CHAPA Housing Briefs - September 5, 2012

State Updates

DHCD Announces FY’13 Non-Utility Annual Expense Increase for State-Assisted Public Housing

The Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) has notified housing authorities that they will receive a 6.5% increase in their non‑utility budget expense level caps.  The increase is a result of the $64.5 million FY’13 operating subsidy appropriation, federalization of over 3,500 units of public housing, and utility cost savings from energy efficiency improvements.

DHCD Solidifies Plan to Allocate New MRVP Resources  

DHCD has developed a draft spending plan for the $6 million FY’13 increase in MRVP. 400 vouchers will be allocated to families who are homeless where a member of the household has a diagnosed disability and is receiving Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income. The Regional nonprofits will administer these vouchers and hold lotteries among the aforementioned group of eligible households who entered the Emergency Assistance shelter system between October 29^th, 2011 and June 30^th, 2012 to determine who will receive assistance.  In addition, DHCD will dedicate MRVP vouchers to new supportive housing for 1) persons with disabilities if the state receives an 811 award and 2) formerly homeless households. With approximately 550 vouchers to allocate, targeting assistance was a difficult decision and CHAPA applauds DHCD for developing a thoughtful approach to allocating scarce resources.

Attorney General Coakley Announces from Mortgage Servicing Settlement Funding Recipients

The Attorney General’s HomeCorps program is kicking into high gear.  The Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation (MLAC) and the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) have been awarded a two year grant totaling $6 million to administer the Borrower Representation Initiative.  The grant will fund 19 attorneys in 14 locations dedicated to foreclosure-related cases and will deliver direct legal representation to homeowners facing foreclosure or eviction.  The Massachusetts Association for Community Action (MASSCAP) has been awarded a two year grant totaling $7.4 million to administer the Borrower Recovery Initiative to fund 21 case managers across the state to work directly with families and individuals to prevent homelessness, provide assistance to families transitioning from homeownership following foreclosure, and provide financial education and counseling to individuals and families facing eviction. 

18 organizations were chosen to receive HomeCorps Partnership Grants: Municipal and Community Restoration Grants. CHAPA is very pleased to have been selected as a Municipal and Community Restoration Grant recipient and looks forward to continuing a productive partnership with the Attorney General’s Office and our partners. 

DHCD Issues Request for Proposals for Regional Rental Administration

DHCD has issued a Request for Proposals on the Commonwealth's Procurement and Solicitation System, Comm-Pass, for responses from eligible organizations to provide regional administration of rental assistance programs including federal Housing Choice Vouchers (tenant-based and project-based), Tenant Protection Vouchers, Enhanced Vouchers, Section 8 Moderate Rehab, Section 8 Moderate Rehab/SRO, various special purpose federal voucher allocations and state-funded rental assistance.  Responses are due October 1, 2012.

Federal Updates

Congress Agrees on “Framework” for a 6 Month Continuing Resolution for FY2013

The National Low Income Housing Coalition reported on August 3 that Congress has agreed on a “broad framework” for a six-month continuing resolution (CR) to fund government operations for the first half of FY2013 (October 1, 2012-March 31, 2013), since no appropriations bill has been passed yet.  Under the framework, the CR will total $1.047 trillion, the cap agreed to as part of the Budget Control Act of 2011.  That cap is the same figure used by the Senate Appropriations Committee in developing its FY13 bills, but above the amount used by the House.  NLIHC reports that most programs would be level funded under the CR, except for “anomaly” programs that need additional funds to continue operation (including Section 8 tenant- and project-based assistance and the public housing operating fund), due to rising costs or unusually low funding in FY12 as a result of using one-time budget offsets (e.g., reserves).  Congress is expected to start working on the CR in September.

Administration to Release Estimated Sequestration Impacts by Program Tomorrow

A new law (the Sequestration Transparency Act) enacted August 7 requires the Administration to provide Congress with estimates, for each affected discretionary program, of the funding that will have to be reduced under sequestration and the “resulting reductions at the program, project and activity level” by September 6.  The Campaign for Housing and Community Development Funding has also developed estimates of the impact on major HUD programs, assuming an 8.4% across the board cut in January 2013.

HUD Issues Proposed FY2013 Fair Market Rents (FMRs) for Comment

On August 3, HUD published a Federal Register notice with its proposed FMRs for FY2013 (starting October 1, 2012).  Comments were due by September 4.  FMRs have historically been intended to represent the 40^th percentile of recent mover gross rents for a modest, standard quality unit and are used to set payment standards for housing choice vouchers and rent ceilings in the HOME program.  They also play an important role in determining how much debt some new production and preservation projects can support.  The proposed FY2013 FMRs reflect a revised methodology for calculating recent mover rents and “bedroom ratios” (the relationship between rents for two-bedroom units and rents for larger and smaller units). 

Overall, 15 of Massachusetts’ 19 FMR areas will see an increase in the two-bedroom FMR under the FY2013 proposal – though 9 of these will still be below their FY2011 FMR.  Four areas (Brockton, Pittsfield, Dukes and Berkshire County) will see decreases of 2-4%.  In Greater Boston, the proposed two bedroom FMR would increase by $75 (5.5%), from $1,369 to $1,444.  In Springfield, the proposed increase is $80 (9.4%).  Nine areas will see decreases in their studio and one-bedroom FMRs.  Detailed information on how HUD calculated the proposed FMRs for individual areas can be found on HUD’s website at http://www.huduser.org/portal/datasets/fmr.html.

Recent Research

New Study of Housing Problems of Rental Assistance Applicants finds Many Not Rent Burdened

A new study published in the July issue of HUD’s Cityscape Journal, the Housing Needs of Rental Assistance Applicants examined the housing needs of non-elderly, non-disabled households on Section 8 housing choice voucher waiting lists in 2009 and how those needs compared with the needs measured by HUD’s Worst Case Needs (WCN) reports.  The WCN reports track the number of unassisted, very low income households who have severe housing cost burdens and/or severe housing quality problems or severe overcrowding, but notably do not include homeless households in their count. 

The study of rental assistance applicants found waiting list households were less likely than very low income households overall to be rent burdened, with 32% of the waiting list households reporting severe rent burden.  By contrast, 46% of the waiting list households were not rent burdened, most often because they had another form of assistance already (e.g., public housing) or were homeless or living with friends or family.  Overall, 40% of the waiting list households were living with family or friends, and had been doing so for a long time (an average of 5 years for those living with family, 1.8 for those living with friends.)  The study notes that while rental assistance can help younger people form their own households, these findings raise questions about whether rental assistance is being targeted to households with the greatest needs, since the doubled up households overall tended to have lower rent burdens and were less likely to be in substandard or overcrowded housing.
 

Upcoming Events

CHAPA Regional Meetings 

Each year, CHAPA staff travel across Massachusetts for a series of meetings with housing professionals and advocates, community members, elected officials, and other stakeholders who want to expand access to affordable housing.  We use this as an opportunity to share updates with members in each region of the state and to hear what you would like us to focus on in our public policy advocacy, research, and programs.  Please take this opportunity to meet our new Executive Director, Brenda Clement, share your thoughts and ideas, and help inform our collective agenda for the coming legislative session and year ahead.  Light refreshments will be served.

Please select a meeting and register online at http://www.chapa.org/event?month=2012-09

Chapter 40B Training: Past, Present, and Future

September 28, 2012 - In partnership with the MA APA, the Citizen Planner Training Collaborative, the  Department of Housing and Community Development, Massachusetts Housing Partnership, & MassHousing, CHAPA is co-sponsoring a training on the most up-to-date information regarding Chapter 40B and how communities can work with existing and new developments under the comprehensive permit process. Planning and zoning board members, public officials, municipal staff, affordable housing developers, and housing advocates interested in this important issue are encouraged to attend. For more information and to register online, please click here.

CHAPA Annual Dinner

October 24, 2012, 5:30 p.m. - CHAPA’s Annual Dinner will be held at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. Invitations will be mailed out shortly. For more information, please call 617-742-0820 or e-mail Odessa Walton at odessaw@chapa.org.

DHCD Statewide Housing and Community Development Conference

November 13, 2012 – DHCD is hosting a statewide housing and community development conference at the DCU Center in Worcester. Featured speakers include Governor Deval Patrick and Lt. Governor Timothy Murray. The conference will offer workshops on topics including homelessness reform, affordable housing production and preservation, gateway cities, public housing reforms, supportive housing, and others. Complete conference and registration information will be available by September 20, 2012.

Save the Date – New England Housing Network Annual Conference

December 7, 2012 - The New England Housing Network will be hosting its annual conference this year at the Sheraton Framingham.

National Community Land Trust Conference

September 10-13^th, 2012 - The National Community Land Trust Network will hold its 2012 National Community Land Trust Conference in Burlington, Vermont. The theme of the conference is “Transforming Communities through Innovation and Collaboration”, which is relevant to community land trust (CLT) and community development practitioners, researchers, and policy makers. To learn more about the event, please visit: www.cltnetwork.org/2012-National-Conference