83R21406 JAM-D
By: Guillen H.B. No. 2954
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2954:
By: Rodriguez of Bexar C.S.H.B. No. 2954
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment of a down payment assistance program
by the manufactured housing division of the Texas Department of
Housing and Community Affairs for the purchase of manufactured
homes by low-income individuals and families.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 1201, Occupations Code, is
amended by adding Section 1201.063 to read as follows:
Sec. 1201.063. DOWN PAYMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. (a) The
department shall establish a program providing down payment
assistance to eligible persons for the purchase of manufactured
homes:
(1) from a retailer licensed under this chapter; or
(2) that have been converted to and are being sold as
real property.
(b) To be eligible for financial assistance under this
section, a person must:
(1) be an individual or family earning not more than 80
percent of the area median income or applicable federal poverty
line as determined under Section 2306.123 or 2306.1231, Government
Code; and
(2) except as provided by board rule, continuously
occupy the purchased manufactured home as the person's primary
residence for at least the two-year period following the date of
purchase of the home.
(c) For each manufactured home purchased with financial
assistance under this section, the assistance may not exceed the
lesser of:
(1) $2,000;
(2) 50 percent of any down payment required by the
primary lender; or
(3) five percent of the total purchase price of the
manufactured home and the real property on which a manufactured
home has been installed, if a real property election has been
perfected under Section 1201.222(a).
(d) Financial assistance provided under this section must
be provided in connection with a primary loan that:
(1) is from a lender licensed to make consumer loans in
this state or a federally insured depository institution if the
loan does not involve the use of real property as security; or
(2) complies with the applicable requirements of state
and federal law if the loan involves the use of real property as
security.
(e) The board shall adopt rules governing:
(1) the administration of the program;
(2) the issuance of financial assistance under the
program;
(3) creditworthiness, purchase price, and other
eligibility standards;
(4) exceptions to the residency requirement under
Subsection (b)(2), including death, loss of employment, or other
exigent circumstances;
(5) contractual enforcement of the residency
requirement under Subsection (b)(2); and
(6) the structure of the financial assistance provided
under this section, which may include secured or unsecured deferred
forgivable loans.
(f) The department may fund the program with:
(1) money appropriated to the department for that
purpose; and
(2) money from the housing trust fund established
under Section 2306.201, Government Code, that is made available to
the department for that purpose.
(g) The department may reserve for payment of
administrative expenses not more than five percent of money
received for the program under this section.
SECTION 2. The Texas Department of Housing and Community
Affairs shall adopt the rules required by Section 1201.063(e),
Occupations Code, as added by this Act, not later than December 1,
2013.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.