BILL NUMBER: AB 450	CHAPTERED  10/03/97

	CHAPTER   597
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   OCTOBER 3, 1997
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   OCTOBER 1, 1997
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   SEPTEMBER 9, 1997
	PASSED THE SENATE   AUGUST 29, 1997
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JULY 31, 1997
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JUNE 25, 1997

INTRODUCED BY  Assembly Member Torlakson

                        FEBRUARY 24, 1997

   An act to amend Sections 7260, 7262.5, and 7264 of the Government
Code, relating to housing.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 450, Torlakson.  Housing:  Relocation Assistance Act.
   Existing law, known as the Relocation Assistance Act, requires a
public entity to provide compensation and advisory services to any
person, business, or farm operation that is displaced because of the
acquisition of real property for public use.  Existing law governs
the provision of relocation assistance, including benefits for
displaced persons, as defined, and procedural protections for persons
required to move from their homes.  For purposes of the Relocation
Assistance Act, a person who is temporarily displaced for not more
than 180 days, and who is offered occupancy of a comparable
replacement dwelling unit located within the same apartment complex
that contains the unit from which he or she has been displaced, is
not deemed a "displaced person" if, among other conditions, the
resident is offered the right to return to his or her original unit,
with rent for the first 12 months subsequent to that return being the
lower of (1) up to 5% higher than the rent at the time of
displacement, or (2) up to 25% of household income.
   This bill would revise the 2nd alternative of the above condition
from 25% to 30% of household income.
   Also, for purposes of the Relocation Assistance Act, "comparable
replacement dwelling" is defined to mean, among other specified
things, any dwelling that is, in the case of a displaced person who
is a renter, one in which the monthly rental cost of the dwelling
minus any replacement housing payment available to the person does
not exceed 25% of the person's average monthly income.  Additionally,
under the act, rent supplements necessary to enable displaced
tenants to lease or rent a comparable replacement dwelling extend for
a period not to exceed 48 months, with the exception of supplements
for displacements caused by publicly funded transportation projects,
which extend for only 42 months.
   This bill would revise the definition of "comparable replacement
dwelling" for purposes of the Relocation Assistance Act by raising
the percentage that a displaced person pays for housing expenses from
25% to 30% of the average monthly income as the standard of a
replacement dwelling that is within the person's financial means
unless the displaced person meets one or more of specified
conditions, and would reduce the period authorized for rent
supplements necessary to enable displaced tenants to lease or rent a
comparable replacement dwelling, from 48 months to 42 months unless
the displaced person meets one or more of specified conditions.
   The bill would specify that it would apply prospectively only from
January 1, 1998, and only to the extent that its provisions would
not adversely affect existing rights of persons or households
entitled to benefits under existing provisions on or before December
31, 1997.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 7260 of the Government Code is amended to read:

   7260.  As used in this chapter:
   (a) "Public entity" includes the state, the Regents of the
University of California, a county, city, city and county, district,
public authority, public agency, and any other political subdivision
or public corporation in the state or any entity acting on behalf of
these agencies when acquiring real property, or any interest therein,
in any city or county for public use and any person who has the
authority to acquire property by eminent domain under state law.
   (b) "Person" means any individual, partnership, corporation,
limited liability company, or association.
   (c) (1) "Displaced person" means both of the following:
   (A) Any person who moves from real property, or who moves his or
her personal property from real property, either:
   (i) As a direct result of a written notice of intent to acquire or
the acquisition of the real property, in whole or in part, for a
program or project undertaken by a public entity or by any person
having an agreement with or acting on behalf of a public entity.
   (ii) As a direct result of the rehabilitation, demolition, or
other displacing activity as the public entity may prescribe under a
program or project undertaken by a public entity, of real property on
which the person is a residential tenant or conducts a business or
farm operation, in any case in which the public entity determines
that the displacement is permanent.  For purposes of this
subparagraph, "residential tenant" includes any occupant of a
residential hotel unit, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section
50669 of the Health and Safety Code, and any occupant of employee
housing, as defined in Section 17008 of the Health and Safety Code,
but shall not include any person who has been determined to be in
unlawful occupancy of the displacement dwelling.
   (B) Solely for the purposes of Sections 7261 and 7262, any person
who moves from real property, or moves his or her personal property
from real property, either:
   (i) As a direct result of a written notice of intent to acquire or
the acquisition of other real property, in whole or in part, on
which the person conducts a business or farm operation, for a program
or project undertaken by a public entity.
   (ii) As a direct result of the rehabilitation, demolition, or
other displacing activity as the public entity may prescribe under a
program or project undertaken by a public entity, of other real
property on which the person conducts a business or farm operation,
in any case in which the public entity determines that the
displacement is permanent.
   (2) The definition contained in this subdivision shall be
construed so that persons displaced as a result of public action
receive relocation benefits in cases where they are displaced as a
result of an owner participation agreement or an acquisition carried
out by a private person for or in connection with a public use where
the public entity is otherwise empowered to acquire the property to
carry out the public use.  Except persons or families of low and
moderate income, as defined in Section 50093 of the Health and Safety
Code, who are occupants of housing which was made available to them
on a permanent basis by a public agency and who are required to move
from the housing, a "displaced person" shall not include any of the
following:
   (A) Any person who has been determined to be in unlawful occupancy
of the displacement dwellings.
   (B) Any person whose right of possession at the time of moving
arose after the date of the public entity's acquisition of the real
property.
   (C) Any person who has occupied the real property for the purpose
of obtaining assistance under this chapter.
   (D) In any case in which the public entity acquires property for a
program or project (other than a person who was an occupant of the
property at the time it was acquired), any person who occupies the
property for a period subject to termination when the property is
needed for the program or project.
   (3) (A) Notwithstanding Section 7265.3 or any other provision of
law, a person who is temporarily displaced for not more than 180
days, and who is offered occupancy of a comparable replacement unit
located within the same apartment complex that contains the unit from
which he or she has been displaced, shall not be deemed a "displaced
person" for the purposes of this chapter.  This paragraph shall be
applicable only if all of the following conditions are complied with:

   (i) All other financial benefits and services otherwise required
under this chapter are provided to the tenants temporarily displaced
from their units.
   (ii) The resident is offered the right to return to his or her
original unit, with rent for the first 12 months subsequent to that
return being the lower of the following:  up to 5 percent higher than
the rent at the time of displacement; or up to 30 percent of
household income.
   (iii) The temporary unit is not unreasonably impacted by the
effects of the construction, taking into consideration the ages and
physical conditions of the members of the displaced household, and
the estimated period of displacement is reasonable.
   (iv) The property is a qualified affordable housing preservation
project.
   (B) For the purposes of this paragraph:
   (i) "Apartment complex" means four or more residential rental
units subject to common ownership and financing that are also located
on the same or contiguous parcels.
   (ii) "Qualified affordable housing preservation project" is any
complex of four or more units whose owners enter into a recorded
regulatory agreement, having a term for the useful life of the
project, with any entity for the provision of project rehabilitation
financing.  For this purpose, the regulatory agreement shall require
of the owner and all successors and assigns of the owner, as long as
the regulatory agreement is in effect, that at least 49 percent of
the tenants in the project shall have, at the time of the recordation
of the regulatory agreement required by this section, incomes not in
excess of 60 percent of the area median income, adjusted by
household size, as determined by the appropriate agency of the State
of California.  In addition, a project shall be defined as a
qualified affordable housing preservation project only if the
beneficiary of the regulatory agreement elects this designation by so
indicating on the regulatory agreement.
   (d) "Business" means any lawful activity, except a farm operation,
conducted for any of the following:
   (1) Primarily for the purchase, sale, lease, or rental of personal
and real property, and for the manufacture, processing, or marketing
of products, commodities, or any other personal property.
   (2) Primarily for the sale of services to the public.
   (3) Primarily by a nonprofit organization.
   (4) Solely for the purpose of Section 7262 for assisting in the
purchase, sale, resale, manufacture, processing, or marketing of
products, commodities, personal property, or services by the erection
and maintenance of an outdoor advertising display, whether or not
the display is located on the premises on which any of the above
activities are conducted.
   (e) "Farm operation" means any activity conducted solely or
primarily for the production of one or more agricultural products or
commodities, including timber, for sale or home use, and customarily
producing these products or commodities in sufficient quantity to be
capable of contributing materially to the operator's support.
   (f) "Affected property" means any real property which actually
declines in fair market value because of acquisition by a public
entity for public use of other real property and a change in the use
of the real property acquired by the public entity.
   (g) "Public use" means a use for which real property may be
acquired by eminent domain.
   (h) "Mortgage" means classes of liens that are commonly given to
secure advances on, or the unpaid purchase price of, real property,
together with the credit instruments, if any, secured thereby.
   (i) "Comparable replacement dwelling" means any dwelling that is
all of the following:
   (1) Decent, safe, and sanitary.
   (2) Adequate in size to accommodate the occupants.
   (3) In the case of a displaced person who is a renter, within the
financial means of the displaced person.  A comparable replacement
dwelling is within the financial means of a displaced person if the
monthly rental cost of the dwelling, including estimated average
monthly utility costs, minus any replacement housing payment
available to the person does not exceed 30 percent of the person's
average monthly income, unless the displaced person meets one or more
of the following conditions, in which case the payment of the
monthly rental cost of the comparable replacement dwelling, including
estimated average monthly utility costs, minus any replacement
housing payment available to the person shall not exceed 25 percent
of the person's average monthly income:
   (A) Prior to January 1, 1998, the displaced person received a
notice to vacate from a public entity, or from a person having an
agreement with a public entity.
   (B) The displaced person resides on property that was acquired by
a public entity, or by a person having an agreement with a public
entity, prior to January 1, 1998.
   (C) Prior to January 1, 1998, a public entity, or a person having
an agreement with a public entity, initiated negotiations to acquire
the property on which the displaced person resides.
   (D) Prior to January 1, 1998, a public entity, or a person having
an agreement with a public entity, entered into an agreement to
acquire the property on which the displaced person resides.
   (E) Prior to January 1, 1998, a public entity, or a person having
an agreement with a public entity, gave written notice of intent to
acquire the property on which the displaced person resides.
   (F) The displaced person is covered by, or resides in an area or
project covered by, a final relocation plan that was adopted by the
legislative body prior to January 1, 1998, pursuant to this chapter
and the regulations promulgated thereunder.
   (G) The displaced person is covered by, or resides in an area or
project covered by, a proposed relocation plan that was required to
have been submitted prior to January 1, 1998, to the Department of
Housing and Community Development or to a local relocation committee,
or for which notice was required to have been provided to occupants
of the property prior to January 1, 1998, pursuant to this chapter
and the regulations promulgated thereunder.
   (H) The displaced person is covered by, or resides in an area or
project covered by, a proposed relocation plan that was submitted
prior to January 1, 1998, to the Department of Housing and Community
Development or to a local relocation committee, or for which notice
was provided to the public or to occupants of the property prior to
January 1, 1998, pursuant to this chapter and the regulations
promulgated thereunder, and the person is eventually displaced by the
project covered in the proposed relocation plan.
   (I) The displaced person resides on property for which a contract
for acquisition, rehabilitation, demolition, construction, or other
displacing activity was entered into by a public entity, or by a
person having an agreement with a public entity, prior to January
1998.
   (J) The displaced person resides on property where an owner
participation agreement, or other agreement between a public entity
and a private party that will result in the acquisition,
rehabilitation, demolition, or development of the property or other
displacement, was entered into prior to January 1, 1998, and the
displaced person resides in the property at the time of the
agreement, provides information to the public entity, or person
having an agreement with the public entity showing that he or she did
reside in the property at the time of the agreement and is
eventually displaced by the project covered in the agreement.
   (4) Comparable with respect to the number of rooms, habitable
space, and type and quality of construction.  Comparability under
this paragraph shall not require strict adherence to a detailed,
feature-by-feature comparison.  While a comparable replacement
dwelling need not possess every feature of the displacement dwelling,
the principal features shall be present.
   (5) In an area not subject to unreasonable adverse environmental
conditions.
   (6) In a location generally not less desirable than the location
of the displaced persons dwelling with respect to public utilities,
facilities, services, and the displaced person's place of employment.

   (j) "Displacing agency" means any public entity or person carrying
out a program or project which causes a person to be a displaced
person for a public project.
   (k) "Appraisal" means a written statement independently and
impartially prepared by a qualified appraiser setting forth an
opinion of defined value of an adequately described property as of a
specific date, supported by the presentation and analysis of relevant
market information.
   (l) "Small business" means a business as defined in Part 24 of
Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
   (m) "Lead agency" means the Department of Housing and Community
Development.
  SEC. 2.  Section 7262.5 of the Government Code is amended to read:

   7262.5.  (a) Notwithstanding Section 7265.3 or any other provision
of law, tenants residing in any multifamily rental project of four
or more units who are displaced from the project for a period of 180
days or less as part of a rehabilitation of that project, that is
funded in whole or in part by a public entity, shall not be deemed
permanently displaced if all of the following criteria are satisfied:

   (1) All other financial benefits and services otherwise required
under this chapter are provided to the tenants temporarily displaced
from their units, including relocation to a comparable replacement
unit.
   (2) The resident is offered the right to return to his or her
original unit, with rent for the first 12 months subsequent to that
return being the lower of the following: up to 5 percent higher than
the rent at the time of displacement; or up to 30 percent of
household income.
   (3) The estimated time of displacement is reasonable, and the
project is a qualified affordable housing preservation project.
   (b) For the purposes of this section, "qualified affordable
housing preservation project" shall have the meaning set forth in
subparagraph (B) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (c) of Section 7260.

  SEC. 3.  Section 7264 of the Government Code is amended to read:
   7264.  (a) In addition to the payments required by Section 7262,
as a part of the cost of acquisition, the public entity shall make a
payment to any displaced person displaced from any dwelling not
eligible to receive a payment under Section 7263 which was actually
and lawfully occupied by the person as a permanent or customary and
usual place of abode for not less than 90 days prior to the
initiation of negotiation by the public entity for the acquisition of
the dwelling, or in any case in which displacement is not a direct
result of acquisition, or any other event which the public entity
shall prescribe.
   (b) The payment, not to exceed five thousand two hundred fifty
dollars ($5,250), shall be the additional amount which is necessary
to enable the person to lease or rent a comparable replacement
dwelling for a period not to exceed 42 months, unless the displaced
person meets one or more of the conditions set forth in paragraph (3)
of subdivision (i) of Section 7260, in which case the payment, which
shall not exceed five thousand two hundred fifty dollars ($5,250),
shall be the additional amount which is necessary to enable the
person to lease or rent a comparable replacement dwelling for a
period not to exceed 48 months.  However, publicly funded
transportation projects shall make payments enabling the person to
lease or rent a comparable replacement dwelling for a period not to
exceed 42 months, including compensation for utilities, as provided
in subdivision (b) of Section 24.402 of Part 24 of Title 49 of the
Code of Federal Regulations.  Payments up to the maximum of five
thousand two hundred fifty dollars ($5,250) shall be made in a lump
sum.  Should an agency pay pursuant to Section 7264.5 an amount
exceeding the maximum amount, payment may be made periodically.
Computation of a payment under this subdivision to a low-income
displaced person for a comparable replacement dwelling shall take
into account the person's income.
   (c) Any person eligible for a payment under subdivision (a) may
elect to apply the payment to a downpayment on, and other incidental
expenses pursuant to, the purchase of a decent, safe, and sanitary
replacement dwelling.  The person may, at the discretion of the
public entity, be eligible under this subdivision for the maximum
payment allowed under subdivision (b), except that, in the case of a
displaced homeowner who has owned and occupied the displacement
dwelling for at least 90 days but not more than 180 days immediately
prior to the initiation of negotiations for the acquisition of the
dwelling, the payment shall not exceed the payment which the person
would otherwise have received under subdivision (b) of Section 7263
had the person owned and occupied the displacement dwelling 180 days
immediately prior to the initiation of the negotiations.
   (d) In implementing this chapter, it is the intent of the
Legislature that special consideration shall be given to assisting
any displaced person 62 years of age or older to locate or lease or
rent a comparable replacement dwelling.
  SEC. 4.  The amendments to Sections 7260, 7262.5, and 7264, made by
this act shall apply prospectively only from January 1, 1998, and
shall apply only to the extent that they do not adversely affect
existing rights of persons or households entitled to benefits under
this chapter on or before December 31, 1997.