Florida Senate - 2025 SB 1714 By Senator Burton 12-00817C-25 20251714__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to local housing assistance plans; 3 amending s. 420.9075, F.S.; requiring each county and 4 eligible municipality to include in its local housing 5 assistance plan a certain strategy; providing that lot 6 rental assistance for eligible mobile home owners is 7 an approved home ownership activity for certain 8 purposes; authorizing counties and eligible 9 municipalities to provide certain funds to mobile home 10 owners for rehabilitation and emergency repairs; 11 deleting a provision limiting to a specified 12 percentage the amount of certain funds that may be 13 used for manufactured housing; amending s. 420.9071, 14 F.S.; conforming a cross-reference; providing an 15 effective date. 16 17 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 18 19 Section 1.Subsection (5) of section 420.9075, Florida 20 Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (h) is added to subsection 21 (3) of that section, to read: 22 420.9075Local housing assistance plans; partnerships. 23 (3) 24 (h)Each county and each eligible municipality shall 25 include in its local housing assistance plan a strategy for 26 providing program funds to mobile home owners as defined in s. 27 723.003, which must include lot rental assistance. 28 (5)The following criteria apply to awards made to eligible 29 sponsors or eligible persons for the purpose of providing 30 eligible housing: 31 (a)At least 65 percent of the funds made available in each 32 county and eligible municipality from the local housing 33 distribution must be reserved for home ownership for eligible 34 persons. For purposes of this paragraph, lot rental assistance 35 for eligible mobile home owners as defined in s. 723.003 is an 36 approved home ownership activity. 37 (b)Up to 25 percent of the funds made available in each 38 county and eligible municipality from the local housing 39 distribution may be reserved for rental housing for eligible 40 persons or for the purposes enumerated in s. 420.9072(7)(b). 41 (c)At least 75 percent of the funds made available in each 42 county and eligible municipality from the local housing 43 distribution must be reserved for construction, rehabilitation, 44 or emergency repair of affordable, eligible housing. Funds may 45 be provided to mobile home owners as defined in s. 723.003 for 46 rehabilitation and emergency repairs under this paragraph. 47 (d)Each local government must use a minimum of 20 percent 48 of its local housing distribution to serve persons with special 49 needs as defined in s. 420.0004. A local government must certify 50 that it will meet this requirement through existing approved 51 strategies in the local housing assistance plan or submit a new 52 local housing assistance plan strategy for this purpose to the 53 corporation for approval to ensure that the plan meets this 54 requirement. The first priority of these special needs funds 55 must be to serve persons with developmental disabilities as 56 defined in s. 393.063, with an emphasis on home modifications, 57 including technological enhancements and devices, which will 58 allow homeowners to remain independent in their own homes and 59 maintain their homeownership. 60 (e)Not more than 20 percent of the funds made available in 61 each county and eligible municipality from the local housing 62 distribution may be used for manufactured housing. 63 (f)The sales price or value of new or existing eligible 64 housing may not exceed 90 percent of the average area purchase 65 price in the statistical area in which the eligible housing is 66 located. Such average area purchase price may be that calculated 67 for any 12-month period beginning not earlier than the fourth 68 calendar year prior to the year in which the award occurs or as 69 otherwise established by the United States Department of the 70 Treasury. 71 (f)1.(g)1.All units constructed, rehabilitated, or 72 otherwise assisted with the funds provided from the local 73 housing assistance trust fund must be occupied by very-low 74 income persons, low-income persons, and moderate-income persons 75 except as otherwise provided in this section. 76 2.a.At least 30 percent of the funds deposited into the 77 local housing assistance trust fund must be reserved for awards 78 to very-low-income persons or eligible sponsors who will serve 79 very-low-income persons, and at least an additional 30 percent 80 of the funds deposited into the local housing assistance trust 81 fund must be reserved for awards to low-income persons or 82 eligible sponsors who will serve low-income persons. 83 b.This subparagraph does not apply to a county or an 84 eligible municipality that includes or has included within the 85 previous 5 years an area of critical state concern designated by 86 the Legislature for which the Legislature has declared its 87 intent to provide affordable housing. This sub-subparagraph 88 expires on July 1, 2029, and applies retroactively. 89 (g)(h)Loans shall be provided for periods not exceeding 30 90 years, except for deferred payment loans or loans that extend 91 beyond 30 years which continue to serve eligible persons. 92 (h)(i)Loans or grants for eligible rental housing 93 constructed, rehabilitated, or otherwise assisted from the local 94 housing assistance trust fund must be subject to recapture 95 requirements as provided by the county or eligible municipality 96 in its local housing assistance plan unless reserved for 97 eligible persons for 15 years or the term of the assistance, 98 whichever period is longer. Eligible sponsors that offer rental 99 housing for sale before 15 years or that have remaining 100 mortgages funded under this program must give a first right of 101 refusal to eligible nonprofit organizations for purchase at the 102 current market value for continued occupancy by eligible 103 persons. 104 (i)(j)Loans or grants for eligible owner-occupied housing 105 constructed, rehabilitated, or otherwise assisted from proceeds 106 provided from the local housing assistance trust fund shall be 107 subject to recapture requirements as provided by the county or 108 eligible municipality in its local housing assistance plan. 109 (j)(k)The total amount of monthly mortgage payments or the 110 amount of monthly rent charged by the eligible sponsor or her or 111 his designee must be made affordable. 112 (k)(l)The maximum sales price or value per unit and the 113 maximum award per unit for eligible housing benefiting from 114 awards made pursuant to this section must be established in the 115 local housing assistance plan. 116 (l)(m)The benefit of assistance provided through the State 117 Housing Initiatives Partnership Program must accrue to eligible 118 persons occupying eligible housing. This provision shall not be 119 construed to prohibit use of the local housing distribution 120 funds for a mixed income rental development. 121 (m)(n)Funds from the local housing distribution not used 122 to meet the criteria established in paragraph (a) or paragraph 123 (c) or not used for the administration of a local housing 124 assistance plan must be used for housing production and finance 125 activities, including, but not limited to, financing 126 preconstruction activities or the purchase of existing units, 127 providing rental housing, and providing home ownership training 128 to prospective home buyers and owners of homes assisted through 129 the local housing assistance plan. 130 1.Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs (a) and 131 (c), program income as defined in s. 420.9071(26) may also be 132 used to fund activities described in this paragraph. 133 2.When preconstruction due-diligence activities conducted 134 as part of a preservation strategy show that preservation of the 135 units is not feasible and will not result in the production of 136 an eligible unit, such costs shall be deemed a program expense 137 rather than an administrative expense if such program expenses 138 do not exceed 3 percent of the annual local housing 139 distribution. 140 3.If both an award under the local housing assistance plan 141 and federal low-income housing tax credits are used to assist a 142 project and there is a conflict between the criteria prescribed 143 in this subsection and the requirements of s. 42 of the Internal 144 Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, the county or eligible 145 municipality may resolve the conflict by giving precedence to 146 the requirements of s. 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 147 as amended, in lieu of following the criteria prescribed in this 148 subsection with the exception of paragraphs (a) and (f) (g) of 149 this subsection. 150 4.Each county and each eligible municipality may award 151 funds as a grant for construction, rehabilitation, or repair as 152 part of disaster recovery or emergency repairs or to remedy 153 accessibility or health and safety deficiencies. Any other 154 grants must be approved as part of the local housing assistance 155 plan. 156 Section 2.Subsection (27) of section 420.9071, Florida 157 Statutes, is amended to read: 158 420.9071Definitions.As used in ss. 420.907-420.9079, the 159 term: 160 (27)Recaptured funds means funds that are recouped by a 161 county or eligible municipality in accordance with the recapture 162 provisions of its local housing assistance plan pursuant to s. 163 420.9075(5)(i) s. 420.9075(5)(j) from eligible persons or 164 eligible sponsors, which funds were not used for assistance to 165 an eligible household for an eligible activity, when there is a 166 default on the terms of a grant award or loan award. 167 Section 3.This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.