Joe Serna Jr., Farmworker Housing Grant Program (FWHG)

Purpose

Finance the new construction, rehabilitation, and acquisition of owner-occupied and rental units for agricultural workers, with a priority for lower income households.

Assistance Type

Deferred-payment loans for multifamily housing new construction or rehabilitation and grants for single-family new construction or owner-occupied rehabilitation programs.

Assistance Terms

Multifamily Rental

New Construction or Rehabilitation Loans: Lien restrictions for assisted units are required for 55 years. Loans may be made in conjunction with low-income tax credit financing. New Construction or Rehabilitation Grants (Forgivable Loans): Lien restrictions for assisted units are required for up to 55 years. Grants (Forgivable Loans) may be made in conjunction with low-income tax credit financing.

Single Family/Owner Occupied

Homeowner Grants: For rehabilitation or new home construction, lien restrictions are required for 20 years. If the unit is sold to a non-farmworker buyer before completing the 10th year, the full grant amount must be repaid under most circumstances. Between the 10th and 20th anniversaries, the grant is forgiven at a rate of 10 percent per completed year. The grant is fully forgiven after completing 20 years.

Eligible Activities

Activities incurring costs in the development of homeowner or rental housing for agricultural workers, including land acquisition, site development, construction, rehabilitation, design services, operating and replacement reserves, repayment of predevelopment loans, provision of access for the elderly or disabled, relocation, homeowner counseling, and other reasonable and necessary costs.

Eligible Applicants

Local government agencies, nonprofit corporations, cooperative housing corporations, limited partnerships where all the general partners are nonprofit mutual or public benefit corporations, and federally-recognized Indian tribes.

(Multifamily/Rental) Eligible beneficiaries of the funds are households who derive, or prior to retirement or disability derived, 50% or more of the combined household income from agricultural employment.

(Single Family/Homeowner) Eligible beneficiaries of the funds are households with at least one person who derives, or prior to retirement or disability derived, a substantial portion of his or her income from agricultural employment.

Program Statute and Regulations

• Statute (DOC)
• Regulations (PDF)
• Uniform Multifamily Regulations (for projects funded after 11/15/2017)
• AB 702 changes definition of “Agricultural Worker” in Health and Safety Code Section 50517.5 (g)(1) for Joe Serna, Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant (FWHG) (DOC)
• New! Joe Serna Jr., Farmworker Housing Grant Program Notice of Guidelines (PDF)

Get Funding

Applications are invited by issuance of a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA), and are received and reviewed on an Over-the-Counter (OTC) basis per the NOFA.

For loan closing forms associated with the FWHG Program, check the Forms section.

Current NOFA

Application due date – Over-The-Counter starting February 20, 2020 through May 20, 2020 or until all funds have been exhausted. Please be sure you are subscribed to the Homeownership and/or Multifamily/Infrastructure emailing lists to receive notifications and announcements.

• New! 2019 Joe Serna Jr., Farmworker Housing Grant Program NOFA (PDF)
• New! Single Family Application (XLS)
• New! Supplemental Application (XLS)
• New! Universal Application (XLS)

Workshops

Sacramento
January 14, 2020
9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Department of Housing and Community Development
2020 West El Camino Ave.
Conference Room 402 A and B
Sacramento, CA 95833
Register

Riverside
January 16, 2020
9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Department of General Services
3737 Main Street, Suite 207
Riverside, CA 92501
Register

Merced
January 22, 2020
9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
City Council Chambers
678 West 18th Street
Merced, CA 95340
Register

Salinas
January 23, 2020
9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Tynan Village Community Room
323 Front Street, Suite 111
Salinas, CA 93901
Register

Reporting Requirements (Asset Management and Compliance)

Upon completed construction of your project and closing of your HCD permanent loan, oversight of your project and loan is transferred to HCD’s “Asset Management and Compliance (AMC)” section.

Visit the Asset Management and Compliance’s Reporting/Compliance page to find:

• Your reporting requirements
• Forms
• Additional resources
• Who to contact if you have questions

Program Forms

Management Memos

Training and Technical Assistance

At this time, there are no FWHG Training and Technical resources on the website.