84R12004 JAM-D
By: Lucio S.B. No. 1636
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to financial assistance provided by the Texas State
Affordable Housing Corporation for the demolition and replacement
of unsafe housing and the purchase of manufactured homes by
individuals and families of very low income.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter Y, Chapter 2306, Government Code, is
amended by adding Sections 2306.570 and 2306.571 to read as
follows:
Sec. 2306.570. TEXAS SAFE HOME PROGRAM. (a) The
corporation shall establish and administer a program to provide
financial assistance for the demolition and replacement of
owner-occupied single-family homes that are in a condition that
poses a risk to the health and safety of the occupants.
(b) The board of directors of the corporation shall adopt
rules to implement the program described by this section. Rules
adopted under this section must establish:
(1) procedures and forms for nominating a household
for participation in the program;
(2) eligibility criteria for participation in the
program, including criteria based on:
(A) the financial need of the household;
(B) the physical condition of the home; and
(C) other criteria the board considers
necessary;
(3) procedures for evaluating a household's
eligibility for participation in the program;
(4) a system that:
(A) prioritizes and maximizes the allocation of
available funds; and
(B) includes the assignment of eligible
households to specific funding priority levels that are designed to
ensure the most effective use of funds for the most exigent
circumstances; and
(5) the manner in which a nomination must be made and
the manner in which households will be assigned to a specific
funding priority level under the system described by Subdivision
(4).
(c) Funding priority levels described by Subsection
(b)(4)(B) must give high priority to:
(1) households with children, the elderly, or persons
with disabilities;
(2) households whose health and safety are at greatest
risk due to the continued occupancy of a home described by
Subsection (a); and
(3) households that:
(A) are eligible for and will receive third-party
contributions, including volunteer labor or additional loans,
grants, or other financial assistance; or
(B) will contribute labor in the demolition or
construction of the home.
(d) A household may be nominated for participation in the
program by a mayor, fire chief, fire marshal, volunteer fire chief,
county commissioner, or county judge filing a nomination with the
corporation.
(e) On receipt of a nomination regarding a household, the
corporation shall determine whether the household is eligible to
participate in the program. If the household is eligible, the
corporation shall establish a funding priority level for the
household.
(f) A household may not be required to participate in the
program.
(g) In determining whether a nominated household is
eligible for participation in the program and for the purpose of
establishing a funding priority level for the household, a
representative or designee of the corporation shall inspect the
home with the homeowner and with the person who nominated the
household or that person's designee.
(h) Financial assistance administered under this section
may be provided in the form of a grant, partial grant, loan, or
forgivable loan.
(i) The corporation shall establish the Texas safe home
trust fund. The Texas safe home trust fund:
(1) is a fund:
(A) administered by the corporation; and
(B) placed with the Texas Treasury Safekeeping
Trust Company;
(2) consists of:
(A) money deposited to the fund under Section
158.056, Tax Code;
(B) appropriations or transfers made to the fund;
(C) unencumbered fund balances;
(D) public or private gifts, grants, or
donations;
(E) investment income, including all interest,
dividends, capital gains, or other income from the investment of
any portion of the fund;
(F) repayments received on loans made from the
fund; and
(G) funds from any other source; and
(3) may be used only to support the program
established by this section.
(j) The corporation shall attempt to secure an agreement
with:
(1) private lending institutions for below market rate
loans for use in the program; and
(2) manufacturers of manufactured housing for the
provision of HUD-code manufactured homes at a discounted price.
(k) An entity that enters into an agreement with the
corporation under Subsection (j) may:
(1) be designated as an "Official Partner of the State
of Texas for Safe and Affordable Homes"; and
(2) use the designation described by Subdivision (1)
in advertising and promotion.
(l) The corporation may enter into a contract for the
administration of the program.
(m) Not later than September 1 of each year, the corporation
shall submit to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker
of the house of representatives, and the state fire marshal a report
that documents for the preceding state fiscal year the number of
households that participated in the program, the nature of the
financial assistance provided under the program, and the amounts of
public and private financial assistance administered through the
program.
Sec. 2306.571. MANUFACTURED HOME PURCHASE ASSISTANCE
PROGRAM. (a) The corporation shall establish a program to provide
financial assistance to eligible persons for the purchase of new
manufactured homes from a retailer licensed under Chapter 1201,
Occupations Code.
(b) The board of directors of the corporation shall adopt
rules governing:
(1) the administration of the program;
(2) the issuance of financial assistance under the
program;
(3) eligibility criteria for participation in the
program, including creditworthiness and purchase price criteria;
(4) exceptions to the residency requirement under
Subsection (c)(1), including death, loss of employment, or other
exigent circumstances; and
(5) the structure of the financial assistance provided
under this section, which may include secured or unsecured deferred
forgivable loans.
(c) To be eligible for financial assistance under this
section, a person must:
(1) reside in this state on the date on which an
application for financial assistance under this section is filed;
(2) be an individual or family of very low income;
(3) except as provided by the corporation program
guidelines or rules, continuously occupy the purchased
manufactured home as the person's primary residence for at least
two years following the date of purchase of the home; and
(4) satisfy any other requirements established by the
board of directors of the corporation.
(d) When adopting additional rules on homeowner
eligibility, the board of directors of the corporation may consider
giving priority in allocating financial assistance under this
section to:
(1) a person who is currently serving in the military
or who is a veteran;
(2) a person who is at least 65 years of age;
(3) a person who has not owned a home during the three
years before the date on which an application is filed under this
section;
(4) a person who is replacing an existing manufactured
home used as the person's primary residence that was manufactured
more than 15 years before the date on which an application is filed
under this section;
(5) a person buying a manufactured home that is an
"Energy Star" qualified manufactured home or that conforms to the
energy efficiency standards or program jointly operated by the
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and the
United States Department of Energy; and
(6) a person who will install the home in a rural
county.
(e) For each manufactured home purchased with financial
assistance under this section, the assistance may not exceed the
lesser of:
(1) $35,000;
(2) 50 percent of the total purchase price of the
manufactured home; or
(3) 50 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), Occupations Code.
(f) Financial assistance provided under this section to
purchase a home having a primary loan associated with the purchase,
if the loan does not involve the use of real property as security,
must be provided by a lender that:
(1) makes consumer loans on manufactured homes in this
state in conformance with Chapter 347, Finance Code; or
(2) is a federally insured depository institution.
(g) A lender must comply with applicable requirements of
state and federal law if the loan involves the use of real property
as security.
(h) The corporation may fund the program with:
(1) money appropriated to the corporation for that
purpose;
(2) money deposited to the housing trust fund under
Section 158.056, Tax Code; and
(3) funds from any other source.
(i) A person who receives financial 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.
(j) The corporation shall award financial assistance under
the program on a first-come, first-served basis. The corporation
may publish on its Internet website notice that the corporation is
accepting applications for the program.
(k) The corporation may reserve for payment of
administrative expenses not more than five percent of money
received for the program under this section.
(l) The corporation may coordinate with local government
officials and utility providers to promote awareness of the program
and to receive recommendations of persons potentially eligible to
participate in the program.
SECTION 2. Section 158.056, Tax Code, is amended by adding
Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) The comptroller shall deposit:
(1) 50 percent of the tax imposed under this section to
the credit of the Texas safe home trust fund established under
Section 2306.570, Government Code, for use only for the purposes
authorized by that section; and
(2) 50 percent of the tax imposed under this section to
the credit of the housing trust fund to be used only to provide down
payment assistance for the purchase of manufactured homes by
individuals and families of very low income.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.