BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 944
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Date of Hearing: June 15, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
David Chiu, Chair
SB
944 (Committee on Transportation and Housing) - As Amended May
31, 2016
SENATE VOTE: 37-0
SUBJECT: Housing omnibus
SUMMARY: Makes non-controversial changes to sections of law
relating to housing.
EXISTING LAW: Various sections of law relating to housing.
FISCAL EFFCT: According to the Senate Appropriaitons Committee,
this bill would have unknown cost pressures related to the
expansion of allowable uses for MPRROP funds. Authorizing
loans for replacement of a low-income homeowners mobilehome is
not likely to have a significant impact on available funding.
Minor costs to the Department of Housing and Community
Development (HCD) to revise MPRROP regulations to provide for
mobilehome replacement loans. The remaining provisions are not
expected to have a significant state fiscal impact.
COMMENTS: The Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing is
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authoring this year's housing omnibus bill as a cost-effective
way of making a number of minor, non-controversial changes to
statute at one time. All provisions of the bill have been
reviewed and vetted by a stakeholder group that includes
representatives of the majority and minority policy consultants
in both the Senate and the Assembly. There is no known
opposition to any of the items in the bill. If issues arise
that cannot be resolved, the provision of concern will be
deleted from the bill.
This bill makes non-controversial changes to sections of law
relating to housing. Specifically, the bill includes the
following provisions. The proponent of each provision is noted
in brackets.
1)Clarification to Mutual Self-Help Housing (Section 1). Ten
local non-profit community development organizations operate
mutual self-help homeownership programs in rural California
(programs that assist groups of low-income families who work
together to build their own homes). Local governments and
others are sometimes unclear about the role that the
non-profit plays in the program. It is possible to interpret
the current code definition of a contractor to include the
work done by the self-help program operators. However the
State Contractor's License Board has also said that by acting
in a specific manner, the programs would be considered exempt.
Rather than leaving the matter subject to interpretation, the
proposed amendment to the California Business and Professions
Code would clarify that non-profits that specifically operate
this mutual self-help program are not acting as contractors.
This proposal will codify a practice that has been in place
for the past 50 years and insure that the program can continue
to assist rural families. [California Coalition for Rural
Housing]
2)Mobile home disposal: Minor program changes (Sections 2, 3,
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and 20). AB 999 (Daly, Chapter 376, Statutes of 2015) passed
last year with no controversy. However, in the implementation
of the new mandate, the Department of Housing and Community
Development (HCD) and interested parties are finding that the
10-day period given in the statute (Civil Code Section
798.56(e)) is not enough time for management to make a
decision on whether to dispose of an abandoned mobilehome. As
a result, this new program is not being used. Additionally,
HCD realized after AB 999 was passed that it needed
regulations to create the forms required by the new law. This
bill changes the time in which management must file a notice
of disposal with HCD from 10 days to 30 days after the date of
sale. This bill also gives HCD authority to draft guidelines
for new procedures and forms until final regulations may be
formally adopted. [Western Manufactured Housing Communities
Association]
3)Transitional Housing Misconduct Act: Move to Civil Code
(Sections 4 and 25). The Transitional Housing Misconduct Act
is a special law that allows transitional housing operators to
remove problematic residents with a simple injunction action,
rather than going through the entire landlord-tenant eviction
law. It also allows for interim options, with court
enforcement, rather than only eviction. Unfortunately, because
it is located in the middle of HCD's finance program laws, it
is difficult to find and often isn't even understood by courts
and housing providers. This bill moves this law to the Civil
Code that already deals with landlord-tenant statutes, where
the courts and housing providers are more likely to look for
such a law. [Senate Transportation and Housing Committee]
4)Definition of "electric vehicle charging station" and
"charging stations": Correct code reference (Section 5).
Legislation passed in 2014 regulating lease terms on electric
vehicle charging stations included inconsistent definitions of
"electric vehicle charging station" and "charging station."
Civil Code Section 1947.6(c) references the definition in the
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California Electrical Code, while Civil Code Section
1952.7(c)(1) references the definition in the National
Electrical Code. The California Electrical Code is based on
the model National Electrical Code, but contains amendments
made by state agencies with statutory authority. These
amendments were not originally included in the national model
code. This bill corrects the discrepancy by changing the
definition in Section 1952.7 of the Civil Code to refer to the
California Electrical Code. [Department of General Services]
5)Common interest developments: Resolve conflicts between code
sections relating to declarations (Section 6). There are
conflicts between Civil Code Sections 4270 and 4225, 4230 and
4235 relating to amending declarations. Section 4270 already
makes an exception for an alternate amendment process
described in Section 4275. This bill resolves the conflicts by
adding exceptions for the alternate processes in Sections
4225, 4230, and 4235 to the existing exception in Section
4270. [Educational Community for Homeowners (ECHO)]
6)Common interest developments: Renumber a Civil Code section
(Section 7). The California Law Revision Commission (CLRC)
revised the numbering in the Davis-Stirling Act with the
intent to avoid decimals. Accordingly, the CLRC left ample
room between existing whole-numbered sections. Despite this,
Civil Code Section 4750 concerns personal agriculture, while
Civil Code Section 4750.10 addresses clotheslines. Since
clotheslines are not particularly related to personal
agriculture, this bill replaces the statute number containing
a decimal with a whole number. [Educational Community for
Homeowners (ECHO)]
7)Common interest developments: Annual budget reports (Section
8). Last year, the legislature passed and the Governor signed
AB 596, which requires a homeowners association (HOA) in a
common interest development (CID) to disclose to the owners if
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the CID is an approved condominium project pursuant to Federal
Housing Administration (FHA) and Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA) guidelines. Section 5300(b)(10), which applies
only to condominium projects, specifies the following wording
that must be contained in the disclosure statement: "This
common interest development [is/is not (circle one)] a
condominium project." This bill eliminates the "is/is not a
condominium" question from Section 5300(b)(10), since the
section only applies to condos. [Community Associations
Institute-California Legislative Action Committee (CAI-CLAC)]
8)Common interest developments: Correct a Civil Code section
reference (Section 9). Civil Code Section 5570(b)(2) defines
the term "major component" to have the same meaning as
specified in Civil Code Section 55530. There is no Civil Code
Section 55530. The reference is intended to be to Civil Code
Section 5550, which does define the term. This bill corrects
an inaccurate Civil Code section reference from Section 55530
to 5550. [Community Associations Institute-California
Legislative Action Committee (CAI-CLAC)]
9)Housing discrimination: Update federal law citation (Section
10). In 1996, an amendment to Civil Code Section 798.76 was
made to reflect amendments to a federal law referenced
therein, the Federal Fair Housing Act. A corresponding change
was not made in Government Code Section 12955.9, which cites
the same federal law. This bill corrects the name of the
federal law to reflect amendments thereto. [Western
Manufactured Housing Communities Association]
10)Eliminate conflicting methodology for HCD determination of
regional housing need (Section 11). The second and third
sentences of section 65584.01(b) below reference two different
criteria that can result in conflicting calculations for
whether HCD must accept the population forecast of a council
of government (COG) in place of the population forecast of
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Department of Finance (DOF). Both criteria apply whether the
COG forecast is within a range of 3% of DOF's determination.
The 1st criterion compares COG and DOF "total" population.
The 2nd criterion compares change and difference in population
"growth" between COG and DOF total population. For example,
SCAG, during the current 5th 2013-2023 housing cycle, only met
the 1st criterion, which the Department allowed and prefers.
In late 2015, HCD discussed criteria conflict and redundancy
with local government and housing advocate members of the
Housing Element Advisory Group, and that group agreed that the
2nd criterion is redundant. Removing the term "growth" used
twice in 3rd sentence would resolve issue. [Senate
Transportation and Housing Committee]
11)State notice law protections: Clarify reference (Section 12).
The state notice law (Government Code Section 65863.10)
applies to a variety of publicly supported affordable
multifamily housing types. SB 1328 (2004) extended state
notice protections to tenants of many types of affordable
housing not previously covered. Among them were properties
with expiring rent restrictions that were financed under
tax-exempt mortgage revenue bond programs in Internal Revenue
Code Section 142(d) and Government Code Section
65863.10(a)(3)(F). Prior to 1986, however, the mortgage
revenue bond authority in Internal Revenue Code Section 142(d)
was lodged in a different code section. Consequently, the
specific reference to Section 142 potentially denies basic
state notice protections to tenants in properties that were
financed with mortgage revenue bonds prior to 1986. Last year,
voucher tenants of a 1985 bond-financed property in Walnut
Creek were left unprotected by the state notice law because of
this oversight. This bill clarifies that these protections
apply to properties financed by the program in Internal
Revenue Code Section 142 as well as corresponding sections in
the prior code. [Housing Advocates]
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1)Referencing International Codes (Section 13). Subdivision (a)
of California Health and Safety Code Section 17913 refers to
"the uniform codes" as the model codes in California.
However, there are other model codes related to residential
construction in California (International Codes published by
the International Code Council) that need to be referenced.
The amendment to subdivision (a) updates the reference to the
codes currently adopted in California. [Senate Transportation
and Housing Committee]
2)Remove outdated building code requirements (Section 14 and
15). California Health and Safety Code Section 17921.3
contains requirements for water closets and urinals. This
section, by its terms, would remain operative only until
January 1, 2014, or until the date on which the California
Building Standards Commission included standards in the
California Building Standards Code that conform to this
section, whichever date is later. Mandatory provisions for
water efficient plumbing fixtures and plumbing fittings were
adopted in the 2013 California Green Building Code (CALGreen)
and in the 2013 California Plumbing Code. This proposal
repeals Section 17921.3 because there is no need for it to
remain operative and to continue to be printed in the code.
[Senate Transportation and Housing Committee]
12)Building Standards Commission submittals to the Office of
Administrative Law (OAL) (Section 11, 20, and 22). Government
Code Section 11356 exempts building standard regulations
(including the Initial Statement of Reasons) from OAL review
and approval. When the California Building Standards
Commission (CBSC) approves an Initial Statement of Reasons and
a Notice of Proposed Action (Notice), only the Notice is
published by OAL in the California Regulatory Notice Register
pursuant to Government Code Section 11344.1. However, Health
and Safety Code Section 18935(a) requires CBSC to submit both
the Initial Statement of Reasons and the Notice to OAL. This
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bill eliminates an unnecessary requirement in order to achieve
consistency with existing law. [Department of General
Services]
3)Remove outdated provisions (Section 15). California Health and
Safety Code Section 17921.9 contains provisions for CPVC
plastic piping and safe work practices. This section became
inoperative on January 1, 1998, by its own terms. This
proposal removes Section 17921.9 because there is no need for
it to remain in the code. [Senate Transportation and Housing
Committee]
4)Replace outdated code references (Section 16). California
Health and Safety Code Section 17922 contains provisions
related to the California Building Standards and other rules
and regulations adopted by HCD, and refers to "the uniform
model codes". However, some of these uniform model codes are
no longer adopted in California. The amendments to
subdivisions (a) and (b) update the language and refer to the
model codes currently adopted in California. [Senate
Transportation and Housing Committee]
5)Deletes a citation to an outdated building code reference
(Section 17). California Health and Safety Code Section
17922.3 contains provisions governing moved residential
structures. The language in this section refers to the 1991
Uniform Building Code (UBC), Section 104, for the requirements
for existing buildings, including moved buildings. The UBC is
no longer a model code in California; the requirements for
existing buildings in California are currently in the
California Existing Building Code (2015 IEBC is the model
code). This proposal deletes that citation because is no need
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for a reference to code not adopted in California. [Senate
Transportation and Housing Committee]
6)Deletes a citation to an outdated building code reference
(Section 18). California Health and Safety Code Section
17958.1 authorizes cities and counties to permit efficiency
units, and refers to the "Uniform Building Code" for the
meaning of the term "efficiency unit." However, the Uniform
Building Code is no longer a model code in California; the
definition of "efficiency unit" and the section containing the
requirements for efficiency units are located in the
California Building Code (the International Building Code is
the model code). This proposal deletes that citation because
is no need for a reference to code not adopted in California.
[Senate Transportation and Housing Committee]
7)Corrects a spelling error (Section 19). California Health and
Safety Code Section 17959.1 (a) requires cities or counties to
administratively approve applications to install solar energy
systems. The modifications to subdivision (a) corrects a
spelling error. [Senate Transportation and Housing Committee]
13)Tribally designated housing entities (Sections 23 and 24).
State Health and Safety Code Section 50074 describes the types
of housing sponsors that are eligible to participate in
housing programs administered by HCD. The federal Native
American Housing Assistance Self Determination Act of 1996
(NAHASDA) establishes a specific category of housing sponsor,
the "tribally designated housing entity," that is neither
enumerated in Section 50074 or defined in existing language.
As such, tribes have never participated in HCD's programs.
This bill defines "tribally designated housing entity" by
reference to federal code and specifies that tribally
designated housing entities are housing sponsors eligible for
assistance from HCD. [Northern Circle Indian Housing
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Authority]
14)Mobilehome Park Rehabilitation and Resident Ownership
Program: Clarify intent (Section 26). AB 225 (Chau and
Nestande, Chapter 493, Statutes of 2014) gave HCD greater
flexibility to administer the Mobilehome Park Rehabilitation
and Resident Ownership Program. The bill allowed recipients of
program funds (e.g., resident organizations, local public
entities, nonprofit sponsors) to make loans to lower-income
mobilehome owners to assist them in repairing their
mobilehomes. The bill was intended to allow HCD to operate
this program in a manner similar to the CalHOME program, such
as by providing loans to residents to replace their
mobilehomes. This bill further clarifies the intent of
legislation. [Assembly Housing and Community Development
Committee]
Double-referred: SB 944 was also referred to the Committee on
Judiciary, where it will be heard should it pass out of this
committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
None on file
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Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by: Lisa Engel / H. & C.D. / (916)
319-2085