Bill Text: TX SB1114 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced


Bill Title: Relating to financial assistance provided for the demolition and replacement of unsafe housing and the purchase of manufactured homes by individuals and families of very low income.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-03-07 - Referred to Intergovernmental Relations [SB1114 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-SB1114-Introduced.html
  85R8273 JAM-F
 
  By: Lucio S.B. No. 1114
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to financial assistance provided 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 AA, Chapter 2306, Government Code, is
  amended by adding Sections 2306.6024 and 2306.6025 to read as
  follows:
         Sec. 2306.6024.  TEXAS SAFE HOME PROGRAM. (a) The division
  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 Manufactured Housing Board 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 Manufactured Housing
  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
  division.
         (e)  On receipt of a nomination regarding a household, the
  division shall determine whether the household is eligible to
  participate in the program. If the household is eligible, the
  division 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, an
  inspector with the division 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 division shall establish the Texas safe home trust
  fund. The Texas safe home trust fund:
               (1)  is a fund:
                     (A)  administered by the division; 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 programs
  established under this section and Section 2306.6025.
         (j)  The division 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
  division 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 division may enter into a contract for the
  administration of the program.
         (m)  Not later than September 1 of each year, the division
  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. 2306.6025.  MANUFACTURED HOME PURCHASE ASSISTANCE
  PROGRAM.  (a)  The division 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 Manufactured Housing Board 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 division 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
  Manufactured Housing Board.
         (d)  When adopting additional rules on homeowner
  eligibility, the Manufactured Housing Board 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 county with
  a population of 150,000 or less.
         (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 division may fund the program with:
               (1)  money appropriated to the division for that
  purpose;
               (2)  money deposited to the Texas safe home 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 division shall award financial assistance under the
  program on a first-come, first-served basis. The division may
  publish on its Internet website notice that the division is
  accepting applications for the program.
         (k)  The division may reserve for payment of administrative
  expenses not more than five percent of money received for the
  program under this section.
         (l)  The division 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 100 percent of the tax
  imposed under this section to the credit of the Texas safe home
  trust fund established under Section 2306.6024, Government Code,
  for use only for the purposes authorized by Subsection (i) of that
  section.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
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