CS/HB 701 2025
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to local housing assistance plans; 2
amending s. 420.9072, F.S.; authorizing a county or an 3
eligible municipality to expend certain funds on lot 4
rental assistance for mobile home owners for a 5
specified time period; amending s. 420.9075, F.S.; 6
requiring counties and eligible municipalities to 7
develop certain strategies in their local housing 8
assistance plans; providing that lot rental assistance 9
is an approved home ownership activity for certain 10
purposes; authorizing certain funds to be provided to 11
mobile home owners for rehabilitation and emergency 12
repairs; removing a prohibition that only a certain 13
percentage of funds may be used for manufactured 14
housing; amending s. 420.9071, F.S.; conforming a 15
cross-reference; providing an effective date. 16
17
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 18
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Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (7) of section 20
420.9072, Florida Statutes, is amende d to read: 21
420.9072 State Housing Initiatives Partnership Program. —22
The State Housing Initiatives Partnership Program is created for 23
the purpose of providing funds to counties and eligible 24
municipalities as an incentive for the creation of local housing 25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
partnerships, to expand production of and preserve affordable 26
housing, to further the housing element of the local government 27
comprehensive plan specific to affordable housing, and to 28
increase housing-related employment. 29
(7) 30
(b) A county or an eligible m unicipality may not expend 31
its portion of the local housing distribution to provide ongoing 32
rent subsidies, except for: 33
1. Security and utility deposit assistance. 34
2. Eviction prevention not to exceed 6 months' rent. 35
3. Lot rental assistance for mobi le home owners as defined 36
in s. 723.003, not to exceed 6 months' rent. 37
4.3. A rent subsidy program for very -low-income households 38
with at least one adult who is a person with special needs as 39
defined in s. 420.0004 or homeless as defined in s. 420.621. T he 40
period of rental assistance may not exceed 12 months for any 41
eligible household. 42
Section 2. Paragraphs (d) through (g) of subsection (3) of 43
section 420.9075, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as 44
paragraphs (e) through (h), respectively, paragraphs (f) through 45
(n) of subsection (5) are redesignated as paragraphs (e) through 46
(m), respectively, paragraph (c) of subsection (3) and 47
paragraphs (a), (c), and (e) and present paragraph (n) of 48
subsection (5) are amended, and new paragraphs (d) and (i) are 49
added to subsection (3) of that section, to read: 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
420.9075 Local housing assistance plans; partnerships. — 51
(3) 52
(c) Each county and each eligible municipality is 53
encouraged to develop a strategy within its local housing 54
assistance plan that addresses the n eeds of persons who are 55
deprived of affordable housing due to the closure of a mobile 56
home park or the conversion of affordable rental units to 57
condominiums. 58
(d) Each county and each eligible municipality shall 59
include in its local housing assistance plan a strategy that 60
addresses the needs of persons who are deprived of affordable 61
housing due to the closure of a mobile home park. 62
(i) Each county and each eligible municipality shall 63
include in its local housing assistance plan a strategy for 64
providing program funds to mobile home owners, as defined in s. 65
723.003, which must include lot rental assistance. 66
(5) The following criteria apply to awards made to 67
eligible sponsors or eligible persons for the purpose of 68
providing eligible housing: 69
(a) At least 65 percent of the funds made available in 70
each county and eligible municipality from the local housing 71
distribution must be reserved for home ownership for eligible 72
persons. For purposes of this paragraph, lot rental assistance 73
for eligible mobile home owners as defined in s. 723.003 is an 74
approved home ownership activity. 75
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
(c) At least 75 percent of the funds made available in 76
each county and eligible municipality from the local housing 77
distribution must be reserved for construction, rehabilitation, 78
or emergency repair of affordable, eligible housing. Funds may 79
be provided to mobile home owners as defined in s. 723.003 for 80
rehabilitation and emergency repairs under this paragraph. 81
(e) Not more than 20 percent of the funds made available 82
in each county and eligible municipality from the local housing 83
distribution may be used for manufactured housing. 84
(m)(n) Funds from the local housing distribution not used 85
to meet the criteria established in paragraph (a) or paragraph 86
(c) or not used for the adminis tration of a local housing 87
assistance plan must be used for housing production and finance 88
activities, including, but not limited to, financing 89
preconstruction activities or the purchase of existing units, 90
providing rental housing, and providing home owner ship training 91
to prospective home buyers and owners of homes assisted through 92
the local housing assistance plan. 93
1. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs (a) and 94
(c), program income as defined in s. 420.9071(26) may also be 95
used to fund activities described in this paragraph. 96
2. When preconstruction due -diligence activities conducted 97
as part of a preservation strategy show that preservation of the 98
units is not feasible and will not result in the production of 99
an eligible unit, such costs shall be deemed a program expense 100
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
rather than an administrative expense if such program expenses 101
do not exceed 3 percent of the annual local housing 102
distribution. 103
3. If both an award under the local housing assistance 104
plan and federal low -income housing tax cred its are used to 105
assist a project and there is a conflict between the criteria 106
prescribed in this subsection and the requirements of s. 42 of 107
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, the county or 108
eligible municipality may resolve the conflict by givi ng 109
precedence to the requirements of s. 42 of the Internal Revenue 110
Code of 1986, as amended, in lieu of following the criteria 111
prescribed in this subsection with the exception of paragraphs 112
(a) and (f) (g) of this subsection. 113
4. Each county and each elig ible municipality may award 114
funds as a grant for construction, rehabilitation, or repair as 115
part of disaster recovery or emergency repairs or to remedy 116
accessibility or health and safety deficiencies. Any other 117
grants must be approved as part of the local housing assistance 118
plan. 119
Section 3. Subsection (27) of section 420.9071, Florida 120
Statutes, is amended to read: 121
420.9071 Definitions. —As used in ss. 420.907 -420.9079, the 122
term: 123
(27) "Recaptured funds" means funds that are recouped by a 124
county or eligible municipality in accordance with the recapture 125
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
provisions of its local housing assistance plan pursuant to s. 126
420.9075(5)(i) s. 420.9075(5)(j) from eligible persons or 127
eligible sponsors, which funds were not used for assistance to 128
an eligible househol d for an eligible activity, when there is a 129
default on the terms of a grant award or loan award. 130
Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 131