§ 52535 Preserving Affordable Housing Units

The Legislature finds and declares as follows: (a)  A significant amount of housing built to serve lower income households and very low income households and families is starting to disappear from the housing market. This phenomenon is due to government policies that allow prepayment of mortgages or nonrenewal of subsidy contracts after short periods of time and to changes in market forces which increase property values and create pressure to convert to middle or upper income housing or office or commercial use. In many neighborhoods, these conversions displace low-income and very low income tenants who have very limited options for relocating in comparable housing. (b)  Replacing this resource will be so expensive as to make it a practical impossibility. Scarce public resources make it extremely difficult to finance acquisition of the existing low- and very low income housing that could prevent some of this loss. (c)  There is an inadequate supply of private capital and investors committed to preserving existing low- and very low income housing for the useful life of the buildings, particularly for inner-city, troubled, small, and scattered-site housing developments. Many of the changes in the 1986 Federal Tax Reform Act have increased the difficulties of raising equity capital for lower income housing. These economic pressures will add to the depletion of the low-income and very low income housing stock. (d)  It is the policy of this state to encourage the widest possible joint participation by local and state government and nonprofit and private enterprise in the preservation and expansion of housing for low-income households and very low income households. (e)  It is in the public interest that one or more organizations should be created to encourage maximum participation by private investors and the public sector in programs and projects to preserve and expand the existing supply of low-income housing and very low income housing serving California residents. (f)  It is, additionally, in the public interest to permit a nonprofit corporation to be formed for the purpose of raising private equity capital for syndication of projects sponsored by nonprofit housing development corporations. The equity capital raised will go toward the acquisition, rehabilitation, acquisition and rehabilitation, or construction of housing and related facilities, primarily for the benefit of low-income households and very low income households. (Added by Stats. 1987, Ch. 1355, Sec. 1.)