ENROLLED
       2022 Legislature                                   CS for SB 196
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                                              2022196er
    1  
    2         An act relating to the Florida Housing Finance
    3         Corporation; amending s. 420.503, F.S.; defining the
    4         terms “bona fide contract” and “qualified contract”
    5         for purposes of the Florida Housing Finance
    6         Corporation Act; amending s. 420.5087, F.S.; deleting
    7         certain limitations and restrictions on, and
    8         requirements for, loans made by the corporation to
    9         sponsors of housing for the elderly under the State
   10         Apartment Incentive Loan Program; deleting the
   11         authority of the corporation to forgive certain
   12         indebtedness; deleting provisions relating to loan
   13         applications; amending s. 420.509, F.S.; designating
   14         the corporation, rather than the State Board of
   15         Administration, as the state fiscal agency to make
   16         determinations in connection with specified bonds;
   17         authorizing the corporation’s board of directors,
   18         rather than the State Board of Administration, to
   19         delegate to its executive director the authority and
   20         power to perform that function; requiring the
   21         executive director to annually report specified
   22         information to the board of directors, rather than the
   23         State Board of Administration; revising applicable
   24         interest rate limitations on bonds of the corporation;
   25         amending s. 420.5099, F.S.; providing construction
   26         relating to low-income tax credit developments if a
   27         qualified contract does not close for specified
   28         reasons; providing requirements for the corporation
   29         and an owner if a qualified contract does not close
   30         for any other reason; providing construction if no
   31         other qualified contract is presented to the owner
   32         within a certain period; amending s. 420.5092, F.S.;
   33         conforming a provision to changes made by the act;
   34         amending s. 420.628, F.S.; conforming a cross
   35         reference; providing an effective date.
   36          
   37  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   38  
   39         Section 1. Present subsections (4) through (34) and (35)
   40  through (43) of section 420.503, Florida Statutes, are
   41  redesignated as subsections (5) through (35) and (37) through
   42  (45), respectively, new subsections (4) and (36) are added to
   43  that section, and present subsection (15) of that section is
   44  amended, to read:
   45         420.503 Definitions.—As used in this part, the term:
   46         (4) “Bona fide contract” means a certain and unambiguous
   47  offer to purchase the development for an amount equaling or
   48  exceeding the qualified contract purchase price which is made in
   49  good faith by a qualified purchaser with the intent that such
   50  offer result in the execution of an enforceable, valid, and
   51  binding contract to purchase and which includes:
   52         (a)A requirement for the purchaser to make an initial
   53  nonrefundable earnest money deposit of at least $50,000, to be
   54  placed in escrow, unless waived in writing by the owner; and
   55         (b)A requirement for the purchaser to make a second
   56  nonrefundable earnest money deposit equal to 3 percent of the
   57  qualified contract price within 15 business days after the end
   58  of the due diligence period, unless waived in writing by the
   59  owner and subject to any rights reserved by the purchaser in the
   60  event of the owner’s failure to deliver insurable title or in
   61  the event of the owner’s default.
   62  
   63  A bona fide contract may require that the initial earnest money
   64  deposit and the second earnest money deposit be refundable in
   65  the event of the owner’s failure to deliver insurable title at
   66  closing; the owner’s termination of a fully executed contract
   67  due to a reason other than the default of the purchaser, or as
   68  may be provided for in the contract; or the owner’s default.
   69         (16)(15) “Elderly” means persons 62 years of age or older;
   70  however, this definition does not prohibit housing from being
   71  deemed housing for the elderly as defined in subsection (21)
   72  (20) if such housing otherwise meets the requirements of
   73  subsection (21) (20).
   74         (36)“Qualified contract” has the same meaning as in 26
   75  U.S.C. s. 42(h)(6)(F) in effect on the date of the preliminary
   76  determination certificate for the low-income housing tax credits
   77  for the development that is the subject of the qualified
   78  contract request, unless the Internal Revenue Code requires a
   79  different statute or regulation to apply to the development. The
   80  corporation shall deem a bona fide contract to be a qualified
   81  contract at the time the second earnest money deposit is
   82  deposited in escrow in accordance with the terms of the bona
   83  fide contract and, in such event, the corporation is deemed to
   84  have fulfilled its responsibility to present the owner with a
   85  qualified contract.
   86         Section 2. Subsection (3) of section 420.5087, Florida
   87  Statutes, is amended to read:
   88         420.5087 State Apartment Incentive Loan Program.—There is
   89  hereby created the State Apartment Incentive Loan Program for
   90  the purpose of providing first, second, or other subordinated
   91  mortgage loans or loan guarantees to sponsors, including for
   92  profit, nonprofit, and public entities, to provide housing
   93  affordable to very-low-income persons.
   94         (3) During the first 6 months of loan or loan guarantee
   95  availability, program funds shall be made available for use by
   96  sponsors who provide the housing set-aside required in
   97  subsection (2) for the tenant groups designated in this
   98  subsection. The funds made available to each of these groups
   99  shall be determined using the most recent statewide very-low
  100  income rental housing market study available at the time of
  101  publication of each notice of fund availability required by
  102  paragraph (6)(b). The funds made available within each notice of
  103  fund availability to the tenant groups in paragraphs (b)-(e) may
  104  not be less than 10 percent of the funds available at that time.
  105  Any increase in funding required to reach the required minimum
  106  must be taken from the tenant group that would receive the
  107  largest percentage of available funds in accordance with the
  108  study. The funds made available within each notice of fund
  109  availability to the tenant group in paragraph (a) may not be
  110  less than 5 percent of the funds available at that time. The
  111  tenant groups are:
  112         (a) Commercial fishing workers and farmworkers;
  113         (b) Families;
  114         (c) Persons who are homeless;
  115         (d) Persons with special needs; and
  116         (e) Elderly persons. Ten percent of the amount made
  117  available for the elderly shall provide loans to sponsors of
  118  housing for the elderly for the purpose of making building
  119  preservation, health, or sanitation repairs or improvements
  120  which are required by federal, state, or local regulation or
  121  code, or lifesafety or security-related repairs or improvements
  122  to such housing. Such a loan may not exceed $750,000 per housing
  123  community for the elderly. In order to receive the loan, the
  124  sponsor of the housing community must make a commitment to match
  125  at least 5 percent of the loan amount to pay the cost of such
  126  repair or improvement. The corporation shall establish the rate
  127  of interest on the loan, which may not exceed 3 percent, and the
  128  term of the loan, which may not exceed 15 years; however, if the
  129  lien of the corporation’s encumbrance is subordinate to the lien
  130  of another mortgagee, then the term may be made coterminous with
  131  the longest term of the superior lien. The term of the loan
  132  shall be based on a credit analysis of the applicant. The
  133  corporation may forgive indebtedness for a share of the loan
  134  attributable to the units in a project reserved for extremely
  135  low-income elderly by nonprofit organizations, as defined in s.
  136  420.0004(5), where the project has provided affordable housing
  137  to the elderly for 15 years or more. The corporation shall
  138  establish, by rule, the procedure and criteria for receiving,
  139  evaluating, and competitively ranking all applications for loans
  140  under this paragraph. A loan application must include evidence
  141  of the first mortgagee’s having reviewed and approved the
  142  sponsor’s intent to apply for a loan. A nonprofit organization
  143  or sponsor may not use the proceeds of the loan to pay for
  144  administrative costs, routine maintenance, or new construction.
  145         Section 3. Subsections (2) and (4) of section 420.509,
  146  Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
  147         420.509 Revenue bonds.—
  148         (2) The corporation State Board of Administration is
  149  designated as the state fiscal agency to make the determinations
  150  required by s. 16, Art. VII of the State Constitution in
  151  connection with the issuance of such bonds that in no state
  152  fiscal year will the debt service requirements of the bonds
  153  proposed to be issued and all other bonds secured by the same
  154  pledged revenues exceed the pledged revenues available for such
  155  debt service requirements. The corporation’s board of directors
  156  State Board of Administration may delegate to its executive
  157  director the authority and power to perform that function
  158  without further review of the agency. The determinations
  159  pursuant to this subsection paragraph are limited to a review of
  160  the matters essential to making the determinations required by
  161  s. 16, Art. VII of the State Constitution. The executive
  162  director shall report annually to the board State Board of
  163  Administration and the Legislature regarding the number of bond
  164  issues considered and the determination with respect thereto.
  165         (4) Bonds of the corporation may:
  166         (a) Bear interest at a rate or rates not exceeding the
  167  interest rate limitation set forth in s. 159.825 or s. 215.84,
  168  as applicable s. 215.84(3), unless the State Board of
  169  Administration authorizes an interest rate in excess of such
  170  maximum;
  171         (b) Have such provisions for payment at maturity and
  172  redemption before maturity at such time or times and at such
  173  price or prices; and
  174         (c) Be payable at such place or places within or without
  175  the state as the board determines by resolution.
  176         Section 4. Present subsection (7) of section 420.5099,
  177  Florida Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (8), and a new
  178  subsection (7) is added to that section, to read:
  179         420.5099 Allocation of the low-income housing tax credit.—
  180         (7) For the further purpose of implementing this program in
  181  this state, if a qualified contract does not close due to a
  182  default of the owner, the termination by the owner due to a
  183  reason other than the purchaser’s default, or as otherwise
  184  provided for in the bona fide contract, the development must
  185  remain subject to the extended use agreement, and the owner is
  186  deemed to have waived any right or option to submit another
  187  qualified contract request for the development. If a qualified
  188  contract does not close for any other reason, the corporation
  189  must continue to seek offers at the qualified contract price
  190  through the end of the 1-year period, and the owner’s obligation
  191  to cooperate in the marketing of the project must continue. If
  192  no other qualified contract is presented to the owner during the
  193  1-year period, the project must be treated as if no qualified
  194  contract had been presented, and the extended use period is
  195  terminated.
  196         Section 5. Paragraph (b) of subsection (6) of section
  197  420.5092, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
  198         420.5092 Florida Affordable Housing Guarantee Program.—
  199         (6)
  200         (b) If the claims payment obligations under affordable
  201  housing guarantees from amounts on deposit in the guarantee fund
  202  would cause the claims paying rating assigned to the guarantee
  203  fund to be less than the third-highest rating classification of
  204  any nationally recognized rating service, which classifications
  205  being consistent with s. 215.84(3) and rules adopted thereto by
  206  the State Board of Administration, the corporation shall certify
  207  to the Chief Financial Officer the amount of such claims payment
  208  obligations. Upon receipt of such certification, the Chief
  209  Financial Officer shall transfer to the guarantee fund, from the
  210  first available taxes distributed to the State Housing Trust
  211  Fund pursuant to s. 201.15(4)(c) and (d) during the ensuing
  212  state fiscal year, the amount certified as necessary to meet
  213  such obligations, such transfer to be subordinate to any
  214  transfer referenced in paragraph (a) and not to exceed 50
  215  percent of the amounts distributed to the State Housing Trust
  216  Fund pursuant to s. 201.15(4)(c) and (d) during the preceding
  217  state fiscal year.
  218         Section 6. Subsection (2) of section 420.628, Florida
  219  Statutes, is amended to read:
  220         420.628 Affordable housing for children and young adults
  221  leaving foster care; legislative findings and intent.—
  222         (2) Young adults who leave the child welfare system meet
  223  the definition of eligible persons under ss. 420.503(18) and
  224  420.9071(11) ss. 420.503(17) and 420.9071(11) for affordable
  225  housing, and are encouraged to participate in federal, state,
  226  and local affordable housing programs. Students deemed to be
  227  eligible occupants under 26 U.S.C. s. 42(i)(3)(D) shall be
  228  considered eligible persons for purposes of all projects funded
  229  under this chapter.
  230         Section 7. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.