Fresh off a successful Legislative Day, C.A.R. continues to advocate for housing and homeownership in Sacramento. C.A.R. is sponsoring several bills that will advance homewonership, such as AB 2170 (Grayson) Codification of GSE “First Look” Program. This bill will prohibit bulk sales of REO parcels by a mortgage servicer that forecloses on 175 or more residential properties annually. This bill will also: (a) Conform to the existing federal guidelines for the federal “First Look” program and provide owner-occupants and public entities with an opportunity to purchase REO properties for 30 days); (b) Require mortgage servicers to provide a written acknowledgment to the potential owner-occupant purchaser and public entities of all offers during that 30 day period; and (c) Require mortgage servicers to respond to “First Look” offers on REO parcels prior to accepting offers from investor purchasers. This bill passed out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee on May 11th and is now pending a vote on the Assembly Floor. Thus far there is no stated opposition to this bill.
SCA 2 (Allen & Wiener) seeks to repeal Article 34, a constitutional amendment, enacted by voters in 1950, which requires that any development comprised of “low-rent” dwellings, financed in whole or in part by federal, state, or local government, be approved by a vote of the people in the jurisdiction where the project is located. The article adds significant costs to the production of affordable housing as developers must comply with its provisions for a ballot measure or to pursue alternative means of financing which would avoid the Article’s provisions.
C.A.R. is also working in a coalition with Habitat for Humanity California, The Two Hundred, San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Research Association (SPUR), LISC San Diego, Housing Action Coalition, National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP), the California Building Industry Association (CBIA), and the Black Leadership Council (BLC) to request that the 2022-2023 State Budget increase homeownership funding as it has for other forms of housing in order to support the full continuum of necessary housing options for Californians. The coalition is asking that the budget, at a minimum, include an allocation of 20% ($400) of the rental housing resources to affordable owner-occupied workforce housing developments to provide long-term housing stability and 10% ($200) for downpayment assistance.