BILL NUMBER: AB 697	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 4, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member V. Manuel Pérez
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Block,  Blumenfield,  
Chesbro,  Cook,  Dickinson,   Huffman,  
Jeffries,   Monning,  Nielsen, and Williams)
    (   Coauthor:   Senator   Runner
  ) 

                        FEBRUARY 17, 2011

   An act  to amend Section 987.85 of the Military and Veterans
Code,  relating to veterans.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 697, as amended, V. Manuel Pérez.  Veterans' benefits:
Veterans' Farm and Home Purchase Act of 1943.   Veteran:
acquisition of home: interest of record.  
   The Veterans' Farm and Home Purchase Act of 1974 authorizes the
Department of Veterans Affairs to assist veterans in acquiring homes
and farms by generally providing that the department may purchase a
farm or home which the department then sells to a purchaser, as
defined. Existing law prohibits the department, except in limited
circumstances, from acquiring a home in which the veteran has an
interest of record.  
   This bill would eliminate this prohibition, and would instead
authorize the department to acquire a home in which the veteran has
an interest of record for the purpose of refinancing an existing
mortgage loan, as provided. This bill would require the department to
adopt and publish rules and regulations, as specified. 

   The Veterans' Farm and Home Purchase Act of 1943, administered by
the Department of Veterans Affairs, provides veterans with the
opportunity to acquire farms and homes.  
   This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation to grant the Department of Veterans Affairs, under the
Veterans' Farm and Home Purchase Act of 1974, known as the "CalVet"
Home Loan program, the ability to issue refinance loans for contracts
held by another bank. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no
  yes  . State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    Section 987.85 of the  
Military and Veterans Code   is amended to read: 
   987.85.   (a)    The department  shall
not   may  acquire a home in which the veteran has
an interest of record  except in the following instances:
  for the purpose of refinancing an existing mortgage
loan.  
   (b) The certain funds used by the department for the purpose
specified in subdivision (a) shall be used in accordance with federal
laws and regulations governing the use of qualified mortgage bonds
and qualified veterans' mortgage bonds.  
   (c) The department shall, consistent with the purposes of this
article, adopt and publish rules and regulations that are necessary
to implement this section.  
   (a) Where the application is for aid for the construction of a
home upon real property owned by the applicant and the improvements
to be constructed thereon have not reached completion as evidenced by
the issuance of a certificate of occupancy.  
   (b) Where the veteran had no interest of record in the property at
the time of filing his or her application and thereafter secured
interim financing pending the processing and approval of the
application by the department.  
   (c) Where the application is for the purchase of a mobilehome to
be situated upon real property, or an undivided interest therein,
owned by the applicant.  
   (d) Where the applicant is an Indian veteran and the application
is for the construction of a dwelling house or other improvements on,
or for the purchase of a mobilehome to be sited on, trust land in
which the Indian veteran has a beneficial interest or owns an
interest of record.  
   (e) Where the application is for assistance to enable the veteran
to purchase his or her space, or share in a mobilehome park, which is
converted from a rental park to a nonprofit corporate resident-owned
park or subdivision, cooperative, or condominium for mobilehomes, in
which the veteran resides in his or her mobilehome. A veteran
applying for assistance under this subdivision shall not be required
to have his or her mobilehome reinstalled on a permanent foundation
system as a condition of receiving the proceeds of the loan to
purchase his or her space or share of the park. This subdivision
shall be implemented by the department only to the extent that
expenditures for the kind of financial assistance to veterans
enumerated herein conform to the requirements of federal tax law with
regard to the tax-exempt status of funding instruments utilized to
provide the assistance.  
  SECTION 1.    It is the intent of the Legislature
to enact legislation to amend Section 987.85 of the Military and
Veterans Code to grant the Department of Veterans Affairs under the
Veterans' Farm and Home Purchase Act of 1974, known as the "CalVet"
Home Loan program, the ability to issue refinance loans for contracts
held by another bank.