Housing News

On behalf of CHAPA and the Regional Housing Network of Massachusetts, thank you to all those who attended the RAFT webinar on Wednesday, May 20. A special thanks to all our speakers and panelists for sharing their expertise! As an immediate follow-up, we’ve posted the webinar recording online for you to access and share. Also, here are links to materials from the meeting:

The need for housing assistance is growing as residents are losing income and jobs and are not able to make rent and mortgage payments. With the eviction and foreclosure moratorium, the housing payments can be paused but rents and mortgages will still need to be paid. CHAPA sent a letter to the Legislature asking for a $50 million emergency appropriation to expand RAFT.

On May 12, Governor Baker filed a $1 billion supplemental budget (H.4707) for spending related to COVID-19. The Governor plans for the federal government to reimburse the state for the supplemental budget to cover the costs of expenses for disaster response activities.

If your community has or is developing a locally funded Emergency Rental Assistance Program in response to the COVID-19 health emergency, please take some time to fill out this survey about your program. We understand that your program may not yet be formally approved or operating, but we want to know about it!

On April 20, in response to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, Governor Baker signed the eviction and foreclosure moratorium bill (H.4647) – creating some of the strongest protections for tenants and homeowners in the nation. For tenants, the law temporarily halts all stages of most evictions. For homeowners, the law temporarily stops foreclosures and requires lenders to offer mortgage forbearance for those affected by COVID-19.

Did you miss any of CHAPA’s social media posts in honor of Fair Housing Month? Don’t worry…we’ve got you covered with the comprehensive round-up. Just because Fair Housing Month is over, it doesn’t mean you can’t commit to learning more about it and working to improve housing access in your community. Feel free to use and share all of these resources and don’t hesitate to reach out to our Municipal Engagement Team, Dana LeWinter and Whitney Demetrius, for assistance.

FHLBank Boston’s 2020 Affordable Housing Program application (AHP) round opens on June 8. In response to COVID and to help you with your applications, the Bank is hosting several online training webinars running from May 19th through July 8th. The online trainings will cover all aspects of the application with lots of important information about program changes and the nuts and bolts of filling out the applications themselves. The Bank is also offering three Q&A webinars to help you trouble shoot in real-time.

Thank you to everyone who joined CHAPA and MHP for Wednesday's virtual training on Establishing a Local Emergency Rental Assistance Program. For those who weren't able to make the training or who want to review what we covered, the recorded session is available on Youtube.

On April 17, 2020, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced the federal FY2020 grants for the HOME program, the Community Development Block Grant program (CDBG), and the National Housing Trust Fund (HTF). These grants are part of the federal budget for HUD in FY2020 and do not include additional funds for programs included in the CARES Act as part of the federal COVID-19 response.

On April 20, in response to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, Governor Baker signed the eviction and foreclosure moratorium bill (H.4647) – creating some of the strongest protections for tenants and homeowners in the nation. This law means that Massachusetts residents will not have to worry that they will be evicted, lose their home to foreclosure, and end up homeless if they have lost their jobs because of the unprecedented emergency. For tenants, the law temporarily halts all stages of most evictions. This includes: