes would be more adequate;

   (11) many potential buyers of these existing homes are first-time buyers, who find it difficult or impossible to afford newly constructed housing because they do not have an equity interest in their present housing to help finance a home purchase; and

   (12) therefore, it is in the public interest to help first-time homebuyers acquire existing housing as well as newly constructed or rehabilitated housing, as the assistance will:

      (i) help nonhomeowners acquire housing;

      (ii) help homeowners to acquire more adequate housing; and

      (iii) stimulate the private sector production of new housing.

(b) Effect of section. -- The General Assembly finds that this title:

   (1) creates a sound housing stock;

   (2) contributes towards a balanced economy;

   (3) promotes the health, welfare, and safety of the residents; and

   (4) serves valid public purposes.

HISTORY: An. Code 1957, art. 44A, § 4-102(a); 2006, ch. 63, § 2.