Bill Text: TX HB1608 | 2025-2026 | 89th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the adoption of a veterans' land bank program by the Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-12-12 - Filed [HB1608 Detail]

Download: Texas-2025-HB1608-Introduced.html

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89R5991 JAM-D
By: Garcia of Bexar H.B. No. 1608

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the adoption of a veterans' land bank program by the
Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter Y, Chapter 2306, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 2306.5622 to read as follows:
Sec. 2306.5622. VETERANS' LAND BANK PROGRAM. (a) In this
section:
(1) "Affordable" means that the monthly mortgage
payment or contract rent does not exceed 30 percent of the
applicable median family income for that housing unit size, in
accordance with the income and rent limit rules adopted by the
department.
(2) "Low-income household" means a household with an
income of not greater than 80 percent of the area median family
income, based on gross household income, adjusted for household
size, for a municipality or, if located in an area that is not part
of a municipality, a county, as determined annually by the United
States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
(3) "Veteran" has the meaning provided by Section
161.001, Natural Resources Code.
(4) "Veterans' land bank plan" or "plan" means a plan
adopted by the corporation as provided by Subsection (f).
(5) "Veterans' land bank program" or "program" means a
program adopted under Subsection (c).
(b) This section controls to the extent of any conflict
between this section and another provision of this chapter.
(c) The corporation shall establish a veterans' land bank
program for the purpose of acquiring, holding, and transferring
real property under this section to provide affordable housing for
veterans who are members of low-income households.
(d) Property held by the corporation under the program may
include:
(1) property acquired in the manner provided by
Subsection (g); and
(2) other property acquired by or transferred to the
corporation.
(e) A sale or other transfer of property to the corporation
for use in connection with the program is a sale for a public
purpose.
(f) The corporation shall operate the program in
conformance with a veterans' land bank plan. The corporation shall
adopt a plan annually. The plan may be amended from time to time.
In developing the plan, the corporation shall consider any other
housing plans adopted by a municipality or county in which the
corporation intends to implement the program.
(g) Property that is ordered sold pursuant to foreclosure of
a tax lien may be sold to the corporation for the purpose of the
program in the manner provided by Section 34.01, Tax Code.
(h) Notwithstanding any other law, if consent is given by
the taxing units that are a party to the judgment, property may be
sold to the corporation for the program for less than the market
value of the property as specified in the judgment or less than the
total of all taxes, penalties, and interest, plus the value of
nontax liens held by a taxing unit and awarded by the judgment,
court costs, and the cost of the sale.
(i) The deed of conveyance of the property sold to the
corporation under Subsection (g) conveys to the corporation the
right, title, and interest acquired or held by each taxing unit that
was a party to the judgment, subject to the right of redemption.
(j) Each subsequent resale or rental of a property owned by
the corporation under the program must comply with the conditions
of this subsection. Within the 10-year period following the date of
acquisition, the corporation must sell or rent a property to a
veteran who is a member of a low-income household. If after 10
years a property has not been purchased by a qualified veteran or
has not been leased to a qualified veteran within the preceding six
months, the property shall be transferred from the corporation to
the taxing units who were parties to the judgment for disposition as
otherwise allowed under the law.
(k) The corporation shall impose, in accordance with this
subsection, deed restrictions on property sold or rented to
veterans through the program requiring the subsequent sale or
rental of the property to veterans who are members of low-income
households. Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, if
the deed restrictions imposed under this subsection are for a term
of years, the deed restrictions renew automatically. The
corporation may modify or add to the deed restrictions imposed
under this subsection. Any modifications or additions made by the
corporation must be adopted by the corporation as part of its plan
and must comply with the minimum requirements provided under this
subsection.
(l) For purposes of evaluating the effectiveness of the
program, the corporation shall prepare an annual performance report
not later than November 1 of each year. The performance report must
include:
(1) for the preceding state fiscal year, a complete
and detailed written accounting of all money received and disbursed
by the corporation under the program and of all properties managed
by the corporation under the program;
(2) for each property acquired by the corporation for
the program during the preceding state fiscal year:
(A) the street address of the property;
(B) the legal description of the property;
(C) the date the corporation took title to the
property;
(D) the name and mailing address of the property
owner of record at the time of the acquisition;
(E) the amount of taxes and other costs owed at
the time of the foreclosure if the property was acquired under
Subsection (g); and
(F) the assessed value of the property on the tax
roll at the time of the foreclosure if the property was acquired
under Subsection (g); and
(3) for each property that the corporation sold or
rented to a qualified veteran under the program during the
preceding state fiscal year:
(A) the street address of the property;
(B) the legal description of the property; and
(C) the purchase price or amount of contract rent
paid by the veteran.
(m) The corporation shall provide copies of the performance
report to any taxing units who were parties to a sale of property
under Subsection (g). The corporation shall maintain copies of the
performance report available for public review.
(n) The corporation shall maintain in its records for
inspection a copy of the sale settlement statement for each
property sold through the veterans' land bank program.
SECTION 2. Section 2306.566(c), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(c) The corporation's plan must include:
(1) specific proposals to help serve rural and other
underserved areas of the state; and
(2) the veterans' land bank plan developed under
Section 2306.5622.
SECTION 3. Sections 11.18(d) and (o), Tax Code, are amended
to read as follows:
(d) A charitable organization must be organized exclusively
to perform religious, charitable, scientific, literary, or
educational purposes and, except as permitted by Subsections (h)
and (l), engage exclusively in performing one or more of the
following charitable functions:
(1) providing medical care without regard to the
beneficiaries' ability to pay, which in the case of a nonprofit
hospital or hospital system means providing charity care and
community benefits in accordance with Section 11.1801;
(2) providing support or relief to orphans, delinquent
or dependent children in need of residential care, children with
disabilities in need of residential care, abused or battered
spouses or children in need of temporary shelter, the impoverished,
or victims of natural disaster without regard to the beneficiaries'
ability to pay;
(3) providing support without regard to the
beneficiaries' ability to pay to:
(A) elderly persons, including the provision of:
(i) recreational or social activities; and
(ii) facilities designed to address the
special needs of elderly persons; or
(B) persons with disabilities, including
training and employment:
(i) in the production of commodities; or
(ii) in the provision of services under 41
U.S.C. Sections 8501-8506;
(4) preserving a historical landmark or site;
(5) promoting or operating a museum, zoo, library,
theater of the dramatic or performing arts, or symphony orchestra
or choir;
(6) promoting or providing humane treatment of
animals;
(7) acquiring, storing, transporting, selling, or
distributing water for public use;
(8) answering fire alarms and extinguishing fires with
no compensation or only nominal compensation to the members of the
organization;
(9) promoting the athletic development of boys or
girls under the age of 18 years;
(10) preserving or conserving wildlife;
(11) promoting educational development through loans
or scholarships to students;
(12) providing halfway house services pursuant to a
certification as a halfway house by the parole division of the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice;
(13) providing permanent housing and related social,
health care, and educational facilities for persons who are 62
years of age or older without regard to the residents' ability to
pay;
(14) promoting or operating an art gallery, museum, or
collection, in a permanent location or on tour, that is open to the
public;
(15) providing for the organized solicitation and
collection for distributions through gifts, grants, and agreements
to nonprofit charitable, education, religious, and youth
organizations that provide direct human, health, and welfare
services;
(16) performing biomedical or scientific research or
biomedical or scientific education for the benefit of the public;
(17) operating a television station that produces or
broadcasts educational, cultural, or other public interest
programming and that receives grants from the Corporation for
Public Broadcasting under 47 U.S.C. Section 396, as amended;
(18) providing housing for low-income and
moderate-income families, for unmarried individuals 62 years of age
or older, for individuals with disabilities, and for families
displaced by urban renewal, through the use of trust assets that are
irrevocably and, pursuant to a contract entered into before
December 31, 1972, contractually dedicated on the sale or
disposition of the housing to a charitable organization that
performs charitable functions described by Subdivision (9);
(19) providing housing and related services to persons
who are 62 years of age or older in a retirement community, if the
retirement community provides independent living services,
assisted living services, and nursing services to its residents on
a single campus:
(A) without regard to the residents' ability to
pay; or
(B) in which at least four percent of the
retirement community's combined net resident revenue is provided in
charitable care to its residents;
(20) providing housing on a cooperative basis to
students of an institution of higher education if:
(A) the organization is exempt from federal
income taxation under Section 501(a), Internal Revenue Code of
1986, as amended, by being listed as an exempt entity under Section
501(c)(3) of that code;
(B) membership in the organization is open to all
students enrolled in the institution and is not limited to those
chosen by current members of the organization;
(C) the organization is governed by its members;
and
(D) the members of the organization share the
responsibility for managing the housing;
(21) acquiring, holding, and transferring unimproved
real property under an urban land bank demonstration program
established under Chapter 379C, Local Government Code, as or on
behalf of a land bank;
(22) acquiring, holding, and transferring unimproved
real property under an urban land bank program established under
Chapter 379E, Local Government Code, as or on behalf of a land bank;
(22-a) acquiring, holding, and transferring
unimproved real property under a veterans' land bank program
established under Section 2306.5622, Government Code, as or on
behalf of the Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation;
(23) providing housing and related services to
individuals who:
(A) are unaccompanied and homeless and have a
disabling condition; and
(B) have been continuously homeless for a year or
more or have had at least four episodes of homelessness in the
preceding three years;
(24) operating a radio station that broadcasts
educational, cultural, or other public interest programming,
including classical music, and that in the preceding five years has
received or been selected to receive one or more grants from the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting under 47 U.S.C. Section 396, as
amended;
(25) providing, without regard to the beneficiaries'
ability to pay, tax return preparation services and assistance with
other financial matters; or
(26) providing services related to planning for the
placement of or placing children in foster or adoptive homes or
providing support or relief to women who are or may be pregnant and
who are considering placing their unborn children for adoption.
(o) For purposes of Subsection (a)(2), real property
acquired, held, and transferred by an organization that performs
the function described by Subsection (d)(21), [or] (22), or (22-a)
is considered to be used exclusively by the qualified charitable
organization to perform that function.
SECTION 4. Section 11.18, Tax Code, as amended by this Act,
applies only to an ad valorem tax year that begins on or after the
effective date of this Act.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.