(a) Funds appropriated for purposes of this chapter shall be used to enable low- and very low income households to become or remain homeowners. Funds shall be provided by the department to local public agencies or nonprofit corporations as either of the following:
(1) Grants for programs that assist individual households.
(2) Loans that assist development projects involving multiple home ownership units, including single-family subdivisions.
(b) (1) Grant funds may be used for first-time homebuyer downpayment assistance, home rehabilitation, including the installation or retrofit of ignition resistant exterior components on existing manufactured homes, mobilehomes, and accessory structures required pursuant to Article 2.3 (commencing with Section 4200) of Subchapter 2 of Chapter 3 of Division 1 of Title 25 of the California Code of Regulations, homebuyer counseling, home acquisition and rehabilitation, or self-help mortgage assistance programs, or for technical assistance for self-help and shared housing home ownership.
(2) Home rehabilitation funding for the purpose of installing ignition resistant components on manufactured homes, mobilehomes, or accessory structures pursuant to this subdivision shall not be conditioned upon the rehabilitation of additional or unrelated home components unless that rehabilitation is required pursuant to Article 2.3 (commencing with Section 4200) of Subchapter 2 of Chapter 3 of Division 1 of Title 25 of the California Code of Regulations. In administering funding for this purpose, local public agencies and nonprofit corporations may consider the condition and age of the manufactured home or mobilehome, including whether the home was constructed on or after June 15, 1976, in accordance with federal standards and whether the available funds could be more effectively used to replace the manufactured home or mobilehome.
(c) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (e), loan funds may be used for purchase of real property, site development, predevelopment, and construction period expenses incurred on home ownership development projects, and permanent financing for mutual housing or cooperative developments. Upon completion of construction, the department may convert project loans into grants for programs of assistance to individual homeowners. Except as provided in paragraph (2), financial assistance provided to individual households shall be in the form of deferred payment loans, repayable upon sale or transfer of the homes, when they cease to be owner-occupied, or upon the loan maturity date. Financial assistance may be provided in the form of a secured forgivable loan to an individual household to rehabilitate, repair, or replace manufactured housing located in a mobilehome park and not permanently affixed to a foundation. The loan shall be due and payable in 20 years, with 10 percent of the original principal to be forgiven annually for each additional year beyond the 10th year that the home is owned and continuously occupied by the borrower. Not more than 10 percent of the funds available for the purposes of this chapter in a fiscal year shall be used for financial assistance in the form of secured forgivable loans.
(2) Notwithstanding any other law, the department may, in its discretion, permit the downpayment assistance loan to be subordinated to refinancing if it determines that the borrower has demonstrated hardship, subordination is required to avoid foreclosure, and the new loan meets the department’s underwriting requirements. The department may permit subordination on those terms and conditions as it determines are reasonable, however subordination shall not be permitted if the borrower has sufficient equity to repay the loan.
(d) All loan repayments shall be used for activities allowed under this section, and shall be governed by a reuse plan approved by the department. Those reuse plans may provide for loan servicing by the grant recipient or a third-party local government agency or nonprofit corporation.
(e) Notwithstanding subdivision (c), loans provided pursuant to the CalHome Program Disaster Assistance for Imperial County that have been made for the purpose of rehabilitation, reconstruction, or replacement of lower income owner-occupied manufactured homes shall be due and payable in 10 years, with 20 percent of the original principal to be forgiven annually for each additional year beyond the fifth year that the manufactured home is owned and continuously occupied by the borrower.
(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 555, Sec. 1. (AB 1551) Effective September 25, 2012.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018