SB 518-FN - AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE

02/15/2024   0518s

2024 SESSION

24-3115

06/10

SENATE BILL 518-FN

AN ACT relative to incentivizing landlords to accept housing choice vouchers.

SPONSORS: Sen. Fenton, Dist 10; Sen. Watters, Dist 4; Sen. Perkins Kwoka, Dist 21; Sen. Prentiss, Dist 5; Sen. Altschiller, Dist 24; Sen. D'Allesandro, Dist 20; Rep. Alexander Jr., Hills. 29

COMMITTEE: Commerce

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ANALYSIS

This bill establishes a landlord housing incentive program and fund.  This bill makes an appropriation to implement the fund.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

02/15/2024   0518s 24-3115

06/10

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Four

AN ACT relative to incentivizing landlords to accept housing choice vouchers.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1  New Subdivision; Landlord Housing Incentive Program.  Amend RSA 204-C by inserting after section 92 the following new subdivision:

Landlord Housing Incentive Program

204-C:93  Definitions.  In this subdivision:

I.  “Housing choice voucher” means the same as described in Title 24 C.F.R. part 982.

II.  “Voucher recipient” means a household that has been awarded a housing choice voucher by the New Hampshire housing finance authority or by a public housing authority, as well as households that may benefit from other rental assistance programs determined by the authority to be similar to the housing choice voucher program.

III.  “Housing unit” means a unit that meets the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) housing quality standards for housing choice vouchers, or successor system, and that meets voucher payment standards, subject to New Hampshire housing finance authority or public housing authority exceptions, as well as units that meet the standards of other rental assistance programs determined by the authority to be similar to the housing choice voucher program.

204-C:94  Program Established; Landlord Housing Incentive Fund Established.  There is hereby established within the authority a program to encourage more landlords to lease housing units to voucher recipients and to assist voucher recipients with costs associated with securing a lease for a housing unit, including but not limited to security deposits.  The program is to be known as the landlord housing incentive program.  Public housing authorities, including non-profit organizations that demonstrate a commitment to housing, may elect to participate in the program at their discretion, and the authority may make grants to them for the purposes of establishing their own landlord incentive programs.

I.  There is hereby established within the authority a fund to be used for the landlord housing incentive program providing financial incentives to residential landlords to rent housing units to voucher recipients and to provide training and support to voucher recipients.  The landlord housing incentive fund shall be composed of appropriations, gifts, grants, donations, bequests, or other moneys from any public or private source, but such revenues shall not be deemed to be money received from the state, and nothing in this subdivision shall be construed as pledging the faith and credit of the state.

II.  The authority may use the landlord incentive fund to make grants to landlords who agree to lease housing units to voucher recipients and to assist voucher recipients with costs associated with securing a lease for a housing unit, including but not limited to security deposits.  The authority may use the fund to provide training and support to voucher recipients.  The authority shall establish a program for administration of the landlord incentive fund.

III.  The authority may annually use up to 10 percent of any funds in the landlord housing incentive fund for program administration, which may include reimbursements to public housing authorities and non-profit organizations for their administrative costs.

204-C:95  Eligibility.  For a landlord to be eligible to receive a grant from the landlord housing incentive fund, the housing unit to be leased to a voucher recipient must not have been leased to any recipient of a housing choice voucher within the preceding three years, unless the property has changed ownership during that time and the current owner does not have any financial connection to the prior owner.  The authority may further limit landlord eligibility to those landlords who have not previously rented a housing unit to a voucher recipient.

204-C:96  Rulemaking.  Pursuant to RSA 204-C:53, the authority shall adopt rules governing the distribution of the landlord incentive fund.  Such rules may include, but shall not be limited to, grant maximums and limits on landlord eligibility, standards for program participation by public housing authorities and non-profit organizations, and other rules deemed appropriate by the authority.

2  Appropriation; Landlord Housing Incentive Fund.  The sum of $1,000,000 for the fiscal year 2025 is hereby appropriated to the housing finance authority for deposit in the landlord incentive fund established in RSA 204-C:94.  The appropriations shall be in addition to any other funds appropriated to the housing finance authority.  The governor is authorized to draw a warrant for said sums out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.

3  Effective Date.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.

LBA

24-3115

Revised 1/10/24

SB 518-FN- FISCAL NOTE

AS INTRODUCED

AN ACT relative to incentivizing landlords to accept housing choice vouchers.

FISCAL IMPACT:      [ X ] State              [    ] County               [    ] Local              [    ] None

METHODOLOGY:

This bill establishes the Landlord Housing Incentive Program within the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority. Within the program the Landlord Housing Incentive (LHI) Fund is to be created to aid the Landlord Housing Incentive Program, offering financial incentives to residential landlords who rent to voucher recipients and support for these recipients.  This fund will comprise of various sources of money, excluding state revenue, and doesn't commit the state's faith or credit.  The Authority may use up to 10% annually of the new fund for their administrative costs.

This bill indicates a FY 2023 General Fund appropriation to the LHI Fund.  However, FY 2023 has ended and based on the effective date of the bill it is assumed the earliest the appropriation could be made would be FY 2025.  The bill is unclear as to which year the appropriation is intended for, therefore the expenditures are indeterminable.  

AGENCIES CONTACTED:

None