| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to the My Safe Florida Home Program; |
| 3 | amending s. 215.5586, F.S.; providing that certain |
| 4 | applicants for grants under the program need not comply |
| 5 | with certain earlier eligibility requirements; providing |
| 6 | 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 (a) of subsection (2) of section |
| 11 | 215.5586, Florida Statutes, is amended, present paragraphs (b) |
| 12 | through (j) of that subsection are redesignated as paragraphs |
| 13 | (c) through (k), respectively, a new paragraph (b) is added to |
| 14 | that subsection, and present paragraphs (f) and (g) of that |
| 15 | subsection are amended, to read: |
| 16 | 215.5586 My Safe Florida Home Program.--There is |
| 17 | established within the Department of Financial Services the My |
| 18 | Safe Florida Home Program. The department shall provide fiscal |
| 19 | accountability, contract management, and strategic leadership |
| 20 | for the program, consistent with this section. This section does |
| 21 | not create an entitlement for property owners or obligate the |
| 22 | state in any way to fund the inspection or retrofitting of |
| 23 | residential property in this state. Implementation of this |
| 24 | program is subject to annual legislative appropriations. It is |
| 25 | the intent of the Legislature that the My Safe Florida Home |
| 26 | Program provide inspections for at least 400,000 site-built, |
| 27 | single-family, residential properties and provide grants to at |
| 28 | least 35,000 applicants before June 30, 2009. The program shall |
| 29 | develop and implement a comprehensive and coordinated approach |
| 30 | for hurricane damage mitigation that shall include the |
| 31 | following: |
| 32 | (2) MITIGATION GRANTS.--Financial grants shall be used to |
| 33 | encourage single-family, site-built, owner-occupied, residential |
| 34 | property owners to retrofit their properties to make them less |
| 35 | vulnerable to hurricane damage. |
| 36 | (a) To be eligible for a grant for persons who applied for |
| 37 | an have obtained a completed inspection on or after May 1, 2007, |
| 38 | a residential property must: |
| 39 | 1. Have been granted a homestead exemption under chapter |
| 40 | 196. |
| 41 | 2. Be a dwelling that has with an insured value of |
| 42 | $300,000 or less. Homeowners who are low-income persons, as |
| 43 | defined in s. 420.0004(10), are exempt from this requirement. |
| 44 | 3. Have undergone an acceptable hurricane mitigation |
| 45 | inspection. |
| 46 | 4. Be located in the "wind-borne debris region" as that |
| 47 | term is defined in s. 1609.2, International Building Code |
| 48 | (2006). |
| 49 | 5. Be a home for which the building permit application for |
| 50 | initial construction was made before March 1, 2002. |
| 51 |
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| 52 | An application for a grant must contain a signed or |
| 53 | electronically verified statement made under penalty of perjury |
| 54 | that the applicant has submitted only a single application and |
| 55 | must have attached documents demonstrating that the applicant |
| 56 | meets the requirements of this paragraph. |
| 57 | (b) Notwithstanding the requirements of paragraph (a), a |
| 58 | person who filed an application for an inspection before May 1, |
| 59 | 2007, is eligible for a grant if the subject residential |
| 60 | property: |
| 61 | 1. Has been granted a homestead exemption under chapter |
| 62 | 196. |
| 63 | 2. Is a dwelling that has an insured value of $500,000 or |
| 64 | less. |
| 65 | 3. Has undergone an acceptable wind certification and |
| 66 | hurricane mitigation inspection. |
| 67 | (g)(f) Grants may be used on a previously inspected |
| 68 | existing structure or on a rebuild. A rebuild is defined as a |
| 69 | site-built, single-family dwelling under construction to replace |
| 70 | a home that was destroyed or significantly damaged by a |
| 71 | hurricane and deemed unlivable by a regulatory authority. The |
| 72 | homeowner must be a low-income homeowner as defined in paragraph |
| 73 | (h) (g), must have had a homestead exemption for that home prior |
| 74 | to the hurricane, and must be intending to rebuild the home as |
| 75 | that homeowner's homestead. |
| 76 | (h)(g) Low-income homeowners, as defined in s. |
| 77 | 420.0004(10), who otherwise meet the requirements of paragraphs |
| 78 | (a), (d), (f), and (g) (c), (e), and (f) are eligible for a |
| 79 | grant of up to $5,000 and are not required to provide a matching |
| 80 | amount to receive the grant. Additionally, for low-income |
| 81 | homeowners, grant funding may be used for repair to existing |
| 82 | structures leading to any of the mitigation improvements |
| 83 | provided in paragraph (f) (e), limited to 20 percent of the |
| 84 | grant value. The program may accept a certification directly |
| 85 | from a low-income homeowner that the homeowner meets the |
| 86 | requirements of s. 420.0004(10) if the homeowner provides such |
| 87 | certification in a signed or electronically verified statement |
| 88 | made under penalty of perjury. |
| 89 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2008. |