Florida Senate - 2025                             CS for SB 1714
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Community Affairs; and Senators Burton and
       Arrington
       
       
       
       
       578-03103-25                                          20251714c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to local housing assistance plans;
    3         amending s. 420.9072, F.S.; authorizing counties and
    4         eligible municipalities to expend certain funds on lot
    5         rental assistance for mobile home owners for a
    6         specified time period; amending s. 420.9075, F.S.;
    7         requiring each county and eligible municipality to
    8         include in its local housing assistance plan certain
    9         strategies; providing that lot rental assistance for
   10         eligible mobile home owners is an approved home
   11         ownership activity for certain purposes; authorizing
   12         counties and eligible municipalities to provide
   13         certain funds to mobile home owners for rehabilitation
   14         and emergency repairs; deleting a provision limiting
   15         to a specified percentage the amount of certain funds
   16         that may be used for manufactured housing; amending s.
   17         420.9071, F.S.; conforming a cross-reference;
   18         providing an effective date.
   19          
   20  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   21  
   22         Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (7) of section
   23  420.9072, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   24         420.9072 State Housing Initiatives Partnership Program.—The
   25  State Housing Initiatives Partnership Program is created for the
   26  purpose of providing funds to counties and eligible
   27  municipalities as an incentive for the creation of local housing
   28  partnerships, to expand production of and preserve affordable
   29  housing, to further the housing element of the local government
   30  comprehensive plan specific to affordable housing, and to
   31  increase housing-related employment.
   32         (7)
   33         (b) A county or an eligible municipality may not expend its
   34  portion of the local housing distribution to provide ongoing
   35  rent subsidies, except for:
   36         1. Security and utility deposit assistance.
   37         2. Eviction prevention not to exceed 6 months’ rent.
   38         3. Lot rental assistance for mobile home owners as defined
   39  in s. 723.003, not to exceed 6 months’ rent.
   40         4. A rent subsidy program for very-low-income households
   41  with at least one adult who is a person with special needs as
   42  defined in s. 420.0004 or homeless as defined in s. 420.621. The
   43  period of rental assistance may not exceed 12 months for any
   44  eligible household.
   45         Section 2. Paragraphs (d) through (g) of subsection (3) of
   46  section 420.9075, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as
   47  paragraphs (e) through (h), respectively, a new paragraph (d)
   48  and paragraph (i) are added to subsection (3) of that section,
   49  and paragraph (c) of subsection (3) and paragraphs (a), (c),
   50  (e), and (n) of subsection (5) are amended, to read:
   51         420.9075 Local housing assistance plans; partnerships.—
   52         (3)
   53         (c) Each county and each eligible municipality is
   54  encouraged to develop a strategy within its local housing
   55  assistance plan that addresses the needs of persons who are
   56  deprived of affordable housing due to the closure of a mobile
   57  home park or the conversion of affordable rental units to
   58  condominiums.
   59         (d)Each county and each eligible municipality shall
   60  include in its local housing assistance plan a strategy that
   61  addresses the needs of persons who are deprived of affordable
   62  housing due to the closure of a mobile home park.
   63         (i)Each county and each eligible municipality shall
   64  include in its local housing assistance plan a strategy for
   65  providing program funds to mobile home owners, as defined in s.
   66  723.003, which must include lot rental assistance.
   67         (5) The following criteria apply to awards made to eligible
   68  sponsors or eligible persons for the purpose of providing
   69  eligible housing:
   70         (a) At least 65 percent of the funds made available in each
   71  county and eligible municipality from the local housing
   72  distribution must be reserved for home ownership for eligible
   73  persons. For purposes of this paragraph, lot rental assistance
   74  for eligible mobile home owners as defined in s. 723.003 is an
   75  approved home ownership activity.
   76         (c) At least 75 percent of the funds made available in each
   77  county and eligible municipality from the local housing
   78  distribution must be reserved for construction, rehabilitation,
   79  or emergency repair of affordable, eligible housing. Funds may
   80  be provided to mobile home owners as defined in s. 723.003 for
   81  rehabilitation and emergency repairs under this paragraph.
   82         (e)Not more than 20 percent of the funds made available in
   83  each county and eligible municipality from the local housing
   84  distribution may be used for manufactured housing.
   85         (m)(n) Funds from the local housing distribution not used
   86  to meet the criteria established in paragraph (a) or paragraph
   87  (c) or not used for the administration of a local housing
   88  assistance plan must be used for housing production and finance
   89  activities, including, but not limited to, financing
   90  preconstruction activities or the purchase of existing units,
   91  providing rental housing, and providing home ownership training
   92  to prospective home buyers and owners of homes assisted through
   93  the local housing assistance plan.
   94         1. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs (a) and
   95  (c), program income as defined in s. 420.9071(26) may also be
   96  used to fund activities described in this paragraph.
   97         2. When preconstruction due-diligence activities conducted
   98  as part of a preservation strategy show that preservation of the
   99  units is not feasible and will not result in the production of
  100  an eligible unit, such costs shall be deemed a program expense
  101  rather than an administrative expense if such program expenses
  102  do not exceed 3 percent of the annual local housing
  103  distribution.
  104         3. If both an award under the local housing assistance plan
  105  and federal low-income housing tax credits are used to assist a
  106  project and there is a conflict between the criteria prescribed
  107  in this subsection and the requirements of s. 42 of the Internal
  108  Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, the county or eligible
  109  municipality may resolve the conflict by giving precedence to
  110  the requirements of s. 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,
  111  as amended, in lieu of following the criteria prescribed in this
  112  subsection with the exception of paragraphs (a) and (f) (g) of
  113  this subsection.
  114         4. Each county and each eligible municipality may award
  115  funds as a grant for construction, rehabilitation, or repair as
  116  part of disaster recovery or emergency repairs or to remedy
  117  accessibility or health and safety deficiencies. Any other
  118  grants must be approved as part of the local housing assistance
  119  plan.
  120         Section 3. Subsection (27) of section 420.9071, Florida
  121  Statutes, is amended to read:
  122         420.9071 Definitions.—As used in ss. 420.907-420.9079, the
  123  term:
  124         (27) “Recaptured funds” means funds that are recouped by a
  125  county or eligible municipality in accordance with the recapture
  126  provisions of its local housing assistance plan pursuant to s.
  127  420.9075(5)(i) s. 420.9075(5)(j) from eligible persons or
  128  eligible sponsors, which funds were not used for assistance to
  129  an eligible household for an eligible activity, when there is a
  130  default on the terms of a grant award or loan award.
  131         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.