§ 90-6-147 — Community Reinvestment Organization Requirements

90-6-147 . Community reinvestment organization requirements. (1) A community reinvestment organization shall meet the requirements of this section.
(2) A community reinvestment organization must be established as a federally recognized charitable organization under 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3), (c)(4), or (c)(6).
(3) (a) Each community reinvestment organization shall create a CRO revolving account for the deposit and distribution of funds to participating counties within the community reinvestment organization's region.
(b) Community reinvestment organizations shall deposit into the CRO revolving account an equal amount of funds as those deposited from the Montana community reinvestment plan account prior to any plan dollars being used to buy down attainable workforce housing. Community reinvestment organization matching fund options include but are not limited to the use of the employer pool, local government investments, and the utilization of volume cap bonds.
(4) (a) Money in a CRO revolving account must be used as follows:
(i) 95% or more must be distributed to participating counties to be used to assist eligible households in purchasing attainable workforce housing as provided in this section; and
(ii) 5% or less must be dedicated to startup and administrative costs of the community reinvestment organization and may be used to create a foreclosure mitigation set-aside fund.
(b) Money in a CRO revolving account may not be used for preconstruction, development, or construction-related purposes.
(c) If a county elects not to participate in the program under 90-6-141 through 90-6-149 , the money allocated to that county must be distributed proportionally to the remaining counties participating in the program within the same region as the nonparticipating county.
(5) An incorporated city, consolidated city-county, or county may contribute funds to its regional CRO revolving account as an optional local government investment.
(6) Money used from the CRO revolving account to assist an eligible household may not exceed 30% of the total purchase price.
(7) Housing purchased using money from the CRO revolving account must have a deed limitation restricting the equitable value to the eligible household. The rate of appreciation on the deed-restricted home may not be greater than 1% a year.
(8) A community reinvestment organization must coordinate local employer participation in a statewide employer pool.
(9) A community reinvestment organization is encouraged to develop policies to support homeowners buying out the deed restriction so the revolving account can be utilized to buy down the cost of additional homes for other eligible households.

Legislative History

En. Sec. 7, Ch. 774, L. 2023.