Bill Text: CA AB1920 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: California Tax Credit Allocation Committee: low-income housing credit: fines.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2016-09-25 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 611, Statutes of 2016. [AB1920 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB1920-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 1920 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 611
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 25, 2016
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 25, 2016
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 18, 2016
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 24, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 8, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 18, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Chau
FEBRUARY 11, 2016
An act to amend Section 50199.10 of the Health and Safety Code,
relating to housing, and making an appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1920, Chau. California Tax Credit Allocation Committee:
low-income housing credit: fines.
Under existing law, the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee
administers the federal and state low-income housing tax credit
programs. Existing law requires the committee to allocate the housing
credit on a specified regular basis and requires the committee to
only allocate credits to a project if the housing sponsor enters into
a specified regulatory agreement. Existing law authorizes the
committee to make any allocation or reservation of the state's
housing credit ceiling to a housing credit applicant subject to
specified terms and conditions.
Existing law establishes the Housing Rehabilitation Loan Fund,
which is continuously appropriated to the Department of Housing and
Community Development, to fund various housing-related purposes.
This bill would authorize the committee to establish a specified
schedule of fines for violations of the terms and conditions, the
regulatory agreement, other agreements, or program regulations. The
bill would require the committee to define serious violations and,
except for serious violations, would require a first-time property
owner violator to be given the opportunity to correct the violation
before the fine is imposed. The bill would authorize a property owner
to appeal a fine to the committee. The bill would require these
fines to be deposited in the Housing Rehabilitation Loan Fund and
would authorize the committee to record a property lien if the fine
has not been paid within a specified period of time. By depositing
these fines into the Housing Rehabilitation Loan Fund, a continuously
appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation.
Appropriation: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 50199.10 of the Health and Safety Code is
amended to read:
50199.10. (a) For purposes of allocating low-income housing
credits, the committee is hereby designated as this state's only
housing credit agency for purposes of Section 42(h) of the federal
Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. Sec. 42(h)). The committee shall
annually determine and shall allocate the state ceiling in accordance
with this chapter and in conformity with federal law. The committee
shall determine the housing credit ceiling as soon as possible
following the effective date of this chapter and thereafter following
the commencement of each calendar year. The committee shall
undertake any and all responsibilities of housing credit agencies
under Section 42 of Title 26 of the United States Code, including
entering into regulatory agreements relating to projects that are
granted awards.
(b) The committee shall develop and provide application forms for
use by housing credit applicants. The committee shall adopt uniform
procedures for submission and review of applications of housing
credit applicants, including fees to defray the committee's costs in
administering this chapter. In the committee's discretion, the fees
shall be charged to a housing credit applicant as a condition of
submitting an application or as a condition of receiving an
allocation or reservation of the state's current or anticipated
housing credit ceiling, or both.
(c) In addition to allocating the current housing credit ceiling,
the committee may reserve a portion of the state's anticipated
housing credit ceiling for a subsequent year for a housing credit
applicant.
(d) As a condition to making an allocation of the housing credit
ceiling or a reservation of the anticipated housing credit ceiling
for a subsequent year, the committee may require the housing credit
applicant receiving the allocation or reservation to deposit with the
committee an amount of money as a good-faith undertaking. The
committee shall adopt policies for determining when deposits will be
required, prescribing procedures for return of deposits, and
specifying the circumstances under which the deposits will be
forfeited in whole or in part for failure to timely utilize the
allocation or reservation provided to the housing credit applicant.
(e) (1) The committee may make any allocation or reservation of
the state's housing credit ceiling to a housing credit applicant
subject to terms and conditions in furtherance of the purposes of
this part. The committee may condition an allocation or reservation
on the execution of a contract between the housing credit applicant
and the committee requiring the housing credit applicant to comply
with all the terms of Section 42 of the federal Internal Revenue
Code, any applicable state laws, and any additional requirements the
committee deems necessary or appropriate to serve the purposes of
this chapter, and providing for legal action to obtain specific
performance or monetary damages for breach of contract.
(2) No allocations or reservations shall be made pursuant to this
subdivision with respect to projects that do not meet the
requirements of the qualified allocation plan, and no allocations or
reservations shall be made in amounts that do not meet the
requirements of paragraph (2) of subsection (m) of Section 42 of
Title 26 of the United States Code.
(3) (A) With respect to an allocation or reservation, the
committee may establish a schedule of fines for violations of the
terms and conditions, the regulatory agreement, other agreements, or
program regulations. In developing the schedule of fines, the
committee shall establish the fines for violations in an amount up to
five hundred dollars ($500) per violation or double the amount of
the financial gain because of the violation, whichever is greater.
Except for serious violations, which shall be defined by the
committee, a first-time property owner violator shall be given at
least 30 days to correct the violation before a fine is imposed. A
violation that has occurred for some time prior to discovery is one
violation, but fines may be a recurring amount if the violation is
not corrected within a reasonable period of time thereafter, as
determined by the committee. A property owner may appeal a fine to
the committee.
(B) By resolution at a public general committee meeting, the
committee shall adopt and may revise the schedule of fines, which
shall include specific violations of the terms and conditions, the
regulatory agreement, other agreements, or program regulations and
fine amounts subject to the criteria in subparagraph (A).
(C) All fines received by the committee shall be deposited in the
Housing Rehabilitation Loan Fund established in Section 50661.
(D) If a fine assessed against a property owner is not paid within
six months from the date when the fine was initially assessed by the
committee and after reasonable notice has been provided to the
property owner, the committee may record a lien against the property.
Consistent with Sections 1214 and 1215 of the Civil Code, a lien
created pursuant to this paragraph shall not be superior to any lien
recorded prior to the recording of this lien.
