The Department of Housing and Community Development is hereby continued in existence in the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency.

Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, or any other provision of law, any money contained in the Rural Predevelopment Loan Fund created pursuant to Section 50516, the Predevelopment Loan Fund created pursuant to Section 50531, the Housing Rehabilitation Loan Fund created pursuant to Section 50661, the Homeownership Assistance Fund created pursuant to Section 50778, and the Rental Housing Construction Fund created pursuant to Section 50740, is hereby continuously appropriated, without regard to fiscal year, for any purposes authorized by statute.

It is the intent of the Legislature that this section also supersede the amounts appropriated pursuant to Items 2240-101-635, 2240-101-929, 2240-101-936, 2240-101-938, and 2240-101-980, respectively, of the Budget Act of 1984 (Ch. 258, Stats. 1984).

The department shall be administered by an executive officer known as the Director of Housing and Community Development. The director shall be appointed by the Governor, subject to confirmation by the Senate, and shall hold office at the pleasure of the Governor. The director shall receive the annual salary provided for by Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 11550) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

The provisions of Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11150) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code apply to the department, and the director is the head of the department within the meaning of such provisions. The director shall perform all duties, exercise all powers, discharge all responsibility, and administer and enforce all laws, rules, and regulations under the jurisdiction of the department. The director shall keep all books and records necessary for proper and efficient administration of the department. In order to assist in the administration of the department’s loan and grant programs, the director may appoint committees of department employees

and public representatives, the latter to serve without compensation except for reimbursement of expenses pursuant to law.

The Governor shall appoint, upon the recommendation of the director, a deputy director. The deputy director shall hold office at the pleasure of the director and shall receive a salary as shall be fixed by the director with the approval of the Department of Finance.

The work of the department shall be divided into the following three divisions:

Each division shall be in the charge of a chief, under the direction of the director. The chiefs shall be appointed, upon recommendation by the director, by the Governor. Such division chiefs shall hold office at the pleasure of the director, and shall receive a salary as shall be fixed by the director with the approval of the Department of Finance.

The Division of Codes and Standards shall be divided into two sections, the Housing Standards Section and the Manufactured Housing Section. Each section shall be in the charge of an assistant chief, under the direction of the chief. The assistant chiefs shall be appointed, upon recommendation by the director, by the Governor. Such assistant chief shall hold office at the pleasure of the director, and shall receive a salary as shall be fixed by the director with the approval of the Department of Finance.

(A) Perform criminal background checks on its employees, contractors, agents, or subcontractors who will have access to information described in subdivision (a).

(B) Certify the results of the criminal background check to the department as part of their services contract, interagency agreement, or public entity agreement with the department.

shall only apply to a services contract, interagency agreement, or public entity agreement that is entered into, renewed, or amended on or after January 1, 2024.

For the purposes of this division, the department has all of the following powers:

in part.

which the secured loan or grant was made.

the department shall close escrow within 120 days after both of the following have occurred: a qualified buyer has received approval of the department; and the buyer has obtained adequate financing for the purchase. If the deadline set forth in this paragraph is not met, the director shall employ a licensed real estate broker in connection with the proposed sale. The department may exceed the time requirements of this paragraph if the director finds that this is necessary due to factors outside the control of the department, including death of the buyer, inability of the borrower to qualify for financing from a lender, substantial damage to the property resulting from a natural disaster or other act of God, or extraordinary procedural requirements or conditions imposed by the lender or title and escrow company.

following have occurred: a qualified buyer has received approval of the department; and the buyer has obtained adequate financing for the purchase.

pursuant to paragraph (1) include, but are not limited to, all of the following:

between extremely low, very low, lower, and moderate income households, as those terms are defined in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 50050) of Health and Safety Code.

loan.

Pursuant to subdivision (m) of Section 50406, the department shall review all guidelines it has adopted or amended to determine whether those guidelines explain rights or services available to the public. The department shall translate guidelines meeting that criteria into any non-English languages spoken by a substantial number of non-English-speaking people, as defined in Section 7296.2 of the Government Code.

Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, the department may enter into long-term contracts or agreements for not more than 30 years for the purpose of servicing loans or grants or enforcing regulatory agreements or other security documents entered into pursuant to this part.

(commencing with Section 75200) of Division 44 of the Public Resources Code), or any additional multifamily housing lending program that the department elects, may, at the option of the borrower, be used for any of the following purposes:

regulations. The adoption of emergency regulations authorized by this subparagraph is deemed to address an emergency, for purposes of Sections 11346.1 and 11349.6 of the Government Code, and the department is hereby exempted for this purpose from the requirements of subdivision (b) of Section 11346.1 of the Government Code. For purposes of subdivision (e) of Section 11346.1 of the Government Code, the 180-day period, as applicable to the effective period of an emergency regulatory action and submission of specified materials to the Office of Administrative Law, is hereby extended to one year.

guidelines adopted under paragraphs (1) and (2) shall do all of the following:

but not limited to, application and monitoring fees, to cover the enhanced administrative costs provided under this section.

Notwithstanding any other law, and to the extent permitted under federal law and the California Constitution, the department shall allow an owner of a property subject to a regulatory agreement with the department to take out additional debt on the development to finance, with the department’s approval, rehabilitation of the property or investment in new affordable housing, if all of the following conditions are met:

that must be repaid via an amortizing payment or at a specified maturity date.

(A) With the department’s approval, contributed to other projects that will increase or improve the supply of deed-restricted affordable housing serving low-income households in the state.

(B) Utilized in the purchase of a limited partner interest of a tax credit investor in the project, provided

that the amount used to purchase that interest shall be subject to the guidelines adopted pursuant to subdivision (h) of 50560.

(C) Utilized in the payment of any unpaid deferred developer fee for the project pursuant to any applicable department regulations.

(D) Applied toward payment for necessary repairs and rehabilitation of the project.

(E) Utilized for the establishment or replenishment of department-approved project reserves.

(F) Utilized for reimbursement of borrower advances for predevelopment costs, unreimbursed capital improvements, and unreimbursed operating deficits.

(G) Utilized for any other purposes approved by the department.

work.

is for a homeless individual or family:

accommodate the conversion of single-room occupancy units to studio or larger units, to accommodate the addition of private bathrooms, kitchens, community rooms, or like facilities, to increase accessibility for persons with disabilities, or to address code compliance for such matters as life and safety, shall be deemed homeless.

not eligible to be treated as debt for federal or state low-income housing tax credit purposes without a reduction in the interest rate of the loan.

applicable federal rate published by the United States Internal Revenue Service and in effect at the time of the project closing. The additional tax credit equity generated by the change in interest rate shall be used for rehabilitation of the development. If the total amount of debt and accrued interest at the end of the loan term would be greater after making this change than it would have been under the original interest rate, the department may forgive an amount of accrued interest equal to the lesser of either the amount necessary to make the expected principal and accrued interest the same as it would have been using the original interest rate, or the total amount of interest accrued at the time of the sponsor’s request.

by a borrower pursuant to this section.

Notwithstanding any other law, the department may expend any funds it is authorized to set aside for curing or averting potential defaults for the purposes of curing or averting defaults on any deferred interest loan issued by the department for rental housing development.

The department may do any of the following in administering federally funded grant programs administered by the department, including, but not limited to, the Federal Housing Trust Fund (Chapter 6.8 (commencing with Section 50676)), Community Development Block Grant Program Funds (Chapter 12 (commencing with Section 50825)), the HOME Investment Partnerships Act (Chapter 16 (commencing with Section 50896)), or the California Emergency Solutions Grants Program (Chapter 19 (commencing with Section 50899.1)) established under this part unless specifically prohibited by other applicable law:

oversight, provided that the published method of distribution for that program or funding source allows for postsubmittal modifications. This subdivision does not require a program that uses a competitive method of distribution to allow postsubmittal modifications.

The department is the principal state department responsible for coordinating federal-state relationships in housing and community development, except for housing finance. The department is the principal state department responsible for implementation of the California Statewide Housing Plan. The department shall continually evaluate the impact upon the state of federal policies and programs affecting housing and community development and encourage full utilization of federal programs available for assisting the residents of this state, the private housing industry, and local public entities in satisfying housing and community development needs in this

state. The department shall encourage and assist housing and community development in rural areas and among Indian residents of the state. The department shall encourage mutual self-help projects, home management training, and relocation assistance. The department shall promote maximum utilization of federal subsidies available to meet housing needs of very low income households and other persons and families of low or moderate income, or both. The department shall assist communities and persons to avail themselves of state housing programs.

Notwithstanding the transfer of the department from the Business, Transportation, and Housing Agency to the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency, the department, the Department of Transportation, and the California Transportation Commission shall coordinate state housing and transportation policies and programs to help achieve state and regional planning priorities and to maximize cobenefits of infrastructure investments.

assisted projects in helping veterans occupying any supportive housing or transitional housing development that was issued funds pursuant to that article.

(I) For purposes of this paragraph, the term “housing stability” includes, but is not limited to, how many tenants exit transitional housing to permanent housing or maintain permanent housing, and the length of time those tenants spent in assisted units.

(II) For purposes of this paragraph, the term “housing

exit information” includes, but is not limited to, the following:

(ia) How many tenants left assisted units.

(ib) The length of tenancy in assisted units.

(ic) The reason those tenants left assisted units, when that information is readily obtainable.

(id) The housing status of a tenant exiting an assisted unit upon exit when that information is readily available.

(ii) Client data, which may include, but is not limited to, demographic characteristics of the veteran and his or her family, educational and employment status of the veteran, and veteran-specific information including, but not limited to, disability ratings, type of discharge, branch, era of service, and veterans affairs health

care eligibility.

actions.

required by subdivision (a) shall include an analysis and recommendations on the following factors related to the supply of housing affordable and accessible to farmworkers and their families:

increase input from farmworkers and employers on the housing needs in their specific communities.

policy, funding, and implementation of farmworker housing production in California to adequately address the size and scope of the problems identified in the study, including to inform the next update to the California Statewide Housing Plan.

Except where the department is specifically vested by this part or by any other provision of law with the authority to adopt rules and regulations, and except as provided in Section 18930, the commission may adopt, amend, and repeal rules and regulations reasonably necessary to carry out this part or by any other provision of law. Any rules and regulations of the commission in effect on September 26, 1975, shall remain in effect until amended or repealed except that building standards, as defined in Section 18909, shall remain in effect only until January 1, 1985,

or until adopted, amended, repealed, or superseded by building standards adopted and published in the California Building Standards Code pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 18935) of Part 2.5 of Division 13, whichever occurs sooner.

department.

Default Reserve Account, for expenditure by the department, the amounts in the all of the following funds or programs:

following:

(A) The starting balance in the Affordable Housing Default Reserve Account for that fiscal year.

(B) A list of each expenditure made during that fiscal year and the total amount spent.

(C) The purpose of each expenditure made during that fiscal year.

(D) The balance in the Affordable Housing Default Reserve Account as of the date of the notice.

(E) The department’s assessment of the risk of additional defaults for the remainder of that fiscal year and the following fiscal year.