ENROLLED 2022 Legislature CS for SB 196 2022196er 1 2 An act relating to the Florida Housing Finance 3 Corporation; amending s. 420.503, F.S.; defining the 4 terms bona fide contract and qualified contract 5 for purposes of the Florida Housing Finance 6 Corporation Act; amending s. 420.5087, F.S.; deleting 7 certain limitations and restrictions on, and 8 requirements for, loans made by the corporation to 9 sponsors of housing for the elderly under the State 10 Apartment Incentive Loan Program; deleting the 11 authority of the corporation to forgive certain 12 indebtedness; deleting provisions relating to loan 13 applications; amending s. 420.509, F.S.; designating 14 the corporation, rather than the State Board of 15 Administration, as the state fiscal agency to make 16 determinations in connection with specified bonds; 17 authorizing the corporations board of directors, 18 rather than the State Board of Administration, to 19 delegate to its executive director the authority and 20 power to perform that function; requiring the 21 executive director to annually report specified 22 information to the board of directors, rather than the 23 State Board of Administration; revising applicable 24 interest rate limitations on bonds of the corporation; 25 amending s. 420.5099, F.S.; providing construction 26 relating to low-income tax credit developments if a 27 qualified contract does not close for specified 28 reasons; providing requirements for the corporation 29 and an owner if a qualified contract does not close 30 for any other reason; providing construction if no 31 other qualified contract is presented to the owner 32 within a certain period; amending s. 420.5092, F.S.; 33 conforming a provision to changes made by the act; 34 amending s. 420.628, F.S.; conforming a cross 35 reference; providing an effective date. 36 37 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 38 39 Section 1.Present subsections (4) through (34) and (35) 40 through (43) of section 420.503, Florida Statutes, are 41 redesignated as subsections (5) through (35) and (37) through 42 (45), respectively, new subsections (4) and (36) are added to 43 that section, and present subsection (15) of that section is 44 amended, to read: 45 420.503Definitions.As used in this part, the term: 46 (4)Bona fide contract means a certain and unambiguous 47 offer to purchase the development for an amount equaling or 48 exceeding the qualified contract purchase price which is made in 49 good faith by a qualified purchaser with the intent that such 50 offer result in the execution of an enforceable, valid, and 51 binding contract to purchase and which includes: 52 (a)A requirement for the purchaser to make an initial 53 nonrefundable earnest money deposit of at least $50,000, to be 54 placed in escrow, unless waived in writing by the owner; and 55 (b)A requirement for the purchaser to make a second 56 nonrefundable earnest money deposit equal to 3 percent of the 57 qualified contract price within 15 business days after the end 58 of the due diligence period, unless waived in writing by the 59 owner and subject to any rights reserved by the purchaser in the 60 event of the owners failure to deliver insurable title or in 61 the event of the owners default. 62 63 A bona fide contract may require that the initial earnest money 64 deposit and the second earnest money deposit be refundable in 65 the event of the owners failure to deliver insurable title at 66 closing; the owners termination of a fully executed contract 67 due to a reason other than the default of the purchaser, or as 68 may be provided for in the contract; or the owners default. 69 (16)(15)Elderly means persons 62 years of age or older; 70 however, this definition does not prohibit housing from being 71 deemed housing for the elderly as defined in subsection (21) 72 (20) if such housing otherwise meets the requirements of 73 subsection (21) (20). 74 (36)Qualified contract has the same meaning as in 26 75 U.S.C. s. 42(h)(6)(F) in effect on the date of the preliminary 76 determination certificate for the low-income housing tax credits 77 for the development that is the subject of the qualified 78 contract request, unless the Internal Revenue Code requires a 79 different statute or regulation to apply to the development. The 80 corporation shall deem a bona fide contract to be a qualified 81 contract at the time the second earnest money deposit is 82 deposited in escrow in accordance with the terms of the bona 83 fide contract and, in such event, the corporation is deemed to 84 have fulfilled its responsibility to present the owner with a 85 qualified contract. 86 Section 2.Subsection (3) of section 420.5087, Florida 87 Statutes, is amended to read: 88 420.5087State Apartment Incentive Loan Program.There is 89 hereby created the State Apartment Incentive Loan Program for 90 the purpose of providing first, second, or other subordinated 91 mortgage loans or loan guarantees to sponsors, including for 92 profit, nonprofit, and public entities, to provide housing 93 affordable to very-low-income persons. 94 (3)During the first 6 months of loan or loan guarantee 95 availability, program funds shall be made available for use by 96 sponsors who provide the housing set-aside required in 97 subsection (2) for the tenant groups designated in this 98 subsection. The funds made available to each of these groups 99 shall be determined using the most recent statewide very-low 100 income rental housing market study available at the time of 101 publication of each notice of fund availability required by 102 paragraph (6)(b). The funds made available within each notice of 103 fund availability to the tenant groups in paragraphs (b)-(e) may 104 not be less than 10 percent of the funds available at that time. 105 Any increase in funding required to reach the required minimum 106 must be taken from the tenant group that would receive the 107 largest percentage of available funds in accordance with the 108 study. The funds made available within each notice of fund 109 availability to the tenant group in paragraph (a) may not be 110 less than 5 percent of the funds available at that time. The 111 tenant groups are: 112 (a)Commercial fishing workers and farmworkers; 113 (b)Families; 114 (c)Persons who are homeless; 115 (d)Persons with special needs; and 116 (e)Elderly persons. Ten percent of the amount made 117 available for the elderly shall provide loans to sponsors of 118 housing for the elderly for the purpose of making building 119 preservation, health, or sanitation repairs or improvements 120 which are required by federal, state, or local regulation or 121 code, or lifesafety or security-related repairs or improvements 122 to such housing. Such a loan may not exceed $750,000 per housing 123 community for the elderly. In order to receive the loan, the 124 sponsor of the housing community must make a commitment to match 125 at least 5 percent of the loan amount to pay the cost of such 126 repair or improvement. The corporation shall establish the rate 127 of interest on the loan, which may not exceed 3 percent, and the 128 term of the loan, which may not exceed 15 years; however, if the 129 lien of the corporations encumbrance is subordinate to the lien 130 of another mortgagee, then the term may be made coterminous with 131 the longest term of the superior lien. The term of the loan 132 shall be based on a credit analysis of the applicant. The 133 corporation may forgive indebtedness for a share of the loan 134 attributable to the units in a project reserved for extremely 135 low-income elderly by nonprofit organizations, as defined in s. 136 420.0004(5), where the project has provided affordable housing 137 to the elderly for 15 years or more. The corporation shall 138 establish, by rule, the procedure and criteria for receiving, 139 evaluating, and competitively ranking all applications for loans 140 under this paragraph. A loan application must include evidence 141 of the first mortgagees having reviewed and approved the 142 sponsors intent to apply for a loan. A nonprofit organization 143 or sponsor may not use the proceeds of the loan to pay for 144 administrative costs, routine maintenance, or new construction. 145 Section 3.Subsections (2) and (4) of section 420.509, 146 Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 147 420.509Revenue bonds. 148 (2)The corporation State Board of Administration is 149 designated as the state fiscal agency to make the determinations 150 required by s. 16, Art. VII of the State Constitution in 151 connection with the issuance of such bonds that in no state 152 fiscal year will the debt service requirements of the bonds 153 proposed to be issued and all other bonds secured by the same 154 pledged revenues exceed the pledged revenues available for such 155 debt service requirements. The corporations board of directors 156 State Board of Administration may delegate to its executive 157 director the authority and power to perform that function 158 without further review of the agency. The determinations 159 pursuant to this subsection paragraph are limited to a review of 160 the matters essential to making the determinations required by 161 s. 16, Art. VII of the State Constitution. The executive 162 director shall report annually to the board State Board of 163 Administration and the Legislature regarding the number of bond 164 issues considered and the determination with respect thereto. 165 (4)Bonds of the corporation may: 166 (a)Bear interest at a rate or rates not exceeding the 167 interest rate limitation set forth in s. 159.825 or s. 215.84, 168 as applicable s. 215.84(3), unless the State Board of 169 Administration authorizes an interest rate in excess of such 170 maximum; 171 (b)Have such provisions for payment at maturity and 172 redemption before maturity at such time or times and at such 173 price or prices; and 174 (c)Be payable at such place or places within or without 175 the state as the board determines by resolution. 176 Section 4.Present subsection (7) of section 420.5099, 177 Florida Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (8), and a new 178 subsection (7) is added to that section, to read: 179 420.5099Allocation of the low-income housing tax credit. 180 (7)For the further purpose of implementing this program in 181 this state, if a qualified contract does not close due to a 182 default of the owner, the termination by the owner due to a 183 reason other than the purchasers default, or as otherwise 184 provided for in the bona fide contract, the development must 185 remain subject to the extended use agreement, and the owner is 186 deemed to have waived any right or option to submit another 187 qualified contract request for the development. If a qualified 188 contract does not close for any other reason, the corporation 189 must continue to seek offers at the qualified contract price 190 through the end of the 1-year period, and the owners obligation 191 to cooperate in the marketing of the project must continue. If 192 no other qualified contract is presented to the owner during the 193 1-year period, the project must be treated as if no qualified 194 contract had been presented, and the extended use period is 195 terminated. 196 Section 5.Paragraph (b) of subsection (6) of section 197 420.5092, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 198 420.5092Florida Affordable Housing Guarantee Program. 199 (6) 200 (b)If the claims payment obligations under affordable 201 housing guarantees from amounts on deposit in the guarantee fund 202 would cause the claims paying rating assigned to the guarantee 203 fund to be less than the third-highest rating classification of 204 any nationally recognized rating service, which classifications 205 being consistent with s. 215.84(3) and rules adopted thereto by 206 the State Board of Administration, the corporation shall certify 207 to the Chief Financial Officer the amount of such claims payment 208 obligations. Upon receipt of such certification, the Chief 209 Financial Officer shall transfer to the guarantee fund, from the 210 first available taxes distributed to the State Housing Trust 211 Fund pursuant to s. 201.15(4)(c) and (d) during the ensuing 212 state fiscal year, the amount certified as necessary to meet 213 such obligations, such transfer to be subordinate to any 214 transfer referenced in paragraph (a) and not to exceed 50 215 percent of the amounts distributed to the State Housing Trust 216 Fund pursuant to s. 201.15(4)(c) and (d) during the preceding 217 state fiscal year. 218 Section 6.Subsection (2) of section 420.628, Florida 219 Statutes, is amended to read: 220 420.628Affordable housing for children and young adults 221 leaving foster care; legislative findings and intent. 222 (2)Young adults who leave the child welfare system meet 223 the definition of eligible persons under ss. 420.503(18) and 224 420.9071(11) ss. 420.503(17) and 420.9071(11) for affordable 225 housing, and are encouraged to participate in federal, state, 226 and local affordable housing programs. Students deemed to be 227 eligible occupants under 26 U.S.C. s. 42(i)(3)(D) shall be 228 considered eligible persons for purposes of all projects funded 229 under this chapter. 230 Section 7.This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.