50693-50698

HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE
SECTION 50693-50698




50693.  There is hereby established, within the Division of
Community Affairs of the department, a California Self-Help Housing
Program.


50694.  The California Self-Help Housing Program shall do all of the
following:
   (a) Be a clearinghouse for owner-building and self-help
rehabilitation information.
   (b) Conduct research projects and training projects pertaining to
owner-building and self-help rehabilitation.
   (c) Provide information and technical assistance to, and between,
public and private agencies, community groups, and present and
prospective owner-rehabilitators and self-help rehabilitators.
   (d) Prepare, publish, and disseminate educational information
relating to, and encouraging, owner-building and self-help
rehabilitation.
   (e) Encourage and facilitate the effective use of available
housing resources by existing and potential owner-builders and
self-help rehabilitators and other persons seeking to improve their
principal residences.
   (f) Encourage and assist the formation and operation of
neighborhood organizations and community design centers to assist
owner-builders and self-help rehabilitators.



50695.  The California Self-Help Housing Program shall provide
potential and actual owner-builders and self-help rehabilitators all
of the following information and technical assistance:
   (a) The cost savings of owner-building and self-help
rehabilitation.
   (b) Construction materials and methods.
   (c) The identity of local material sources and technical
resources.
   (d) Financing requirements and opportunities.
   (e) Site acquisition.
   (f) Insurance and legal requirements.
   (g) Energy and water conservation.
   (h) Building codes and standards and housing codes.
   (i) Other available housing alternatives.
   (j) Any other information or technical assistance determined by
the department to further the purposes of this chapter.



50696.  (a) The California Self-Help Housing Program may provide the
information and technical assistance required by Section 50695 in
conjunction with federal and state energy and water conservation
programs, and federal and state neighborhood preservation and urban
homesteading programs, including local programs carried on in
federally assisted community development neighborhoods, neighborhood
preservation areas, redevelopment project areas, urban homesteading
areas, and residential rehabilitation areas.
   (b) The California Self-Help Housing Program may contract with
public entities and private nonprofit corporations to provide
assistance to persons and families of low or moderate income who are
owner-builders or self-help rehabilitators, as defined in
subdivisions (a) and (c) of Section 50692. These contracts shall
provide grant funds for any of the following activities:
   (1) To cover the costs of developing, conducting, administering,
or coordinating programs of technical or supervisory assistance which
will aid persons and families of low or moderate income in carrying
out owner-building or self-help rehabilitation housing efforts.
   (2) To write down the development costs of the participant's
housing.
   (3) To reduce monthly mortgage payments by reducing the interest
cost to the participant through supplemental payments of those grant
funds, reducing principal, or deferring all or a portion of the
payments until the housing is sold or refinanced.
   (c) The primary emphasis of the California Self-Help Housing
Program and local self-help housing programs shall be to expand and
improve the housing stock available to lower income households. The
program shall give priority to those applications received by the
program which serve the highest proportion of lower income
households.
   (d)  The department shall not contract with any public entity or
private nonprofit corporation pursuant to subdivision (b) if that
entity or corporation denies the benefits of this chapter, or
discriminates in the provision of assistance pursuant to this
chapter, in violation of Section 11135 of the Government Code, as
determined by the department.
   (e)  Notwithstanding Section 50052.5, the department may establish
a standard for monthly housing costs that does not exceed 30 percent
of the gross monthly income of persons eligible for assistance
pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 50696.



50697.  (a) The department shall encourage or support all self-help
housing program activities in the state and shall do so in accordance
with the policies, goals, and objectives of the California Statewide
Housing Plan.
   (b) The department may seek commitments, on a matching or other
basis, from local agencies for the financial support of local
self-help housing programs.
   (c) The department may seek, obtain, and utilize public and
private funds to carry out the purposes and general provisions of
this chapter.
   (d) The department shall adopt procedures and regulations
necessary to implement this chapter. The regulations shall include,
but need not be limited to, both of the following requirements:
   (1) A maximum mortgage subsidy limit.
   (2) Guidelines which either encourage resale to lower income
households or provide assistance to new self-help households. These
guidelines shall include, but need not be limited to, permitting
assumption of department mortgage subsidies or permitting partial or
total forgiveness of mortgage subsidies after a specified period of
occupancy by eligible households. If a household receiving assistance
sells to a household which is not an eligible household, the
regulations shall provide for repayment of the mortgage subsidy and
may provide for payment of interest on the mortgage subsidy. The
guidelines shall also provide that, if the market value at the time
of resale to either an eligible or ineligible household is less than
the total of outstanding mortgages, liens, and the value of the
self-help equity, the amount due in repayment of the mortgage subsidy
shall be reduced by the difference between that total and the market
value.
   (e) Any assistance provided pursuant to this chapter shall be
considered a purchase or rehabilitation loan for the purposes of
Section 711.5 of the Civil Code.



50697.1.  (a) The Self-Help Housing Fund is hereby created in the
State Treasury. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code,
all moneys in the fund are continuously appropriated for contracts
entered into pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 50696 and for
costs incurred by the California Self-Help Housing Program in
administering the program. The moneys in the fund are not subject to
transfer to any other fund pursuant to Part 2 (commencing with
Section 16300) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code,
except the Surplus Money Investment Fund. The department may require
the transfer of moneys in the fund to the Surplus Money Investment
Fund for investment pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section
16470) of Chapter 3 of Part 2 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the
Government Code. Notwithstanding Section 16305.7 of the Government
Code, all interest, dividends, and pecuniary gains from the
investments shall accrue to the fund.
   (b) The Self-Help Housing Fund shall consist of all of the
following:
   (1) Any moneys appropriated to the fund by the Legislature.
   (2) Any moneys which the California Self-Help Housing Program
receives in repayment or return of the funds, including any interest
on those moneys.
   (3) Any other moneys which may be made available to the California
Self-Help Housing Program for the purposes of subdivision (b) of
Section 50696 from any other source or sources.



50698.  The director's last annual report to the Governor and the
Legislature prior to January 1, 1982, shall include recommendations
for improvement, continuation, or termination of the California
Housing Advisory Service.