by iwd Tina | May 28, 2021 | Housing News
On May 27th, the Massachusetts Senate concluded debate on its FY2022 state budget proposal. The budget includes strong investments in CHAPA’s affordable housing priorities. The House proposed increases for Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP), Alternative Housing Voucher Program, Public Housing, Housing Consumer Education Centers, and DMH Rental Subsidies.
The Senate also included a program change for RAFT which will allow applicants to access up to $10,000 maximum RAFT benefit through the end of the year, then upto $7,000 for the rest of FY22. The Senate budget also allows families to access the maximum benefits for both RAFT and HomeBASE, if eligible until the end of FY22.
Unfortunately, the amendments advocated for by CHAPA on MRVP, HomeBASE, Community Preservation Act recording fees for affordable housing and Tenancy Preservation Program were not adopted during the budget debate. CHAPA thanks all the Senators who sponsored and co-sponsored these amendments.
Thanks to Speaker Spilka, Senate Ways and Means Chair Rodrigues, and all Senate members for supporting affordable housing, homelessness prevention, and community development resources in the final House FY2022 state budget proposal!
The conference committee appointed by House of Representatives and State Senate will now reconcile the differences in the House and Senate budget. Each branch appointed its Ways and Means Committee chair, vice chair and ranking minority member to the budget conference committee: Reps. Aaron Michlewitz, Ann-Margaret Ferrante, and Todd Smola in the House, and Sens. Michael Rodrigues, Cindy Friedman, and Patrick O’Connor in the Senate.
Please stay tuned on the next steps for the budget advocacy!
by iwd Tina | May 19, 2021 | Housing News
On May 11th, the Senate Committee on Ways and Means released its state budget proposal for FY2022. CHAPA thanks Senate President Karen Spilka, Sen. Michael Rodrigues, Chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, and other members of the Ways and Means Committee for their strong investments in affordable housing and community development programs. Read more about the budget proposal on CHAPA’s website.
Next week, the Senate will debate and finalize its FY2022 state budget proposal. We are currently working to strengthen critical affordable housing, rental assistance, and homelessness prevention programs through proposed amendments to the budget, which can be found in more detail below.
Please call or email your State Senator today and ask them to co-sponsor these budget amendments!
You can use the following script in your message to your State Senator:
Hello, I am [NAME] from [CITY or TOWN] in the Senator’s district. Programs that support affordable housing, rental assistance, and homelessness prevention are important to our community. I am requesting that the Representative support and sign on to co-sponsor the following budget amendments. [LIST THE AMENDMENTS BELOW]. Thank you.
As always, thank you for your advocacy and for your support of CHAPA’s priorities. If you have any questions, please contact Eric Shupin, CHAPA’s Director of Public Policy, at 617-682-9712 or Abhi Kurve, CHAPA’s Policy Associate, at 617-910-7953.
#444 – Mass. Rental Voucher Program (MRVP) (7004-9024)
Sponsored by Sen. John Keenan
Sen. Keenan’s amendment increases the FY2022 allocations to $160 million to help meet the affordable housing need and increase the number of households who can access the program. This funding level could support an estimated 1,800 new rental vouchers.
#756 – RAFT Improvements (7004-9316)
Sponsored by Sen. Brendan Crighton
Sen. Crighton’s amendment increases funding for RAFT to $26.7 million to ensure adequate funding is available to provide emergency housing assistance for those that do not qualify for federal emergency rental assistance – such as for housing emergencies not related to COVID-19 or for mortgage payment assistance. The amendment also:
- Keeps the $10,000 maximum RAFT benefit in place after the end of the COVID-19 emergency declaration to allow those impacted by the virus time to recover, even after the end of the emergency declaration.
- Allows families with children at risk of homelessness to access the maximum benefits for both RAFT and HomeBASE, even after the COVID-19 emergency declaration ends, as they will continue to face housing instability after the emergency is lifted.
#835 – Improvements to HomeBASE (7004-0108)
Sponsored by Sen. Patricia Jehlen
Sen. Jehlen’s amendment increases funding for HomeBASE to $45 million. It also allows families with children to renew their HomeBASE assistance if otherwise facing a return to homelessness, provided that the family is eligible and remains in good standing. Finally, the amendment improves data collection with respect to race and ethnicity data on HomeBASE program participants.
#837 – Tenancy Preservation Program (7004-3045)
Sponsored by Sen. Adam Hinds
Sen. Hind’s amendment increases funding for the Tenancy Preservation Program to $1.8 million. This will allow the program to help prevent homelessness for persons with disabilities who face an eviction related to their disability.
#121 – Reducing CPA Recording Fees for Affordable Housing
Sponsored by Sen. Sal DiDomenico
Sen. DiDomenico’s amendment reduces Community Preservation Act (CPA) recording fees for affordable housing. This will help reduce the financial burden on affordable homebuyers with low and moderate incomes while having a small impact on overall fee collection for the state.
by iwd Tina | May 12, 2021 | Housing News
The 21st consecutive (and 1st virtual) Affordable Housing Development Competition drew to a close with the recent announcement that Lancaster Commons, a proposal for a multi-phased, mixed-use project with 48 affordable rental units that aims to rehabilitate and reactivate an underutilized rural site of historic significance in Lancaster, received the first-place prize. Lancaster Commons was developed by a student team from Harvard University and MIT in collaboration with Metro West Collaborative Development, Davis Square Architects, and a finance mentor from Community Development Assistance Corporation.
Graduate students in architecture, real estate, planning, finance, public health, and policy, from Harvard, MIT, Tufts, UMass – Boston and Wentworth Institute of Technology, some studying in distant time zones, joined together to form seven teams in partnership with New England affordable housing organizations.
Second place went to Baycrest Commons, a proposal to create a 100-unit mixed-income apartment complex on an underutilized site in Portland, ME. Reservoir Village, which proposes to create 58 affordable units for families and seniors at the site of an Episcopal church in Franklin, MA, as part of a community inspired by the themes of sanctuary, belonging, and nature took third place with an honorable mention going to Remond Green, an all affordable family housing development in Salem, MA.
Please view the full press release from the Federal Home Loan Bank Boston.
The full development proposals can be viewed at:
- Andrews Mill, North Smithfield, RI
- Baycrest Commons, Portland, ME
- Lancaster Commons, Lancaster, MA
- Remond Green, Salem, MA
- Reservoir Village, Franklin, MA
- The Paraclete Residences, South Boston, MA
- Willow Park, Watertown, MA
by iwd Tina | May 11, 2021 | Housing News
On May 11, 2021, the Senate Committee on Ways and Means released its FY2022 state budget proposal. The proposal provides increased funding for many of CHAPA’s affordable housing budget priorities, including for the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program, the Alternative Housing Voucher Program, Public Housing, Housing Consumer Education Centers, and DMH rental subsidies.
CHAPA’s full language analysis of our budget priorities also includes a description of changes made to the program language. For MRVP, these changes include reducing the tenant payment share from 40% of a household’s income to 30%.
Senators have until Friday, May 14, to file amendments to the budget proposal. The Senate will then debate and finalize its budget proposal the week of May 24. Please stay tuned for action alerts on how you can take action to help make the strongest possible budget for affordable housing, community development, and homelessness prevention!
The budget will then go to a conference committee to reconcile differences between the House and Senate versions.
Overview of CHAPA Budget Priorities
by iwd Tina | May 5, 2021 | Housing News
On May 5, 2021, D.C. District Judge Dabney Friedrich vacated the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) federal eviction moratorium, which was set to expire on June 30, 2021. The federal judge ruled that the Public Health Service Act did not give the CDC the legal authority to impose the moratorium. However, the Department of Justice immediately appealed the decision vacating the CDC moratorium and the judge granted a temporary stay of the decision pending the appeal.
This means that the federal eviction moratorium currently remains in effect as of Thursday, May 6, 2021.
An estimated 40 million Americans were facing eviction during the pandemic, according to a report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition. The CDC moratorium protected millions of renters at risk of losing their homes, but it has faced several legal challenges. Some courts have ruled that the CDC has the authority to issue the order and rejected efforts to stop the ban, while others have ruled in favor of landlords. While the ruling does not affect state or local eviction moratoriums, Massachusetts’ eviction moratorium ended on October 17, 2020.
The Baker-Polito Administration, MassHousing, Citizens’ Housing & Planning Association (CHAPA), and the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Organizations (MACDC) created a five-point Eviction Diversion Pledge, which solidified a commitment from Massachusetts property owners and operators to work with tenants facing financial difficulties because of the pandemic and supporting housing stability during the ongoing fight against the spread of COVID-19. The pledge originally asked for a commitment through March 31st, 2021, with 73 property owners committed, representing 141,792 homes across the Commonwealth.
“CHAPA is disappointed with yesterday’s news of the overturned federal eviction moratorium. We applaud the Biden Administration for immediately appealing this ruling to protect renters and our nation’s public health,” said Rachel Heller, CEO of CHAPA. “Regardless of the status of this federal case, we call on all Massachusetts landlords and property owners to recommit to the Eviction Diversion Pledge, continue to abide by the eviction moratorium, and proactively work with residents to help them access all available emergency rental assistance so they can stay in their homes.”
If you signed the previous Pledge, please sign up again through this new form so we can confirm your extended commitment through June.
If you own or manage rental housing, please sign this Pledge to work with tenants who have fallen behind on rent. The Pledge includes helping renters access rental assistance, complete the necessary paperwork to benefit from the national eviction moratorium (regardless of its status in federal court cases), create payment plans, and other measures to help residents stay in their homes. This pledge is for property owners of any size and requires a commitment to these tenets through June 2021.
More details on each tenet of the Pledge can be found on the Google Form.
As of June 1, fourteen property owners committed to the Pledge through June 30, representing 3,739 homes across the Commonwealth. The property owners include:
Ace Tayloe
B’nai B’rith Housing
Capstone Communities LLC
Caritas Communities
Erik Nottleson
Fenway Community Development Corporation
FHRC Management Corporation
Hebrew SeniorLife
Hildebrand
Jeff Hecht
Jonathon Feinberg
Leslie Belay
Standard Communities
by iwd Tina | May 4, 2021 | Housing News
On April 23, the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) posted proposed amendments to the 2021-2022 Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP). The proposed amendments are to reflect the affordable housing funding competitions for 2021 and to change competitive scoring requirements related to development teams and minority and women-owned business enterprises (MWBE) policies, practices, and procurement.
The amendment has been posted to DHCD’s website at the following link: https://www.mass.gov/service-details/qualified-allocation-plan.
DHCD will hold a virtual public hearing on the proposed amendment on Thursday, May 13, 2021, at 11:00 a.m. If you wish to participate in the virtual hearing, please contact Bertha Borin at (617) 573-1309 or bertha.borin@mass.gov to receive the access codes for the hearing.
Written comments can be submitted by e-mail to rebecca.frawley@mass.gov or catherine.racer@mass.gov. If you would prefer to mail your comments, please contact DHCD directly to be provided with the street address to use. Comments may be submitted prior to the close of business on May 20, 2021.
The QAP is a document that Massachusetts is required to develop in order to distribute federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTCs), which can be awarded only to affordable housing developments that fit the QAP’s priorities and criteria. The QAP must spells out DHCD priorities and specify the criteria it will use to select projects competing for tax credits.
