Pursuant to Florida Statutes Section 420.5087(3)(d), the Florida Housing Finance Corporation administers the Elderly Housing Community Loan (EHCL) Program. This program provides loans to sponsors of affordable rental housing for very low income ...

Notice of Proposed Rule

 

FLORIDA HOUSING FINANCE CORPORATION

RULE NO: RULE TITLE
67-32.002: Definitions
67-32.0035: Applicant Administrative Appeal Procedures
67-32.005: Application Procedures
67-32.006: Terms and Conditions of Loan
67-32.007: Scoring, Ranking, and Funding Guidelines
PURPOSE AND EFFECT: Pursuant to Florida Statutes Section 420.5087(3)(d), the Florida Housing Finance Corporation administers the Elderly Housing Community Loan (EHCL) Program. This program provides loans to sponsors of affordable rental housing for very low income elderly households. Chapter 67-32, F.A.C., provides the procedures for the administration of this loan program and criteria for receiving, evaluating, and competitively ranking all applications for loans under the EHCL program.
SUMMARY: The intent of this Rule is to provide loans to sponsors of housing for the elderly to make building preservation, health, or sanitation repairs or improvements which are required by federal, state, or local regulation or code, or life-safety or security-related repairs or improvements to such housing. Revisions to the Rule are required to implement technical and clarifying changes. The adoption of these revisions will increase the efficiency and effectiveness of local program service delivery and will provide greater clarification of the program.
SUMMARY OF STATEMENT OF ESTIMATED REGULATORY COSTS: No Statement of Estimated Regulatory Cost was prepared.
Any person who wishes to provide information regarding a statement of estimated regulatory costs, or provide a proposal for a lower cost regulatory alternative must do so in writing within 21 days of this notice.
SPECIFIC AUTHORITY: 420.5087 FS.
LAW IMPLEMENTED: 420.5087 FS.
A HEARING WILL BE HELD AT THE DATE, TIME AND PLACE SHOWN BELOW:
DATE AND TIME: December 3, 2007, 10:00 a.m.
PLACE: Florida Housing Finance Corporation, 227 North Bronough Street, 6th Floor Seltzer Room, Tallahassee, Florida 32301-1329
Pursuant to the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, any person requiring special accommodations to participate in this workshop/meeting is asked to advise the agency at least 5 days before the workshop/meeting by contacting: Derek Helms [phone]. If you are hearing or speech impaired, please contact the agency using the Florida Relay Service, 1(800)955-8771 (TDD) or 1(800)955-8770 (Voice).
THE PERSON TO BE CONTACTED REGARDING THE PROPOSED RULE IS: Derek Helms, EHCL Administrator, Florida Housing Finance Corporation, 227 North Bronough Street, Suite 5000, Tallahassee, Florida 32301-1329

THE FULL TEXT OF THE PROPOSED RULE IS:

67-32.002 Definitions.

For the purposes of this rule the following definitions shall apply:

(1) No change.

(2) “Affordability Period” means compliance with the provisions of Rule Chapter 67-32, F.A.C., and the EHCL Application instructions for the term of the loan or 15 years, whichever is longer.

(3)(2) “Applicant” means any person or legally formed entity, public or private, for-profit or not-for-profit that provides Housing for the Elderly who is requesting funding from the Elderly Housing Community Loan Program (EHCL).

(3) through (8) renumbered (4) through (9) No change.

(10) “ELI Persons” or “Extremely Low Income Persons” means Extremely low income persons as defined in Section 420.0004(8), F.S., as outlined in the ELI County Chart included in the Application instructions.

(11) “ELI Set-Aside” or “Extremely Low Income Set-Aside” means the number of units designated to serve ELI Households.

(9) through (11) renumbered (12) through (14) No change.

Specific Authority 420.5087(3)(d) FS. Law Implemented 420.5087(3)(d) FS. History–New 10-2-89, Amended 2-25-96, Formerly 9I-32.002, Amended 11-9-98, 1-2-00, 12-31-00, 3-17-02, 5-5-03, 2-16-05, 2-20-07,_________.

67-32.0035 Applicant Administrative Appeal Procedures.

(1) At the conclusion of the review and scoring process established by this rule chapter, each Applicant will be provided with the final ranking scores and a notice of rights, which shall constitute the point of entry to contest any issue related to Applications for the EHCL Program.

(2) Each Applicant that wishes to contest the final scores must file a petition with the Corporation within 21 Calendar Days after the date the Applicant receives its notice of rights. The petition must conform to subsection 28-106.201(2) or 28-106.301(2), and subsection 67-52.002(3), F.A.C., and specify in detail each issue and score sought to be challenged. If the petition does not raise a disputed issue of material fact, the challenge will be conducted pursuant to Section 120.57(2), F.S. If the petition raises one or more disputed issues of material fact, a formal administrative hearing will be conducted pursuant to Section 120.57(1), F.S. At the conclusion of any administrative hearing, a recommended order shall be entered by the designated hearing officer or administrative law judge which will then be considered by the Board.

(3) Any Applicant who wishes to challenge the findings and conclusions of the recommended order entered pursuant to a Section 120.57(2), F.S., proceeding in which it is a party shall be allowed the opportunity to submit written arguments to the Board. Any written argument should be typed and double-spaced with margins no less than one inch in either Times New Roman 14-point or Courier New 12-point font and may not exceed five (5) pages, not including caption and certificate of service. Written arguments must be filed with Florida Housing Finance Corporation’s Clerk at 227 North Bronough Street, Suite 5000, Tallahassee, Florida 32301-1329, no later than 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time, no later than five (5) Calendar Days from the date of issuance of the recommended order. Failure to timely file a written argument shall constitute a waiver of the right to have a written argument considered by the Board. Parties will be permitted to make oral presentations to the Board regarding recommended orders only in response to questions from the Board.

(4) If any Petitioner ultimately obtains a final order that modifies the score so that its Application would have been in the funding range of the applicable final ranking had it been entered prior to the date the final rankings were presented to the Board, the Corporation shall provide the requested funding from the next available funding, whether in the current year or a subsequent year.

Specific Authority 420.5095 FS. Law Implemented 420.5095 FS. History–New_________.

67-32.005 Application Procedures.

(1) The Corporation hereby adopts and incorporates by reference the EHCL Program Application Package EA0703 (01/08) (12/06).

(2) through (5) No change.

(6)  At no time during the Application, scoring and appeal process may Applicants or their representatives contact Board members concerning their own Development or any other Applicant’s Development. At no time from the Application Deadline until the issuance of the final scores as set forth in subsection (9) above, may Applicants or their representatives verbally contact Corporation staff concerning their own Application or any other Applicant’s Application. If an Applicant or its representative does contact a Board member in violation of this section, the Board shall, upon a determination that such contact was deliberate, disqualify such Applicant’s Application.

Specific Authority 420.5087(3)(d) FS. Law Implemented 420.5087(3)(d) FS. History–New 10-2-89, Amended 1-9-92, 2-25-96, Formerly 9I-32.005, Amended 11-9-98, 1-2-00, 12-31-00, 3-17-02, Repromulgated 5-5-03, Amended 2-16-05, 1-26-06, 2-20-07,________.

67-32.006 Terms and Conditions of Loan.

(1)(a) through (b) No change.

(c) The loan term shall not exceed fifteen years but may be for a shorter period of time as requested by Applicant or recommended by the credit underwriter. However, if the lien of the Corporation’s encumbrance is subordinate to the lien of another mortgage, then the term may be made co-terminus with the longest term of the superior lien if requested by the Borrower and approved by the credit underwriter based on debt service coverage ratio, loan to value ratio, and other factors pertaining to the loan.

(d) through (2) No change.

(3) The Corporation shall forgive the portion of loan attributable to the units in a project reserved for Extremely Low Income (ELI) Persons for non-profit organizations, where the project will provide affordable housing to the Elderly for 15 years or more. The portion of the loan that may be forgiven shall not exceed 25 percent.

(3) through (7) renumbered (4) through (8) No change.

Specific Authority 420.5087(3)(d) FS. Law Implemented 420.5087(3)(d) FS. History–New 10-2-89, Amended 1-9-92, 2-25-96, Formerly 9I-32.006, Amended 11-9-98, Repromulgated 1-2-00, Amended 12-31-00, 3-17-02, 5-5-03, 2-16-05, 1-26-06, 2-20-07,________.

67-32.007 Scoring, Ranking, and Funding Guidelines.

(1) through (2) No change.

(3) With the exception of those items specified in the Application as mandatory elements which cannot be changed once the Application deadline has passed, Applicants will have 15 days from the date the Corporation sends the preliminary scores to the Applicant to submit additional documentation, revised pages, and any such information the Applicant deems appropriate to address issues raised during scoring that could result in rejection of the Application or a score less than the maximum available. Where specific pages of the Application are revised or additional information is provided, each new page must be marked “revised” and an original and two copies of this additional documentation must be submitted by the deadline for the Corporation to consider it in determining final scores. Pages of the Application that are not revised or otherwise changed may not be resubmitted, except those documents signed by third parties shall be submitted in their entirety.

(4) through (6) No change.

(7) Following the Board’s action on recommended orders received for all appeals resolved pursuant to Section 120.57, F.S., The Corporation staff shall implement the Board’s action by adjusting the scoring and ranking to reflect the outcome of the final orders.

(7)(8) Eligible Applications shall be funded in the order of their scoring and ranking until all allocated funding has been awarded. However, an Application shall not be considered for funding if it does not meet threshold requirements as provided in the Application Package.

(8)(7) No change.

Specific Authority 420.5087(3)(d) FS. Law Implemented 420.5087(3)(d) FS. History–New 10-2-89, Formerly 9I-32.007, Amended 11-9-98, 1-2-00, Repromulgated 12-31-00, Amended 3-17-02, 5-5-03, 2-16-05, 1-26-06,________.

 

NAME OF PERSON ORIGINATING PROPOSED RULE: Jody Bedgood, Program Manager, Elderly Housing Community Loan (EHCL) Program, Florida Housing Finance Corporation, 227 North Bronough Street, Suite 5000, Tallahassee, Florida 32301-1329, [phone], extension 1112
NAME OF SUPERVISOR OR PERSON WHO APPROVED THE PROPOSED RULE: Derek Helms, Program Administrator
DATE PROPOSED RULE APPROVED BY AGENCY HEAD: September 21, 2007
DATE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE DEVELOPMENT PUBLISHED IN FAW: October 5, 2007