BP BHEAD INT S [atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to homelessness prevention; adding a new chapter to Title 43 RCW; and making an appropriation.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.

(1) "Department" means the department of community, trade, and economic development.

(2) "Director" means the director of community, trade, and economic development.

(3) "Local organization" means an organization eligible to receive assistance through the housing trust fund.

(4) "Housing trust fund" means the Washington housing trust fund as defined in chapter 43.185 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) The department shall establish and administer a state-wide emergency mortgage and rental assistance program. The department shall work with the department of social and health services to coordinate supportive services with emergency mortgage and rental assistance. Organizations eligible to receive grant funds for distribution under the program are those organizations eligible to receive assistance through the housing trust fund. The department shall disburse the funds to eligible organizations as grants. The local organizations shall use the funds to make grants or loans as specified in this chapter. If funds are disbursed as loans, the local organization shall establish a revolving loan and grant fund with funds received as loan repayments and shall continue to make loans or grants or both loans and grants to eligible persons who meet the requirements of this chapter.

(2) The goals of the program are to:

(a) Provide temporary emergency mortgage loans or rental assistance loans or grants on behalf of eligible persons who are unable to make mortgage, property tax, or rental payments on their permanent residences and are subject to immediate eviction for nonpayment of mortgage installments, property taxes, or nonpayment of rent; and

(b) Prevent the dislocation of individuals and families from their permanent residences and their communities.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. Emergency mortgage assistance shall be provided under the following general guidelines:

(1) Loans provided under the program shall not exceed an amount equal to twenty-four months of mortgage and property tax payments.

(2) The maximum loan amount allowed under the program shall not exceed twenty thousand dollars.

(3) Loans shall be made to applicants who meet specific income guidelines established by the department.

(4) Loan payments shall be made directly to the mortgage lender.

(5) Loans shall be granted on a first-come, first-served basis.

(6) Repayments of loans provided under the program shall be made to eligible local organizations, and must not take more than twenty years. Funds repaid to the program shall be used as loans or grants under the provisions of this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. Emergency rental assistance shall be provided under the following general guidelines:

(1) Rental assistance provided under the program may be in the form of loans or grants and shall not exceed an amount equal to twenty-four months of rental payments.

(2) Rental assistance shall be made to applicants who meet specific income guidelines established by the department.

(3) Rental payments shall be made directly to the landlord.

(4) Rental payments shall be granted on a first-come, first-served basis.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. To be eligible for assistance under the program, an applicant must:

(1) Be unable to keep mortgage or rental payments current, due to a loss of employment, and shall be at significant risk of eviction;

(2) If requesting emergency mortgage assistance, be the owner of an equitable interest in the permanent residence and intend to reside in the home to be financed;

(3) Be actively seeking new employment or be enrolled in a training program approved by the director; and

(4) Submit an application for assistance to an organization eligible to receive funds under this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. The department shall carry out the following duties:

(1) Administer the program;

(2) Identify local organizations eligible to receive funds to implement the program;

(3) Develop and adopt the necessary rules and procedures for implementation of the program and for dispersal of program funds to eligible organizations;

(4) Establish the interest rate for repayment of loans at two hundred basis points below the market rate;

(5) Work with lending institutions and social service providers to assure that all eligible persons are informed about the program;

(6) Utilize federal and state programs that complement or facilitate the purposes of the program; and

(7) Ensure that local eligible organizations that dissolve or become ineligible assign their program funds, rights to loan repayments, and loan security instruments, to the governing body of the county in which the local organization is located. If the governing body of the county accepts the program assets described in this subsection, it shall act as a local eligible organization under the provisions of this chapter. If the governing body of the county declines to participate, the program assets shall revert to the department.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. The department may receive gifts, grants, or endowments from public or private sources that are made from time to time, in trust or otherwise, for the use and benefit of the purposes of this chapter and spend gifts, grants, or endowments or income from the public or private sources according to their terms, unless the receipt of the gifts, grants, or endowments violates RCW 42.17.710.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. If any part of this act is found to be in conflict with federal requirements that are a prescribed condition to the allocation of federal funds to the state, the conflicting part of this act is inoperative solely to the extent of the conflict and with respect to the agencies directly affected, and this finding does not affect the operation of the remainder of this act in its application to the agencies concerned. Rules adopted under this act must meet federal requirements that are a necessary condition to the receipt of federal funds by the state.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. This act may be known and cited as the Washington homelessness prevention act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. Sections 1 through 10 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 43 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. The sum of twenty million dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1999, from the general fund to the department of community, trade, and economic development for the purposes of this act.