Veterans housing: tenant referrals.

Existing law, the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Act of 2014, requires the California Housing Finance Agency, the Department of Housing and Community Development, and the Department of Veterans Affairs (referred to collectively as "the departments") to establish and implement programs that focus on veterans at risk for homelessness or experiencing temporary or chronic homelessness, as specified. In this regard, existing law requires the departments to establish and implement programs that, among other things, ensure projects combine housing and supportive services. Existing law requires the departments to ensure at least 50% of funds awarded for capital development are used to provide housing to veterans with extremely low incomes, and requires that at least 60% of units funded targeting extremely low income households are supportive housing. This bill would authorize an entity tasked with making referrals of units targeted to extremely low income households to submit a petition to the departments requesting authority to lease the qualified unit to a secondary tenant, as defined, if a qualified entity is unable to locate, match, or otherwise place a qualified tenant in a qualified unit with 60 days of the unit becoming available. The bill would require a qualified unit that is leased to a secondary tenant to be redesignated to an area median income level commensurate with the income level of the secondary tenant and would require the secondary tenant to pay rent commensurate with their household income's percentage of the area medium income. The bill would, 12 months after a petition is approved, require the next available comparable unit to be rented to a qualified tenant at 30% of the median income. The bill would require a qualified entity tasked with making referrals to these units to make a good faith effort to match a tenant with an extremely low income before submitting a petition, document these good faith efforts, submit this documentation as a part of the petition, and make this documentation available to the housing sponsor and, upon request, to the departments. The bill would prohibit the departments from approving a petition if it would result in changes that may impact the project's regulatory agreement, as specified. The bill would require the departments to create a standardized form for the submission of petitions described above. The bill would require the departments, upon receipt of a petition, to (1) review the petition and decide if the qualified unit is eligible to accept secondary tenants under all applicable guidelines, rules, and regulations, and (2) provide a written determination approving or denying the petition no later than 30 days after receipt of the petition. Existing law establishes the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee, composed of specified members, and requires that the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee, among other things, allocate specified federal low-income housing tax credits, as provided. This bill, for purposes of supportive housing units that are restricted to extremely low income veterans pursuant to a regulatory agreement with the committee, would authorize an entity tasked with making referrals of those units targeted to extremely low income households to match prospective secondary tenants with incomes at or below 60% of the area median income that are receiving income as a result of service-connected disability benefits if a qualified tenant is unable to be matched to and accept placement in an available unit within 28 days of the unit becoming available. If a secondary tenant is unable to be matched to and accept placement in an available unit within 14 days, the bill would authorize the entity to match a veteran experiencing homelessness with an income at or below 60% of the area median income, regardless of the source of the income, in an available unit. The bill would require a qualified unit that is leased to a secondary tenant or other veteran experiencing homelessness pursuant to these provisions to be redesignated to an area median income level commensurate with the income level of the tenant and would require the tenant to pay rent commensurate with their household income's percentage of the area medium income. The bill, 12 months after a secondary tenant or other tenant who is a veteran experiencing homelessness has been placed, would require the next available comparable unit to be rented to a qualified tenant at 30% of the median income. The bill would require a qualified entity tasked with making referrals to these units to make a good faith effort to match a tenant with an extremely low income, document these good faith efforts, and make this documentation available to the housing sponsor and, upon request, to the departments.