BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1867
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1867 (Harkey)
As Amended August 2, 2010
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |74-0 |(May 6, 2010) |SENATE: |34-0 |(August 9, |
| | | | | |2010) |
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Original Committee Reference: L. GOV.
SUMMARY : Changes, for local governments, the eligibility
requirements for the substantial rehabilitation of units for
purposes of meeting housing element and regional housing needs
assessment (RHNA) requirements.
The Senate amendments specify, for units located in multifamily
ownership housing complexes with three or more units, that at
least an equal number of new-construction multifamily rental
units affordable to lower-income households have been
constructed in the city or county within the same planning
period as the number of ownership units to be converted.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires each city, county, or city and county to prepare and
adopt a general plan for its jurisdiction that contains
certain mandatory elements, including a housing element.
2)Provides that the housing element shall consist of an
identification and analysis of existing and projected housing
needs and a statement of goals, policies, quantified
objectives, financial resources, and scheduled programs for
the preservation, improvement, and development of housing.
3)Specifies that the Department of Housing and Community
Development (HCD) may allow a city or county to substitute the
provision of units for up to 25% of the community's obligation
to identify adequate sites for any income category in its
housing element, for units that meet specified substantial
rehabilitation, conversion or preservation requirements.
4)Requires, for purposes of counting substantially rehabilitated
units toward meeting housing element requirements, that a unit
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is not eligible to be "substantially rehabilitated" unless all
of the following requirements are met, at the time the unit is
identified for substantial rehabilitation:
a) The local government has determined that the unit is at
imminent risk of loss to the housing stock;
b) The local government has committed to provide relocation
assistance to any occupants temporarily or permanently
displaced by the rehabilitation or code enforcement
activity, or the relocation is otherwise provided prior to
displacement either as a condition of receivership, or
provided by the property owner or the local government,
provided the assistance includes not less than the
equivalent of four months' rent and moving expenses and
comparable replacement housing;
c) The local government requires that any displaced
occupants will have the right to reoccupy the rehabilitated
units; and,
d) The unit has been found by the local government or a
court to be "unfit for human habitation" due to the
existence of at least four violations of the conditions
listed in the Violations section of the Health and Safety
Code that provides for regulation of buildings used for
human habitation.
5)Provides that units that are located in a multifamily rental
housing complex of four or more units that are converted with
committed assistance from the city or county from
nonaffordable to affordable by acquisition of the unit or the
purchase of affordability covenants and restrictions for the
unit, will constitute a net increase in the community's stock
of housing affordable to low- and very-low income households.
6)Provides that the rehabilitated unit will have long-term
affordability covenants and restrictions.
7)Provides that prior to initial occupancy after rehabilitation,
the local code enforcement agency shall issue a certificate of
occupancy indicating compliance with all applicable state and
local building code and health and safety code requirements.
8)Provides that a unit is not converted by acquisition of the
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purchase of affordability covenants unless all of the
following occur:
a) The unit is made available at a cost affordable to low-
or very-low income households; and,
b) At the time the unit is identified for acquisition, the
unit is not available at an affordable housing cost to
either of the following:
i) Low-income households, if the unit will be made
affordable to low-income households; or,
ii) Very-low income households, if the unit will be made
affordable to very-low income households.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill:
1)Reduced the number of units located in a multifamily rental
housing complex that have newly been made affordable with
affordability covenants, from four units to three units, in
order to qualify with respect to counting the rehabbed units
toward a local government's RHNA obligation.
2)Allowed the existing market-rate units to be either rental or
ownership housing prior to conversion.
3)Specified that converted units must be rental housing.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Under current law, when a city updates its housing
element, it must generally show sufficient vacant land to
accommodate the projected housing need for the time period
covered by the element. This requirement ensures an adequate
supply of land for the construction of new housing. Current law
also allows a very limited exception to this requirement that
allows a local government to substitute a portion of these real,
available sites for a promise to rehabilitate existing units in
the future. This exception was put into place by AB 438
(Torlakson), Chapter 796, Statutes of 1998, and allows local
jurisdictions to fulfill up to 25% of their region's affordable
housing needs by providing substantially rehabilitated units
whose long-term affordability is assured through covenants and
restrictions, through the provision of "committed assistance" as
provided by the city or county.
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This bill makes several changes to the section of law that
allows a city or county to substitute the provision of units for
up to 25% of the community's obligation to identify adequate
sites. This bill allows units that are located in a multifamily
rental housing complex of three or more units that have newly
been made affordable with affordability covenants to qualify,
with respect to counting the rehabbed units toward a local
government's RHNA obligation. Current law specifies that this
only applies to a complex of four or more units [AB 2348
(Mullin), Chapter 725, Statutes of 2004]. Prior to 2004, this
requirement was for a multifamily rental housing complex of
sixteen or more units.
Amendments taken in the Senate require that a city or county
that seeks to get RHNA credit for conversion of ownership units
must commit at least an equal amount of financial assistance to
the new construction of affordable rental housing for
lower-income households.
Support arguments: The sponsor, the City of San Juan
Capistrano, argues that this bill seeks to make minor changes to
current law in order to give local governments additional
autonomy, to provide increased opportunities to create
additional affordable units, and to implement methods of
addressing the needs of low-income individuals who are currently
housed in sub-standard dwelling units.
Opposition arguments: AB 720 (Caballero), Chapter 467, Statutes
of 2009, updated this section of law to increase flexibility for
local governments in meeting housing requirements by expanding
the amount of time a city or county can provide committed
assistance for the rehabilitation of affordable housing units,
and allows a city or county to include weatherization and energy
efficiency improvements as part of its efforts to rehabilitate a
unit. In light of these recent changes, the Legislature may
wish to ask whether it is necessary to amend this statute when
local governments have had little chance to use the expanded
provisions of AB 720 that took effect on January 1, 2010.
Analysis Prepared by : Debbie Michel / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958
FN: 0005343
AB 1867
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