{"data":{"id":"us-md/md.-code-local-government-19-803","jurisdiction":"us-md","citation":"Md. Code, Local Government § 19–803","heading":"","body":"(a) The General Assembly finds that:\n(1) persons and families in many areas in Cecil County, including\nareas that contain presently stable neighborhoods and middle class residential\nhousing, are unable to purchase, rehabilitate, and maintain decent, safe, and sanitary\nhousing that provides an opportunity for home ownership either directly or through\na condominium or cooperative form of ownership due to continuing increases in the\ncost of construction and rehabilitation, county taxes, heating and electricity expenses,\nmaintenance and repair expenses, inflation, the cost of land, the cost of energy\nconservation measures, and the levels of borrowing costs;\n(2) the inability of families to purchase and maintain housing in the\ncounty results in:\n(i) the decline of new housing;\n(ii) the decay of existing housing and neighborhoods; and\n(iii) increases in costs for welfare, police, and fire protection;\n(3) the decline in new housing construction, and the decay of existing\nhousing, has produced a critical shortage of adequate housing in the county that\nharms the economy of the county and the well–being of county residents;\n(4) without a program, private enterprise cannot construct or\nrehabilitate adequate housing for persons and families in the county;\n(5) forcing families to live in substandard housing is undesirable\nbecause it tends to decrease the interest of families in their communities, the\nmaintenance of their property, and the preservation of their neighborhoods;\n(6) the county has a basic public interest in:\n(i) providing a supplemental source of single–family\nresidential mortgage funds at a cost lower to the borrower than prevailing rates for\nresidential mortgages; and\n(ii) stimulating a steady flow of money for residential housing\nto help in maintaining a well–balanced society, existing housing, a sound tax base,\nand established neighborhoods;\n(7) unless new facilities are constructed and existing housing, where\nappropriate, is rehabilitated, a large number of county residents have been and will\nbe subject to hardship in finding decent, safe, and sanitary housing;\n(8) unless the supply of housing and the ability of persons and\nfamilies to obtain mortgage financing is increased significantly and expeditiously,\nmany county residents may be compelled to live in unsanitary, overcrowded, or\nunsafe conditions to the detriment of the health and welfare of the residents and of\ntheir community;\n(9) increasing the housing supply of the county and the ability of\npersons and families to obtain mortgage financing will:\n(i) aid the clearance, replanning, development, and\nredevelopment of blighted areas;\n(ii) alleviate the critical shortage of adequate housing; and\n(iii) greatly enhance the ability of the county to preserve and\nutilize existing housing and neighborhoods;\n(10) a major cause of the housing crisis is the lack of affordable loans\nso that persons and families can own and maintain decent, safe, and sanitary\nhousing;\n(11) an additional major cause of the housing crisis is the lack of\nmoney available to finance housing by the private mortgage lending institutions of\nthe State, frustrating the maintenance, sale, and purchase of existing housing in the\ncounty;\n(12) the powers authorized under this subtitle and the expenditure of\npublic money necessary and appropriate to carry out a program are a valid public\npurpose; and\n(13) the enactment of this subtitle is in the public interest.\n(b) The legislative purpose of this subtitle is to expand money available at\nborrowing costs that are lower than prevailing costs for residential mortgages for\npersons and families to alleviate the shortage of adequate housing in Cecil County\nand to preserve existing housing and neighborhoods.","path":["Article - Local Government"],"source_url":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=glg\u0026section=19-803","current_through":"2026-01-01","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T19:59:58Z","sha256":"72068b159eaf74bddaf9ba5f983a86f0d068d3bb50fe49f76b2c6d87ea791134","source_id":"us-md","stale":false,"prev":"us-md/md.-code-local-government-19-802","next":"us-md/md.-code-local-government-19-804"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}