Chapter 1. General Provisions And Definitions of California Health And Safety Code >> Division 31. >> Part 4. >> Chapter 1.
The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
(a) For reasons of prudent investment policy, California's public
and private lending institutions are not making mortgage financing
available for certain single- and multifamily residential housing
occupied or intended to be occupied by substantial numbers of persons
and families of low and moderate income because of the perceived
risks these loans entail. The absence of this financing has also
caused and contributed to the deterioration of residential
neighborhoods, has inhibited government in its attempts to arrest and
reverse deterioration through local code enforcement programs, and
has generally reduced or limited the supply of safe, decent, and
sanitary housing available to persons and families of low and
moderate income.
(b) The absence of financing has resulted in persons and families
who are not able to realize financial security through equity
accumulation and psychological security through a sense of permanence
and control over the direction of their lives, as well as a lack of
job creation linked to housing construction or the sale of existing
housing.
(c) The percentage of California residents who own their own homes
is considerably lower than the national average.
(d) All of the factors set forth in subdivisions (a) to (c),
inclusive, have hindered the state's economy and the general
well-being of the state's populace.
(e) The state has authorized state agencies, local agencies,
redevelopment agencies, and housing authorities to provide financing
for preservation and construction of residential structures,
including single-family and multifamily residential housing, to
enhance housing opportunities for persons and families of low or
moderate income. However, some of these local public entities will be
unable to sell bonds pursuant to that authorization on terms
sufficiently favorable to enable them to make loans at less than the
market-rate interest because of a lack of adequate bond security.
(f) Although the agencies are empowered to sell bonds in order to
raise funds for housing assistance, they may be unable to market
these bonds on terms and at interest rates adequate to enable these
agencies to accomplish their purposes.
(g) For reasons of prudent investment policy, private lending
institutions and public agencies are not making mortgage financing
available for the rehabilitation of buildings identified by local
jurisdictions as being potentially hazardous.
(h) For reasons of prudent investment policy, private lending
institutions and public agencies are not making mortgage financing
available for residential housing for low- and moderate-income
households in California due to an inadequate supply of reliable,
consistent, and affordable mortgage guaranty insurance.
(i) To provide credit enhancements for the development of new, or
the purchase or refinancing of existing, low-income and
moderate-income multifamily housing.
It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this part to
establish programs of bond and loan insurance for the following
purposes:
(a) To encourage homeownership opportunities for low- and
moderate-income rental households and to encourage multifamily
residential construction and rehabilitation, all of which will
revitalize the state's economy and provide security for these
households.
(b) To encourage and facilitate the preservation of existing
housing and improve housing opportunities by reducing the risk factor
for all of the following:
(1) Loans to persons and families of low and moderate income for
housing in older deteriorating areas and neighborhood preservation
areas.
(2) Bonds issued by governmental agencies for the purpose of
providing housing for persons and families of low or moderate income.
(3) Loans to provide housing for persons and families of low or
moderate income.
(4) Privately financed loans for multifamily residential housing
that benefits low- and moderate-income households.
(5) Construction loan loss guarantee assistance for rehabilitation
of buildings in need of rehabilitation improvements, where the
building has been identified by local jurisdictions as being
potentially hazardous.
(c) To encourage and facilitate housing opportunities for
low-income and moderate-income households which might not readily be
available in the private market due to, in part, location, type of
housing, and income group serviced, provided, however, that the
actuarial soundness of the insurance fund not be jeopardized.
(d) To provide single-family and multifamily residential housing
mortgage guaranty insurance.
(e) To provide single-family and multifamily residential guaranty
insurance for construction loans.
(f) To provide credit enhancements for the development of new, or
the purchase or refinancing of existing, low-income and
moderate-income housing.
The Legislature finds and declares the following:
The California Housing Finance Agency, in administering the
mortgage guaranty insurance program, as it is currently constituted
in law, will adopt a new five-year business plan pursuant to board
resolution at the June 9, 1993, meeting of the agency's board of
directors. The business plan will contain all of the financial
resources of the agency necessary for this insurance fund to create a
mortgage guaranty insurance underwriting capacity for single-family
loans at one billion two hundred million dollars ($1,200,000,000) of
gross insurance. In order to initiate this program, the agency will
provide its 1993 commitment of eighteen million dollars ($18,000,000)
as soon as reasonably practicable following the adoption of the June
9, 1993, board resolution. The agency will also commit that it will
provide its 1994 pledge of eleven million dollars ($11,000,000) at
its January 1994 board of directors meeting. During the five-year
time period, the program will result in a significant beneficial
economic impact on the state's economy, particularly on the
homebuilding and real estate resale markets. As such, the agency will
remain fully committed to implementing the plan, unless the economic
and fiscal expectations of the agency fail to materialize so that
implementation of the plan, in whole or in part, is no longer
possible without jeopardizing the fiscal integrity or the bond rating
of the agency.
(a) The agency shall require that occupancy of housing for
which a loan is insured pursuant to this part shall be open to all
regardless of any basis listed in subdivision (a) or (d) of Section
12955 of the Government Code, as those bases are defined in Sections
12926, 12926.1, subdivision (m) and paragraph (1) of subdivision (p)
of Section 12955, and Section 12955.2 of the Government Code, and
that contractors and subcontractors engaged in the construction or
rehabilitation of housing funded by a loan insured pursuant to this
part shall provide an equal opportunity for employment without
discrimination as to any basis listed in subdivision (a) of Section
12940 of the Government Code, as those bases are defined in Sections
12926 and 12926.1 of the Government Code, and except as otherwise
provided in Section 12940 of the Government Code.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), with respect to familial
status, subdivision (a) shall not be construed to apply to housing
for older persons, as defined in Section 12955.9 of the Government
Code. With respect to familial status, nothing in subdivision (a)
shall be construed to affect Sections 51.2, 51.3, 51.4, 51.10, 51.11,
and 799.5 of the Civil Code, relating to housing for senior
citizens. Subdivision (d) of Section 51, Section 4760, and Section
6714 of the Civil Code, and subdivisions (n), (o), and (p) of Section
12955 of the Government Code shall apply to subdivision (a).
(c) A qualified developer shall certify compliance with this
section and Section 50955 according to requirements specified by the
pertinent criteria of the agency.
(a) Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions
contained in this chapter shall govern the construction of this part.
These definitions shall be in addition to definitions set forth in
Part 1 (commencing with Section 50000) of this division, except that,
where the same term is defined in this chapter and in that part, the
definition of the term contained in this chapter shall prevail.
(b) As used in this part:
(1) "Approved lending institution" means a qualified mortgage
lender approved by the agency for participation in a program of loan
insurance, including those successors and assigns of any such
institution as are permitted by the agency. "Approved lending
institution" shall also include the agency.
(1.5) "Board" or "board of directors" means the Board of Directors
of the California Housing Finance Agency.
(2) "Bond reserve requirement" means an amount specified by the
agency which shall, as of any particular date of computation, be at
least equal to the total of both of the following:
(A) Insurance benefits due and payable as of the date under
contracts of bond insurance.
(B) The percentage, required by the rating agencies or required to
adequately provide security for the bonds insured pursuant to this
part, of the sum of the aggregate insurance outstanding under
contracts of bond insurance and the aggregate amounts to be insured
under the agency's commitments to insure bonds.
(2.5) "Credit enhancement" means a method of reducing risk for a
lender through letters of credit and bond and loan insurance.
(3) "Executive director" means the Executive Director of the
California Housing Finance Agency.
(4) "Fund" or "insurance fund" means the California Housing Loan
Insurance Fund, which is hereby created.
(5) "Insurance reserve requirement" means an amount established by
the agency, which shall, as of any particular date of computation,
be at least equal to the total of both of the following:
(A) Insurance benefits due and payable as of that date pursuant to
contracts of loan insurance.
(B) An amount calculated to equal any required policyholder's
surplus which would be required of a mortgage guaranty insurer under
Section 12640.05 of the Insurance Code.
(6) "Insured loan" means a loan insured pursuant to Chapter 4
(commencing with Section 51650).
(7) "Loan-to-value limitation" means a limitation on the ratio of
the original principal balance of a loan to the appraised value at
the time of execution of the contract of insurance, including the
estimated costs of repair and rehabilitation and sale, if any, of the
property securing it.
(8) "Mortgage guaranty insurance" means either of the following:
(A) Insurance against financial loss by reason of nonpayment of
principal, interest, and other sums agreed to be paid under the terms
of any note or bond or other evidence of indebtedness secured by a
mortgage, deed of trust, or other instrument constituting a first
lien or charge on real estate, provided the improvement on the real
estate is a residential building or a condominium unit or buildings
designed for occupancy by not more than four families.
(B) Insurance against financial loss by reason of nonpayment of
principal, interest, and other sums agreed to be paid under the terms
of any note or bond or other evidence of indebtedness secured by a
mortgage, deed of trust, or other instrument constituting a junior
lien or charge on real estate, provided the improvement on the real
estate is a residential building or a condominium unit or buildings
designed for occupancy by not more than four families.
(C) Insurance against financial loss by reason of nonpayment of
principal, interest, and other sums agreed to be paid under the terms
of any note or bond or other evidence of indebtedness secured by a
mortgage, deed of trust, or other instrument constituting a lien or
charge on real estate, provided the improvement on the real estate is
a building or buildings designed for occupancy by five or more
families or designed to be occupied for industrial or commercial
purposes.
(9) "Multifamily residential housing" means an improvement on real
estate which is a building or buildings containing five or more
residential units.
(10) "Persons and families of low or moderate income" means
"persons and families of low or moderate income" as defined in
Section 50093.
(11) "Qualified developer" means a housing sponsor which is
certified by the agency to be qualified according to experience,
financial capability, and any other pertinent criteria as the fund
may establish to carry out rehabilitation and new construction with
loans insured pursuant to this part.
(12) "Rehabilitated structure" means a residential structure which
becomes eligible for an insured acquisition loan by rehabilitation
conducted pursuant to rules of the agency, whether or not loan
insurance is provided by the agency for that rehabilitation.
(13) "Single-family residential housing" means an improvement on
real estate which is a building or a condominium unit or buildings
containing one to four units.