BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 725
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 25, 2007

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mark Leno, Chair

                    AB 725 (Lieber) - As Amended:  April 24, 2007 

          Policy Committee:                              HousingVote:6-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill:

          1)Requires the Department of Housing and Community Development  
            (HCD), by October 1, 2008, to develop a universal rental  
            housing application, including in accessible formats such as  
            braille and large print. HCD must also update the application  
            form as circumstances require.

          2)Requires HCD, in developing the application, to consult with  
            rental housing providers, housing assistance and social  
            service organizations, public agencies, and others.

          3)Requires rental housing providers, who receive or have  
            received either loans or grants from HCD or the California  
            Housing Finance Agency (Cal-HFA), state or federal tax credits  
            from the state Tax Credit Allocation Committee, (or tax-exempt  
            bond authority from the Debt Limit Allocation Committee, and  
            whose units are subject to applicable rent restrictions, to  
            use the universal rental application starting January 1, 2009,  
            and make the application available to prospective tenants,  
            non-profit assistance organizations, and public agencies.

          4)Requires HCD, the Tax Credit Allocation Committee, the Debt  
            Limit Allocation Committee, and the California Housing Finance  
            Agency to notify those who receive or have received receive  
            loans, grants, tax credits, or tax-exempt bond authority of  
            the requirements in (2).

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          One-time GF costs of up to $240,000 to HCD-$110,000 for the  








                                                                  AB 725
                                                                  Page  2

          equivalent of two staff for nine months to consult with other  
          parties and develop the universal application content and form,  
          $25,000 in contracts to produce the application in braille and  
          other accessible formats, $5,000 to notify past grant and loan  
          recipients of the requirements to use the universal application,  
          and up to $100,000 if HCD has to develop regulations due to the  
          mandatory nature of the application for housing providers.  
          Ongoing costs for HCD to update the format and notify new grant  
          and loan recipients would be minor and absorbable.

          Minor one-time special fund costs of $5,000 each for Cal-HFA,  
          TCAC, and DLAC to notify past recipients of the requirement to  
          use universal application. Ongoing costs to inform new  
          recipients would be minor.







































                                                                  AB 725
                                                                  Page  3

           COMMENTS  


           Purpose  . Because there is such an acute shortage of affordable  
          housing in California, low-income renters seeking housing  
          assistance often must apply to several providers simultaneously.  
          Applicants often must fill out a different application for each  
          development, even though nearly identical information is  
          requested. According to the author, this lack of uniformity  
          increases prospective renters' time and inconvenience, thus a  
          standardized application would streamline their search for  
          affordable housing. 


           Analysis Prepared by  :    Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081