BILL NUMBER: AB 725	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  MARCH 4, 2008
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JANUARY 24, 2008
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 24, 2007

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Lieber and DeVore
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Beall, Hancock, and Hayashi)

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2007

   An act to add Section 50455.7 to the Health and Safety Code,
relating to housing.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 725, as amended, Lieber. Housing: universal rental housing
application.
   Existing law requires the California State Housing Plan to include
a housing strategy that coordinates housing assistance and
activities of state and local agencies.
   This bill, on and after July 1, 2009, would require specified
rental housing providers to use and make available to prospective
tenants, not-for-profit agencies, and others upon request, a
universal rental housing application, to be developed by the
Department of Housing and Community Development in coordination with
specified governmental agencies, as provided. The bill would require
the department and specified governmental agencies to notify
specified rental housing providers of the requirements of these
provisions.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  Section 50455.7 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
to read:
   50455.7.  (a)  (1)    On and after July 1, 2009,
a rental housing provider as specified in subdivision (b) shall use
and make available to prospective tenants, not-for-profit housing
assistance organizations, public agencies, and others upon request, a
universal rental housing application, to be developed by 
the department pursuant to subdivision (c). A rental housing provider
shall post this application and any amended version on its Web site
in a conspicuous location and make it publicly available, upon
request. Nothing in this section prevents a rental   the
department under subdivision (c). Nothing in this section prevents a
rental  housing provider from requesting other reasonable
information not contained in this application from prospective
tenants. 
   (2) The rental housing provider shall require a rental agent or
property manager to do both of the following:  
   (A) Make the application available to any person who requests it,
including, if requested, the plain English, large-print,
color-illustrated accessible format developed under subdivision (d).
 
   (B) Post, in a prominent place on the leasing agent's or property
manager's Internet Web site, if any, a link to the page on the
department's Internet Web site containing the application and the
plain English, large-print, color-illustrated accessible format.

   (b) Subdivision (a) applies to a rental housing provider that has
received any of the following and whose rental housing units are
still subject to the rent restrictions pursuant thereto:
   (1) A loan or grant from the department or the California Housing
Finance Agency.
   (2) State or federal tax credits allocated by the Tax Credit
Allocation Committee.
   (3) Tax-exempt bond authority allocated by the Debt Limit
Allocation Committee.
   (c) By no later than April 1, 2009, and each time new requirements
or other changed circumstances require it, the department shall
develop and adopt a universal rental housing application in
coordination with the Tax Credit Allocation Committee, the Debt Limit
Allocation Committee, and the California Housing Finance Agency.
 The  
   (d) (1) The department shall develop the application in the
following accessible formats, in addition to the standard format:
 
   (A) In plain English, with a large font and colored illustrations.
The department shall test this format with a focus group of persons
with diverse disabilities.  
   (B) In a format that is readable by computers equipped with
aural-reading technology.  
   (2) Upon the request of the department, the State Council on
Developmental Disabilities shall advise and assist the department in
developing the accessible formats of the application required under
this subdivision.  
   (3) The application shall include this statement: "This
application is available upon request in a plain English,
large-print, illustrated format. It is also available in a format
that is readable by computers equipped with aural-reading technology
at (insert the URL for the page on the department's Internet Web site
where this format is posted)." 
    (e)     The  department shall make the
application available for public review and comment 30 days prior to
adopting the application. 
   (d) 
    (f)  The information requested on the application form
shall include, but need not be limited to, all of the following:
   (1) The name, age, and student status of each person who will live
in the household.
   (2) All of the following regarding the applicant:
   (A) Mailing address, contact telephone number, and any e-mail
address.
   (B) The applicant's physical address, if any.
   (C) Not less than two years of housing history.
   (D) Detailed income information, including, but not limited to,
all of the following that apply:
   (i) Current employment income and information, and employment
history for the past five years.
   (ii) The amounts of and information on any pension or retirement
benefits.
   (iii) The amounts of and information on any child, spousal, or
family support income.
   (E) Information on current assets and on any asset that was
disposed for less than fair market value within the past five years.
   (F) The information required under the guidelines in the United
States Department of Housing and Urban Development Handbook (HUD
4350.3, Rev. 1, Change 2). 
   (G) The information required on California Apartment Association
form 3.0-R, revised 1/08, "Application for Rent."  
   (e) 
   (g)  In designing the form, the department shall consider
the format that the Tax Credit Allocation Committee uses on the
following forms:
   (1) Tenant Income Certification (February 2004).
   (2) Tenant Income Certification Questionnaire.
   (3) Employment Verification (September 2000).
   (4) Student Verification (September 2000).
   (5) Certification of Zero Income (September 2000).
   (6) Under $5,000 Asset Certification (September 2000).
   (7) Child and Spousal Support (May 2007).
   (8) Marital Separation Status Affidavit (May 2007).
   (9) Student Financial Aid Verification (July 2006). 
   (h) The department shall post the application form and the format
developed under subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (d)
on its Internet Web site.  
   (f) 
    (i)  The department, the Tax Credit Allocation
Committee, the Debt Limit Allocation Committee, and the California
Housing Finance Agency shall do both of the following:
   (1) Notify the rental housing providers specified in subdivision
(b) of the requirements of this section after publishing the
application, and each time the department publishes a revised
application.
   (2) Notify rental housing providers who receive the funds, tax
credits, or bond authority specified in subdivision (b) of the
requirements of this section when they receive the funds, tax
credits, or bond authority. 
   (j) The department shall release a request for proposal for the
development of the accessible formats required under subdivision (d).
The department shall not accept any bid that is for more than five
thousand dollars ($5,000). Any requirement under this section
relating to the accessible formats shall not apply if the department
does not accept a bid under this subdivision for the development of
the formats.  
   (g) 
    (k)  This section does not authorize the department to
adopt new regulations.