The Legislature finds and declares that there exist throughout the state many buildings which are structurally inadequate to safely withstand seismic forces of the magnitude predicted or determined for their locations by seismic safety elements of local general plans. This problem is particularly acute with respect to residential hotels and with respect to commercial buildings in which employees must work or to which the public is invited. The Legislature further finds and declares that rehabilitation of these buildings to meet current standards of earthquake safety is in the public interest, but that private enterprise will be unable in many cases to meet the high cost of making the necessary modifications without the availability of long-term, low-interest loans for the purpose.
It is, therefore, the intent of the Legislature in enacting this division to authorize establishment of local loan programs to serve this need at the lowest possible cost and upon favorable terms so that owners of eligible buildings will be encouraged to make modifications required to assure structural integrity in the event of an earthquake.