By: Bivins, et al. S.B. No. 1798
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the creation, funding, and operation of the Teachers'
1-3 Home Loan Program.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 1372, Government Code, is
1-6 amended by adding Section 1372.0221 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 1372.0221. DEDICATION OF PORTION OF STATE CEILING FOR
1-8 TEACHERS HOME LOAN PROGRAM. Out of that portion of the state
1-9 ceiling that is available exclusively for reservations by issuers
1-10 of qualified mortgage bonds under Section 1372.022, $25 million
1-11 shall be allotted each year and made available exclusively to the
1-12 Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation for the purpose of
1-13 issuing qualified mortgage bonds in connection with the teachers
1-14 home loan program established under Section 2306.562.
1-15 SECTION 2. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 2306.553,
1-16 Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-17 (a) The public purpose of the corporation is to perform
1-18 activities and services that the corporation's board of directors
1-19 determines will promote the public health, safety, and welfare
1-20 through the provision of adequate, safe, and sanitary housing
1-21 primarily for individuals and families of low, very low, and
1-22 extremely low income, and for teachers under the teachers home loan
1-23 program as provided by Section 2306.562. The activities and
1-24 services shall include engaging in mortgage banking activities and
1-25 lending transactions and acquiring, holding, selling, or leasing
2-1 real or personal property.
2-2 (b) The corporation's primary public purpose is to
2-3 facilitate the provision of housing and the making of affordable
2-4 loans to individuals and families of low, very low, and extremely
2-5 low income, and to teachers under the teachers home loan program.
2-6 The corporation may make first lien, single family purchase money
2-7 mortgage loans for single family homes only to individuals and
2-8 families of low, very low, and extremely low income if the
2-9 individual's or family's household income is not more than the
2-10 greater of 60 percent of the median income for the state, as
2-11 defined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban
2-12 Development, or 60 percent of the area median family income,
2-13 adjusted for family size, as defined by that department. The
2-14 corporation may make loans for multifamily developments if:
2-15 (1) at least 40 percent of the units in a multifamily
2-16 development are affordable to individuals and families with incomes
2-17 at or below 60 percent of the median family income, adjusted for
2-18 family size; or
2-19 (2) at least 20 percent of the units in a multifamily
2-20 development are affordable to individuals and families with incomes
2-21 at or below 50 percent of the median family income, adjusted for
2-22 family size.
2-23 SECTION 3. Subchapter Y, Chapter 2306, Government Code, is
2-24 amended by adding Section 2306.562 to read as follows:
2-25 Sec. 2306.562. TEACHERS HOME LOAN PROGRAM. (a) In this
2-26 section:
3-1 (1) "Home" means a dwelling in this state in which a
3-2 teacher intends to reside as the teacher's principal residence.
3-3 (2) "Mortgage lender" has the meaning assigned by
3-4 Section 2306.004.
3-5 (3) "Program" means the teachers home loan program.
3-6 (4) "Teacher" means a person who is a classroom
3-7 teacher as defined by Section 5.001, Education Code.
3-8 (b) The corporation shall establish a program to provide
3-9 eligible teachers with low-interest home mortgage loans.
3-10 (c) To be eligible for a loan under this section, a teacher
3-11 must:
3-12 (1) have been residing in this state for the five-year
3-13 period preceding the date the teacher files an application for a
3-14 loan under this section;
3-15 (2) have been working as a teacher for the three-year
3-16 period preceding the application date; and
3-17 (3) reside in this state on the application date.
3-18 (d) The corporation may contract with other agencies of the
3-19 state or with private entities to determine whether applicants
3-20 qualify as teachers under this section or otherwise to administer
3-21 all or part of this section.
3-22 (e) The board of directors of the corporation may set and
3-23 collect from each applicant any fees the board considers reasonable
3-24 and necessary to cover the expenses of administering the program.
3-25 (f) The board of directors of the corporation shall adopt
3-26 rules governing:
4-1 (1) the administration of the program;
4-2 (2) the making of loans under the program;
4-3 (3) the criteria for approving mortgage lenders;
4-4 (4) the use of insurance on the loans and the homes
4-5 financed under the program, as considered appropriate by the board
4-6 to provide additional security for the loans;
4-7 (5) the verification of occupancy of the home by the
4-8 teacher as the teacher's principal residence; and
4-9 (6) the terms of any contract made with any mortgage
4-10 lender for processing, originating, servicing, or administering the
4-11 loans.
4-12 (g) The corporation shall ensure that a loan under this
4-13 section is structured in a way that complies with any requirements
4-14 associated with the source of the funds used for the loan.
4-15 (h) In addition to funds set aside for the program under
4-16 Section 1372.0221, the corporation may solicit and accept funding
4-17 for the program from the following sources:
4-18 (1) gifts and grants for the purposes of this section;
4-19 (2) available money in the housing trust fund
4-20 established under Section 2306.201, to the extent available to the
4-21 corporation;
4-22 (3) federal block grants that may be used for the
4-23 purposes of this section, to the extent available to the
4-24 corporation;
4-25 (4) other state or federal programs that provide money
4-26 that may be used for the purposes of this section; and
5-1 (5) amounts received by the corporation in repayment
5-2 of loans made under this section.
5-3 (i) This section expires September 1, 2012.
5-4 SECTION 4. The Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation
5-5 shall:
5-6 (1) give priority to a teacher who resides or teaches
5-7 in an area of the state with a teacher shortage, as determined by
5-8 the commissioner of education;
5-9 (2) aggressively pursue funding for the teachers home
5-10 loan program required by Section 2306.562, Government Code, as
5-11 added by this Act; and
5-12 (3) implement the teachers home loan program required
5-13 by that section not later than September 1, 2002.
5-14 SECTION 5. (a) If the legislature finds in a scheduled
5-15 review of the Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation by the
5-16 Sunset Advisory Commission under Section 2306.5521, Government
5-17 Code, that the teachers home loan program under Section 2306.562,
5-18 Government Code, as added by this Act, is not being managed to
5-19 accomplish the goal of providing low-interest home mortgage loans
5-20 to teachers, the legislature shall make specific recommendations to
5-21 remedy any problems.
5-22 (b) If the legislature finds in a scheduled review of the
5-23 Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation by the Sunset Advisory
5-24 Commission under Section 2306.5521, Government Code, that the
5-25 corporation should be abolished, the teachers home loan program
5-26 under Section 2306.562, Government Code, as added by this Act,
6-1 shall be transferred to another appropriate state agency.
6-2 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
6-3 a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
6-4 provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
6-5 Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
6-6 Act takes effect September 1, 2001.