(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the department may receive and approve a proposal or proposals by any regional center to provide for, secure, or ensure the full payment of a lease or leases on housing based on the availability for occupancy in each home. These proposals shall not include an adult residential facility for persons with special health care needs, as defined in Section 1567.50 of the Health and Safety Code. Proposals submitted by regional centers shall meet all of the following conditions:
(1) The acquired or developed real property is available for occupancy by individuals eligible for regional center services and is integrated with other housing in the community for people without disabilities.
(2) The regional center has submitted documents demonstrating the appropriate credentials and terms of the project and has approved the proposed nonprofit ownership entity, management entity, and developer or development entity for each project.
(3) The costs associated with the proposal are reasonable and maximize the receipt of federal Medicaid funding. The department shall only approve proposals that include a process for the regional center to review recent sales of comparable properties to ensure the purchase price is within the range of fair market value and, if significant renovations of a home will be undertaken after the home is purchased, competing bids for that renovation work to ensure that the cost of the work is reasonable. For purposes of this subdivision, “significant renovations” means renovations that exceed 5 percent of the purchase price of the home.
(4) The proposal includes a plan for a transfer at a time certain of the real property’s ownership to a nonprofit entity to be approved by the regional center.
(5) The regional center has submitted, with the proposal, the nonrefundable developer fee established in subdivision (d).
(b) Prior to approving a regional center proposal pursuant to subdivision (a), the department may contract or consult with a public or private sector entity that has appropriate experience in structuring complex real estate financial transactions, but is not otherwise involved in any lending related to the project to review any of the following:
(1) The terms and conditions of the financing structure for acquisition or development of the real property.
(2) Any and all agreements that govern the real property’s ownership, occupancy, maintenance, management, and operation, to ensure that the use of the property is maintained for the benefit of persons with developmental disabilities.
(c) The department may impose a limit on the number of proposals considered pursuant to subdivision (a). If a limit is imposed, the department shall notify the Association of Regional Center Agencies.
(d) (1) The department shall charge the developer of the housing described in the regional center proposal a reasonable, nonrefundable fee for each proposal submitted. The fee shall be for the purpose of reimbursing the department’s costs associated with conducting the review and approval required by subdivision (b). The fee shall be set by the department within 30 days of the effective date of the act that added this section, and shall be adjusted annually, as necessary, to ensure the payment of the costs incurred by the department.
(2) Fees collected shall be deposited in the Developmental Disabilities Services Account established pursuant to Section 14672.9 of the Government Code and shall be used solely for the purpose of conducting the review and approval required by subdivision (b), upon appropriation by the Legislature. Interest and dividends on moneys collected pursuant to this section shall, notwithstanding Section 16305.7 of the Government Code, be retained in the account for purposes of this section. Moneys deposited in the Developmental Disabilities Services Account pursuant to this subdivision shall not be subject to the requirements of subdivision (i) of Section 14672.9 of the Government Code.
(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (2), for the 2008–09 fiscal year, the Director of Finance may approve an expenditure of up to seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) by the department from moneys deposited in the account for the purposes specified in subdivision (b). In the 2009–10 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter, moneys shall be available to the department upon appropriation by the Legislature.
(e) No sale, encumbrance, hypothecation, assignment, refinancing, pledge, conveyance, exchange, or transfer in any other form of the real property, or of any of its interest therein, shall occur without the prior written approval of the department and the regional center.
(f) Notice of the restrictions pursuant to this section shall be recorded against the acquired or developed real property subject to this section.
(g) At least 30 days prior to granting approval under subdivision (e), the department shall provide notice to the chairpersons and vice chairpersons of the fiscal committees of the Assembly and the Senate and the Director of Finance.
(h) The regional center shall not be eligible to acquire or develop real property for the purpose of residential housing.
(i) Unless otherwise authorized by law, a regional center shall not use purchase of service funds to implement this section.
(j) With the exception of funds authorized in paragraph (3) of subdivision (d), this section shall be implemented within the department’s annual budget. This subdivision shall not preclude the receipt or use of federal, state non-General Fund, or private funds to implement this section.
(k) The department shall establish guidelines and procedures for the administration of this section.
(Amended by Stats. 2009, Ch. 140, Sec. 190. (AB 1164) Effective January 1, 2010.)