50900-50916

HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE
SECTION 50900-50916




50900.  The California Housing Finance Agency is hereby continued in
existence in the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency. The
agency constitutes a public instrumentality and a political
subdivision of the state, and the exercise by the agency of the
powers conferred by this division shall be deemed and held to be the
performance of an essential public function.



50901.  The agency shall be administered by a board of directors
consisting of 11 voting members, including a chairperson selected by
the Governor from among his or her appointees. The State Treasurer,
the Secretary of the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, and
the Director of Housing and Community Development, or their
designees, shall be members, in addition to six members appointed by
the Governor, one member appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly,
and one member appointed by the Senate Rules Committee. The Director
of Finance, the Director of the State Office of Planning and
Research, and the executive director of the agency shall serve as
nonvoting ex officio members of the board.



50902.  (a) Appointed members of the board shall be able persons
broadly reflective of the economic, cultural, and social diversity of
the state, including ethnic minorities and women. However, it is not
intended that formulas or specific ratios be applied in order to
achieve that diversity.
   (b) The Governor shall select four of his or her six appointees
from among the following categories: (1) an elected official of a
city or county engaged in the planning or implementation of a
housing, housing-assistance, or housing-rehabilitation program; (2) a
person experienced in residential real estate in the savings and
loan, mortgage banking, or commercial banking industry; (3) a person
experienced as a builder of residential housing; (4) a person
experienced in organized labor in the residential construction
industry; (5) a person experienced in the management of rental or
cooperative housing occupied by lower income households; (6) a person
experienced in manufactured housing finance and development; and (7)
a person representing the public. Not more than one person from each
category may serve on the board at any one time, except that two
members may be appointed by the Governor to represent the public.
   (c) The Governor shall also appoint two members who are residents
of rental or cooperative housing financed by the agency or who are
persons experienced in counseling, assisting, or representing
tenants.
   (d) At least one of the members appointed by the Governor shall be
a resident of a rural or nonmetropolitan area.
   (e) The Senate Rules Committee and the Speaker of the Assembly
shall each appoint a person representing the public.
   The term of members of the board shall be six years. Any person
appointed to fill a vacancy on the board shall serve only for the
remainder of the unexpired term. Members of the board shall, subject
to continued qualification, be eligible for reappointment. If a
member of the board ceases to meet the qualifications specified in
this section, the membership of that person on the board shall be
terminated.


50903.  All members of the board appointed by the Governor shall be
confirmed by the Senate.



50904.  The representation of varied interest groups on the board
shall be deemed essential to obtain information for the development
of policy and decisions of the board. It shall not be a conflict of
interest for an official of any local public entity or a resident of
any housing development, or a director, officer, stockholder, or
employee of any savings and loan institution, investment banking
firm, brokerage firm, commercial bank or trust company, architectural
firm, insurance company, labor union, or any other person,
association, or corporation to serve as a member of the board. If any
board member has a financial interest in any matter before the board
for a decision, that interest shall be disclosed as a matter of
official public record. The board member shall not attempt to
influence, participate in deliberations concerning, or vote as to
that matter.
   Violation of this section constitutes grounds for disqualification
from office as a board member. Violation of the disclosure
requirements of this section constitutes a misdemeanor under Section
91000 of the Government Code.


50905.  (a) No employee of the agency shall be employed by, hold any
paid official relation to, or have any financial interest in, any
housing sponsor or any housing development financed or assisted under
this part. No real property to which a member of the board or
employee of the agency holds legal title or in which the person has
any financial interest shall be purchased by the agency or sold by
the member of the board or employee of the agency to a housing
sponsor for a housing development to be financed under this part.
   Any violation of this section shall be a conflict of interest that
shall be grounds for disqualification of the member from the board
or employee of the agency from his or her employment with the board
or agency.
   (b) Except as provided by subdivision (c), the following actions
shall be voidable in the discretion of the agency:
   (1) Any purchase by the agency of real property in which a member
of the board or employee of the agency has legal title or a financial
interest.
   (2) Any commitment by the agency to provide financial assistance
to a housing sponsor in which a member of the board or employee of
the agency is employed, holds any official relation, or has any
financial interest.
   (3) Any commitment by the agency to provide financial assistance
to a housing sponsor to which real property has been or is
transferred for a housing development to be financed under this part,
if a member of the board or employee of the agency has or has had
legal title or any financial interest in the real property.
   (c) Any commitment by the agency to provide financial assistance
under the circumstances specified in paragraph (2) or (3) of
subdivision (b) shall not be voidable following release of the funds.
   (d) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section and Section
50904, any conflict of interest by a member of the board or employee
of the agency shall not affect the validity of any bonds or insurance
issued pursuant to this division.
   (e) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, an agency
employee or board member may, if not acting as an investor and if
otherwise eligible, participate in owner-occupied single-family
financing and insurance programs operated by the agency.




50906.  Board members shall be removable solely for cause.



50907.  The Governor shall appoint a chairperson from among members
of the board, who, when present, shall preside at meetings of the
board. The term of the chairperson shall be five years, but shall
terminate earlier upon expiration of the chairperson's term under
Section 50902 without reappointment to the board.



50908.  The Governor shall, subject to confirmation by the Senate,
appoint an executive director of the agency, who shall, subject
solely to supervision by the board, administer and direct the
day-to-day operations of the agency. The term of office of the
executive director is five years. Except as provided in this part,
the board shall from time to time determine the total number of
authorized employees within the agency and shall determine the
salaries of those employees of the agency whose salaries are not paid
from moneys appropriated to the agency from the General Fund.




50909.  (a) Notwithstanding Sections 19816 and 19825 of the
Government Code, the compensation of key exempt management, including
the executive director, the chief deputy director, the general
counsel, the director of financing, the director of homeownership
programs, the director of multifamily programs, the director of
insurance and the financial risk management director shall be
established by the board in the agency's annual budget, in amounts
which are reasonably necessary, in the discretion of the board, to
attract and hold a person of superior qualifications.
   (b)  (1)  To determine the compensation for the positions
described in this section, the agency shall cause to be conducted,
through the use of independent outside advisors, salary surveys of
both of the following:
   (A) Other state and local housing finance agencies that are most
comparable to CalHFA.
   (B) Other relevant labor pools.
   (2) The salaries so set by the board shall not exceed the highest
comparable salary for a position of that type, as determined by the
survey.
   (c) The Department of Personnel Administration shall review the
methodology used in these salary surveys.
   (d) Members of the board shall not receive a salary but shall be
entitled to a per diem allowance of one hundred dollars ($100) for
each day's attendance at a meeting of the board or a meeting of a
committee of the board, not to exceed three hundred dollars ($300) in
any month, and reimbursement for expenses incurred in the
performance of their duties under this part, including travel and
other necessary expenses.


50910.  The executive director may from time to time employ
technical experts and other employees as may, in his or her judgment,
be necessary for the conduct of the business of the agency.



50911.  (a) Notwithstanding Sections 11042 and 11043 of the
Government Code, the executive director may employ as general counsel
for the agency an attorney at law licensed in this state. The
general counsel, or in his or her absence, the general counsel's
designee, shall advise the board, the chairperson, and the executive
director, when so requested, with regard to all matters in connection
with the powers and duties of the agency and the board members and
officers thereof. The general counsel shall serve as secretary to the
board and shall perform all duties and services as general counsel
to the agency that the agency may require of that person.
   (b) Except as provided in Section 11040 of the Government Code,
the Attorney General shall represent and appear for the people of the
state and the agency in all court proceedings involving any question
under this division or any order or act of the agency. However, the
agency may also employ private counsel to assist in any court
proceeding.
   (c) Notwithstanding Sections 11042 and 11043 of the Government
Code, the executive director may appoint as bond counsel for the
agency an attorney or attorneys. Nothing in this section or any other
provision of law shall preclude the appointment of more than one
attorney to serve as bond counsel. However, at all times at least one
attorney shall be licensed to practice law in this state. If the
agency appoints more than one bond counsel for a bond issue, the
combined fees paid to all bond counsel shall not exceed those fees
that would have been paid had only one bond counsel been appointed.
   (d) Under the authority of this section, the executive director
may appoint or retain an attorney or attorneys to undertake other
appropriate legal studies and assignments not in conflict with this
section.


50912.  There shall be within the agency a director of financing
appointed by the Governor and serving at the pleasure of the
executive director of the agency.
   The director of financing shall have responsibility for the
financial operations of the agency and shall perform such other
duties as may be required by the executive director.



50913.  For its activities under this division, the executive
director shall prepare a preliminary budget on or before December 1
of each year for the ensuing fiscal year to be reviewed by the
Secretary of the Business and Transportation Agency, the Director of
Finance, and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.



50914.  (a) The board shall authorize any sale of obligations or
securities or other debt obligations and shall approve other major
contractual agreements. Any other contractual agreements or debt
obligations may be approved by the executive director pursuant to
regulations of the board.
   (b) Actions of the board may be taken only by a concurrence of a
majority of the entire membership thereof, excepting nonvoting ex
officio members.



50915.  The principal offices of the agency shall be located in the
City of Sacramento.



50916.  All meetings of the board and of all committees of the board
including those committees whose membership constitutes less than a
quorum of the board shall be open and public and all persons shall be
permitted to attend and address the board or its committees, except
when the meetings are held as executive sessions as authorized by
Section 11126 of the Government Code.