83R8942 JAM-D
By: Lucio S.B. No. 1690
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 in rural areas.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 1201.058(b), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) Ten dollars of the fee for each purchase, exchange, or
lease-purchase of a manufactured home shall be deposited to the
credit of the trust fund and used for the [protection] programs
described by Subchapter I.
SECTION 2. Section 1201.402(c), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) The trust fund, fees collected for the trust fund, and
income earned from investment of the trust fund may be used only
for:
(1) the protection programs prescribed by this
subchapter; or
(2) the program authorized under Section 1201.411.
SECTION 3. Section 1201.403, Occupations Code, is amended
by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
follows:
(a) Subject to Subsection (c), in any state fiscal year the
money available in the [One million dollars shall be reserved in
the] trust fund may not be reduced by more than one and one-half
times the amount of the unreimbursed claims in the previous fiscal
year [for payment of valid consumer claims].
(c) Any money in the trust fund in excess of $3 million shall
be transferred from the trust fund and credited to the general
revenue fund.
SECTION 4. Section 1201.404(a), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as otherwise provided by Section 1201.411 or
Subchapter C, the trust fund shall be paid directly to a consumer
or, at the director's option, to a third party on behalf of a
consumer to compensate a consumer who sustains actual damages
resulting from an unsatisfied claim against a licensed
manufacturer, retailer, broker, or installer if the unsatisfied
claim results from a violation of:
(1) this chapter;
(2) a rule adopted by the director;
(3) the National Manufactured Housing Construction
and Safety Standards Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. Section 5401 et seq.);
(4) a rule or regulation of the United States
Department of Housing and Urban Development; or
(5) Subchapter E, Chapter 17, Business & Commerce
Code.
SECTION 5. Section 1201.409(a), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as otherwise provided by Section 1201.411 or
Subchapter C, the trust fund shall be reimbursed by the surety on a
bond or from other security filed under Subchapter C for the amount
of a claim that is paid out of the trust fund by the director to a
consumer in accordance with this subchapter.
SECTION 6. Subchapter I, Chapter 1201, Occupations Code, is
amended by adding Section 1201.411 to read as follows:
Sec. 1201.411. DOWN PAYMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. (a) In
this section:
(1) "Energy producing area" means a county in which
oil and gas exploration and production or energy generation is an
industry of significance, as determined by the department.
(2) "Program" means the down payment assistance
program established under this section.
(3) "Rural area" means an energy producing area that
is located:
(A) outside the boundaries of a primary
metropolitan statistical area or a metropolitan statistical area;
(B) within the boundaries of a primary
metropolitan statistical area or a metropolitan statistical area,
if the statistical area has a population of 25,000 or less and does
not share a boundary with an urban area; or
(C) in an area that is eligible for funding by the
Texas Rural Development Office of the United States Department of
Agriculture, other than an area that is located in a municipality
with a population of more than 50,000.
(b) The department shall establish a program providing to
eligible persons down payment assistance, in the form of deferred
forgivable second lien loans, for the purchase of manufactured
homes in rural areas. Loans provided under this section:
(1) may not exceed $2,000 per person; and
(2) must be forgiven at the rate of one-fifth of the
outstanding balance of the loan for each year after the issuance of
the loan that the person resides in the home.
(c) To be eligible for down payment 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;
(2) meet any creditworthiness or purchase price
standards established by department rule;
(3) occupy the purchased manufactured home as the
person's primary residence; and
(4) purchase a manufactured home in a rural area.
(d) A person who receives down payment assistance through a
second lien loan under this section shall repay the outstanding
balance of the loan if the person ceases to occupy the manufactured
home as the person's primary residence.
(e) The department shall adopt rules governing:
(1) the administration of the program;
(2) the issuance of down payment assistance under the
program;
(3) creditworthiness and purchase price standards;
and
(4) the verification of occupancy of the manufactured
home as the person's primary residence.
(f) The department shall award down payment assistance
under the program on a first-come, first-served basis. The
department may publish on its Internet website notice that the
department is accepting applications for the program.
(g) The department shall fund the program with:
(1) subject to Subsection (h), fees deposited to the
trust fund under Section 1201.058;
(2) money appropriated to the department for that
purpose; or
(3) other sources authorized under Subsection (i).
(h) The department may not provide assistance for the
program under Subsection (g)(1) until the fund has a total balance
that is not less than $100,000 more than an amount equal to one and
one-half times the amount of the unreimbursed claims in the
preceding state fiscal year.
(i) The department may solicit and accept funding for the
program from the following sources:
(1) gifts and grants for the purposes of this section;
(2) any state or federal programs that provide money
that may be used for the purposes of this section; and
(3) amounts received by the department in any
repayments of loans made under this section.
SECTION 7. The Texas Department of Housing and Community
Affairs shall adopt the rules required by Section 1201.411(e),
Government Code, as added by this Act, not later than December 1,
2013.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.