The Authority shall have all the powers necessary and convenient to carry out and perform the purposes and provisions of this Chapter, except the power to levy and collect taxes or special assessments, including the following, in addition to other powers granted in this Article, and may:

(a) Have perpetual succession; (b) Sue and be sued;
(c) Have a seal and modify it;

(d) Enter into and execute contracts and instruments of every kind and nature, necessary or convenient to the exercise of its powers and functions;

(e) Make, and from time to time modify and repeal, bylaws, rules and regulations, not inconsistent with this Article, providing for the internal organization and management of the Authority, for the administration of its affairs and operations, and for carrying into effect the powers and purposes of the Authority;

(f) Borrow money from public and private sources and give such security therefor as may be required;

(g) Apply for and accept advances, loans, grants, contributions, gifts, donations, appropriations of funds and any other form of financial assistance from the Federal Government, the government of Guam, or other public body or agency, or from any sources, public or private, for the purposes of this Article, and enter into and carry out contracts in connection therewith;

(h) Deposit funds in banking institutions which are members of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation;

(i) Invest funds in property or securities approved for investment by the Federal Government or the government of Guam;

(j) Acquire any real or personal property or any interest or estate therein, by lease, option, purchase, gift, grant, donation, appropriation, bequest, devise or by the exercise of eminent domain or otherwise;

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(k) Own, hold, improve, clear or prepare for redevelopment any such property;

(l) Sell, lease, exchange, transfer, assign, mortgage, pledge or otherwise dispose of, or encumber any real or personal property, or any interest or estate in such;

(m) Acquire by condemnation any interest in real property, including a fee simple title thereto, which the Authority may deem necessary for or in connection with any project under this Article; provided, that as a condition to the exercise of the power of eminent domain to acquire any real property or interest therein which the Authority may deem necessary for its purposes under this Article, the Authority shall first adopt a resolution finding and declaring that the acquisition of such property is necessary for such purposes;

(n) Exercise the power of eminent domain in the manner now or which may be hereafter provided by law for the exercise of such power by the government of Guam, except that the complaint in eminent domain proceedings shall be brought in the name of and on behalf of the Authority as plaintiff and title to the property shall vest in the Authority;

(o) Provide or arrange or contract for the furnishing or repair by any person or agency, public or private, of services, privileges, works, streets, roads, public utilities or other facilities of every kind and nature, for and in connection with the preparation, planning, development, construction, operation and disposition of projects;

(p) Install, construct and reconstruct streets, utilities, parks, playgrounds and other public improvements;

(q) Insure or provide for the insurance, in any stock or mutual company or any public or private insurance facility, of any real or personal property or operations of the Authority, against any risks and hazards;

(r) Undertake and carry out studies, analysis, research and investigations of living and housing conditions, and housing and urban renewal needs, within its area of operation, and of means and methods of dealing with needs disclosed by such studies, make available to the public the results of such studies and information on housing and urban renewal;

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(s) Determine where, and that, slum and blighted conditions or areas exist or where, and that, there is a shortage of safe, decent and sanitary dwellings for low-income families;

(t) Make findings, determinations and recommendations concerning matters relating to housing and urban renewal, and means and methods of dealing with such matters; carry into effect such findings, determinations and recommendations;

(u) Cooperate with, and participate in activities of local, regional or national agencies, organizations, institutions or other official or unofficial bodies engaged in the same or related fields;

(v) Make, and cause to be made, all surveys, appraisals and plans necessary to carry out its activities and the purposes of this Article, and in connection therewith to enter upon any land, property or structure, for such purposes, and make sounding, test boring, or any other technical investigations; enforce the power of such entry by appropriate proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction if entry is denied or resisted; utilize and employ, by contract or otherwise, any persons or agencies for the making of such surveys, studies and plans, and the technical work incidental thereto;

(w) Make or have made all plans necessary to the carrying out of the purposes of this Chapter and contract with any person, public or private, in making and carrying out such plans; adopt, modify and amend such plans in accordance with the provisions of this Article, and include in such plans, without limitations,

(1) plans for low-rent public housing, (2) urban renewal plans,
(3) plans for carrying out a program of voluntary or compulsory repair and rehabilitation of buildings and improvements,

(4) plans for the enforcement of local laws, codes and regulations relating to the use of land and the use and occupancy of buildings and improvements and to the compulsory repair, rehabilitation, demolition or removal of buildings and improvements,

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(5) preliminary or general plans for urban renewal activities in its area of operation or for two (2) or more urban renewal areas, and

(6) appraisals, title searches, maps, surveys, studies and other preliminary plans and work necessary to prepare for the undertaking of projects;

(x) Develop, test and report methods and techniques, and carry out demonstrations and other activities for the prevention and elimination of slums and urban blight and apply for, accept and utilize grants of funds from the Federal Government for such purpose;

(y) Undertake and carry out housing and urban renewal projects, and in connection therewith plan, prepare, develop, construct, acquire, lease and dispose of any such projects within the contemplation of this Article;

(z) Provide for the planning, preparation, development, construction, acquisition, lease, disposition, reconstruction, improvement, alteration, extension, repair, maintenance and operation of any such projects;

(aa) Lease any dwellings, accommodations, land, structures or facilities embraced in any project;

(bb) Clear or prepare any property owned by it for redevelopment, conservation or rehabilitation;

(cc) Impose and enforce terms and conditions upon reuse of properties included in urban renewal projects;

(dd) Establish, from time to time, standards of eligibility for admission to, and occupancy of, low-rent public housing dwellings and facilities;

(ee) Adopt, from time to time, rules, regulations and conditions of admission to and occupancy of low-rent public housing dwellings and facilities and housing facilities for elderly residents including rents and charges therefor;

(ff) Establish, from time to time, standards of eligibility and conditions of participation for redevelopers and others in urban renewal projects subject to the limitations contained in this Article with respect to rental of dwellings in housing projects;

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(gg) Prepare plans for the relocation of persons displaced by an urban renewal project and make relocation payments to or with respect to such persons for moving expenses and losses of property for which reimbursement or compensation is not otherwise made, including the making of such payments financed by the Federal Government;

(hh) Make such expenditures, subject to the provisions of this Article or any other applicable law, regulation or restriction, as may be necessary for the activities and operations of the Authority and carry out the purposes of this Article;

(ii) Conduct examinations and investigations on any matters material to the functions or operations of the Authority; and

(jj) Organize, coordinate and direct the urban renewal program and disseminate slum clearance and urban renewal information in order that the objectives of remedying slum and blighted areas and preventing the causes thereof within Guam may be most effectively promoted and achieved.

(kk) Provide for the planning, development, construction, lease, improvement, alteration, operation and maintenance of dwellings for the severely mentally ill in consultation with the Director of the Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center; and

(ll) Expend funds received from the Federal government as payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT funds) for the purposes of meeting personnel obligations imposed on the Authority by Public Law 20-
215 § 8; repairing or replacing any facility owned by the Authority which was damaged as a result of the August 8, 1993 earthquake;
constructing dwellings for severely mentally ill persons (to replace
Guma Ifil which was destroyed in the earthquake); and for such other purposes as the Board may from time to time find necessary

SOURCE: GC § 13903; Subsection (31) amended by P.L. 14-28. Subsections 37 and 38 added by P.L. 22-24:5 (8/31/93).

COURT DECISIONS: SUPER.CT. 1982 The power to “sue and be sued” signifies that the various limitations of the Government Claims Act do not apply to agencies which are given this power by the Legislature. Therefore, the plaintiff was not required to file a claim as required in the Claims Act, nor is he limited by any monetary recovery, nor statute of limitations contained in that Act. Hawaiian Rock v. Guam Housing and Urban Renewal Authority, Civil Case #175-82.

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NOTE: See the Government Claims Law, 5 Guam Code Ann., Chapter 6, which overturned the holding in the above case.

2013 NOTE: Pursuant to P.L. 32-024:2 (May 6, 2013) which renamed the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse (DMHSA) to the Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center, all references to DMHSA were altered to the Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center.

Pursuant to the authority granted by 1 Guam Code Ann. § 1606, numbers and/or letters were altered to adhere to the Compiler’s alpha-numeric scheme.