State and city officials look on as Gov. Jerry Brown signs legislation to address the California housing affordability crisis at a ceremony in San Francisco, California, on Friday, Sept. 29, 2017. (Photo by Tony Bear/CBM)
San Francisco, CA-- From down payment assistance for low-income home buyers and home loans for veterans, Gov. Jerry Brown signed at least 15 affordable housing bills for California's growing-house prices crisis..
One bill if approved, would finance construction of 92,000 new housing units, according to the measure’s author, Jim Beall, D-San Jose.
Another bill is expected to raise $200 million to $300 million a year for affordable housing programs by tacking a fee of up to $225 per transaction onto the recording of deeds and other real estate documents at county offices. (Property sales are exempted from the fee.)
Other measures seek to streamline the approval process for new developments, with fines and other sanctions for local cities and counties that fail to comply with the state’s oft-ignored “housing element” law.