BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                       


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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 1036
          Author:   Mullin (D), et al
          Amended:  9/2/03 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE VETERANS AFFAIRS COMMITTEE  :  6-0, 7/8/03
          AYES:  Morrow, Knight, Denham, Ducheny, Dunn, Soto
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Chesbro

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  12-0, 8/29/03
          AYES:  Alpert, Battin, Aanestad, Ashburn, Bowen, Burton,  
            Escutia, Johnson, Karnette, Machado, Murray, Poochigian
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Speier

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  77-0, 5/29/03 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Veterans:  Cal-Vet loans

           SOURCE  :     State Department of Veterans Affairs


           DIGEST  :    This bill makes numerous changes to the Veterans  
          Farm and Home Purchase Act of 1974.

           ANALYSIS  :    

           Existing Law

           1.Authorizes the State Department of Veterans Affairs to  
            assist qualified veterans in purchasing farms and homes,  
            including mobilehomes.

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          2.Limits the amount that DVA can expend under the Cal-Vet  
            program in assisting veterans acquire different types of  
            home and farms.  Under current law, DVA cannot loan  more  
            than $70,000 for a mobilehome that is located in a  
            mobilehome park, and no more than $300,000 for a farm.

          3.Provides for the Veterans' Farm and Home Building Fund of  
            1943 and authorizes DVA to expend money from the Fund for  
            purposes of, among others, of advancing to a Cal-Vet  
            purchaser money to make alterations, repairs, or  
            improvements on their principal place of residence.

          4.Existing state regulations allow a Cal-Vet purchaser to  
            borrow against purchaser's equity in a farm or home if  
            DVA's interest in the property is prior and senior to any  
            other financing on that farm or home.

          This bill:

          1.Increases the expenditure limits on the purchase of  
            mobilehomes and farms under the Veterans' Farm and Home  
            Purchase Act, allows second loans in which DVA's security  
            interest is subordinate to an existing loan, authorizes  
            DVA to waive the down payment in specified instances, and  
            authorizes the use of specified funds for deferred  
            payments o second mortgage loans.

          2.Increases the expenditure limit on the purchase of  
            mobilehomes from $u70,000 to $125,000, and increases the  
            limit on farms from $300,000 to an equivalent of 150  
            percent of the maximum Fannie Mae loan limit  
            (approximately $484,050).  With rising land and home  
            prices in California, the existing limits are not  
            reflective of current costs.

          The Veterans' Farm and Home Purchase Act of 1974 authorizes  
          DVA to assist veterans in acquiring homes and farms by  
          providing that DVA may purchase the home or farm and then  
          sell it to a purchaser.  The Act additionally allows  
          purchasers to borrow against their home equity for loans  
          used to make repairs, alterations, or improvements only if  
          DVA's interest remains senior to any other financing on  
          that farm or home.








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          The Cal-Vet program's Farm and Home Building Fund of 1943  
          is funded through revenue bonds and self liquidating  
          general obligation bonds.

           Comments

           This bill is sponsored by DVA to amend the Military and  
          Veterans Code to increase the amount of a Cal-Vet loan for  
          mobilehomes located in a mobilehome park and for the  
          purchase of a farm, and to ease the rules for financing  
          Cal-Vet home imrpovements.

          The maximum amount that DVA can loan to a qualified veteran  
          for a home, farm, or mobilehome is set by legislation and  
          can only be changed by legislative action.

          The current maximum loan amount for a home is $322,700; for  
          a farm $300,000, and for a mobilehome sited in a mobilehome  
          park $70,000.  The maximum amount for a home is keyed to  
          the Fannie Mae index, which is updated regularly.  Until  
          the passage of SB 1893 (Chapter 473, Statutes of 2002) last  
          year the maximum home loan amount was set at $250,000.

          Basically, DVA indicates that because of rising land and  
          home prices across California there is a need to increase  
          the maximum loan amounts for farms from the current  
          $300,000 to $484,050, which represent 150 percent of the  
          current Fannie Mae home purchase price for a single family  
          home.

          By the same reasoning, DVA notes the increase in the price  
          of mobilehomes and proposes to increase the maximum Cal-Vet  
          home loan amount for mobilehome sited in mobilehome parks  
          from the present $70,000 to $125,000.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  Yes   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT :   (Verified  7/8/03) (Per Sen. Veterans Affairs  
          Committee analysis)

          State Department of Veterans Affairs (source)
          American Federation of State, County and Municipal  
          Employees







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           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  : 
          AYES:  Aghazarian, Bates, Benoit, Berg, Bermudez, Bogh,  
            Canciamilla, Chan, Chavez, Chu, Cogdill, Cohn, Corbett,  
            Correa, Cox, Daucher, Diaz, Dutra, Dutton, Dymally,  
            Firebaugh, Frommer, Garcia, Goldberg, Hancock, Harman,  
            Haynes, Jerome Horton, Shirley Horton, Houston, Jackson,  
            Keene, Kehoe, Koretz, La Malfa, La Suer, Laird, Leno,  
            Leslie, Levine, Lieber, Liu, Longville, Lowenthal,  
            Maddox, Maldonado, Matthews, Maze, McCarthy, Montanez,  
            Mountjoy, Mullin, Nakanishi, Nakano, Nation, Negrete  
            McLeod, Nunez, Oropeza, Pacheco, Parra, Plescia, Reyes,  
            Richman, Ridley-Thomas, Runner, Salinas, Samuelian,  
            Simitian, Spitzer, Steinberg, Strickland, Vargas,  
            Wiggins, Wolk, Wyland, Yee, Wesson


          TSM:cm  8/29/03   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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