81R28549 JAM-D
By: Davis of Dallas H.B. No. 3171
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 3171:
By: Gutierrez C.S.H.B. No. 3171
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the duties and programs of the Texas Department of
Housing and Community Affairs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 2306.001, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 2306.001. PURPOSES. The purposes of the department
are to:
(1) assist local governments in:
(A) providing essential public services for
their residents; and
(B) overcoming financial, social, and
environmental problems;
(2) provide for the housing needs of individuals and
families of low, very low, and extremely low income and families of
moderate income;
(3) contribute to the preservation, development, and
redevelopment of neighborhoods and communities, including
cooperation in the preservation of government-assisted housing
occupied by individuals and families of very low and extremely low
income;
(4) assist the governor and the legislature in
coordinating federal and state programs affecting local
government;
(5) inform state officials and the public of the needs
of local government;
(6) serve as the lead agency for:
(A) addressing at the state level the problem of
homelessness in this state;
(B) coordinating interagency efforts to address
homelessness; and
(C) addressing at the state level and
coordinating interagency efforts to address any problem associated
with homelessness, including hunger; [and]
(7) serve as a source of information to the public
regarding all affordable housing resources and community support
services in the state; and
(8) administer programs to achieve the purposes
described by this section and implement procedures to improve the
efficiency of those programs and to maximize federal funding.
SECTION 2. Section 2306.041, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 2306.041. IMPOSITION OF PENALTY. The board shall
[may] impose an administrative penalty on a person who violates
this chapter or a rule or order adopted under this chapter.
SECTION 3. Subchapter D, Chapter 2306, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 2306.085 to read as follows:
Sec. 2306.085. GENERAL ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY; STUDY. (a)
The department shall develop and implement procedures to ensure
that all programs administered by the department comply with the
requirements of this chapter and applicable federal laws.
(b) The department shall conduct a study to determine
whether the creation of new programs or expansion of existing
services would improve the department's ability to perform the
duties assigned by this chapter.
SECTION 4. Subchapter E, Chapter 2306, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 2306.095 to read as follows:
Sec. 2306.095. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR LOCAL INITIATIVES
REGARDING THE HOMELESS. (a) The department shall provide
financial assistance to political subdivisions, housing finance
corporations, for-profit corporations, and nonprofit organizations
that provide services for individuals and families who are
homeless.
(b) Assistance provided under this section must be used only
to support local initiatives regarding homeless individuals and
families.
(c) The department shall seek any federal funding available
for the purposes of the program.
(d) The department may adopt rules to administer this
section.
SECTION 5. Section 2306.111(d-1), Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(d-1) In allocating low income housing tax credit
commitments under Subchapter DD, the department shall, before
applying the regional allocation formula prescribed by Section
2306.1115, set aside for at-risk developments, as defined by
Section 2306.6702, not less than the minimum amount of housing tax
credits required under Section 2306.6714. Funds or credits are
also not required to be allocated according to the regional
allocation formula under Subsection (d) if:
(1) the funds or credits are reserved for
contract-for-deed conversions or for set-asides mandated by state
or federal law, including the nonprofit set-aside mandated by
Section 42(h)(5), Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. Section
42(h)(5)), and each contract-for-deed allocation or set-aside
allocation equals not more than 10 percent of the total allocation
of funds or credits for the applicable program;
(2) the funds or credits are allocated by the
department primarily to serve persons with disabilities; or
(3) the funds are housing trust funds administered by
the department under Sections 2306.201-2306.206 that are not
otherwise required to be set aside under state or federal law and do
not exceed $3 million during each application cycle.
SECTION 6. Subchapter F, Chapter 2306, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 2306.122 to read as follows:
Sec. 2306.122. ASSISTANCE FROM AMERICAN RECOVERY AND
REINVESTMENT ACT OF 2009. (a) To the extent permitted by federal
law, in administering money provided to the department under the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Pub. L. No. 111-5),
the department shall secure the interests of the state through
bonds, retention of ownership interests in the affected properties,
or restrictive covenants or liens filed in real property records
for the affected properties.
(b) The interests of the state must be secured with respect
to the use of federal money described by Subsection (a) until the
department and the state do not have any specified liability to
repay or recapture that money.
SECTION 7. Section 2306.6703(a), Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) An application is ineligible for consideration under
the low income housing tax credit program if:
(1) at the time of application or at any time during
the two-year period preceding the date the application round
begins, the applicant or a related party is or has been:
(A) a member of the board; or
(B) the director, a deputy director, the director
of housing programs, the director of compliance, the director of
underwriting, or the low income housing tax credit program manager
employed by the department;
(2) the applicant proposes to replace in less than 15
years any private activity bond financing of the development
described by the application, unless:
(A) at least one-third of all the units in the
development are public housing units or Section 8 project-based
units and the applicant proposes to maintain for a period of 30
years or more 100 percent of the [development] units supported by
housing tax credits as rent-restricted and exclusively for
occupancy by individuals and families earning not more than 50
percent of the area median income, adjusted for family size[; and
[(B) at least one-third of all the units in the
development are public housing units or Section 8 project-based
units];
(B) the applicable private activity bonds will be
redeemed only in an amount consistent with their proportionate
amortization; or
(C) if the redemption of the applicable private
activity bonds will occur in the first five years of the operation
of the development and will reduce the amount of bonds outstanding
to less than 50 percent of the cost of the real property plus
depreciable basis:
(i) the Bond Review Board determines that
there will be money available to fund all other multifamily
developments financed by the bonds without requiring any reduction
in the financing for those developments;
(ii) the applicable private activity bonds
will be redeemed according to underwriting criteria established by
the department; and
(iii) the applicable private activity bonds
will be redeemed only in an amount necessary to ensure the financial
feasibility of the development described by the application;
(3) the applicant proposes to construct a new
development that is located one linear mile or less from a
development that:
(A) serves the same type of household as the new
development, regardless of whether the developments serve
families, elderly individuals, or another type of household;
(B) has received an allocation of housing tax
credits for new construction at any time during the three-year
period preceding the date the application round begins; and
(C) has not been withdrawn or terminated from the
low income housing tax credit program; or
(4) the development is located in a municipality or,
if located outside a municipality, a county that has more than twice
the state average of units per capita supported by housing tax
credits or private activity bonds, unless the applicant:
(A) has obtained prior approval of the
development from the governing body of the appropriate municipality
or county containing the development; and
(B) has included in the application a written
statement of support from that governing body referencing this
section and authorizing an allocation of housing tax credits for
the development.
SECTION 8. Section 2306.6711, Government Code, is amended
by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (g) to read as
follows:
(b) Not later than the deadline specified in the qualified
allocation plan, the board shall issue commitments for available
housing tax credits based on the application evaluation process
provided by Section 2306.6710. The board may not allocate to an
applicant housing tax credits in any unnecessary amount, as
determined by the department's underwriting policy and by federal
law, and in any event may not, except as permitted by Subsection
(g), allocate to the applicant housing tax credits in an amount
greater than $3 [$2] million in a single application round.
(g) Beginning in 2012, on January 1 of each even-numbered
year, the department may adjust the maximum amount of the
allocation prescribed by Subsection (b) by an amount equal to the
amount prescribed by that subsection multiplied by the percentage
change during the preceding state fiscal biennium in the Consumer
Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. City Average,
published monthly by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics,
or its successor in function. The department shall publish the new
amount in the qualified allocation plan.
SECTION 9. Subchapter DD, Chapter 2306, Government Code, is
amended by adding Sections 2306.6736 and 2306.6737 to read as
follows:
Sec. 2306.6736. LOW INCOME HOUSING TAX CREDITS FINANCED
UNDER AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT OF 2009. (a) Except
as provided by Subsection (b), a reference in this chapter to the
administration of the low income housing tax credit program applies
to federally administered money:
(1) received by the department under the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Pub. L. No. 111-5), or any
similar federal legislation that is enacted on or after January 1,
2009; and
(2) that is required to be allocated by the department
in the same manner and subject to the same limitations as
allocations of housing tax credits.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter,
including Sections 2306.1111 and 2306.6724, the department may
establish a separate application procedure for money described by
Subsection (a), the application period of which must begin on the
date the department begins accepting applications for the money and
must continue until all the available money is allocated.
(c) This section expires August 31, 2011.
Sec. 2306.6737. PROHIBITED PRACTICES. (a) Notwithstanding
any other law, a development owner of a development supported with a
housing tax credit allocation may not:
(1) lock out or threaten to lock out any person
residing in the development except by judicial process unless the
exclusion results from:
(A) a necessity to perform bona fide repairs or
construction work; or
(B) an emergency; or
(2) seize or threaten to seize the personal property
of any person residing in the development except by judicial
process unless the resident has abandoned the premises.
(b) Each development owner shall:
(1) include a conspicuous provision in the lease
agreement prohibiting the owner from engaging in a practice
described by Subsection (a); and
(2) remove in the manner specified by department rule
any provisions in the lease agreement that are contrary to
Subsection (a).
SECTION 10. The Texas Department of Housing and Community
Affairs shall adopt rules as necessary to implement and enforce
Section 2306.6737, Government Code, as added by this Act, not later
than November 1, 2009.
SECTION 11. The changes in law made by this Act in amending
Sections 2306.111(d-1), 2306.6703(a), and 2306.6711, Government
Code, and adding Section 2306.6736, Government Code, apply only to
an application for financial assistance that is submitted to the
Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs during an
application cycle that begins on or after the effective date of this
Act. An application that was submitted during an application cycle
that began before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
law in effect at the time the application cycle began, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 12. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.