Section 8 Amendments of 1981

Section 8 Amendments of 1981 - Title I: Full Cost Disclosure and Fair Allocation Procedures - Establishes an interagency task force composed of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to: (1) identify and report to Congress on the least expensive means of financing Federal rental housing assistance programs; (2) transmit to Congress a report disclosing all direct and indirect costs on a per-unit basis of providing housing under each such program; and (3) report to Congress on the Federal resources required to prevent financial losses in connection with, and to maintain housing projects currently assisted under, such programs. Prohibits the issuance of additional reservations of assistance under any such programs until such reports are submitted to Congress.

Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to prohibit the Secretary from reserving more than 30 percent of the total amount of budget authority provided for a fiscal year for lower-income housing assistance during the last quarter of that year, or more than 15 percent of such amount during any month in that quarter. Declares that contract authority for such assistance which is not reserved shall expire at the end of the fiscal year, and contract authority which is reserved shall expire if the reservation is terminated. Prohibits the Secretary from withholding contract authority involving new construction from allocation for discretionary use in a fiscal year.

Title II: Targeting Benefits - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to change the family income requirement for eligibility for lower-income housing assistance from an income not exceeding 80 percent of the median area income to an income not exceeding 50 percent of such median income.

Directs the Secretary to rescind a regulation requiring the owner of a federally-assisted housing unit to attempt to select tenant families so that the average family income is at least 40 percent of the median area income.

Permits the Secretary to give preference to applications for assistance for a portion of the units in a project only if that project does not receive other forms of Federal assistance.

Prohibits a family which is not a very low-income family from occupying an assisted unit built or rehabilitated for occupancy by a very low-income family.

Prohibits the Secretary from providing housing assistance for the benefit of any illegal alien.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) determine the number of assisted housing projects owned by developers with five-year contributions contracts who will not renew their contracts; and (2) notify the tenants of such projects of possible rent increases and evictions upon the expiration of such contracts. Requires owners of projects under contributions contracts to notify tenants six months before increasing the rent upon the expiration of such a contract.

Title III: Modest, Low-Cost Housing - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to direct the Secretary: (1) to assure that newly constructed housing to receive lower-income housing assistance is modest in design; (2) to give a priority to entering into contributions contracts with housing projects located on specific tracts of land provided by State or local governments; and (3) to give cost considerations a 33 1/3 percent weighted average when reviewing proposals for housing assistance. Prohibits the Secretary from providing assistance payments for unoccupied units for more than 30 days.

Exempts projects receiving lower-income housing assistance under such Act from provisions requiring the payment of prevailing rate wages to contract employees involved in the development or operation of such projects.

Requires the Secretary to limit increases in contract rents to the amount of certified cost increases incurred by the project owner.

Title IV: Fair Tenant Contributions to Rent - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to redefine "income" for purposes of determining a family's eligibility for assisted housing and a family's contribution to rent for assisted housing. Includes as income: (1) social security benefits; (2) food stamps; (3) ACTION stipends; and (4) assets the family sells or gives away to qualify for housing assistance. Excludes the income of any family member who is a full-time student or under 18 years of age.

Establishes a minimum rent of $50 to be paid by tenants of federally-assisted housing units ($100 for units of a newly constructed or substantially rehabilitated project).

Title V: Increasing State and Local Participation and Responsibilities - Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to prohibit the Secretary from approving an application for lower-income housing assistance under the United States Housing Act of 1937 if the local government involved objects.

Prohibits the Secretary from providing such assistance in areas where rent controls are imposed on newly constructed multifamily residential property.

Directs the Secretary to assure that no State or local official profits by participating in a federally-assisted housing program.

Title VI: Fraud and Mismanagement Control - Permits public housing agencies to retain the greater of 100 percent of their legal expenses or 50 percent of the amount collected out of judgments obtained in recovering lower-income housing assistance wrongfully paid because of fraud or abuse.

Directs the Secretary to report to Congress annually on the cases brought to public housing agencies for prosecution or civil action.