California Assembly Bill AB2293 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 2293AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 20, 2010 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 5, 2010 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Torres FEBRUARY 18, 2010 An act relating to housing. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2293, as amended, Torres. Housing: construction loans. Existing law establishes the Multifamily Housing Program, the Joe Serna, Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant Program, and the Transit-Oriented Development Implementation Program, administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development, which provide assistance for multifamily housing, farmworker housing, and development of high density uses within close proximity to transit stations, respectively. This bill would authorize the department, until June 30, 2013, and for purposes of loan awards made pursuant to these programs, to contract with a construction lender to make permanent loan funds available and to reserve or set aside funds for a project as of the date of closing of the construction loan, as specified. The bill would authorize the department to charge a fee sufficient to cover the cost of performing duties associated with implementing 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. (a) This section shall apply to loan awards made pursuant to all of the following programs: (1) The Multifamily Housing Program authorized by Chapter 6.7 (commencing with Section 50675) of Part 2 of Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code. (2) The Joe Serna, Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant Program authorized by Section 50517.5 of the Health and Safety Code, including, but not limited to, subdivision (c) of Section 50517.10 of the Health and Safety Code. (3) The Transit-Oriented Development Implementation Program authorized by Part 13 (commencing with Section 53560) of Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code. (b)  If the   The  Department of Housing and Community Development  has determined that it has sufficient funds to meet commitments to projects that have relied on a department subordination agreement-estoppel certificate to start construction, the department  may, until June 30, 2013, do both of the following with funds available to the programs specified in subdivision (a): (1) Contract with a construction lender to make permanent loan funds available for a project during the construction period, in which case the department shall, in conjunction with the construction lender, engage a construction inspector or utilize the reports of the construction inspector engaged by the lender. (2) Reserve or set aside funds for a project as of the date of closing of the construction loan. The department shall establish a procedure for determining which projects qualify to have funds  escrowed. The procedure shall consider the amount of time needed to close the funding, the existence of local approvals for the project, and commitments from other funding sources.   placed into escrow.  (c) (1) The department may not exercise its authority pursuant to this section for any project that received an award after December 18, 2008, until the department has received or obtained access to bond funds sufficient to fund all projects within the same class of tax-exempt or taxable bond projects that received an award prior to December 18, 2008. (2) If the department exercises its authority pursuant to this section, it shall provide the loans and funds specified in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (b) to program awardees in the order in which they received their awards. (3) The department may charge a fee sufficient to cover the cost of performing the duties associated with the implementation of this section.