For the purpose of providing disaster relief to owners of rental housing and the tenants residing in rental housing that was damaged or destroyed as a result of the Los Angeles-Whittier Narrows Earthquake on October 1, 1987, or subsequent aftershocks, resulting in a state of emergency proclaimed by the Governor pursuant to § 8625 of the Government Code, financial assistance may be provided to disaster victims as prescribed in this chapter under the following special conditions, which shall prevail over conflicting provisions of this chapter and administrative regulations:

(a)  Funds may be used for the purpose of rehabilitating, including reconstruction of, rental housing developments, including residential hotels, which were damaged or destroyed as a result of the earthquake.

(b)  Rental housing developments, as otherwise defined in subdivision (b) of Section 50669, need not contain a minimum of five rental dwelling units. One rental dwelling unit shall be sufficient.

(c)  The loans need not be made in support of the programs specified in Section 50663.

(d)  As a condition of assistance to sponsors of rental housing developments, the department may establish those rent levels for units assisted pursuant to this section as it may determine (1) are necessary to alleviate hardship in the disaster area, (2) provide for affordable rents or rents not exceeding those charged prior to the earthquakes, and (3) are consistent with the economic feasibility of the assisted rental housing development. In addition to the other requirements of this chapter, the department may require terms and conditions as it determines necessary to meet the needs of the disaster area and its victims, to ensure the fiscal integrity of the rental housing development and to protect the interests of the state. The department shall require that priority in occupancy in any unit assisted pursuant to this section shall be given first to occupants of rental units assisted pursuant to this section who were displaced by the earthquakes or resulting rehabilitation of the assisted rental units. After no additional displaced persons qualify for, or remain in, any assisted units, these units shall be available to on a priority basis, or occupied by, very low income households and lower income households.

(e)  In allocating funds to local public entities and nonprofit corporations, the department shall consider the availability of other resources to assist rental housing and the occupants of that rental housing and shall give priority to those applicants in jurisdictions with the greatest housing need resulting from the disaster and the fewest resources to address those needs.

(f)  The department may waive the maximum loan amounts and per-unit loan amounts established by regulation as it determines necessary to serve the disaster victims.

(g)  A loan to a nonprofit corporation or a limited partnership in which a nonprofit corporation is a general partner which owns or will acquire a rental housing development shall not exceed 100 percent of the combined costs of rehabilitation and refinancing existing indebtedness or rehabilitation and acquisition costs.

(h)  A loan may be made to a local housing authority or community development commission to rehabilitate vacant rental housing that it owns and operates.

(i)  When a loan will be used in conjunction with federal or other state housing assistance or tax credits and a conflict exists between the other state or federal program requirements and this chapter with regard to determining maximum allowable rents, the requirements of this chapter may be waived only to the extent necessary to permit the federal or other state financial participation or eligibility for tax credits.

(j)  Eligible rehabilitation or reconstruction costs may include the costs of temporary relocation where damage caused by the earthquake or rehabilitation or reconstruction of the rental housing development necessitates temporarily displacement of the tenants. The amount of monthly relocation assistance provided to eligible households temporarily displaced shall not exceed the difference between monthly rent paid by the tenant prior to the earthquake and rent in the replacement housing located by the local public entity or nonprofit corporation until rehabilitation is completed, but in no case shall, the total amount exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000). Prior to providing relocation assistance payments, the local public entity or nonprofit corporation shall ensure that displaced tenants have applied for any and all other financial assistance for which the tenants are eligible that is provided by any other federal, state, or local programs.

(k)  The department may provide funds to local public entities and nonprofit corporations for related administrative expenses in an amount not to exceed 5 percent of the total loan commitments subject to this section from the Housing Rehabilitation Loan Fund.

( l)  No funds shall be committed pursuant to this section on or after January 1, 1990.

(Amended by Stats. 1988, Ch. 1291, Sec. 2. Effective September 26, 1988.)