by iwd Tina | Nov 3, 2022 | Housing News
We are pleased to announce that CHAPA is currently seeking additional communities on a rolling basis for our MEI Lite Program, a lighter touch program of our Municipal Engagement Initiative, that will help to set communities up for coalition building efforts on their own. Municipal governments and community organizations throughout the Commonwealth are encouraged to submit an application.
Applicants must submit an electronic copy of the application to Dana LeWinter, Director of Municipal Engagement, at dlewinter@chapa.org. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis and may be prioritized based on when they are received or community fit.
To learn more about the eligibility criteria, go to https://www.chapa.org/about/programs/municipal-engagement-initiative
by iwd Tina | Oct 21, 2022 | Housing News
On October 21, the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) posted revisions to the MBTA Zoning Guidelines regarding inclusionary zoning requirements.
According to a memo from DHCD, the Guidelines released in August 2022 include a section describing when an inclusionary zoning requirement would be consistent with the law’s requirement that there be a zoning district in which multi-family housing is allowed as of right. In response to feedback from municipal leaders in several MBTA communities, DHCD made limited revisions to the Guidelines to address the circumstances in which an inclusionary zoning requirement will be deemed in compliance with the law. Specifically, the revisions:
- Modify the definition of “affordable unit” to eliminate the requirement that affordable units be eligible for listing on the Subsidized Housing Inventory. This modification gives communities the option to require a percentage of “workforce housing” units occupied by households earning more than 80% of area median income (AMI).
- Allow communities to set income limits for affordable units below 80% AMI, provided that a community demonstrates that a reasonable variety of multi-family housing types can be feasibly developed at the proposed affordability levels.
- Allow a community to require that more than 10% of the units in a project be affordable units (but not more than 20%), provided that the community demonstrates that a reasonable variety of multi-family housing types can be feasibly developed at the higher percentage. The demonstration of economic feasibility is now required for all inclusionary zoning requirements above the permitted 10% threshold, including those that pre-date the Guidelines.
- Create an exception to the 20% cap on affordable units. The new exception applies only to previously approved and adopted 40R “smart growth” zoning districts. A community may amend an existing 40R district to comply with the Guidelines and retain an existing 25% affordable unit requirement.
According to DHCD, these revisions are intended to provide greater flexibility to MBTA communities committed to increasing multi-family housing production while meeting a local need for income-restricted units. DHCD does not anticipate making further revisions to the Guidelines.
by iwd Tina | Oct 20, 2022 | Housing News
On October 20, the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) announced that the Alternative Housing Voucher Program (AHVP) will begin covering last month’s rent starting on November 1, 2022.
In December 2021, DHCD began the new AHVP security deposit program, which paid for security deposit and first month’s rent for AHVP voucher holders to help mitigate the upfront leasing costs that often prevented program participants from renting a home with their voucher. Since the security deposit program begin in January 2022, leasing success rates for voucher holders have increased by 12% — this means 76 households with disabilities that have moved into a new home because of the security deposit program.
Given current program resources and the continued need for AHVP voucher holders to secure housing, DHCD is now making last month’s rent available through the AHVP security deposit program as well. DHCD anticipates that covering last month’s rent, in addition to the security deposit and first month’s rent, will further increase the success rate of voucher holders finding affordable homes.
by iwd Tina | Oct 4, 2022 | Housing News
Please Sign-On Your Organization to Improve Access to RAFT
On August 1, the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) made changes to Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) program reinstating a requirement of Notice to Quit (NTQ) for households applying for assistance with rent arrears.
During the COVID emergency, the emergency rental assistance program RAFT, no longer required a court summons to apply for emergency assistance, allowing households to access help earlier, and avoid a formal court process and potential eviction record. Owners also did not have to start a formal eviction process for their residents to access RAFT.
The new changes that bring back the requirement of a Notice to Quit for accessing RAFT, force families and property owners into taking the first legal step in the eviction process. This onerous requirement prevents qualified households from accessing needed benefits, leading to evictions and forcing households further behind in rent, putting them at greater risk of homelessness.
CHAPA, along with the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI) and Massachusetts Coalition for Homeless has launched a campaign to rescind the NTQ requirement. You can join the efforts by adding your organization’s name to the Sign-On letter that will be sent to the Massachusetts Legislature, with copies to key members of the Baker Administration.
The letter (see below) asks the Legislature to take swift action to eliminate the notice to quit requirement and to ensure that we provide needed housing stability resources to families and individuals earlier in their housing crises.
Please sign and share the organizational sign-on letter with this link: https://tinyurl.com/raft-ntq. While we have not set a firm deadline for signing on yet, please do so as soon as possible to make sure your organization is included.
Senate President Karen Spilka
Speaker of the House Ronald Mariano|
Senate Ways and Means Committee Chair Michael Rodrigues
House Ways and Means Committee Chair Aaron Michlewitz
Members of the Massachusetts Legislature
Re: Take swift action to eliminate the notice to quit requirement in the RAFT homelessness prevention program
Dear Senate President Spilka, Speaker Mariano, Chairperson Rodrigues, Chairperson Michlewitz, and Members of the Legislature:
We are very concerned about a recent change to the Residential Assistance for Families in Transition program (RAFT), the Commonwealth’s primary emergency rental and utility assistance program. The Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), which administers RAFT, implemented a new policy effective August 1, 2022 that requires families and individuals seeking RAFT assistance for overdue rent to first provide a “notice to quit” (NTQ) from their landlord in order to be eligible. The NTQ is not simply a letter, but rather the first legal step a landlord must take to evict their tenant. Requiring notices to quit for RAFT applications is preventing qualified households from accessing needed benefits, leading to preventable evictions, and forcing households further behind in rent, putting them at greater risk of homelessness.
Service of the NTQ dramatically increases the chances of legal action against a tenant, and has a number of collateral consequences. The NTQ is a legally required document that terminates the tenancy and provides notice of the landlord’s intent to file an eviction case in court. Once the NTQ has been served on the tenant and the notice period ends, the landlord can file the eviction case in court seeking to remove the tenant. For these reasons, many tenants immediately vacate an apartment after receiving a NTQ, and never seek access to rental assistance programs like RAFT. Additionally, many tenants – often the most vulnerable – are threatened or harassed by landlords for overdue rent but never receive a NTQ, and therefore would be ineligible for rental assistance. These tenants are often informally or illegally evicted.
For tenants who do not immediately vacate, the RAFT notice to quit requirement undermines the efforts and benefits of reaching tenants upstream to prevent evictions. Landlords often serve NTQs only after overdue rent has accrued, often beyond the current RAFT cap of $10,000. Therefore, an eviction that could have been avoided is now more likely because the NTQ was issued, and the tenant may no longer be able to access the eviction protections provided under Chapter 257 of the Acts of 2020. Furthermore, delays in RAFT processing times also mean that a NTQ period may run out before the application is processed, resulting in the filing of an eviction case that could have been avoided. This reduces the chances of resolving the case and leaves the tenant with a permanent eviction record regardless of the outcome.
We are disappointed that DHCD implemented this notice to quit requirement, a significant policy change, without prior meaningful discussions with affected households, advocates, and communities. We call on the Legislature to include language in the FY22 close-out supplemental budget or another vehicle to expressly prohibit DHCD from requiring a notice to quit in order to access RAFT and allowing households to access more of the RAFT funds “upstream”, before having to begin the eviction process. Removing the notice to quit requirement will ensure that Massachusetts can build upon the lessons learned from the state’s recent experiences providing federally funded upstream Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) funds to renters during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As advocates, shelter providers, public health practitioners, and people with lived experience of housing instability, we know that accessing RAFT can make the difference between having safe housing and entering homelessness. Given the increasingly desperate state of affairs for renters, with increasing prices and the sudden drop in available assistance, this policy is causing many families and individuals to fall further behind on rent and is undermining the homelessness prevention goals of RAFT. We call on you to act with urgency to eliminate the RAFT notice to quit requirement.
Thank you for your ongoing commitment to addressing and ending the homelessness and housing crises in Massachusetts.
Sincerely,
by iwd Tina | Sep 26, 2022 | Housing News
Close to 250 advocates, neighbors, municipal employees, organizational representatives, and legislators working on affordable housing in their communities joined us on Thursday, September 22nd for our Annual Regional Meeting.
CHAPA staff shared information on our legislative and budget priorities, Fair Housing priorities, and updates on the Multi-family Zoning for MBTA Communities requirements. Participants then broke out into regional sub-groups to share their unique challenges and opportunities across the following regions; Greater Boston, MetroWest, Cape & Islands, South Shore, North Shore/Merrimack Valley, Central Mass/Worcester, Franklin/Hampden/Hampshire Counties, and Berkshires/Western Mass. Participants also provided feedback to CHAPA staff through an interactive polling activity which will help to shape future priorities and activities.
If you were unable to attend, please take a moment to watch the Video Recording, review the Event Slide Deck, or read the Key Take-aways.
Please contact Dana LeWinter, Director of Municipal Engagement, at dlewinter@chapa.org with any questions.
