(a) Subject to the requirements of this section and of Article 5 (commencing with Section 34350), an authority may do any of the following:
(1) Issue revenue bonds for the purpose of financing the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, refinancing, or development of multifamily rental housing and for the provision of capital improvements in connection with and determined necessary to the multifamily rental housing.
(2) Make or undertake commitments to make construction loans and mortgage loans to finance the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, refinancing, or development of multifamily rental housing.
(3) Purchase or undertake, directly or indirectly through lending institutions, commitments to purchase, construction loans, and mortgage loans originated in accordance with a financing agreement with the authority to finance the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, refinancing, or development of multifamily rental housing or make loans to lending institutions under terms and conditions which, in addition to other provisions determined by the authority, shall require the lending institutions to use the net proceeds of the loans for the making, directly or indirectly, of construction loans or mortgage loans to finance the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, refinancing, or development of multifamily rental housing.
(b) An authority may develop, rehabilitate, or finance housing projects or participate in the development, rehabilitation, or financing of housing projects; or purchase, sell, lease, own, operate, or manage housing projects so assisted, subject to all of the requirements of this section.
So long as the proceeds of any sale, lease, or other disposition of real property, net of the cost of sale, are to be used directly to assist a housing project pursuant to this section for persons of low income, and the funds in any trust fund established pursuant to subdivision (f) are used directly to assist housing units for persons of very low income, an authority may, after a public hearing, sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of the real property without complying with any provision of law concerning disposition of surplus property, including, but not limited to, Sections 34315.5 and 34315.7.
An authority may convey surplus lands it acquires from another public agency to a nonprofit or private developer for development of single-family homes where the development will provide for home ownership for persons and families of low or moderate income, as defined in Section 50093. This conveyance shall be after a public hearing. With the exception of subdivisions (b), (c), and (d) of Section 34315.7, the conveyance need not comply with any law concerning the disposition of surplus properties, including, but not limited to, Section 34315.5 or subdivision (a) of Section 34315.7. The proceeds of any sale or other disposition of surplus land, net of the cost of sale, shall be used to assist a housing project pursuant to this section for persons of low income.
(c) (1) (A) Not less than 20 percent of all units in housing projects assisted by an authority pursuant to this section shall be available for occupancy on a priority basis to persons of low income. In the case of housing projects located within a targeted area, as defined by Section 103(b)(12)(A) of Title 26 of the United States Code, not less than 15 percent of all units in those housing projects assisted pursuant to this section shall be for occupancy on a priority basis by persons of low income.
(B) If the sponsor elects to establish a base rent for units reserved for lower income households, the base rents shall be adjusted for household size. In adjusting rents for household size, the sponsor shall either assume, pursuant to Section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1437f), or its successor, that a family of one person will occupy a studio unit, two persons will occupy a one-bedroom unit, three persons will occupy a two-bedroom unit, four persons will occupy a three-bedroom unit, and five persons will occupy a four-bedroom unit or shall utilize occupancy assumptions that it determines to be appropriate and commercially reasonable for financing extended pursuant to this chapter.
(2) (A) Not less than one-half of the units required to be available for occupancy pursuant to paragraph (1) and financed with any bonds issued on or after January 1, 1986, shall be occupied by, or made available to, very low income households, as defined by Section 50105.
(B) The rental payments for those units paid by the persons occupying the units (excluding any supplemental rental assistance from the state, the federal government, or any other public agency to those persons or on behalf of those units) shall not exceed the amount derived by multiplying 30 percent times 50 percent of the median adjusted gross income for the area, adjusted for family size, as determined pursuant to Section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1437f), or its successor, for a family of one person in the case of a studio unit, two persons in the case of a one-bedroom unit, three persons in the case of a two-bedroom unit, four persons in the case of a three-bedroom unit, and five persons in the case of a four-bedroom unit.
(3) Any indebtedness incurred pursuant to a mortgage loan financed under the terms of this chapter shall be subject to acceleration and the balance owing declared immediately due and payable upon any sale of an owner-occupied residence to a purchaser who does not meet the required qualifications for borrowers as established by the authority.
(4) The authority shall require the owners of housing projects assisted pursuant to this section to accept as tenants, on the same basis as all other prospective tenants, in the units reserved for very low income households, any very low income households who are recipients of federal certificates for rent subsidies pursuant to the existing program under Section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1437f), or its successor. The authority shall not permit a selection criteria to be applied to Section 8 certificate holders that is any more burdensome than the criteria applied to all other prospective tenants.
(5) No resident in housing units assisted pursuant to this section shall be denied continued occupancy or ownership because, after admission, the resident’s family income increases to exceed the eligibility level. However, the authority shall ensure that percentage requirements of this section shall continue to be met by providing the next available unit or units to persons of low income or by taking other actions to satisfy the percentage requirements of this section.
(6) In determining whether the percentage requirements of subdivision (c) have been achieved, the following terms and conditions shall be applied:
(A) The requirement that 20 percent or 15 percent, as the case may be, of the housing units assisted by an authority pursuant to this section shall be available on a priority basis to, or occupied by, households whose adjusted gross income does not exceed the applicable limits prescribed by subdivision (c) shall apply to the aggregate number of units assisted by an authority pursuant to this section.
(B) This section applies only to housing units first assisted after January 1, 1983, and the percentage requirements of subdivision (c) shall be complied with by January 1, 1986, and on January 1 of each even-numbered year thereafter.
(C) The percentage requirements of subdivision (c) shall be achieved within each of the following categories: (1) rental housing developments; (2) homeownership developments; and (3) rehabilitation financing. Housing units provided by rehabilitation financing shall not be counted within either of the first two categories.
(d) Units required to be reserved for occupancy by subdivision (c) and financed with the proceeds of bonds issued on or after January 1, 1986, shall remain occupied by, or made available to, those persons until the bonds are retired.
(e) Multifamily rental housing financed pursuant to this section shall not be subject to the requirements of subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) and paragraph (2) of subdivision (c), and the requirements of subdivision (d), if all of the following requirements are fulfilled:
(1) The housing authority offers each tenant a homeownership opportunity when the bonds are retired.
(2) A special trust fund or account which is funded with bond issuance proceeds or developer contributions, or both, is established no later than the time that the multifamily rental housing is first occupied. The initial funding of the account shall be no less than 5 percent of the face value of the bonds issued for the multifamily rental housing project. Upon repayment of the bonds, these funds, and all interest accruing thereon, less any amounts necessary to pay outstanding claims, shall be used to assist housing units for persons of very low income.
(3) The requirements of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) and subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) shall remain in effect for the periods required by Section 103(b)(12)(B) of Title 26 of the United States Code.
(f) It is the intent of the Legislature, and the Legislature declares, that housing authorities are the local entities with primary responsibility for providing housing for low-income and very low income households within their jurisdictions. However, recognizing that housing projects only for low-income households cannot be adequately assisted or developed with currently available funds, and that excess funds from housing projects assisted pursuant to this section can be utilized to further assist in the provision of housing for lower income households, it is the intent of the Legislature that the authorization of this section is to be used to enhance and supplement the traditional housing authority role of providing housing only for low-income households.
(Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 418, Sec. 6. (AB 1714) Effective January 1, 2018.)