Section PRP.05.05 — Definitions

As used in this Ordinance, the following words will have the meanings given them in this section unless the context otherwise clearly requires:

(a) Action, suit or lawsuit, claim, complaint or defense shall include any dispute between persons or entities which relates to the sale, rental, lease, use or occupancy of any housing, dwelling, or accommodation for human occupancy, including claims for the payment of monies for such housing, dwellings or accommodations, damages to such units, including the right to occupy them.

(b) BIA means the bureau of Indian Affairs.

(c) Borrower/Mortgagor is the Tribe, any authorized agent of the Tribe, or any individual Indian(s) or any heir(s), successor(s), executor(s), administrator(s), or assign(s) of the Tribe or such Indian(s) who has executed a mortgage as defined in this Ordinance or a Leasehold Mortgage as defined in this Ordinance. Borrower/Mortgager also includes a Lessee who has executed a Mortgage on his or her Leasehold Interest and its successors and assignees.

(d) Building or housing Ordinances are any law, ordinance, or governmental regulation of the Tribe or an agency of the United States which deals with fitness for habitation, health conditions, or the safety, construction, maintenance, operation, occupancy, use, or appearance of any dwelling unit. Where appropriate to the situation, standard or recognized building standards or Ordinances may be applied as building or housing Ordinances.

(e) Drug-related criminal activity means the illegal manufacture, sale distribution, use or possession with intent to manufacture, sell, distribute, or use, of a controlled substance as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substance Act (2 U.S.C. § 802).

(f) Dwelling or dwelling unit is a structure or part of a structure that is used as a home, residence, or sleeping place by any person who maintains a household and is not for purposes of this Ordinance any public transient accommodation, such as a hotel room.

(g) He/His: the use of he/his means he or she, his or her, and the singular includes the plural.

(h) Indian is any person recognized as being an Indian or Alaska Native by any Tribe, or by the government of the United States.

(i) Indian Country, the territorial jurisdiction, or the jurisdiction of the Tribe shall include all lands owned by, held in trust for, leased, occupied, or otherwise controlled by the Tribe, as well as any such ownership or use by an entity of the Tribe; and those terms shall include any and all areas which may constitute the Indian Country of the Tribe under applicable provisions of its laws or the laws of the United States.

(j) Landlord is any person or entity or any agency of government that is the owner, lessor, or sublessor of a dwelling unit, and it also means a manager of any such dwelling unit, as well as the Division of Community Housing for purposes of low-rent or existing Mutual Help Home Ownership (HMO) programs.

(k) Lease is an agreement between two parties regarding the possession of real or personal property which gives rise to the landlord/tenant relationship or lessor/lessee relationship.

(l) Lease Premises means the property and improvements subject to a Lease.

(m) Leasehold Interest means the interest of a Lessee.

(n) Leasehold Mortgage is the mortgage of leased property given to secure a loan made under the auspices of any federal agency home buyer program or made by a private lender.

(o) Leasehold Mortgage Foreclosure Proceeding is a proceeding in the Tribal Court:

(1) To foreclose the interest of the Borrower(s)/Mortgagor(s), and each person or entity claiming through the Borrower(s)/Mortgagor(s), in a Lease for which a Mortgage has been given under the home purchase program of any federal or tribal agency or private lender; and

(2) To assign such Lease to the applicable federal or tribal agency or the agency's assignee.

(p) Lender Designated Assignee is any Lender as defined in this Ordinance may assign or transfer its interest in a Lease and/or Leasehold Mortgage to a Designated Assignee. Any time prior to such assignment, transfer or assumption the Lender must seek written approval from the Tribe of a proposed Designated Assignee.

(q) Lender/Mortgagee is any private lending institution established to primarily loan funds and not to invest in or purchase properties, the Tribe, or a U.S. government agency which loans money, guarantees or insures loans to a Borrower for construction, acquisition, or rehabilitation of a home. It is also any lender designated assignee(s) or successor(s) of such Lender/Mortgagee as pre-approved or approved by the Tribe.

(r) Lessor is the beneficial or equitable owner of property under a Lease for which a Mortgage, as defined in this Ordinance, has been given, or the heir(s), successor(s), executor(s), administrator(s), or assign(s) of the Tribe or such Indian(s).

(s) Lessee is the home buyer under any federal mortgage program or under the terms of a loan from a private lender or the Tribe (but not the Mutual Help program, under which the home buyer is considered a tenant.) The lessee may, for purposes of federal agency home mortgage programs, be the Tribe.

(t) Mohican Housing Commission (MHC) is an advisory body, created by resolution #249-97 with the primary purpose of advising the Tribal Council on how to plan and implement housing strategy for the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe. The MHC is governed by By-Laws adopted by Tribal Council Resolution #250-97.

(u) Mohican Housing Commission By-Laws are those By-Laws adopted by Tribal Council Resolution #250-97, such By-Laws to be attached to this Housing Ordinance and incorporated herein.

(v) Mortgage is a first lien as is commonly given to secure advances on, or the unpaid purchase price of, real estate, and may refer both to a security instrument creating a lien, whether called a mortgage, deed of trust, security deed, or other term, as well as the credit instrument, or note, secured thereby. Mortgage also includes a security interest in the Leasehold Interest given to secure a Note.

(w) Mortgagor/Borrower - see Borrower/Mortgagor.

(x) Mortgagee/Lender - see Lender/Mortgagee.

(y) Note means a promissory note executed by a Borrower in favor of a Mortgagee.

(z) Nuisance is the maintenance or allowance on real property of a condition which:

(1) Unreasonably threatens the health or safety of the public or neighboring land users; or

(2) Unreasonably and substantially interferes with the ability of neighboring property users to enjoy the reasonable use and occupancy of their property.

(aa) Owner is any person or entity jointly or individually having legal title to all or part of land or a dwelling, including the legal right to own, manage, use or control a dwelling unit under a mortgage, long-term lease, or any other security arrangement.

(bb) Person includes any individual or organization, and where the meaning of a portion of this Ordinance requires, it means a public agency, corporation, partnership, or any other entity recognized by the Tribe.

(cc) Premises is a dwelling unit and the structure of which it is a part, and all facilities and areas connected with it, including grounds, areas, and facilities intended for the use of tenants or the use of which is either promised or practiced for tenants.

(dd) Rent means all payments to be made to an owner or landlord for the lease, purchase, or occupancy of a dwelling under an express or implied agreement for the purchase or occupancy of it. For the purposes of this Ordinance, the term rent will be used to refer to payments to be made under any agreement for occupation of a dwelling, and includes all lease and occupancy agreements between the Tribe or any property owner or manager and any person. It shall also be deemed to include any payment due and owing for the purposes of any eviction due to a default in any occupancy agreement, purchase agreement, and other agreement for the rental or lease/purchase of housing.

(ee) Rental agreement means any agreement, written, oral, or by practice of the parties, as well as valid rules and regulations regarding the terms and conditions for any use or occupancy of a dwelling or premises. For the purposes of this Ordinance, it shall also include any agreement which governs the use and occupancy of a dwelling under a use and occupancy agreement, or any lease/purchase agreement under which a person has not yet achieved home ownership under that agreement. Rental agreements include all outstanding Mutual Help Home Ownership (MHHO) agreements.

(ff) Reservation is the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Reservation, Shawano County, Wisconsin, described generally as the townships of Bartelme and Red Springs, with the legal description as: T.28N.-R.13E and T.28N.-R.14E.

(gg) Secretary is the Secretary of the Department of the Interior.

(hh) Subordinate Lienholder is the holder of any lien, including a subsequent mortgage or Leasehold Interest, perfected subsequent to the recording of a Leasehold Mortgage under this Ordinance, except the Tribe shall not be considered a subordinate lienholder with respect to any claim regarding a tribal tax on real property.

(ii) Tenant is any person entitled to rent, purchase, or occupy a dwelling under an agreement to rent, occupy, or lease/purchase a dwelling and it includes any person actually occupying a dwelling that he or she does not own. It will also include any person of the same household of a tenant, including guests, actual occupiers, heirs or successors to any interest in a dwelling. Tenants include lessees/purchasers of any existing Mutual Help Home Ownership units.

(jj) Tribal Court is the Court as established by the laws of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community or such body as may now or hereafter be authorized by the laws of the Tribe to exercise the powers and functions of a Court of law.

(kk) Tribal Housing Entity is the Division of Community Housing, a subordinate entity of the Tribal Council, created by Resolution 249-97, for the purpose of constructing and maintaining dwellings for public use for administering block grant funds under NAHASDA and for dealing with all forms of Tribal Housing needs.

(ll) Tribal Recording Clerk is the director of the Tribal Real Estate program or such other person designated by the Tribe to perform the recording functions required by this document or any deputy or designee of such person.

(mm) Tribe is the Stockbridge-Munsee Community.

(nn) Waste is the spoilage, damage or destruction of land, buildings, gardens, trees, or other improvements which result in substantial injury to the lessor's interest in the property.

(oo) Writ of restitution means an order by the court requiring a person, usually the tenant, to return property, real or personal, to its rightful owner.