83R6552 AJZ-D
By: Lucio S.B. No. 1553
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the Homes for Texas Heroes home loan program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 1372.025(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) Subsection (a) does not apply to qualified mortgage
bonds or qualified residential rental project bonds made available
exclusively to the Texas Department of Housing and Community
Affairs under Section 1372.023 or the Texas State Affordable
Housing Corporation under Section 1372.0223(1) [Sections 1372.0221
and 1372.0222].
SECTION 2. Sections 2306.553(a) and (b), Government Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(a) The public purpose of the corporation is to perform
activities and services that the corporation's board of directors
determines will promote the public health, safety, and welfare
through the provision of adequate, safe, and sanitary housing
primarily for individuals and families of low, very low, and
extremely low income and for persons who are eligible for loans
under the home loan program [programs] provided by Section
[Sections 2306.562 and] 2306.5621. The activities and services
shall include engaging in mortgage banking activities and lending
transactions and acquiring, holding, selling, or leasing real or
personal property.
(b) The corporation's primary public purpose is to
facilitate the provision of housing by issuing qualified 501(c)(3)
bonds and qualified residential rental project bonds and by making
affordable loans to individuals and families of low, very low, and
extremely low income and to persons who are eligible for loans under
the home loan program [programs] provided by Section [Sections
2306.562 and] 2306.5621. The corporation may make first lien,
single family purchase money mortgage loans for single family homes
only to individuals and families of low, very low, and extremely low
income if the individual's or family's household income is not more
than the greater of 60 percent of the median income for the state,
as defined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban
Development, or 60 percent of the area median family income,
adjusted for family size, as defined by that department. The
corporation may make loans for multifamily developments if:
(1) at least 40 percent of the units in a multifamily
development are affordable to individuals and families with incomes
at or below 60 percent of the median family income, adjusted for
family size; or
(2) at least 20 percent of the units in a multifamily
development are affordable to individuals and families with incomes
at or below 50 percent of the median family income, adjusted for
family size.
SECTION 3. The heading to Section 2306.5621, Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 2306.5621. HOMES FOR TEXAS HEROES [FIRE FIGHTER, LAW
ENFORCEMENT OR SECURITY OFFICER, AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES
PERSONNEL] HOME LOAN PROGRAM.
SECTION 4. Section 2306.5621(a), Government Code, is
amended by amending Subdivisions (2) and (5) and adding Subdivision
(10) to read as follows:
(2) "Home" means a dwelling in this state in which a
fire fighter, corrections officer, county jailer, public security
officer, peace officer, veteran, or person defined as emergency
medical services personnel under this section intends to reside as
the borrower's principal residence.
(5) "Program" means the Homes for Texas Heroes [fire
fighter, law enforcement or security officer, and emergency medical
services personnel] home loan program.
(10) "Veteran" has the meaning assigned by Section
161.001, Natural Resources Code.
SECTION 5. Section 2306.5621, Government Code, is amended
by amending Subsections (b), (c), (d), (f), (h), and (h-1) and
adding Subsection (d-1) to read as follows:
(b) The corporation shall establish a program to provide
eligible fire fighters, corrections officers, county jailers,
public security officers, peace officers, [and] emergency medical
services personnel, and veterans with low-interest home mortgage
loans.
(c) To be eligible for a loan under this section, at the time
a person files an application for the loan, the person must:
(1) be a fire fighter, corrections officer, county
jailer, public security officer, peace officer, veteran, or person
defined as emergency medical services personnel under this section;
(2) reside in this state; and
(3) have an income of not more than 115 percent of area
median family income, adjusted for family size, or the maximum
amount permitted by Section 143(f), Internal Revenue Code of 1986,
whichever is greater.
(d) The corporation may contract with other agencies of the
state or with private entities to determine whether applicants
qualify as fire fighters, corrections officers, county jailers,
public security officers, peace officers, [or] emergency medical
services personnel, or veterans under this section or otherwise to
administer all or part of this section.
(d-1) The corporation may contract with the Texas Veterans
Commission to assist the corporation in administering loans made to
veterans under this section.
(f) The board of directors of the corporation shall adopt
rules governing:
(1) the administration of the program;
(2) the making of loans under the program;
(3) the criteria for approving mortgage lenders;
(4) the use of insurance on the loans and the homes
financed under the program, as considered appropriate by the board
to provide additional security for the loans;
(5) the verification of occupancy of the home by the
fire fighter, corrections officer, county jailer, public security
officer, peace officer, veteran, or person defined as emergency
medical services personnel as the borrower's principal residence;
and
(6) the terms of any contract made with any mortgage
lender for processing, originating, servicing, or administering
the loans.
(h) In addition to funds set aside for the program under
Section 1372.0223(1) [1372.0222], the corporation may solicit and
accept funding for the program from the following sources:
(1) gifts and grants for the purposes of this section;
(2) available money in the housing trust fund
established under Section 2306.201, to the extent available to the
corporation;
(3) federal block grants that may be used for the
purposes of this section, to the extent available to the
corporation;
(4) other state or federal programs that provide money
that may be used for the purposes of this section; and
(5) amounts received by the corporation in repayment
of loans made under this section.
(h-1) To fund home mortgage loans for eligible fire
fighters, corrections officers, county jailers, public security
officers, peace officers, [and] emergency medical services
personnel, and veterans under this section, the corporation may use
any proceeds received from the sale of bonds, notes, or other
obligations issued under the home loan program provided by this
section, regardless of any amendments to the eligibility standards
for loans made under the program and regardless of when the
corporation received the proceeds from those bonds, notes, or other
obligations issued under the program.
SECTION 6. Sections 1372.0221, 1372.0222, and
2306.5621(i), Government Code, are repealed.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2013.