State Roundup
40B Repeal Initiative Petition Fails to Secure Enough Signatures
The Initiative Petition to Repeal Chapter 40B did not receive the sufficient number of signatures necessary to move forward in the process, according to the Secretary of State's Office. The Secretary of State certified a reported 31,309 signatures, far short of the required 66,593 needed to pass this initial hurdle.
CHAPA remains committed to maintaining Chapter 40B while considering reasonable reforms to improve the process for municipalities and housing providers.
Attorney General Issues Final Mortgage Broker and Lender Regulations and Guidance
On December 18, Attorney General Martha Coakley issued final mortgage broker and lender regulations and guidance to curb unfair lending practices. The new regulations, originally scheduled to go into effect in November, will now take effect on January 2, 2008 and apply to all loan applications received after that date.
The final regulations require lenders and brokers to "reasonably assess" borrowers' repayment ability, ban lender price discrimination against borrowers with similar credit and other relevant qualifications, and restrict the use of loans made without income documentation. They also drop several requirements proposed in October, including mandatory borrower disclosure forms.
Housing Coop Eligibility Legislation Advances to Governors Desk
H. 1224, An Act Relative to Eligibility for Cooperative Housing Corporations, was passed by the Legislature and is currently on the Governor's desk awaiting action. The legislation would limit allowable eligibility standards to becoming a shareholder in a coop to financial criteria only.
DHCD Releases Draft 2008 Allocation Plan for Low Income Housing Tax Credits
DHCD has released its draft 2008 Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP) for comment. The Plan describes the federal and state low income housing tax credit amounts DHCD expects to have available in 2008 and the criteria it proposes to use in allocating them. A public hearing to solicit comments will be held on December 20, 2007 at DHCD, 100 Cambridge Street, Boston (conference room D, second floor). Written comments can also be submitted before or at the hearing (DHCD Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program, 100 Cambridge St, 3rd floor, Boston MA 02114).
Persons planning to attend are asked to contact Matthew Seadale at DHCD in advance (matthew.seadale@state.ma.us or 617-573-1317). He is also available to answer questions.
EOAF Hearing on 2008 Tax-Exempt Bond Volume Cap Allocation
The Executive Office for Administration and Finance (EOAF), the Governor's Office and the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, held a public hearing on how to allocate Massachusetts' 2008 tax-exempt bond volume cap on December 18 at the State House.
Massachusetts will be able to issue about $550 million in tax-exempt private activity bonds in 2008 for private entities that are not charitable organizations. The bonds are an important funding source for affordable housing. In 2007, the state allocated 45% of the cap to affordable rental housing development ($225 million) and capital improvements to public housing ($22 million).
DHCD Revises Date for Hearing on Data Collection Regulations
The date of DHCD's public hearing on new regulations on Data Collection for Government Assisted Housing in Massachusetts (760 C.M.R. 61:00) has been changed to January 22, 2008 at 10 a.m. at 100 Cambridge Street, Boston (conference room B-2nd floor).
State Appeals Court Upholds Zoning Approval for Elderly Housing in Framingham
On November 30, a State Appeals Court panel upheld the Framingham Zoning Board of Appeals' decision to grant a comprehensive permit for a 150 unit elderly housing development (Shillman House). Abutters initially filed suit in Land Court more than three years ago (August 2004), asking that the ZBA decision be overturned. After a Land Court judge ruled against them in 2006, the abutters appealed that decision to the Appeals Court. The project sponsor, Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly, hopes to begin construction in 2008.
Greater Boston Affordable Housing Development Competition Announced
CHAPA is participating with the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and Kevin P. Martin and Associates in the 8th Annual Greater Boston Affordable Housing Development Competition. The competition matches multidisciplinary teams of graduate students with development professionals to combine classroom experience with real-world practice in affordable housing development in Greater Boston. All interested developers are encouraged to participate. For more information, please visit the competition website or contact Karen Wiener at CHAPA (617-742-0820, kwiener@chapa.org). The deadline for developer registration is Friday, January 11, 2008.
United Way and Bank of America Announce Online Financial Education Toolkit
The United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley and the Bank of America have developed an online financial education toolkit for community-based organizations that offer financial education programs for families. The toolkit provides information on curricula, measurement tools and other resources for financial education.
Federal Reserve Proposes Mortgage Reform Regulations
The Federal Reserve Board issued proposed changes to Regulation Z on December 18 to protect home mortgage borrowers against unfair lending practices, including subprime lending practices. The Board will take public comment for 90 days before finalizing the regulation.
As proposed, the new regulation would ban higher interest loans without borrower income documentation, require lenders to allow refinancing of those loans without penalty before upward interest rate resets, and require lenders to include property taxes and insurance in their estimate of monthly loan costs. For all loans, it would require brokers to tell borrowers if they are receiving a fee for selling a loan with a higher interest rate and would require loan servicers to provide itemized information to borrowers promptly.
Senate Mortgage Reform/Anti-Predatory Lending Bill Introduced
Senate Banking Committee Chair Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) introduced anti-predatory lending legislation (S.2452) - The Homeownership Preservation and Protection Act of 2007) on December 12. The bill includes several provisions that differ from the legislation passed by the House in November (H.R. 3915) and does not include a preemption provision.
Senates Passes FHA Reform Bill without National Housing Trust Funding
On December 14, the Senate voted 93-1 to approve S.2338, the Federal Housing Administration Modernization Act of 2007. The Senate bill differs in several ways from similar legislation, H.R. 1852, passed by the House in September. It sets a lower cap on the value of loans the FHA can insure ($417,000) than the House bill ($700,000). It also requires a minimum downpayment (1.5%) for FHA-insured mortgages, while the House bill does not.
While allowing expansion of the home equity mortgage conversion program, the Senate bill differs from the House in not providing for the new FHA revenues to be used to fund the National Affordable Housing Trust. Trust supporters hope that Trust funding will be approved in the conference committee bill.
Kerry to Introduce Senate National Affordable Housing Trust Legislation
Senator John Kerry, along with Senator Olympia Snow (R-ME), plans to introduce a bill to establish a National Affordable Housing Trust Fund during the week of December 17th. The proposed bill will be very similar H.R. 2895, the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007, that the House passed in October.
Low Income Housing Tax Credit Bill to be Introduced in Senate
Senators Maria Cantwell and Gordon Smith, members of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, plan to introduce a bill to modify the low-income housing tax credit program to make the credit amount more predictable and easier to combine with federal subsidy programs and to give states more flexibility in allocating 130% credits. The bill would also change the name of the credit to the "Affordable Housing Tax Credit" and revise some rules regarding tax-exempt bonds to make them consistent with tax-credit rules.
The proposed revisions to the tax credit program are wide-ranging. One would make it easier to predict the value of credits by eliminating the use of discount factors, when interest rates are relatively low; to do this, it would set the credit at the greater of (1) the amount under current law or (2) nine percent (9%) and four percent (4%). Another would give state allocating agencies more control over the award of 130% credits, allowing them to make awards on the basis of state-specified geographic or income targeting criteria and to award them to projects using HOME funds.
Other revisions would improve coordination with existing federal programs. One would allow all projects using federal subsidies to receive 9% (rather than 4%) credits, except for those using tax-exempt bonds. Another removes the ban on use with the Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation program. A third would clarify that certain federal rental assistance subsidies will not be considered grants when determining eligible basis. The bill would also eliminate the requirement that scattered site projects be 100% affordable and make it easier to finance community service facilities as part of a project.
The bill would also remove recapture bond requirements, exempts tax credits and tax-exempt bond interest income from the alternative minimum tax, and repeal the ban on using acquisition tax credits for projects that changed hands within the prior 10 years. No bill number is available yet.
Upcoming Events
Forum on Family Homelessness Prevention and Diversion Strategies
Homes for Families, in partnership with the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley, One Family, Inc. and The Family-to-Family Project, will be holding three forums this spring examining new ways to reduce family homelessness. The first forum, Prevention and Diversion Strategies, will be held on Thursday, January 17 at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester. It will feature a presentation on an award-winning New York City program (HomeBase) and a panel discussion with Tina Brooks, Undersecretary of DHCD, Julia Kehoe, Commissioner of DTA, Norm Suchar of the National Alliance to End Homelessness and Donna Haig Friedman of the UMass-Boston Center for Social Policy. The deadline for registering is January 15.
HUD Fair Housing Accessibility Training
HUD' is conducting a free Fair Housing Accessibility FIRST program training all day on March 26, 2008 in Boston at the O'Neill Federal Building. The training is co-sponsored by CHAPA and a number of other organizations and state and local agencies.
