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 |
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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. |