Housing for the Elderly and Handicapped Act of 1983

Housing for the Elderly and Handicapped Act of 1983 - Amends the Housing Act of 1959 to limit to 9.25 percent per year the interest rate plus the allowance for administrative costs and probable losses on loans for the provision of housing and related facilities for elderly or handicapped families.

Allows a maximum of 25 percent of the units in an elderly or handicapped housing project financed under such Act to be efficiencies, if the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development determines that such units are appropriate for the local elderly or handicapped population. Prohibits the Secretary from establishing general limitations or preferences concerning the number of units in a project or the number of units made available to any sponsor.

Authorizes the Secretary to require a corporation to deposit in a special escrow account a minimum capital investment of up to $10,000 with respect to an assisted project.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) consider design features necessary for elderly and handicapped residents when establishing cost limitations on project units; and (2) adjust such limitations annually to reflect changes in construction costs.

Requires the project sponsor to determine the basis of employment of development or construction contractors.

Prohibits the Secretary from approving the prepayment, sale, or transfer of a loan for such a project without assurances that the project will continue to provide housing for elderly or handicapped families on equally advantageous terms.

Requires that all specific eligibility requirements for assistance under such Act be published in the Federal Register in clear and complete language at least 90 days before applications for such assistance are due. Requires the Secretary to afford applicants an opportunity to correct application deficiencies. Allows loan applicants that were rejected during FY 1982 because of religious references in their articles of incorporation or bylaws to reapply for a comparable number of units in the FY 1983 or 1984 funding cycle.

Replaces the Secretary's authority to provide such loans with authority to provide assistance in the form of a deferred payment, noninterest bearing advance to any corporation, consumer cooperative, or public agency or body for the provision of housing for elderly or handicapped families. Conditions such assistance only on the Secretary's finding that the construction will be undertaken in an economical manner with no extravagant design or materials. Limits the amount of such assistance to the total development cost of a project.

Authorizes the Secretary to provide additional assistance to such an entity in an amount not exceeding 75 percent of the total development cost of a project if part of the financing is to be provided by a public housing agency.

Requires repayment of such assistance after 20 years. Permits the Secretary to forgive a portion of an advance for each year after 20 years that a project continues to serve elderly and handicapped families, and the entire advance after 40 years of continued service. Directs the Secretary to require that at least 75 percent of the units of a project receiving an advance be made available to lower income families during the initial 20-year period of such advance. Authorizes appropriations.

Requires the rents for lower income families occupying such projects to be determined in accordance with provisions governing the determination of rents for lower income occupants of units assisted under the United States Housing Act of 1937, with certain exceptions.

Directs the Secretary to enter into contracts with owners of assisted projects to make payments to cover the costs of units occupied by lower income families that are not met from project income. Limits: (1) the annual contract amount per project; (2) the aggregate contracting authority of the Secretary per year; and (3) the aggregate amount that may be obligated over the duration of the contracts.

Authorizes the Secretary to enter into contracts to make monthly homeownership expense payments to lower income families who purchase dwellings from elderly or handicapped families who move into assisted projects. Limits: (1) the amount of such payments for individual families; (2) the duration of such payments; and (3) the annual and aggregate contract authority of the Secretary with respect to such payments.

Amends the Housing and Community Development Amendments of 1978 to establish the eligibility of assisted projects for the elderly or handicapped for operating assistance for troubled housing projects.

Amends the Congregate Housing Services Act of 1978 to authorize appropriations for the congregate services program for FY 1984 through 1986.

Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to authorize the use of community development assistance provided under such Act for grants to neighborhood-based nonprofit organizations for the development of shared housing opportunities for the elderly.

Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to direct the Secretary to: (1) permit assistance provided under existing housing and moderate rehabilitation programs to be used by elderly families in shared housing arrangements; and (2) issue minimum property standards for shared housing.

Amends the Housing Act of 1949 to require the Secretary to allow the use of rental assistance by elderly families or persons who elect to live in a shared housing arrangement in a single-family dwelling.

Amends the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965 to establish in the Department an Office of Housing for the Elderly. Lists the responsibilities of the Office, including: (1) coordinating the Department's housing programs for the elderly with other Federal, State, and local programs; (2) making recommendations to the Assistant Secretary for Housing on research needs, demonstrations, and evaluations with respect to housing for the elderly; and (3) coordinating preparation of a report, to be submitted by the Secretary to Congress annually, on the Department's efforts during the previous and the current fiscal years with respect to housing for the elderly.

Directs the Assistance Secretary to establish an advisory Committee on Housing for the Elderly.