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