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| 3 | 3 | | HB 963 2025 |
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| 7 | 7 | | CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. |
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| 8 | 8 | | hb963-00 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Page 1 of 3 |
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| 10 | 10 | | 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 |
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| 14 | 14 | | A bill to be entitled 1 |
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| 15 | 15 | | An act relating to rental assistance for veterans; 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | creating s. 420.5098, F.S.; providing legislative 3 |
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| 17 | 17 | | findings; creating the Veterans' Rental Assistance 4 |
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| 18 | 18 | | Grant Program; authorizing the Florida Housing Finance 5 |
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| 19 | 19 | | Corporation to provide certain grants to eligible 6 |
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| 20 | 20 | | applicants for a specified purpose; providing 7 |
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| 21 | 21 | | eligibility requirements for the program; authorizing 8 |
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| 22 | 22 | | rulemaking; providing an effective date. 9 |
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| 23 | 23 | | 10 |
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| 24 | 24 | | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 11 |
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| 25 | 25 | | 12 |
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| 26 | 26 | | Section 1. Section 420.5098, Florida Statutes, is created 13 |
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| 27 | 27 | | to read: 14 |
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| 28 | 28 | | 420.5098 Veterans' Rental Assistance Grant Program. — 15 |
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| 29 | 29 | | (1) The Legislature finds that: 16 |
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| 30 | 30 | | (a) Honorably discharged veterans have earne d and deserve 17 |
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| 31 | 31 | | the highest level of social welfare support. 18 |
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| 32 | 32 | | (b) Honorably discharged veterans deserve reasonable 19 |
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| 33 | 33 | | access to housing. 20 |
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| 34 | 34 | | (c) Some honorably discharged veterans are only able to 21 |
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| 35 | 35 | | secure housing through renting. 22 |
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| 36 | 36 | | (d) Lower-income honorably disc harged veterans may not 23 |
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| 37 | 37 | | have the financial means to provide a security deposit and first 24 |
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| 38 | 38 | | and last month's rent, which many landlords require before 25 |
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| 40 | 40 | | HB 963 2025 |
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| 44 | 44 | | CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. |
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| 45 | 45 | | hb963-00 |
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| 46 | 46 | | Page 2 of 3 |
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| 47 | 47 | | 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 |
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| 50 | 50 | | |
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| 51 | 51 | | issuing a lease. 26 |
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| 52 | 52 | | (e) Providing rental assistance for eligible honorably 27 |
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| 53 | 53 | | discharged veterans would help eli minate barriers to housing. 28 |
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| 54 | 54 | | (2) The Veterans' Rental Assistance Grant Program is 29 |
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| 55 | 55 | | created to provide security deposit assistance for low -income, 30 |
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| 56 | 56 | | honorably discharged veterans. 31 |
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| 57 | 57 | | (3) The Florida Housing Finance Corporation is authorized 32 |
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| 58 | 58 | | to provide one-time grants under the program from funds of the 33 |
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| 59 | 59 | | corporation in amounts up to $2,000 to eligible applicants for 34 |
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| 60 | 60 | | the purpose of assisting in the payment of security deposits for 35 |
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| 61 | 61 | | rental housing. 36 |
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| 62 | 62 | | (4) To be eligible to receive a rental assistance grant 37 |
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| 63 | 63 | | under this section, a person must meet all of the following 38 |
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| 64 | 64 | | requirements: 39 |
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| 65 | 65 | | (a) Be an honorably discharged veteran of a branch of the 40 |
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| 66 | 66 | | United States Armed Forces. A DD -214 form issued at the time of 41 |
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| 67 | 67 | | separation is required as proof of honorable discharge from a 42 |
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| 68 | 68 | | branch of the United States Armed Forces. However, if a DD -214 43 |
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| 69 | 69 | | form is not available, other documentation may be acceptable if 44 |
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| 70 | 70 | | recognized by the United States Department of Defense or the 45 |
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| 71 | 71 | | United States Department of Veterans Affairs, as determined by 46 |
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| 72 | 72 | | the Florida Housing Finance Corporation. 47 |
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| 73 | 73 | | (b) Be a resident of this state. A Florida driver license 48 |
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| 74 | 74 | | or Florida identification card is required as proof of 49 |
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| 75 | 75 | | residency. 50 |
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| 77 | 77 | | HB 963 2025 |
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| 81 | 81 | | CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. |
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| 82 | 82 | | hb963-00 |
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| 83 | 83 | | Page 3 of 3 |
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| 84 | 84 | | 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 |
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| 88 | 88 | | (c) Have an annual household income that is at or below 51 |
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| 89 | 89 | | 140 percent of the area median income. Annual household income 52 |
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| 90 | 90 | | must be verified in the manner required by the Florida Housing 53 |
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| 91 | 91 | | Finance Corporation, which may include background checks and a 54 |
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| 92 | 92 | | review of documentation such as bank statements and W -2 forms. 55 |
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| 93 | 93 | | (d) Apply to the Florida Housing Finance Corporation in 56 |
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| 94 | 94 | | the manner prescribed by the corporation. 57 |
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| 95 | 95 | | (5) The Florida Housing Finance Corporation may adopt 58 |
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| 96 | 96 | | rules to implement this section. 59 |
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| 97 | 97 | | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 60 |
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