BILL NUMBER: AB 1920	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 8, 2016
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 18, 2016

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Chau

                        FEBRUARY 11, 2016

   An act to amend Section 50199.10 of the Health and Safety Code,
relating to housing, and making an appropriation therefor.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1920, as amended, Chau. California Tax Credit Allocation
Committee: low-income housing credit: fines.
   Under existing law, the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee
administers the federal and state low-income housing tax credit
programs. Existing law requires the committee to allocate the housing
credit on a specified regular basis and requires the committee to
only allocate credits to a project if the housing sponsor enters into
a specified regulatory agreement. Existing law authorizes the
committee to make any allocation or reservation of the state's
housing credit ceiling to a housing credit applicant subject to
specified terms and conditions.
   Existing law establishes the Housing Rehabilitation Loan Fund,
which is continuously appropriated to the Department of Housing and
Community Development, to fund various housing-related purposes.
   This bill would authorize the committee to establish a specified
schedule of fines for violations of the terms and conditions, the
regulatory agreement,  covenants,  other
agreements,  or program regulations.  The bill would require
the committee to define serious violations and, except for serious
violations, would require a first-time property owner violator to be
given the opportunity to correct the violation before the fine is
imposed. The bill would authorize a property owner to appeal a fine
to the committee.  The bill would require these fines to be
deposited in the Housing Rehabilitation Loan Fund and would authorize
the committee to record a property lien if the fine has not been
paid within a specified period of time. By depositing these fines
into the Housing Rehabilitation Loan Fund, a continuously
appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation.
   Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  Section 50199.10 of the Health and Safety Code is
amended to read:
   50199.10.  (a) For purposes of allocating low-income housing
credits, the committee is hereby designated as this state's only
housing credit agency for purposes of Section 42(h) of the federal
Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. Sec. 42(h)). The committee shall
annually determine and shall allocate the state ceiling in accordance
with this chapter and in conformity with federal law. The committee
shall determine the housing credit ceiling as soon as possible
following the effective date of this chapter and thereafter following
the commencement of each calendar year. The committee shall
undertake any and all responsibilities of housing credit agencies
under Section 42 of Title 26 of the United States Code, including
entering into regulatory agreements relating to projects that are
granted awards.
   (b) The committee shall develop and provide application forms for
use by housing credit applicants. The committee shall adopt uniform
procedures for submission and review of applications of housing
credit applicants, including fees to defray the committee's costs in
administering this chapter. In the committee's discretion, the fees
shall be charged to a housing credit applicant as a condition of
submitting an application or as a condition of receiving an
allocation or reservation of the state's current or anticipated
housing credit ceiling, or both.
   (c) In addition to allocating the current housing credit ceiling,
the committee may reserve a portion of the state's anticipated
housing credit ceiling for a subsequent year for a housing credit
applicant.
   (d) As a condition to making an allocation of the housing credit
ceiling or a reservation of the anticipated housing credit ceiling
for a subsequent year, the committee may require the housing credit
applicant receiving the allocation or reservation to deposit with the
committee an amount of money as a good-faith undertaking. The
committee shall adopt policies for determining when deposits will be
required, prescribing procedures for return of deposits, and
specifying the circumstances under which the deposits will be
forfeited in whole or in part for failure to timely utilize the
allocation or reservation provided to the housing credit applicant.
   (e) (1) The committee may make any allocation or reservation of
the state's housing credit ceiling to a housing credit applicant
subject to terms and conditions in furtherance of the purposes of
this part. The committee may condition an allocation or reservation
on the execution of a contract between the housing credit applicant
and the committee requiring the housing credit applicant to comply
with all the terms of Section 42 of the federal Internal Revenue
Code, any applicable state laws, and any additional requirements the
committee deems necessary or appropriate to serve the purposes of
this chapter, and providing for legal action to obtain specific
performance or monetary damages for breach of contract.
   (2) No allocations or reservations shall be made pursuant to this
subdivision with respect to projects that do not meet the
requirements of the qualified allocation plan, and no allocations or
reservations shall be made in amounts that do not meet the
requirements of paragraph (2) of subsection (m) of Section 42 of
Title 26 of the United States Code.
   (3) (A) With respect to an allocation or reservation, the
committee may establish a schedule of fines for violations of the
terms and conditions, the regulatory agreement,  covenants,
  other agreements,  or program regulations. In
developing the schedule of fines, the committee shall establish the
fines for violations in an amount up to five hundred dollars ($500)
per violation or double the amount of the financial gain  to
the housing credit applicant  because of the violation,
whichever is greater.  These   Except for
serious violations, which shall be defined by the committee, a
first-time property owner violator shall be given at least 30 days to
correct the violation before a fine is imposed. A violation that has
occurred for some time prior to discovery is one violation, but
 fines may be a recurring amount if the violation is not
corrected within a reasonable period of  time,  
time thereafter,  as determined by the committee.  A
property owner may appeal a fine to the committee. 
   (B) By resolution at a public general committee meeting, the
committee shall adopt and may revise the schedule of fines, which
shall include specific violations of the terms and conditions, the
regulatory agreement,  covenants,   other
agreements,  or program regulations and fine amounts subject to
the criteria in subparagraph (A).
   (C) All fines  received by the committee  shall be
deposited in the Housing Rehabilitation Loan Fund established in
Section 50661.
   (D) If a fine  assessed against a property owner  is not
paid within six months from the date when the fine was initially
assessed by the committee and after reasonable notice has been
provided to the  housing credit applicant,  
property owner,  the committee may record a lien against the
property. Consistent with Sections 1214 and 1215 of the Civil Code, a
lien created pursuant to this paragraph shall not be superior to any
lien recorded prior to the recording of this lien.