BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 944
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB
944 (Committee on Transportation and Housing)
As Amended August 18, 2016
2/3 vote
SENATE VOTE: 37-0
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+-----------------------+---------------------|
|Housing |7-0 |Chiu, Steinorth, | |
| | |Burke, Chau, Beth | |
| | |Gaines, Lopez, Mullin | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+-----------------------+---------------------|
|Judiciary |10-0 |Mark Stone, Wagner, | |
| | |Alejo, Chau, Chiu, | |
| | |Gallagher, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Cristina Garcia, | |
| | |Holden, Maienschein, | |
| | |Ting | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+-----------------------+---------------------|
|Appropriations |20-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, | |
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| | |Calderon, Chang, Daly, | |
| | |Eggman, Gallagher, | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Holden, Jones, | |
| | |Obernolte, Quirk, | |
| | |Santiago, Wagner, | |
| | |Weber, Wood, Chau | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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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 Mobilehome Park Rehabilitation
and Resident Ownership Program (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
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
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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,
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
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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
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
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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 (Daly), Chapter 184, Statutes of 2015, which requires a
homeowners association (HOA) in a common interest development
(CID) to disclose to the owners if 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
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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)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]
9)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
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]
10)State notice law protections: Clarify reference (Section
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12). The state notice law (Government Code Section 65863.10)
applies to a variety of publicly supported affordable
multifamily housing types. SB 1328 (Torlakson), Chapter 110,
Statutes of 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]
1)Referencing International Codes (Section 13). California
Health and Safety Code Section 17913(a) 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
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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]
11)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
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]
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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
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
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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]
12)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
Authority]
13)Mobilehome Park Rehabilitation and Resident Ownership
Program: Clarify intent (Section 26). AB 225 ((Chau),
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,
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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]
Analysis Prepared by:
Lisa Engel / H. & C.D. / (961) 319-2085 FN:
0004272