Committee advances bill allowing HCD to waive monitoring fees for at‑risk affordable housing developments

Assemblymember Gabriel presented AB 26 26 to give the Department of Housing and Community Development discretion to waive certain annual monitoring payments or residual receipts when a development’s fiscal integrity is at risk. Tysha Watts of the California Housing Partnership (speaker 42) said monitoring payments currently average about $1,000 per unit per year and total roughly $11,000,000 across recent awards; she and other witnesses said those fees can threaten properties operating on thin margins amid rising insurance and operating expenses.

JT Herchmack (speaker 40) for the Nonprofit Housing Association of Northern California described instances where monitoring fees and rising costs place affordable properties at risk of foreclosure and said a temporary, targeted waiver could preserve long‑term affordability and unlock additional private financing.

Committee members generally supported the targeted approach while some asked whether similar relief should be considered for private multifamily housing; authors and witnesses said the bill is narrowly focused on preserving existing deeply affordable properties and would not eliminate monitoring or oversight. The committee voted to advance the measure to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations.