BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE HOUSING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
Senator Richard Alarc?n, Chairman
Bill No: SB 1593Hearing:April
3, 2000
Author: AlarconFiscal:Yes
Version: March 22,
2000Consultant:Mark Stivers
HOMEOWNERSHIP ASSISTANCE: CALHOME PROGRAM
Background and Existing Law :
The Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD)
administers a number of programs that promote or assist
homeownership opportunities. The Self-Help Housing Program
provides grants to organizations that provide technical
assistance to low and moderate income families to build or
rehabilitate their own homes with their own labor. The
Senior Citizens' Shared Housing Program provides grants to
organizations that assist senior homeowners in finding
other seniors and non-seniors with whom to share existing
housing.
Housing advocates want to create an omnibus program that
would consolidate the existing HCD homeownership programs
and further support local public and private efforts to
provide homeownership opportunities targeted at low and
very low income households.
Proposed Law :
SB 1593 would establish the CalHome Program at HCD to
provide grants and loans to local governments or
non-profits to enable low and very low-income households to
become or remain homeowners. Eligible uses for grant funds
would include:
Technical assistance to families to build or rehabilitate
their own homes with their own labor.
Technical assistance to seniors to help them remain as
homeowners by finding other seniors and non-seniors with
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whom to share there homes.
The provision of deferred payment loans to first-time
homebuyers to assist with downpayment expenses. Loans
repaid to the grantee organization would be loaned again
to additional homebuyers.
The provision of deferred payment loans for the
rehabilitation or acquisition and rehabilitation of
existing homes. Loans repaid to the grantee organization
would be loaned again.
The department would also directly make loans to
non-profits or local governments for the purposes of:
Land purchase, site development, predevelopment, and
construction period expenses related to homeownership
development projects. Upon completion of construction,
the department would be able to convert the loans into
grants to be used for downpayment assistance or other
home purchase assistance for individual households.
Permanent financing for mutual housing or cooperative
developments
Project applicants would be required to demonstrate
sufficient organizational stability and capacity in order
to receive grants or loans under this program. In making
awards, the department would be required to use a
competitive application process with weighted criteria such
as the extent to which the project utilizes volunteer or
self-help labor, trains youth in construction skills, or
involves community participation.
SB 1593 would require that at least 20% of any funds
appropriated be used in rural areas. The bill would
further allow HCD to use 5% of any funds for administrative
costs and exempt the program guidelines from the
Administrative Procedure Act, if less than $15 million is
appropriated.
Author's Statement :
1. Need for homeowership assistance. California's 55%
homeownership rate is 10% below the national average and
3rd lowest in the nation. Fourteen of the nation's 25
least affordable metropolitan areas are in the state.
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Homeownership helps build stronger communities and is one
of the primary ways for working families to accumulate
wealth. This program will streamline and expand the role
of HCD in making homeownership possible for lower income
Californians.
Comments:
1. Creating an omnibus program. This bill combines a
number of programs at HCD into one broad program that can
support a wide array of local homeownership strategies. By
providing a "one-stop shop" for homeownership assistance
projects, this approach seeks to make it more user-friendly
for applicants, reduce the administrative burden for the
department, and increase the department's flexibility to
meet varying needs. Although it may be impossible to
repeal the programs this bill combines due to the existence
of outstanding loans, the committee may wish to consider
whether or not the bill should state the intent of the
Legislature to replace existing homeownership programs at
HCD.
2. Too much leeway ? The bill limits the use of funds to
programs that benefit low and very low income households
and broadly delineates eligible projects that may be
funded, but otherwise gives the department great leeway in
structuring the program. The committee may want to
consider whether or not additional parameters are needed to
ensure that funds are allocated in the most effective way.
Support and Opposition : (3/28/)
Support : Enterprise Foundation (sponsor)
Affordable Homes, Avila Beach
Affordable Housing Foundation, San Francisco
Agora Group, Goleta
Archdiocese of Los Angeles Peace and Justice
Commission
Asian Law Alliance, San Jose
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Bakersfield Homeless Center
Berkeley Gray Panthers
Burbank Housing Development Corporation, Santa Rosa
California Affordable Housing Law Project, Oakland
California Community Reinvestment Committee,
Glendale
California Housing Partnership Corporation, San
Francisco
California Legislative Council for Older Americans
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
Chicano Federation of San Diego County
City of Concord Housing Department
City of Modesto Housing Department
City of Salinas Planing Department
Coachella Valley Housing Coalition, Indio
Common Ground Communities, Nevada City
Community Economics, Oakland
Community Housing Opportunities Corporation, Davis
Community Resource Associates, Clayton
Conference of Social Justice Coordinators of S
California, Los Angeles
Congress of California Seniors
Corporation for Supportive Housing, Oakland
Council of Community Housing Organizations, San
Francisco
East LA Community Corporation (ELACC)
East Palo Alto Council of Tenants
Eden Housing, Inc., Hayward
Emergency Housing Consortium, San Jose
Enterprise Foundation, Los Angeles
Fair Housing Council of Riverside County
Fair Housing of Marin
Family Assistance Program, Los Angeles
Foundation for Quality Housing Opportunities, North
Hollywood
Friends Committee on Legislation
Gubb & Barshay LLP, San Francisco
H&L Properties, Long Beach
Habitat for Humanity - Northern Santa Barbara County
Herman and Coliver Architecture, San Francisco
Homes for Life Foundation, Los Angeles
Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara
Inquilinos Unidos, Los Angeles
Interpersonal Developmental Facilitators, Inc.,
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Pasadena
Kings County Housing Authority
Lake County Alliance for the Mentally Ill
LINC Housing, Long Beach
Local Initiatives Support Corporation, San Francisco
Long Beach Housing Development Corporation
Los Angeles Community Design Center
Los Angeles Council of Society of St Vincent de Paul
Los Angeles County Mental Health Association
Los Angeles Housing Partnership, Inc.
Low-Income Housing Fund, Los Angeles
Marin City Community Development Corporation
Marin Continuum of Housing and Services, San Rafael
Mercy Charities Housing California, Orange
Metropolitan Area Advisory Committee, National City
Mid-Peninsula Housing Coalition, Redwood City
Mission Housing Development Corporation, San
Francisco
Mt. Diablo Habitat for Humanity
Nancy Lewis and Associates, Los Angeles
Napa Valley Community Housing, Napa
Neighborhood Housing Services of Orange County
Nevada County Housing and Community Services, Grass
Valley
New Directions, Inc., Los Angeles
Orange County Community Housing Corporation, Santa
Ana
Penny Lane, North Hills
People's Self-Help Housing Corporation, San Luis
Obispo
Planning for Elders in the Central City, San
Francisco
Public Law Center, Santa Ana
Related Companies of California, Irvine
Renee Franken and Associates
Resources for Community Development, Berkeley
Rural Communities Housing Corporation, Ukiah
Rural Community Assistance Corporation, Sacramento
Saben Investments, Inc., North Hills
Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency
Sacramento Loaves and Fishes
Sacramento Mutual Housing Association
Sacramento Neighborhood Housing Services
Saint Joseph Health System, Orange
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SAMCO, San Jose
San Joaquin County Housing Authority
San Leandro Shelter for Women and Children
Santa Barbara County Legal Aid Foundation
Santa Monica Commission on Older Americans
Santa Monica Rent Control Board
Sentinel Fair Housing, Oakland
Shelter for the Homeless, Midway City
Shelter Partnership, Inc., Los Angeles
Shelter, Inc., Concord
Sisters of the Holy Names California Province, Los
Gatos
Skid Row Housing Trust, Los Angeles
Sober Living Network, Santa Monica
Sonoma County Mobilehome Owners Association
Southern California Association of Non-Profit
Housing
Thai Community Development Center, Los Angeles
Thomas Lauderbach Development Consultants, El
Cerrito
Thomas Safron and Associates, Los Angeles
Venice Community Housing Corporation, Venice
West Contra Costa Conservation League, El Cerrito
West Hollywood Community Housing Corporation
Western Center on Law and Poverty
WNC, Inc., Costa Mesa
Opposition : Unknown
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