Department of Housing and Community Development: powers.

Existing law establishes the Department of Housing and Community Development and requires it to, among other things, administer various programs intended to fund the acquisition of property to develop or preserve affordable housing. Existing law grants the department various powers and duties, including, among other things, the power to provide advice, technical information, and consultative and technical services. This bill would authorize the department, in administering federally funded grant programs administered by the department, to (1) publish a notice of funding availability and application deadlines ahead of, and contingent upon, availability of funding, (2) issue funding to an award recipient up-front rather than as a reimbursement, and (3) provide technical assistance to applicants that meet program submission deadlines to correct technical errors or provide missing information. The bill would require the department to establish and publish on its internet website a tracking system for the programs it administers that provides the deadlines for each step of a program application.