| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to affordable housing for the elderly; |
| 3 | amending s. 420.5087, F.S.; authorizing the Florida |
| 4 | Housing Finance Corporation to provide forgivable loans to |
| 5 | nonprofit organizations that serve very-low-income elderly |
| 6 | tenants; providing criteria; providing an effective date. |
| 7 |
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| 8 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 9 |
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| 10 | Section 1. Paragraph (d) of subsection (3) of section |
| 11 | 420.5087, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 12 | 420.5087 State Apartment Incentive Loan Program.--There is |
| 13 | hereby created the State Apartment Incentive Loan Program for |
| 14 | the purpose of providing first, second, or other subordinated |
| 15 | mortgage loans or loan guarantees to sponsors, including for- |
| 16 | profit, nonprofit, and public entities, to provide housing |
| 17 | affordable to very-low-income persons. |
| 18 | (3) During the first 6 months of loan or loan guarantee |
| 19 | availability, program funds shall be reserved for use by |
| 20 | sponsors who provide the housing set-aside required in |
| 21 | subsection (2) for the tenant groups designated in this |
| 22 | subsection. The reservation of funds to each of these groups |
| 23 | shall be determined using the most recent statewide very-low- |
| 24 | income rental housing market study available at the time of |
| 25 | publication of each notice of fund availability required by |
| 26 | paragraph (6)(b). The reservation of funds within each notice of |
| 27 | fund availability to the tenant groups in paragraphs (a), (b), |
| 28 | and (d) may not be less than 10 percent of the funds available |
| 29 | at that time. Any increase in funding required to reach the 10- |
| 30 | percent minimum shall be taken from the tenant group that has |
| 31 | the largest reservation. The reservation of funds within each |
| 32 | notice of fund availability to the tenant group in paragraph (c) |
| 33 | may not be less than 5 percent of the funds available at that |
| 34 | time. The tenant groups are: |
| 35 | (d) Elderly persons. Ten percent of the amount reserved |
| 36 | for the elderly shall be reserved to provide loans to sponsors |
| 37 | of housing for the elderly for the purpose of making building |
| 38 | preservation, health, or sanitation repairs or improvements |
| 39 | which are required by federal, state, or local regulation or |
| 40 | code, or lifesafety or security-related repairs or improvements |
| 41 | to such housing. Such a loan may not exceed $750,000 per housing |
| 42 | community for the elderly. In order to receive the loan, the |
| 43 | sponsor of the housing community must make a commitment to match |
| 44 | at least 5 percent of the loan amount to pay the cost of such |
| 45 | repair or improvement. The corporation shall establish the rate |
| 46 | of interest on the loan, which may not exceed 3 percent, and the |
| 47 | term of the loan, which may not exceed 15 years; however, if the |
| 48 | lien of the corporation's encumbrance is subordinate to the lien |
| 49 | of another mortgagee, then the term may be made coterminous with |
| 50 | the longest term of the superior lien. The term of the loan |
| 51 | shall be established on the basis of a credit analysis of the |
| 52 | applicant. The Legislature recognizes that nonprofit |
| 53 | organizations that serve very-low-income elderly tenants may be |
| 54 | precluded from taking on additional debt due to their legal and |
| 55 | practical inability to increase rents. Therefore, the |
| 56 | corporation may provide forgivable loans to nonprofit |
| 57 | organizations, as defined in s. 420.0004(5), that sponsor |
| 58 | affordable housing for the elderly if at least 25 percent of the |
| 59 | units are dedicated to very-low-income elderly persons and the |
| 60 | housing community for which the loan is requested has been |
| 61 | providing affordable housing to the elderly for 15 years or |
| 62 | more. The corporation shall establish, by rule, the procedure |
| 63 | and criteria for receiving, evaluating, and competitively |
| 64 | ranking all applications for loans under this paragraph. A loan |
| 65 | application must include evidence of the first mortgagee's |
| 66 | having reviewed and approved the sponsor's intent to apply for a |
| 67 | loan. A nonprofit organization or sponsor may not use the |
| 68 | proceeds of the loan to pay for administrative costs, routine |
| 69 | maintenance, or new construction. |
| 70 | Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. |