BILL NUMBER: SB 1593 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 30, 2000
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 22, 2000
INTRODUCED BY Senator Alarcon
FEBRUARY 18, 2000
An act to add Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 50650) to ,
and to repeal Chapter 3.6 (commencing with Section 50533) of,
Part 2 of Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to
housing.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1593, as amended, Alarcon. CalHome Program.
Existing law contains various programs relating to housing
assistance, including the Senior Citizens' Shared Housing Program,
the California Self-Help Housing Program, and specified federal
programs.
This bill would establish the CalHome Program, to be administered
by the Department of Housing and Community Development, to provide
funds to local public agencies or nonprofit corporations as either
grants for programs that assist individual households or loans that
assist multi-unit development projects. This bill would also
repeal the Senior Citizens' Shared Housing Program and state the
intent that the CalHome Program take the place of the Senior Citizens'
Shared Housing Program.
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. Chapter 3.6 (commencing with Section 50533) of
Part 2 of Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code is repealed.
SEC. 2. Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 50650) is added
to Part 2 of Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
CHAPTER 6. CALHOME CALHOME
PROGRAM
50650. The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
(a) An adequate supply of safe and affordable housing is the
foundation for strong and sustainable communities. Owner occupied
housing is a key housing resource, contributing to neighborhood
stability as well as economic vitality.
(b) In California, homeownership is beyond the reach of a large
segment of the population. There are also many homeowners who lack
the resources to make necessary repairs to their homes, or who would
welcome the opportunity to share them with suitable tenants.
(c) Reflecting California's diversity, there is a variety of
proven approaches to the promotion of homeownership within the state.
The purpose of the CalHome Program established by this chapter is
to support existing homeownership programs aimed at lower and very
low income households and operated by private nonprofit and local
government agencies, and thereby to increase homeownership, encourage
neighborhood revitalization and sustainable development, and
maximize use of existing homes.
(d) The CalHome Program is intended to take the place of the
Senior Citizens' Shared Housing Program established by Chapter 3.6
(commencing with Section 50533), which is repealed by the act
enacting this chapter.
50650.1. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the
CalHome Program.
50650.2. The department shall administer this chapter.
50650.3. (a) Funds appropriated for purposes of this
chapter shall be used to enable low- and very low-income households
to become or remain homeowners. Funds shall be provided by the
department to local public agencies or nonprofit corporations as
either grants of the following:
(1) Grants for programs that assist individual households
or loans that assist multi-unit development projects. Grant
funds may be used for technical assistance for self-help and senior
shared housing homeownership, or to provide loans to individual
households for first-time homebuyer downpayment assistance, home
rehabilitation, or home acquisition and rehabilitation programs.
Loan funds may
(2) Loans that assist development projects involving multiple
homeownership units, including single-family subdivisions.
(b) Grant funds may be used for first-time homebuyer downpayment
assistance, home rehabilitation, homebuyer counseling, home
acquisition and rehabilitation, or self-help mortgage assistance
programs, or for technical assistance for self-help and shared
housing homeownership. Loan funds may be used for
land purchase purchase of real property , site
development, predevelopment, and construction period expenses
incurred on homeownership development projects, and permanent
financing for mutual housing or cooperative developments. Upon
completion of construction, the department may convert project loans
into grants for programs of assistance to individual homeowners.
Financial assistance provided to individual households shall be in
the form of deferred payment loans, repayable upon sale or transfer
of the homes, when they cease to be owner-occupied, or upon the loan
maturity date. All loan repayments shall be used for activities
allowed under this section , and shall be governed by a reuse
plan approved by the department. Those reuse plans may provide for
loan servicing by the grant recipient or a third-party local
government agency or nonprofit corporation .
50650.4. To be eligible to receive a grant or loan, local public
agencies or nonprofit corporations shall demonstrate sufficient
organizational stability and capacity to carry out the activity for
which they are requesting funds, including , where
applicable, the capacity to manage a portfolio of individual loans
over an extended time period. Capacity may be demonstrated by
substantial successful experience performing similar activities, or
through other means acceptable to the department. In allocating
funds, the department shall utilize a competitive application
process, using weighted evaluation criteria, including, but not
limited to, (a) the extent that the program and
or project utilizes volunteer or self-help labor,
trains youth in construction skills, or involves community
participation , and (b) whether the program or project
contributes toward community revitalization. To the extent feasible,
the application process shall ensure a reasonable geographic
distribution of funds .
50650.5. For the purposes of this chapter, mutual housing and
cooperative housing shall be deemed to be forms of homeownership.
For these project types: (a) program funds shall be used for project
development costs only; (b) the department shall enter into a
regulatory agreement limiting occupant incomes, occupancy charges,
and share purchase terms for 55 years; and (c) notwithstanding
Section 50650.3, program assistance shall be provided in the form of
a deferred payment loan.
50650.6. The department may use up to 5 percent of the funds
appropriated for the purposes of this chapter for its costs in
administering the program.
50650.7. For appropriations of fifteen million dollars
($15,000,000) or less, the department may administer the funds using
guidelines that shall not be subject to the Administrative Procedure
Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Title 2
of the Government Code). If an appropriation exceeds that amount,
the department may administer the funds using guidelines for 24
months, during which time those guidelines shall not be subject to
the Administrative Procedure Act. The guidelines and any
regulations governing the CalHome Program shall include, among other
things, loan terms and limits, underwriting standards, home price
limits, application procedures and selection criteria, loan and grant
documentation requirements, and monitoring requirements.
50560.8. Not less than 20 percent of the funds granted pursuant
to this chapter shall be allocated to rural areas. For purposes of
this chapter, "rural area" shall have the same meaning as in Section
50199.21.