by iwd Tina | Oct 18, 2021 | Housing News
On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). This once-in-a-generation investment allocated over $5.3 billion in fiscal recovery dollars to Massachusetts.
Housing is the single best investment Massachusetts can make to secure a healthy future for all. These flexible ARPA funds may be used for rent, mortgage, or utility assistance; counseling and legal aid; supportive housing; affordable housing development; and housing vouchers, residential counseling, or housing navigation assistance.
Right now, we have a real opportunity to secure the boldest housing investments to address our housing crisis. There is no telling when this type of opportunity will come again.
To ensure our most vulnerable residents are not left behind as Massachusetts continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, CHAPA kindly requests that the state legislature prioritize $1.683 billion of its total ARPA fiscal recovery funding for the following key housing priorities.
Affordable Rental Housing Production and Preservation
CHAPA recommends $200 million for affordable housing rental production and preservation to ensure families are safe and healthy in their homes and meet the Commonwealth’s goal of creating 200,000 more homes.
These would fund affordable rental housing production and preservation for more homes that are climate resilient, energy efficient, and accessible to disproportionately impacted populations, including BIPOC communities, persons with disabilities, seniors, LGBTQ+ populations, and others.
Housing Rehabilitation
CHAPA recommends $100 million for affordable housing rehabilitation to improve housing quality, accessibility, and long-term resiliency.
These funds would support the rehabilitation and retrofitting of homes to meet the Commonwealth’s climate resiliency and energy-efficiency goals, provide more accessible homes for persons with disabilities, and to improve housing quality and the health of residents by removing hazards like lead paint and mold.
Affordable Homeownership
CHAPA recommends $500 million in total investments to expand and preserve affordable homeownership opportunities to close racial disparities in homeownership. We support the following investments in homeownership:
- Building Homeownership Opportunities: $200 million for the CommonWealth Builder Program and other similar grants and loans to build affordable homeownership opportunities including single-family homes and condominiums that are affordable to households with low- and moderate-incomes, particularly in communities of color.
- Expanding First-Time Homebuyer Resources: $300 million to expand resources for first time homebuyers, including down payment assistance and access to mortgages, focused on residents of disproportionately impacted communities.
Public Housing
CHAPA recommends $450 million for preserving the Commonwealth’s public housing that collectively needs $3 billion in deferred capital repairs and maintenance.
These funds would support capital repairs and improvements of our state Public Housing, much of which is over 50 years old, for long-term preservation of affordable homes for families with low-incomes, seniors, and persons with disabilities.
Acquisition of Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing
CHAPA recommends $50 million for property acquisition to create and preserve more permanent affordable homes.These funds will allow residents or communities to acquire un-subsidized, naturally occurring affordable housing being sold or foreclosed upon, providing new opportunities for long-term affordable homes and preventing displacement of residents from their homes and neighborhoods.
Supportive Housing
CHAPA recommends $300 million to create housing with supportive services. These comprehensive investments will build a foundation for economic recovery by expanding access to safe, healthy, and affordable homes with access to services for our most vulnerable residents including individuals and families experiencing chronic homelessness families and individuals, seniors, survivors of trafficking or domestic violence, and those with serious behavioral health or substance abuse challenges.
These evidence-based housing investments will help end homelessness through the creation of a flexible spending account for the operating costs for supportive services and the acquisition of hotels, motels, nursing homes, and other forms of temporary housing for the purpose of conversion to permanent, deeply affordable homes.
Housing Stability
CHAPA supports $83 million in total investments for housing stability efforts to prevent evictions and provide access to housing resources for the most vulnerable populations during the pandemic and over the long-term. We support the following investments in housing stability:
- Right to Counsel: $78 million to create a statewide right to counsel program for residents with low incomes facing eviction to be administered by the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation. The program will prevent evictions for tenants and support owner-occupants of 1- to 3-family homes who are at risk of losing their home.
- Tenant Outreach and Assistance: $5 million for community-based organizations working with residents in disproportionately impacted communities to support outreach efforts about available emergency resources and assist households with applying for housing assistance. This will help prevent evictions and improve the distribution of emergency rental assistance programs.
These investments can immediately begin to be distributed through existing, proven-effective programs to ensure a thriving future for all our people and communities.
As Legislature debates how to use our ARPA fiscal recovery funds, CHAPA urges the State to invest comprehensive resources towards affordable housing as soon as possible.
Please see CHAPA’s ARPA Fiscal Recovery Funds Fact Sheet and testimony for more informmation.
For any questions about these priorities, please contact Ryan Dominguez at [email protected] or 617-684-4713.
by iwd Tina | Oct 13, 2021 | Housing News
CHAPA is pleased to announce that we have issued a Request for Proposals for our new Neighborhood Emergency Housing Support program. This one time grant program is aimed at supporting the on the ground, community based organizations in their effort to assist members in their community in learning about and applying for the emergency housing assistance made available through State and Federal Funding.
Neighborhood and community based organizations meeting the criteria outlined in the RFP are encouraged to submit an application.
Applicants must submit an electronic copy of the application to Maritza Crossen at [email protected] by 5 PM on Monday, November 1, 2021.
To learn more about the grant opportunity and to obtain an application, please visit our page on the CHAPA website. Please feel free to share this opportunity with any groups you think may qualify.
by iwd Tina | Oct 7, 2021 | Housing News
Hearing on CHAPA Housing Priorities – Tuesday, Oct 12, 11:00 a.m.
The Joint Committee on Housing will host a hearing on housing related bills including MRVP on Tuesday, October 12, 11:00 a.m.
This hearing includes CHAPA legislative priorities on Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP), H.1428/ S.898, An Act relative to the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program. This bill will secure MRVP permanently by codifying it into the state statute. It will also make essential program changes to make voucher more usable and efficient so everyone facing housing instability can have a safe, stable, and affordable place to call home.
You can help advance this bill to protect public housing by taking action today! You can submit written testimony to the Housing Committee, testify virtually at the hearing, and sign your organization on in support of H.1428/ S.898!
Submit Support Letter
You can submit a letter as written testimony in support of H.1428/ S.898 to the Housing Committee. You can email the testimony directly to [email protected].
Testify Virtually
You can testify at the hearing virtually! Signing up to testify virtually will be available until Friday, October 10 at 5:00 p.m. To sign up to testify you need to first create an account for MyLegislature and follow these instructions.To sign up to give testimony, click here.
Fact Sheets & Sample Testimony
Sign Your Organization Up to Strengthen MRVP
Complete this form to add your organization to the growing list of supporters!
Legislative Sponsors
Representative Adrian Madaro & Senator Joan Lovely
Questions?
Please contact Eric Shupin, Director of Public Policy at [email protected], or Abhi Kurve, Policy Associate at [email protected] at CHAPA with any questions.
by iwd Tina | Oct 7, 2021 | Housing News
Hearing on Fair Housing Legislation – Tuesday, October 12, 11:00 a.m.
The Joint Committee on Housing will host a virtual hearing on fair housing legislation on Tuesday, October 12, beginning at 11:00 a.m.
This hearing includes two CHAPA legislative priorities on fair housing:
You can help advance this legislation by taking action today! You can submit written testimony to the Housing Committee, testify virtually at the hearing, and sign your organization on in support of these bills!
Submit Support Letter
You can submit a letter as written testimony in support of the bills to the Housing Committee.
Online testimony will be accepted until Friday, October 15. To submit testimony online you need to first create an account for MyLegislature and follow these instructions. If you already have an account click here.
You can also email the testimony directly to [email protected].
Testify Virtually
You can testify at the hearing virtually!
Online sign up to testify will be available until Sunday, October 10 at 5:00 p.m. To sign up to testify you need to first create an account for MyLegislature and follow these instructions. To sign up to give testimony, click here.
Fact Sheets & Sample Testimony
Sign Your Organization Up in Support of the Fair Housing Bills
Complete this form to add your organization to the growing list of supporters!
Questions?
Please contact Eric Shupin, CHAPA’s Director of Public Policy, with any questions at [email protected].
by iwd Tina | Sep 20, 2021 | Housing News
On September 20, 2021, the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) released a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the 2022 winter affordable housing rental round.
According to the NOFA, DHCD will make the following resources available:
- Federal & State Low Income Housing Tax Credits
- HOME Investment Partnerships Program
- National Housing Trust Fund
- Affordable Housing Trust Fund
- Housing Stabilization and Investment Trust Fund
- Capital Improvement & Preservation Trust Fund
- Housing Innovations Fund
- Facilities Consolidation Fund
- Community-Based Housing
- Transit Oriented Development funds
- Project-based Section 8 & MRVP vouchers
The deadline for submission of pre-applications to the winter 2022 affordable housing competition for rental projects will be October 28, 2021. Full funding applications will be due January 13, 2022.
Sponsors interested in participating in the December 2021 funding competition must submit a pre-application to the Department through the on-line Mass OneStop+ system on or before October 14, 2021.
DHCD will hold information sessions in October for interested developers with projects that may be eligible. Those dates will be posted when available.
by iwd Tina | Sep 18, 2021 | Housing News
On September 21, CHAPA endorsed legislation (H.1377 & S.868) that would allow cities and towns the opportunity to enact a local transfer fee on real estate transactions in order to support affordable housing.
Why Real Estate Transfer Fees?
The legislation would create an option for cities and towns to enact fees ranging from 0.5% – 2% on certain real estate transactions. A local option real estate transfer fee would be an effective, efficient and equitable tool for raising necessary revenue for affordable housing in communities across the Commonwealth.
Currently each city or town has to first approve the transfer fee locally, file a home rule petition in the state legislature and can only adopt if the Legislature approves it and it is signed by the Governor. Historically, these home rule petitions have stalled in the Legislature.
H.1377 and S.868 would create an enabling legislative framework, similar to the Community Preservation Act, where cities and towns can choose to adopt their version of transfer fees within the framework. Communities would be required to go through a public input process to craft a transfer fee policy that works for each city and town.
Currently 38 states and D.C. levy some kind of real estate transfer fees along with many local governments. The fee rates vary widely from 0.01% in Colorado to 6.1% on certain types of transfers in New Jersey.
What Does the Legislation Propose?
- Creates Critical Resource for Affordable Housing
- Authorizes a transfer fee of between 0.5% and 2% on purchase price of a property being sold above either the statewide median sale price for single family homes (currently~ $480,000) or the county median sale price for single family homes if a local median sale price is lower than the statewide median sale price.
- The fee will be deposited in the city or town’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund (AHTF) or other municipal affordable housing trust funds as defined in Chapter 44B. If none exist, it can be deposited in the Community Preservation Fund (CPF). In absence of CPF, the fee will be deposited in the state AHTF (under chapter 121D) and will be earmarked for affordable housing purposes for that city/town.
- The Coalition is currently debating an amendment to allow authorization up to 225% of area median income for affordable housing restriction for municipalities that have established their own thresholds through their home rule petitions for the AHTFs specifically applicable for high priced markets like Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.
- Allows for Broad & Locally-Determined Exemptions
- The legislation allows for the following exemptions. Municipalities can adopt further exemptions as long as it maintains the intent of the legislation.
- Mandates following exemptions,
- Property transfers below 100% of the state or county median sale price or 100% of median county price whichever is lower
- Transfers made as gifts with consideration less than $100 presuming the fair market value of the property at the time of transfer
- Transfers to any municipal, state or federal agency or institution
- Transfers occurring by virtue of death or bankruptcy
- Transfers made in partition of land and improvements under chapter 241
- Transfers to charitable or religious organizations as long as they comply with the affordable housing uses
- Transfers to mortgagee in case of foreclosure and division or marital assets
- Transfers of residential property that include 1 or more units governed by affordable housing restrictions; provided, however, that the fee imposed under the provisions of this section on such a property shall be proportionately reduced based on the percentage of residential units with affordable housing restrictions, as compared to the total number of residential units in that property
- Discourages Speculative Sales
- Municipalities are also authorized to charge a fee of up to 6% for speculative sales (properties sold within 1 year at a price 3 times the state median sale price with some exceptions).
- Requires Local Debate Prior To Adoption
- Each municipality seeking to adopt a transfer fee pursuant to this Act would have to engage in a critical local community process to determine if a transfer fee is right for their community, and, if so, what exemptions, terms and conditions are appropriate based on local prices and market conditions.
Supporting Evidence
- A 2020 report by Institute for Policy Studies shows, a luxury real estate transfer fee of 2% applied to sales at just two luxury buildings in Boston would have generated more than $16 million for the Neighborhood Housing Trust Fund. The report projects that if there had been a 2% real estate transfer fee on home sales valued over 140% of the current median sale price of $463,000 in Braintree, for example, the city would have raised an estimated $826,000 in revenue from 247 transactions between 2015 and 2020. A 0.5 percent real estate transfer tax would have raised over $206,000.
- A 2017 study by RKG Associates show that a transfer fee of 1% for Somerville could yield between $6.6 million to $9.1 million in annual fee revenue to support affordable housing in Somerville
Coalition Advocating for the Transfer Fee
A wide range of organizations support the enabling legislation for Real Estate Transfer Fees — you can add your organization to the growing list of supporters, too! Current endorses include:
- ACK Now
- Berkshire County Regional Housing Authority
- Boston Building Trades Council
- Boston Neighborhood Community Land Trust
- Boston Tenants Coalition
- Brazilian Workers Center
- Cambridge Residents Alliance
- Chinese Progressive Association
- City Life Vida Urbana
- Community Action Agency of Somerville
- Community Action – Pioneer Valley
- Community Teamwork
- Coalition to Create the Martha’s Vineyard Housing Bank
- Concord Housing Foundation
- Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative
- Dukes County Health Council
- Equal Justice in Needham
- Equitable Arlington
- Eliot Community Health Services – Homeless Services
- Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution
- Fresh Pond Residents Alliance
- Greater Boston Food Bank
- Green Cambridge
- Heading Home
- HomeStart
- Homeowners Rehab Inc.
- Housing Corporation of Arlington
- Housing Families
- Institute for Policy Studies
- Jamaica Plain Progressives
- Just-A-Start
- Lynn United for Change
- Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance
- Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations (MACDC)
- Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless
- Massachusetts Communities Action Network (MCAN)
- Massachusetts Law Reform Institute
- Massachusetts Public Health Association
- Massachusetts Senior Action Cambridge/Somerville Chapter
- Massachusetts Alliance of HUD Tenants
- Mayor Joseph Curtatone/City of Somerville
- Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC)
- Metro West Collaborative Development
- Our Revolution Somerville
- Progressive Massachusetts
- Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH)
- Real Estate Cafe
- Right to the City Boston
- Rural Development, Inc.
- Somerville Community Corporation
- Somerville Community Land Trust
- Somerville Homeless Coalition
- Somerville Stands Together
- Somerville YIMBY
- Springfield – No One Leaves
- The Welcome Project
- Those Who Can, For Those In Need
- Western Mass. Network to End Homelessness
- Worcester Community Action Council
by iwd Tina | Sep 10, 2021 | Housing News
Hearing on Public Housing – Wednesday, September 15, 11:00 a.m.
The Joint Committee on Housing will host a hearing on public housing related bills on Wednesday, September 15, 11:00 a.m.
This hearing includes CHAPA legislative priority, H.1417, An Act restoring the Commonwealth’s public housing. This bill will leverage new resources and reduce redevelopment costs for local housing authorities so that everyone living in public housing can have a safe, stable, and affordable place to call home.
You can help advance this bill to protect public housing by taking action today! You can submit written testimony to the Housing Committee, testify virtually at the hearing, and sign your organization on in support of H.1417!
Submit Support Letter
You can submit a letter as written testimony in support of H.1417 to the Housing Committee. You can email the testimony directly to [email protected].
Testify Virtually
You can testify at the hearing virtually! Signing up to testify virtually will be available until Monday, September 13 at 12:00 p.m. To sign up to testify you need to first create an account for MyLegislature and follow these instructions.To sign up to give testimony, click here.
Fact Sheets & Sample Testimony
Sign Your Organization Up to Protect Public Housing & Support H.1417
Complete this form to add your organization to the growing list of supporters!
Legislative Co-Sponsors
As of September 10, 2021, the following legislators have signed on as co-sponsor of H.1417:
Representatives
- Kevin Honan, Bill Sponsor
- Peter Capano
- Nika Elugardo
- Dylan Fernandes
- Natalie Higgins
- Michael Kushmerek
- Jack Lewis
- Joseph McGonagle
- Cristina Minicucci
- Steven Owens
- Dave Rogers
- Lindsay Sabadosa
- Jon Santiago
- Danillo Sena
- Paul Tucker
- Andy Vargas
- Tommy Vitolo
Senators
- Jamie Eldridge
- Jason Lewis
Endorsing Organizations
- Arlington Housing Authority
- Boston Housing Authority
- Commonwealth Community Developers, LLC
- Swampscott Housing Authority
Questions?
Please contact Eric Shupin, CHAPA’s Director of Public Policy, with any questions at [email protected].
by iwd Tina | Sep 1, 2021 | Housing News
On September 1, the White House announced policies to increase the supply of affordable housing.
According to the plan, the Biden Administration has set a goal of creating, preserving, and selling to homeowners and non-profits nearly 100,000 additional affordable homes for homeowners and renters over the next three years. Specifically, President Biden directed federal agencies to:
- Boost the supply of quality, affordable rental units by relaunching the partnership between the Department of Treasury’s Federal Financing Bank and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Risk Sharing Program in order to enable eligible state housing finance agencies (HFAs) to provide low-cost capital for affordable housing development; raising Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s (the Enterprises) equity cap for the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, the largest federal program for the construction and rehabilitation of affordable rental housing; and making more funding available to Community Development Finance Institutions and non-profit housing groups for affordable housing production under the Capital Magnet Fund.
- Boost the supply of manufactured housing and 2-4 unit properties by expanding financing through Freddie Mac. Along with Fannie Mae’s and the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) existing policies, these steps will enable more Americans to purchase homes, and increase the availability of rental units throughout the country.
- Make more single-family homes available to individuals, families, and non-profit organizations – rather than large investors – by prioritizing homeownership and limiting the sale to large investors of certain FHA-insured and HUD-owned properties, in addition to expanding and creating exclusivity periods in which only governmental entities, owner occupants, and qualified non-profit organizations are able to bid on certain FHA-insured and government-owned properties.
- Work with state and local governments to boost housing supply by leveraging existing federal funds to spur local action, exploring federal levers to help states and local governments reduce exclusionary zoning, and launching learning and listening sessions with local leaders.
by iwd Tina | Aug 31, 2021 | Housing News
The CDC Federal Eviction Moratorium ended on Thursday, August 26, 2021. However, the end of the moratorium does not mean you will be immediately evicted if you are behind on rent. Only a court can order someone to leave their home.
In Massachusetts, if you have a pending application for emergency rental assistance, your eviction case can be paused. If you or someone you know is having trouble paying rent, financial assistance is available. Apply for rental assistance today.
For legal help, visit the COVID Eviction Legal Help Project.
For information on community mediation, visit www.resolutionma.org.
You can also call 2-1-1 for referrals available in multiple languages.
CHAPA is disappointed by the Supreme Court decision to end the federal eviction moratorium. The federal moratorium kept tens of thousands of Massachusetts residents — seniors, families with children, and others — stably housed and more protected against COVID-19.
Without this moratorium, too many will risk losing their homes, especially in communities of color, as virus transmission rates rise and the Delta variant threatens the health and safety of every community. More evictions will increase the spread of the virus, burden our health care systems, and put children at risk as they prepare to go back to school.
With almost $525 million in emergency rental assistance still available, we must ensure every household has access to the resources they need to avoid eviction and stay in their homes. Renters should apply for all available assistance as quickly as possible. Landlords and property owners should work proactively with residents to help them access these resources. Additionally, we need to continue to support agencies administering emergency rental assistance and continue to improve the outreach, application, and distribution processes to ensure every resident who needs help receives assistance.
The trauma of an eviction lasts well beyond the pandemic, driving too many deeper into poverty, making it harder to find a home in the future, and hurting the next generation’s opportunity to thrive. We must enact renter protections like right to counsel and eviction records sealing to preserve residents’ short- and long-term housing stability. We must also expand rental voucher programs and create more permanently affordable homes across the Commonwealth.
CHAPA supports the following immediate actions to prevent evictions and distribute emergency rental assistance as quickly as possible.
Immediate Federal Actions
CHAPA supports the National Low Income Housing Coalition in its call for the Biden Administration to take every action to protect renters immediately. This call includes implementing an eviction moratorium for renters living in all federally assisted properties by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Treasury Department should also continue eliminating barriers to get emergency rental assistance out to households in need more quickly.
Congress should also enact long-term solutions to address our affordable housing challenges in the infrastructure and economic recovery packages, including expanding rental assistance to all eligible households.
Immediate State Actions
Massachusetts should immediately:
- Enforce state eviction protections. The surging Delta variant and additional time needed for renters to apply and be approved for emergency rental assistance demand that all existing state eviction protections are enforced. This includes a state law requiring eviction cases to be delayed if the resident has a pending application for emergency rental assistance.
- Quickly distribute emergency rental assistance. To date, Massachusetts has distributed nearly $225 million of the over $750 million in emergency rental assistance provided by the state and federal government. While significant progress has been made in distributing aid, we must get funds out even faster.
- Provide funding for community-based organizations. The state should immediately provide $5 million directly to those local community-based organizations working on the ground in disproportionately impacted communities to help residents learn about and apply for all available resources, including emergency rental assistance and legal aid.
- Enact additional renter protections. Other measures, such as right to counsel and eviction records sealing, can help protect renters against evictions and their long-term impacts on housing stability.
With the end of the moratorium, more eviction cases will be filed. To improve access to emergency rental assistance, we must immediately:
- Reduce documentation requirements. Per Treasury guidance, all emergency rental assistance programs should use self-attestations to satisfy eligibility requirements.
- Streamline the application process. The emergency rental assistance application process should continue to be streamlined, including launching a more user-friendly, central application as soon as possible and improving language access. These changes will help renters submit complete applications and speed up approvals and distribution of emergency rental assistance to residents and landlords.
- Partner with local community-based organizations. Emergency rental assistance programs should partner with local community-based organizations to conduct outreach and engagement and provide housing navigation and application support to help distribute emergency rental assistance funds more quickly.
by iwd Tina | Aug 30, 2021 | Housing News
On August 26, 2021, the United State Supreme Court invalidated the federal eviction moratorium issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Supreme Court agreed with a lower court ruling that the CDC lacked the authority to enact such an eviction moratorium.
In Massachusetts, certain state eviction protections remain in place. Most importantly, state law requires courts to delay eviction cases if there is a pending application for emergency rental assistance applications. This protection is in place through April 1, 2022.
