Breaking the Fourth Wall: Week of September 9

Today we continue the weekly "Breaking the Fourth Wall" series that directs the blog's spotlight toward a particularly innovative or promising affordable housing project, luminary, or organization. 

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons 

Santa Clara County, Calif., the largely affluent home of Silicon Valley and its associated titans of industry, is easily one of the most expensive real markets in the country with rents and prices of even modest homes far outstripping state and national norms. The county's increasingly affluence, fed by the attractive salaries of area technology companies, has made affordable housing options scant. The county's high cost of living has displaced many longtime Santa Clara residents have and prevented middle-income and first-time homebuyers from being able to add some socioeconomic diversity to the region.

In order to address the threat of economic stratification in Santa Clara County, Housing Trust Silicon Valley (formerly the Housing Trust of Santa Clara County) was founded in the 1998 under the auspices of Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. The Housing Trust, "aimed at making Silicon Valley a more affordable place to live", makes a variety of loans and grants and has been remarkably successful in achieving its objectives of increasing the region's supply of affordable housing, assisting first-time homebuyers, and stabilizing local neighborhoods: the trust fund has invested more than $75 million in Silicon Valley community projects and has leveraged $1.88 billion to create nearly 10,000 housing opportunities. The success seems to stem from the fact that Housing Trust Silicon Valley is no ordinary local trust fund- it is a public-private partnership that channels local business wealth into creative solutions rather than apathy.

The innovation in Housing Trust Silicon Valley's model can be seen in two ways, both of which are vital to the proliferation of a trust: the source of funding and the way in which the funding is allocated. While the majority of U.S. affordable housing trust funds at the county level are funded through real estate transfer taxes (RETTs), impact fees paid by developers, and document recording fees, the Trust has targeted the deep pockets of Silicon Valley's corporations since its inception. Building upon the region's reputation as an incubator of ideas and companies' efforts to maintain good corporate citizenship and improve community relations, neighbors like Intel, Hewlett-Packard, and Applied Materials have routinely donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Trust's fundraising campaigns and more high-profile donors join the ranks every year. Secondly, the Trust is different from most peers in that is allocates resources to a wide variety of both low and middle-income residents who would otherwise be priced out of Santa Clara County. In addition to a neighborhood stabilization initiative, homelessness prevention project, and programs designed to aid low-income renters and victims of the foreclosure crisis, the Trust also provides special loans to first-time homebuyers of modest means who would likely not receive such help from other housing trust funds. The Trust's ability to delve into the well-resourced private sector and comprehensive view of affordability contribute to its increasingly far-flung exemplary reputation.

While some might argue that the Trust is uniquely situated in a backyard containing an embarrassment of corporate riches to which local housing trust funds do not have access, the increase of start-ups, fluid venture capital activity, and emergence of industries in once-overlooked cities and regions demonstrates that the time for other affordable housing trusts to follow the Santa Clara model is ripe. Corporate and high-tech America extends far beyond Silicon Valley and, in addition to replication in tech-savvy, progressive locales like Seattle, Cambridge, and Austin, housing trust funds in the sites of the "next economy"- think Pittsburgh, Chattanooga, Milwaukee, and San Antonio, among others- may do well by looking westward.

Curtain Call: A Bold Plan for Boston's Housing Future

Image Credit: Boston Housing Authority 

Boston's long-time Mayor Thomas M. Menino, though preparing to step down after more than two decades at the helm of the city later this fall, recently released his office's ambitious strategy to increase the number of affordable housing units in the city by 2020. The plan, entitled Housing Boston 2020, is the result of a collaboration among developers, offices within the Menino administration, various non-profits housing advocates, and the Boston Redevelopment Authority, seeks to update zoning; change the permitting requirements for units size; work with unions to reduce costs of affordable housing development; formulate affordable development pipelines; and expand housing options for low and middle-income Bostonians. By the end of 2013, the plan aims to establish a Middle Income Housing Initiative and Boston Buyers' Advantage Program to help buyers of modest means remain competitive in the city's expensive real estate market.

The overall plan calls for more than 5,000 of the planned new housing to be affordable units with deed restrictions and also provides for a new system of cataloguing city-owned vacant land for the possibility of more affordable development. The venture's advisory committee has also called for the generation of local resources to offset federal cuts to affordable housing.

The issue of affordable housing- and affordable city living generally- has been a constant theme in this year's Boston mayoral election. Just yesterday, City Councilor and candidate Mike Ross (D8) spoke about the need for a "smart" and comprehensive affordable housing policy in a radio interview. Amidst the rhetoric of the final weeks of the campaign, Mayor Menino's final act may set the backdrop for the housing policies of the next mayor of a city that many love to call home and many more cannot afford.

Eminent Domain Uniting Cities and Homeowners to Combat Foreclosure?

Eminent domain, or the legal process by which a government entity takes private property for public use and compensates the landowner for the taking, has historically pitted the government against homeowners and forced reluctant owners to sell property. In particular, the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Kelo v. City of New London that affirmed the city's power to take non-distressed properties by eminent domain and transfer the land to private developers for the purpose of increasing municipal revenues was seen as a blow to small property owners facing government will. 545 U.S. 469 (2005). However, amidst an achingly slow recovery from the housing crash, the city of Richmond, Calif. is working with struggling homeowners to use eminent domain to prevent further foreclosures.

Image Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images 

As Shaila Dewan recently reported in the Times, more than half of the mortgaged properties in Richmond are underwater and the majority of the city's homeowners are in default or at risk of default. In response to this crisis, the city sent letters to the owners and servicers of more than 600 at-risk loans- most of which are bundled into securitized trusts- offering to buy the loans for what the city considers to be fair market value. The city would then allow the homeowner to refinance at the reduced amount of the fair market value the city paid plus a small difference that would be split among the city and investors and would pay for closing costs. At the refinanced rate, most underwater homeowners would go from being hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt to having overnight equity. In the likely event that the servicers and trustees who hold the risky loans for investors refuse the city's offers to purchase, Richmond is prepared to invoke eminent domain to condemn the properties, force the sale, and provide fair market value compensation to the investors.

Richmond's very public willingness to invoke eminent domain has resulted in pushback from mortgage bankers and real estate industry lobbyists, with mass mailing and media campaigns attempting to decry the city's plan as "impermissible" and "unconstitutional" in violation of the Fifth and/or Fourteenth Amendments. The city responds that the Court's previous decisions allowing the exercise of eminent domain on non-blighted properties provided that the government is taking the land for the public good and is justly compensating the landowner (just compensation is usually determined to be fair market value). See Kelo, 545 U.S. 469 (2005); Berman v Parker, 348 U.S. 26 (1954) (ruling in part that non-blighted properties could be razed and the land transferred to developers if part of a large project involving the clearing of blighted buildings in same parcel). The City of Richmond argues that protection of residents from predatory loans, helping homeowners avoid debt and default, and staving off foreclosures in a community whose municipal revenues have already been slammed by the housing spiral qualifies as "protecting the public good" and a number of other municipalities around the country are taking notice. Later this month, cities and towns in New Jersey, Nevada, Washington, and other parts of California will consider eminent domain proposals and a steady number of housing advocates and non-profits are gearing up for courtroom battles with the banks and investors. As the latest chapter of the housing recovery unfolds in the communities hit hardest by foreclosure and the recession, the long-evolving power of eminent domain is also poised to enter a new chapter in which governments and homeowners are joined
together instead of their common positions as adversaries.

Breaking the Fourth Wall: Week of August 5

Today we continue the weekly "Breaking the Fourth Wall" series that directs the blog's spotlight toward a particularly innovative or promising affordable housing project, luminary, or organization. 

Image Credit: Christopher Connelly/NPR

Many reports have documented the effect of the foreclosure crisis and economic recession on urban neighborhoods. Droves of distressed properties owned by banks and absentee landlords have become blighted, further contributing to a sense of decline in some of America's poorest communities. However, intrepid community activists in Baltimore have undertaken a successul campaign to call attention to rundown buildings and shame neglectful landlords and banks. Carol Ott, who began the Baltimore Slumlord Watch blog to highlight the effect of many decades of absentee ownership and pressure landlords to tend to the deteriorating properties. Ott began her efforts in the hopes of shaming absentee owners in her own neighborhood and her website features pictures of abandoned, neglected, or foreclosed properties and the contact information of the landlords or bank representatives (found by combing public records) who are in charge of the buildings' upkeep. The project's newfound notoriety has attracted a coalition of local street artists to Ott's movement. These artists see Baltimore's more than 16,000 vacant properties (though some peg the number at around 30,000) as blank canvases to express their outrage with the predatory policies of landlords and banks and hope for a brighter future in Baltimore. In East Baltimore's once-vibrant Johnston Square, a group of activists/artists who are part of the Wall Hunters Project quickly set to work painting large murals  depicting the fragility of Baltimore's neighborhoods on the sides of vacant row houses. In a twenty-first century twist, each mural features a large QR code that directs onlookers to a page on Ott's blog detailing the contact information of the person or bank who has allowed the property to languish when they snap a picture of the code with their mobile device. The shaming of absentee landlords and foreclosing entities has led to some tangible results in many of the Charm City's neighborhoods and, perhaps just as importantly, have shown that the relationship between art and grass roots activism is still alive and well in the digital age. 

All Not Golden in Southern California Says Justice Department Investigation

This week, the results of a two-year Justice Department investigation of alleged housing discrimination in Los Angeles County and cities of Lancaster and Palmdale, California were released. The investigation revealed that local housing officials and police harassed and intimidated minority residents who receive Section 8 vouchers and the DOJ has ordered these municipalities to pay $12.5 million in damages to these tenants, an order which the cities are refusing to follow. In a recent interview with NPR's Celeste Headlee, Richard Winton of the Los Angeles Times reported that residents had reported home visits by as many as eight housing officials at once and discrimination in housing availability in the area (known as Antelope Valley) based on race. In one particular egregious instance, a deputy posted a picture of a resident's car and garage on a derogatory Facebook page, which prompted racial epithets directed at that tenant as well as the destruction of property and abject racially-motivated humiliation.

Will the new DOJ findings encourage Lancaster and the
Antelope Valley to return to its progressive slogan?
Photo Credit: Arcadia Publishing 

The county and cities are refusing to pay the amount order by the Justice Department. If the municipalities and the federal government cannot reach a negotiated settlement or if the municipalities do not comply, Winton states that the result could be a court-enforced forced consent decree or appointment of a monitor to oversee local officials and the sheriff's department and issue outside audits. Antelope Valley has had a contentious recent history of housing discrimination and, though the information gleaned from the DOJ's investigation is distressing, perhaps a settlement in which local officials compensate victims of housing discrimination will spur meaningful change in the region's housing practices and approach to building one community in which Housing Choice status is no longer a troubling lever of discrimination.

Disparate Impact Theory Goes to Washington

Disparate impact theory, which looks to results of allegedly discriminatory practices as well as the parties' intent, has been upheld by a variety of federal appeals courts as a valid way to prove housing discrimination. See e.g., Huntington Branch, NAAC v. Town of Huntington, 844 F.2d 926 (2d Cir. 1988).  However, until now, the Supreme Court has been notably silent about disparate impact theory. Two years ago, the Court was poised to hear arguments that a St. Paul, Minn. policy regarding low-cost rentals disproportionately affected minority residents and violated the Fair Housing Act before the city withdrew its appeal and the issue of disparate impact was sidestepped. However, SCOTUS recently agreed to hear the case of a group of African American and Hispanic residents of a Mount Holly, N.J. neighborhood that is set to be bulldozed to make way for a redevelopment project. See Twp. of Mount Holly v. Mount Holly Gardens Citizens in Action, Sup. Ct. Docket No. 11-1507. The neighborhood's residents claim that the redevelopment plan is discriminatory because it targets a predominately minority area and disproportionately affects minorities. While the Third Circuit Court of Appeals held that the community group had presented a triable claim of disparate impact, the Supreme Court will decide whether plaintiffs must prove that they were the target of intentional housing discrimination to prevail in a federal lawsuit. See Mt. Holly Gardens Citizens in Action, Inc. v. Twp. of Mount Holly, 658 F.3d 375 (3d Cir. 2011). The case is set to be heard by the nation's highest court in the fall and, as that date approaches, all fair housing eyes turn toward the nine justices and their long-awaited consideration of disparate impact theory.

Bulldozer tearing up houses in Mount Holly Gardens.
Photo Credit: Kent Pipes (via Huffington Post) 

The SAVE Act: Making it a Little Easier to 'Be Green'?

Image Credit: Energy Star 

Despite the recent push for green construction and remodeling, residential energy efficiency remains expensive. The common practice of lenders to ignore the value of green homes when underwriting mortgages keeps eco-friendly living even further out of reach of most moderate-income homebuyers. However, as The New York Times's Lisa Prevost reports, the Senate's bipartisan SAVE Act could make energy-efficient home features more attainable to these moderate-income buyers by incorporating the "green factor" into lender underwriting policies. See S. 1006 (June 6, 2013). The bill, which was introduced last month by Sens. Michael Bennet (D- Colo.) and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), seeks to "improve the accuracy of mortgage underwriting used by federal mortgage agencies by including a home's expected energy cost savings when determining the value and affordability of energy efficient homes." Specifically, the bill would require the FHA and lenders under federal conservatorship-namely Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac- to consider energy efficiency and energy savings realized when underwriting loans to buyers who submit a HUD home-energy report. These loans that take into account energy savings would recognize the added value that energy efficient features bring to a property and could result in larger amounts of money available to middle class buyers (the bill's supporters say that the risk of larger borrowing amounts is offset by studies that show that homes meeting federal energy guidelines are 32 percent less likely to go into default than homes that do not meet these standards).

The bill, which has broad support from groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Green Building Council, and National Resources Defense Council, is noteworthy not only for its efforts to bring energy conservation into mainstream lending policies but also because it is an uncommon example of politicians reaching across the aisle to collaborate with members of the other party and divergent interest groups. As Senator Bennet stated in his press release regarding the legislation, "it is rare to see such diverse interests come together, and that is because this is a common-sense bill." While the bill seems to hit all the right notes of common sense- including job creation, public-private partnerships, and the expansion of green home affordability- forthcoming debate over the bill may tell us how far common sense can go on Capitol Hill.

Transit Oriented Development and Timely Payments

Image Credit: GTD Aquitaine 

Once again, Kaid Benfield has written a piece worthy of discussion and dissection. Recent research by the NRDC and the Center for Housing Technology has found that, when all other factors are controlled, residents of housing located near public transit and in walkable locations are substantially less likely to default on payments. The study is fascinating and can be accessed here with additional insight by Professor Benfield:

Homes Near Public Transit Are Less Likely to Go Into Default

Rolling the Dice on Foreclosure Mediation in Vegas

Image Credit: RRC Realty 

This blog has chronicled many of the legal efforts to hold lenders more accountable and enter into loan modifications and buyback programs with former mortgagors with an eye on accumulated procedural victories transforming into substantive change. This week, an NPR report on the state of the housing recovery in Las Vegas- the nation's former unofficial foreclosure capital- illustrates the potential for such substantive change. The story focused on the effect of Nevada's Assembly Bill 284 on reducing the number of homeowners in default on their mortgages amidst rebounding home values. The law, which forces banks to prove they have the legal right to foreclose on homes and requires bank workers to sign an affidavit that they have personal knowledge of a property’s document history, was partially responsible for the number of default notices issued in Nevada grinding to a near halt in the past eighteen months. In addition, the law also allowed many homeowners to remain in their homes and use the value of their home- increasing by the week in Vegas's newly hot market- to sell at price points where they can pay off their debts and avoid short sales and foreclosure. The report interviewed several such Nevadans who have avoided the auction block with the help of AB 284, including a woman who went from the brink of foreclosure to facing the rosy future of multiple offers for her Henderson home. While real estate, like Vegas itself, is never a sure bet, strong foreclosure prevention laws have helped level the playing field for mortgagors who were victims of the sandstorm of speculating that preceded the housing crisis. 

Monumental Month for Land Use at SCOTUS

While last week's Supreme Court decisions on affirmative action in higher education, the Voting Rights Act, and same-sex marriage garnered extensive media coverage, the Court's recently-concluded term also produced a historic (though less glamorous) ruling on property rights and land use in America. In Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District, the Court considered the question of what concessions a local government can elicit from a property owner who seeks to develop his or her land in a way that may cause wider environmental or public harm. See Sup. Ct. Docket No. 11-1447, 570 U.S. __ (2013). Though the Koontz case involved the respondent, a land-use agency, proposing that petitioner, a Florida landowner, develop only one acre of his nearly fifteen acre wetlands parcel and and (a) conserve the rest or (b) pay for contractors to make improvements to nearby government-owned wetlands in exchange for a special permit for construction on wetlands, the case focused on whether the department's conditions for permit approval violated the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment. The Court, in a majority opinion written by Justice Alito, appears to expand the definition of what constitutes a governmental taking of land beyond the physical takings of property that were addressed in the previous Nollan v. California Coastal Commission and Dolan v. City of Tigard decisions to include "extortionate demands that…[do not] take property but impermissibly burden the right not to have property taken without just compensation." See 483 U.S. 825 (1987); 512 U.S. 687 (1994).

Photo Credit: Andrew Weinstein 

The expansion of what amounts to a taking and therefore must be subject to constitutional scrutiny (the standard requires a nexus or relationship between the concession sought by the government and the harm to be avoided and proportionality between the concession and harm) represents a victory for landowners and developers. However, many conservation and smart growth advocates have expressed concern that the decision prevents local governments and planning agencies from, in the words of Justice Kagan's dissent, "impos[ing] ordinary financial obligations without triggering the protections of the Takings Clause." These advocates (as well as various legal scholars) worry that policies such as mitigation banks and requirements for developers to contribute to sewage systems would be placed in the same categories as takings and property easements demanded by local governments. As with many of the landmark cases decided by the Court this term, only time will reveal the ripple effects of the ruling. In the meantime, planners, land-use authorities, and developers will likely continue to debate where "financial obligations" that are the government's prerogative to impose end and takings requiring constitutional scrutiny begin.

Beckoning Smart Planning on Beacon Hill

Image Credit: MA Smart Growth Alliance 

Though visitors to Massachusetts often complain about the state's confusing streets patterns, the Commonwealth has remained remarkably resistant to suburban sprawl. In keeping with this spirit, the Massachusetts State House is entertaining an amendment to the state Zoning Act and Subdivision Control Law. See H.B. 1859, "An Act Promoting the Planning and Development of Sustainable Communities." The proposed bill, which was endorsed by the Department of Housing and Community Development, Massachusetts Alliance for Smart Growth, the Department of Public Health and others endorsed following a hearing on Beacon Hill last month, provides a statutory basis for site plan review, consolidates permitting, incorporates reduced requirements for variances, encourages Low Impact Development techniques, and a reformed master planning process. Most interestingly, the bill includes a community "opt-in" in which cities and towns that preserve open spaces in new developments and express commitment to environmentally sustainable projects will receive preferential consideration for funding from the state. David McCay and Brian Casaceli note in Mirick O'Connell's excellent "On Solid Ground" blog that the bill has a long journey to becoming law and follows the path of previous unsuccessful legislative attempts at land use reform but the current climate on Beacon Hill bodes well for a 21st century approach to planning and growing in the historic hub of the nation. 

Breaking the Fourth Wall: Week of June 16

Today we continue the weekly "Breaking the Fourth Wall" series that directs the blog's spotlight toward a particularly innovative or promising affordable housing project, luminary, or organization. 

In her recent piece on crowd funded real estate, Emily Badger profiled Fundrise, a Washington, D.C.-based initiative that serves as a "Kickstarter campaign that may improve neighborhoods." The fund essentially sells small shares of urban renewal projects to neighborhood residents and is making waves in real estate circles for its innovative approach to community development.

Image Credit: Fundriser 

A major bonus of Fundrise's crowd funding model is promoting local ownership of changes to the neighborhood. Real estate development often involves startling changes to urban landscapes. These decisions are usually made by investors who are disconnected from the neighborhood and have little stake in its trajectory. Crowd funding allows residents- even those who only have a small amount of capital to expend- to formulate pro-growth policies at a sustainable pace appropriate for the streets, corners, and squares of individual neighborhoods and not for sweeping redevelopment agendas. Without the developer middlemen, crowd funding presents the opportunity for residents to see (and be surrounded by)  the returns on their investments.

While many commentators express skepticism about the feasibility of Fundrise's future, crowd funding is an exciting alternative to the traditional development model of outside investors taking a gamble on neighborhoods in which they don't live. Whereas breakneck development often displaces longtime residents and prevents those without money from having any say in the future of the neighborhood, Fundrise's low threshold for community engagement might just lead to more inclusive and affordable neighborhoods that embrace change that puts locals first.

Where Do We Come From? Where Are We? Where Are We Going?: Snob Zoning and the Eternal Questions

In her new book, Snob Zones: Fear, Prejudice, and Real Estate (Beacon Press, May 2013), longtime New York Times real estate journalist Lisa Prevost examines the exclusionary zoning policies that have left our cities and towns increasingly segregated by income and have dealt some crushing blows to the affordable housing movement. The decisions of community officials to place onerous (sometimes four-acre) lot requirements and various setback provisions, have blocked the construction of multifamily, mixed-income, and cluster housing in tony suburbs and bucolic country hamlets alike. Prevost centers her coverage on the Northeast, which has been the site of efforts to keep affordable housing out of pricy towns in the name of "low density" or preserving "local character." See Southern Burlington County NAACP v. Twp. of Mount Laurel, 336 A.2d 713 (1975) (holding that a municipality must use its land use regulation to create a variety of housing choices and cannot use its powers for discriminatory purposes); Southern Burlington County NAACP v. Twp. of Mount Laurel, 456 A.2d 390 (1983) (holding that municipality's land use regulation must affirmatively afford the opportunity of low and moderate income housing). Decades after the Mount Laurel decisions, many communities continue to devise subtle zoning policies that result in socioeconomic homogeneity.

Image Credit: Seabord Properties 

Prevost and Princeton sociologist Douglas Massey posit that this segregation is leading to increased levels of income inequality and fearful misunderstanding of people in other economic classes. The conscious decisions of residents of individual municipalities to isolate themselves into groups of "people like us" is having a larger affect on the entire nation as people of different income levels rarely rub elbows or share postal codes. The effects of these decisions is felt in stratified civil society organizations and is still routinely litigated in courtrooms. Last year, the Connecticut Fair Housing Center brought a lawsuit against the the Housing Authority in the predominately white Litchfield County town of Winchester, alleging that the Authority's policies systematically discriminated against minority applicants to its Section 8 program by limiting program applications to residents of the already very white county. See Carter et al v. Hous. Auth. of the Town of Winchester (D. Conn., filed Aug. 1, 2012). The Litchfield example is just one of many court battles over the future of the makeup of American communities. The proliferation of snob zoning, thoughtfully explored in Ms. Prevost's book, has led to a lack of mobility for those seeking affordable housing options across the country and signals further troubling exclusionary decisions made by America's zoning boards.

Breaking the Fourth Wall, Hon: Week of June 9

Today we continue the weekly "Breaking the Fourth Wall" series that directs the blog's spotlight toward a particularly innovative or promising affordable housing project, luminary, or organization. 

Good Morning, Baltimore!

Like many of the interesting issues covered by this blog, today's Breaking the Fourth Wall post is inspired by Professor Kaid Benfield's article in the The Atlantic Cities and an informative public radio interview. The abandoned buildings in Baltimore, the often-overlooked gem overshadowed by other East Coast cities, are undergoing a remarkable transformation and the mayor's office has implemented its Vacants to Value program to encourage a diverse array of Baltimoreans to partake in the city's new chapter. Vacants to Value is unlike many other ambitious citywide redevelopment projects because it focuses on small scale development, small businesses, and smart growth to avoid the common gentrification pitfall of resident displacement.

Image Credit: Baltimore Sun 

Community Enterprise, Community Effort 

The crux of the Vacants to Value program is the encouragement of the purchase and subsequent rehabilitation of many of Baltimore's more than 16,000 blighted properties. In order to stave off the risk of large-scale developers buying properties and charging unaffordable rents, the program is sponsoring a series of community workshops. These workshops teach local residents about buying vacant properties in the hopes that locals will comprise the vast majority of new homeowners. The program is also aimed at facilitating the purchase of individual units in multifamily and mixed-income buildings and creating incentives for buyers to rent out rehabilitated units at affordable rates below market value (a pleasant surprise in an otherwise market-driven initiative). 

Restoring the Charm to "Charm City"

Baltimore is known to those who love it (and even to some of its detractors) as "Charm City" and the Vacant to Values program is committed to preserving the historic charm- think comely brick row houses and, yes, even formstone. Maryland offers impressive historic property tax credits, including a 20% credit for owner-occupied "certified historic structures", and many homeowners are using these credits to make improvements to formerly deserted neighborhoods. 

Banking on the Land Bank

Vacants to Value extends beyond the transformation of Baltimore's distressed buildings. In the unfortunate cases where abandoned properties have to be demolished, the program effectively establishes a land bank, with vacant lots to be used for greenbelts, public parks, and community gardens. Professor Benfield expresses reservations about the program's commitment to sustainability and the land bank element is the best opportunity for Vacants to Value to contribute to Baltimore's green future. 

Image Credit: Maryland Housing 

Though Vacants to Value is a program experiencing growing pains and many skeptics question the likelihood that program will be able remain committed to providing affordable and mixed-income housing in the face of market forces, it represents a conscientious citywide effort to create a more

livable community that can be accessed by residents of all income brackets. Baltimore is a city on the move that still retains a strong local flavor and hopefully Vacants to Value will provide the opportunity for those who stuck by Baltimore during tougher times to enjoy the city's charming new chapter. 

Foreclosure Rate Drops and Optimism Spikes

Image Credit: The Warren Group/ Boston Globe  

This week, a new study released by the Massachusetts Housing Partnership meant more good news for the Commonwealth's foreclosure prevention movement. The study, using metrics from the data firm RealtyTrac, found that the number of foreclosures in the first quarter of 2013 decreased by 65 percent when compared with the same period last year (see graph for previous foreclosure figures). Many experts attribute this drop to the new state law that took effect on November 1, 2012. See St.2012, c. 194. This law, an amendment to M.G.L c. 244, requires lender to inform borrowers of their loan modification rights, mandates that all mortgage assignments be recorded, and created a task force to consider mediation. However, the full effects of this law and its relationship to the foreclosure rate in Massachusetts will not be felt for months and, in the meantime, housing advocates claim that there is always room for improvement, noting that the law does not apply to investment properties and fell short of establishing mandatory foreclosure mediation.

For Foreclosure Prevention Litigation, Procedural Steps Toward Substance?

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons 

In his recent article, "New Formalism in the Aftermath of the Housing Crisis" (PDF), Fordham Law professor Nestor Davidson claims that recent judicial victories that have helped borrowers avoid foreclosure may present a "[problematic] shift too far toward procedural reform over structural efforts to respond to the legacy of the housing crisis." See 93 B.U. L. Rev. 389 (2013). While Professor Davidson raises some important concerns that "formalist" arguments that render foreclosures void- such as banks sending improper notices of default, failing to mention the role of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) as servicer, and failing to serve adequate process- will not create any incentive for lenders to change the substance of their lending practices and make meaningful changes, formalist arguments to void foreclosures do not always yield formalist, procedural results. In Massachusetts, this blog's home base, strong consumer protection laws and a cohort of top-notch legal aid providers have notched some impressive formalist victories that have translated into more opportunities for borrowers facing foreclosure to remain in their homes. See e.g.,  Eaton v. FNMA, 462 Mass. 569 (2012); U.S. Bank Nat'l Ass'n v. Ibanez, 941 N.E.2d 40 (Mass. 2011). In the wake of these landmark foreclosure decisions, laws have been passed (or, in some cases, seriously enforced for the first time) that require lenders to notify borrowers of their loan modification rights and set up face-to-face consultations with borrowers and, in a handful of communities (now including Lynn, MA!) have passed mandatory foreclosure meditation ordinances. It is true that banks have deeper litigation pockets and will begin to find ways to dodge procedural or formalist foreclosure arguments. However, the remarkable judgments won by those victimized by unscrupulous lending practices through these procedural channels have sparked foreclosure prevention with impact far beyond the letter of the law.

Fannie and Freddie Five Years On: Time for Contribution

Image Credit: Center for American Progress 

Nearly five years after the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) of 2008 established the National Housing Trust Fund to build, preserve, and manage affordable rental housing, the U.S. faces an estimated shortage of 7.1 million rental units for low-income and disabled Americans. See Pub.L. 110-289. Despite the grim state of affordable housing, the Federal National Mortgage Association and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac respectively) have recently posted record profits. Fannie and Freddie's improved financial positions have prompted the National Low Income Housing Coalition and others to call for the organizations' to fulfill their statutory requirement to contribute a portion of their profits to the National Housing Trust. This provision was waived when Fannie and Freddie were taken into a conservatorship by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) in late 2008, but after five years and a turnaround in profits, the special protections given to Fannie and Freddie seem to have outlived any utility. As Congress prepares to hold confirmation hearings regarding Mel Watt, President Obama's nominee to succeed Ed DeMarco as FHFA director, serious pressure should be applied to the FHFA to lift the pass given to Fannie and Freddie and force them to contribute their statutorily mandated share to the National Housing Trust. 

Form-Based Codes: Too Many Strings Attached?

In an urban landscape of constant redevelopment projects that incorporate mixed-use areas that decrease the necessity for long-distance travel, transect zoning has risen to present a viable and popular alternative to traditional Euclidian zoning patterns that compartmentalize areas based on a single purpose (e.g. housing, office space, commercial activity). In its popular contemporary form, transect zoning is the realization of New Urbanist ideals, in which a city is divided into zones that naturally progress from dense cores to natural progression of urban development from more to less dense. The SmartCode, developed by Duany Plyter-Zybeck & Company in 2003, and all subsequent related transect zoning codes call for the list of features extolled by the Center for Applied Transect Studies such as walkable streets, mixed use, transportation options, and diversity of housing options, even in less dense zones.

Image Credit: Plan El Paso 

With such ambitious and attractive visions, it is easy to see why transect zoning has become the favored model for much of today's urban planning and land use regulation. However, Notre Dame law professor Nicole Stelle Garnett's recent article balances admiration of transect zoning's promises with skepticism of the costs and restrictions associated with these zoning patterns and their closely related form-based codes. Nicole Stelle Garnett, Redeeming Transect Zoning? 79 Brook. L. Rev. (2013). Officially, form-based codes are merely regulatory mechanisms that allow local governments to combat urban sprawl, reverse the deterioration of historic neighborhoods, and support transit-oriented development (all, in this blog's humble opinion, worthy objectives). But these form-based codes are often tied to a particular New Urbanist aesthetic in order to create visible indicators of various transect zones, reverse decades-old troubling development trends, and build consensus among residents of neighborhoods transformed by transect zoning. This imposition of a uniform architectural standard can incur high compliance costs, require the securing of expensive design services and building materials, and raises important policy concerns of legally implementing a particular urban aesthetic. Form-based codes also often include confusing planning jargon that Professor Garnett warns runs the risk of unconstitutional vagueness. See Anderson v. City of Issaquah, 851 P.2d 744 (Wash. Ct. App. 1993). Garnett suggests that municipalities implement mixed-use land environments without attaching the strings of New Urbanist design principles. While this "no strings attached" approach may encounter resistance from some urban planners, the proposed mixed-use land regulations provide a means for cities to achieve the desirable goals of smart growth, historic preservation, walkability, and diverse housing stock without imposing architectural uniformity and prohibitive compliance costs. 

Image Credit: Center for Applied Transect Studies 

Breaking the Fourth Wall: Week of May 22

Today we continue the weekly "Breaking the Fourth Wall" series that directs the blog's spotlight toward a particularly innovative or promising affordable housing project, luminary, or organization. 

Image Credit: Union Studio Architects 

In keeping with this week's Rhode Island theme, today we travel to the idyllic coastal setting of Tiverton, R.I., where green innovations, artistic energy, and New England-style community spirit are fueling a remarkable affordable housing endeavor. Sandywoods Farm, a 170-acre community that features 74 single-family homes, 50 of which will be affordable rental units, combines Rhode Island's agricultural past with an industrious future.

Winds of Change

Perhaps the most striking attribute of Sandywoods Farm is the progressive and sustainable force that drives it. A 250-KW wind turbine was recently constructed to provide 85 percent of the community's required energy and underscores Union Studio Architecture & Community Design's mission of creating an affordable development project that is "ecologically sensitive." Wind energy has expanded rapidly in the coastal communities of Rhode Island and Massachusetts in recent years, but Sandywoods Farm may be the first incorporation of a turbine in affordable housing. In addition to wind energy, many of the community's homes were built with

Image Credit: Union Studio 

sustainable materials like partially recycled fiberglass pre-finished siding, renewable bamboo flooring, high-efficiency heat pumps, and passive solar canopies.

An Artistic Touch 

Though a variety of people will undoubtedly take up residence in Sandywoods' 50 affordable rental units and 24 market-rate homes, the project's principals designed Sandywoods Farm with artists in mind. Many policymakers' hands have been wrung in the effort to provide affordable housing and work space for artists in today's increasingly creative-based economy and Sandywoods represents a meaningful effort to make these spaces attainable for working artists. Half the tenants chosen for Sandywoods' affordable rental units are working artists in Rhode Island, who provide an undeniable creative energy to the community and are planning to utilize many of the community's common spaces for artistic performance and installation aimed at the entire Tiverton community.

Blending New Urbanism and Old-Time Community

Image Credit: Union Studio 

The community's aesthetic incorporates many elements praised by the "New Urbanism" and the disciples of famous urban theorist Jane Jacobson. Sandywoods Farm features homes with broad front porches, walkable sidewalks and streets, community walking trails linked to Tiverton, and a community house ("Grange Hall") that encourage neighbor interaction and a strong sense of community. Implementation of New Urbanist principles works hand in hand with historical development patterns of the New England village, and the cozy cluster of Sandywoods' homes combines the community-oriented goals of the old and new.

Back to the Future of Farming 

Tiverton has long been an agrarian community and Sandywoods Farm seeks to continue this farming legacy well into the twenty-first century. The community is surrounded by agricultural land, boasts a "resident farmer" and Americorps volunteer who facilitates agricultural and arts education programs at the Grange Hall, and a community garden. The bounty from the community garden is shared with the local community beyond the edge of Sandywoods at community markets held at the Grange Hall.

An Immodest Proposal: Affordable Housing 'More Powerful than a Locomotive'

Image Credit: Providence Journal 

Bank of America's recent decision to vacate the iconic Industrial Trust Tower (better known as the "Superman" Building) has left the tallest building in Providence, R.I. empty. Immediately after the bank's departure, High Rock Development took ownership of the property and submitted a proposal to the State of Rhode Island and City of Providence requesting nearly $54 million in public funds for construction of luxury apartments in the building. This proposal has been met with resistance from Rhode Islanders who support the introduction of new businesses and affordable housing to downtown Providence. Affordable housing advocates note that Rhode Island, home of the nation's sixth-highest unemployment rate (9.1%), does not need more luxury housing that is out of reach of many Rhode Islanders. Recently, NPR conducted interviews with Providence residents waiting for the bus at downtown's Kennedy Plaza and suggestions for Rhode Island's tallest building's future included housing that met the needs of people of all incomes. NPR's Jacki Lyden notes the Industrial Trust Tower plays a pivotal physical and emotional presence in the Ocean State and her observation begs the question: why can't affordable housing be at the front and center of a city's skyline? Affordable housing developments are often implemented in neighborhoods far from downtown business cores and plans to incorporate so-called "low-income" housing in central locations are shuttered by investors and real estate developers. If state and local officials are going to    provide the Superman Building's owners with tens of millions of public dollars, then they should use their political posture to influence developers to put the building to a viable commercial and residential purpose for the common good. A mixed-income, mixed-use building that integrates new commercial space and a significant number of affordable units as well as market-rate options would contribute to Providence's decades-long rebirth as a regional economic and artistic hub and improve access to housing and commercial opportunities in a state recovering from economic woes.

Breaking the Fourth Wall: Week of May 15 (Pocket Full of Affordability)

Today we continue the weekly "Breaking the Fourth Wall" series that directs the blog's spotlight toward a particularly innovative or promising affordable housing project, luminary, or organization. 

Image Credit: Univ. of Arkansas CDC

Sometimes, even in the world of affordable housing, smaller is better. Earlier this year, the American Institute of Architects agreed and bestowed a 2013 Honor Award for Regional & Urban Design upon the Downtown Little Rock Community Development Corporation and University of Arkansas Design Center for their Rock Street Pocket Housing Project. The project, which consists of units clustered to comprise a "pocket neighborhood"- a small-scale, mid-density neighborhood centered around a landscaped common green space- is providing a much-needed revitalization to the Little Rock's Pettaway Park. The AIA noted that the Rock Street Pocket Housing was notable for providing what planners call the "missing middle" in affordable housing options that is rare in 21st century development. This "missing middle" refers to housing built "between the scales of the single-family house and mid-rise flats...idea for leveraging quality in an affordable housing setting." Rock Street's attractive, gabled bungalow court blends with the architectural heritage of Pettaway Park, an inner-core neighborhood developed mainly between the 1920s and 1940s- while incorporating principles of sustainability, transit-oriented planning, and design innovation that are poised to set the future standard for affordable housing development.

Pocket Full of Green Thinking 

The Rock Street Pocket Housing project arrives at practical solutions through simple but elegant green methods. In response to the neighborhood's chronic flooding concerns from the nearby Arkansas River, the project includes a natural, low impact filtration system that utilizes "rain gardens" and filter strips to stem flooding. The project also features lamination trenches, bioswales, and permeable weirs to slow the rate of flow and, remove silt and pollution from surface runoff, and absorb moisture to enrich the soil and increase vegetation.

Pocket Full of Transit

Located less than one mile from Downtown Little Rock, the Rock Street Pocket Housing also has tremendous transit potential, particularly in a city such as Little Rock that is not known as a public transit model. The project could be a shining example of how residents can reduce their driving dependency and carbon emissions, as Rock Street Pocket Housing is a short walk to a variety of businesses and commercial offerings in the downtown core, schools, parks, and health clinics. Additionally, three of the major bus routes connect the neighborhood to most of Greater Little Rock. 

Pocket Full of Community

The defining attribute of the Rock Street Pocket House project is its central common green spaces and communal pooling of resources to manage storm water infrastructure and maintain the shared lawns, driveways, and community playground. The communal nature, in addition to keeping costs down and enhancing the affordability of the neighborhood's units, encourages stewardship and shared community identity among residents. The occupants of Rock Street's affordable units become grass-roots stakeholders in the preservation and success of the project's mission and the continuation of transit-oriented affordable housing in Little Rock.

For more information and pictures about the pocket neighborhood in Little Rock's Pettaway Park, visit the University of Arkansas' Community Design Center site. 

Credit must be given to NRDC Sustainable Communities Director Professor Kaid Benfield's article, which first alerted me to the pocket house developments in Little Rock and the AIA awards. 

Granting New Life to Distressed Properties

Image Credit: Fall River/New Bedford Housing Partnership

Last year's much-publicized $26 billion foreclosure settlement with leading lenders is translating into new opportunities for the glut of distressed and vacant bank-owned properties in communities across the country. In Massachusetts, Attorney General Martha Coakley announced her office's Distressed Properties Identification and Revitalization grant (DPIR), which will allocate $1 million to aid cities and towns across the Commonwealth in their efforts to restore vacant properties to full use. The project, which is the result of collaboration between the AG's office and Massachusetts' Registers of Deeds, encourage partnerships among communities that receive DPIR grants and is especially targeted at "Gateway Cities" that bore the brunt of the foreclosure crisis and consequently have the state's highest rates of distressed and vacant properties. Some of the Gateway Cities, such as Fall River and New Bedford, are being encouraged to submit joint applications. According to the AG's office, the deadline to apply for a grant is June 13. This blog will feature more stories about similar grant programs implemented in other states utilizing the funds from the multi-state foreclosure practices settlement.

The Ambivalent Response to "Self-Sufficiency Strategies"

It's no secret that public housing waiting lists in both large and small cities across the country are staggeringly long. In cities like Washington, D.C., waiting lists can stretch to up to a decade and, in recent years, tens of thousands of people have lined up outside public housing authority (PHA) offices in places like East Point, Ga. just to apply for newly available units and vouchers. In order to address concerns and frustrations of those residents on the waiting lists and to ease the pressure placed on PHAs, some housing authorities are adopting controversial practices regarding how available public housing slots are filled. These practices, often called "self-sufficiency strategies", have existed in a limited number of municipalities through federal approval since HUD's 1996 "Moving to Work" demonstration project and include incentives for public housing applicants to enroll in school or attain job placement and stricter time limits on a person's eligibility for vouchers or public housing.

Image Credit: Chicago Housing Authority 

Jennifer Levitz of the Wall Street Journal reports that as many as 39 PHAs have already set these restrictions. In Tacoma, Wash., residents are only eligible for rental vouchers and public housing for five years, a term modeled after the limits placed on TANF welfare benefits recipients in the 1990s (San Mateo, Calif. and San Antonio, Tx. are also planning to implement similar time limits in the coming months). Alternatively, PHAs have established incentives for applicants to become employed, engage in community service, or enroll in school full-time in order to be prioritized on the waiting list. The Tacoma pilot program that introduced voucher and housing eligibility term limits also includes rental-support vouchers for residents who take active roles in their children's schools. In Worcester, Mass., the Worcester Housing Authority received federal clearance to add employment and full-time schooling requirements to federally-run public housing in the city and hopes to adopt similar practices on all PHA-run properties in the future. Larger cities like Houston and Milwaukee that face even more daunting waiting lists are also seeking such approval.

Crowd queuing to apply for vouchers in East Point, Ga. (2010)
Image Credit: Atlanta Journal-Constitution 

Proponents of these conditions, which have received broad support from the Obama Administration, maintain that they are aimed at promoting residents' economic independence and more efficiently opening up the finite supply of public housing and available rental vouchers to clogged waiting lists and increased demand. However, opponents have expressed concerns that incentives prevent those most in need of housing placement and vouchers- those who cannot afford to enroll in school full-time or are not able to find the employment necessary to qualify for a waiting list boost- from being able to receive housing assistance. Additionally, Linda Couch, Senior VP for Policy and Research at the National Low Income Housing Coalition, notes that the imposition of time limits on housing and voucher eligibility would terminate families' housing assistance prematurely and create a cycle where terminated families would be forced back onto the waiting list for more assistance. In her statement to the WSJ, Ms. Couch summed up the counterargument to self-sufficiency strategies, saying "The answer is more affordable housing; it's not moving the deck chairs on the Titanic."

And so, dear reader, I throw the question to you. Do you think the rise of housing eligibility time limits and waiting list incentives encourage self-sufficiency and are a viable method to address the difficult supply-and-demand problems faced by PHAs? Do you believe that these strategies promote anything but self-sufficiency and are restrictive to the point of creating a cycle of dependency, disenfranchise those who display the greatest need for housing assistance, and ignore the pressing need for more affordable housing in the U.S.? As always, I welcome your comments and can't wait to hear from you!

Breaking the Fourth Wall: Week of May 8

Today we continue our weekly "Breaking the Fourth Wall" series that directs the blog's spotlight toward a particularly innovative or promising affordable housing project, luminary, or organization. 

Image Credit: Norris Design 

The object of today's Breaking the Fourth Wall affection is the Mariposa project in Denver's La Alma/Lincoln Park district. Mariposa has received high praise in recent months- notably from Professor Kaid Benfield in his article for The Atlantic Cities and on the NRDC's excellent Switchboard blog- and for good reason. The project, owned and managed by the Denver Housing Authority (DHA), is a mixed-income redevelopment effort that is unlike many other mixed-income initiatives in that it expresses a true commitment to maintaining the 270 public housing units while infusing the neighborhood with new services, commercial opportunities, and transit options. Mariposa checks every box in affordable housing innovation- it is a green community, a sterling example of transit-oriented development, and has flourished through consultation and collaboration with current low-income residents.

Energy Efficiency 

Image Credit: Mithūn 

Mariposa, like many other developments in Denver, is committed to creating a community that thrives on being green. Last year, the Mariposa completed the first phase of the middle-income and market-rate homes being added to the preserved affordable housing units, which included 100 LEED-Platinum apartments. These energy-efficient new homes are aimed at reducing pollution, controlling stormwater runoff, and curbing inefficient wastes in Mariposa. The project's master plan also includes a "green streets" initiative with lush tree plantings, broad sidewalks, and street patterns that promote walking and community engagement.

Transit Oriented Development

Mariposa's plan also encourages connection to public transit, with a promenade for direct light rail access. The plan's forthcoming phases also include efforts to create a stronger transit node at the neighborhood's 10th and Osage Station and increase residents' connectivity to the Santa Fe Arts District and many of Denver's cultural offerings. The transit orientation of Mariposa also presents residents greater access to access employment opportunities, high-quality healthcare, and the downtown core. On a note that combines transit accessibility and green living, the neighborhood will also be linked to the Cherry Creek and Platte River bike trails.

Community Partnerships

Perhaps Mariposa's most refreshing feature is the effort taken by the DHA to coordinate their redevelopment plans with the current residents of La Alma/Lincoln Park. In order to alleviate some of the pressures faced by low-income residents faced with the arrival of gentrifiers, the DHA undertook a process of identifying the highest priority issues of neighborhood residents, created a Resident Transition Plan focused on preventing the displacement and dissatisfaction of residents, and held a series of public meeting where community input was solicited, encouraged, and integrated into the planning process and final plan. Results of these public meetings and
cooperation with community organizations include plans for opening a health clinic in the neighborhood as well as expanding of ESL/GED classes, and childcare resources. 

The much-feted Mariposa community looks to be a model for sustainable, attractive, transit-oriented, and community-based development for residents of all incomes. It preserves affordable housing and community identity while introducing a host of new services and amenities to a culturally diverse Denver neighborhood and could serve as an example for affordable housing development in other cities undergoing rapid change and redevelopment. 

The National Mortgage Settlement: Abuses to be Revisited and Re-litigated?

Wall of foreclosure notices in Mich. Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

One year after helping to negotiate the landmark $25 billion settlement for struggling homeowners affected by the illegal foreclosure practices of five major lenders, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced plans to sue Bank of America and Wells Fargo for failure to comply with terms of the agreement. In recent months, Schneiderman's office has compiled more than 300 allegations of these institutions' violations of key settlement provisions, including failure to process homeowner requests for lower loan payments in a timely manner and refusing to allow homeowners to submit missing documents to stave off foreclosure. The settlement, which was a response from prosecutors in a variety of states to fraudulent mortgage investments by lenders, included the possibility of future litigation if banks did not comply. AG Schneiderman sent a letter to Joe Smith, head of the committee that was assigned to monitor the National Mortgage Settlement, in which he stated his plans to sue the lenders if the banks' practices are not addressed and fixed at the committee's urging. While it is not currently clear if other prosecutors will join Schneiderman, state prosecutors in California and Iowa worked with the New York Attorney General on the initial settlement and may also file suit in response to allegations received by their states' consumer protection divisions. More information about the lenders' broader compliance with the National Mortgage Settlement when the oversight committee releases its independent report about the status and effects of the settlement next month.

Net-Zero Energy Development is Positive for Affordable Housing

Image Credit: Joe Mahoney, Richmond Times-Dispatch

The trend of constructing zero-energy buildings that consume a net zero amount of energy and annual carbon emissions has supplemented the robust green building movement but has also been criticized as unaffordable and improbable to implement on a wide scale. Even reasonably priced recent developments in Frederick, Md. and Traverse City, Mich. are out of reach for many renters who qualify for affordable housing units. However, the increase of green tax incentives and ZEB (zero-energy building) subsidies offered to housing authorities and developers by state and local governments has finally led to the application of net zero-energy initiatives to affordable housing. In recent months, projects like the Beckstoffer's Mill apartments in Richmond, Va., which offer units that are priced below market rate and are targeted at low-income and elderly populations, have opened to great fanfare from residents, community organizations, and sustainability advocates for their reduced dependency on electrical grids. In addition to tangible environmental benefits, this reduced energy consumption translates into substantial utilities savings for low-income renters and works to address the disparity between housing prices and incomes in many of America's neighborhoods. Though presenting additional initial costs, the principles of zero-energy construction dovetail nicely with many of the policies and attempts to find long-term solutions underlying affordable housing development at large. The savings realized from reduced energy costs, both by municipalities and development residents, means more available funds for a variety of other public works programs and additional money for residents to allocate to other costs, such as transportation and food, that are often closely linked with housing expenses. Zero-energy developments are "green" in every sense of the word and point to the future of affordable housing policies that will build upon decades of innovative approaches to solving tensions within communities by incorporating the promise of energy innovation into the very materials that comprise new and refitted affordable units. It may be getting a little easier to be green after all.

Obama's Newest Nominees and Affordable Housing

As he passed the 100-day threshold of his second term in the White House, President Obama announced the nominations of two North Carolina politicians for cabinet and senior-level positions that could have direct and indirect effects on affordable housing. On Monday, the President announced his nomination of Charlotte, N.C. Mayor Anthony Foxx to replace Ray LaHood as Secretary of Transportation and, on Wednesday, followed up by tapping Congressman Mel Watt (D-NC) to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which oversees the Federal Housing Administration, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac. 

Image Credit: U.S. House of Reps.

The nomination of Watt, an 11-tem member of Congress, longtime member of the House Financial Services Committee, and former Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, presents more direct opportunities for affordable housing because of his history as a consumer advocate and past stances favoring the reduction of principals on government-backed mortgages to help defaulting homeowners avoid foreclosure and increase access to affordable housing. However, Richard Michael Price of Nixon Peabody's Affordable Housing practice notes that Watt's liberal political stances and views on the housing recovery could pose impediments to his confirmation by Senate Republicans, particular Senators Bob Corker (R-TN) and Mike Crapo (R-ID). 

Image Credit: Urban Land Institute

While seemingly more attenuated to affordable housing, Foxx's nomination and possible confirmation could indeed be a positive sign for housing initiatives. Mayor Foxx has implemented a variety of progressive transportation policies in Charlotte, including bike-to-work campaigns, a light rail system, and airlink, and has expressed support for transit oriented development (TOD). Such TOD advocacy could result in further coordination between the DOT and HUD and incentives for developers and urban planners to construct affordable housing units that are close to public transit and provide residents with easy access to employment, educational, and vibrant commercial opportunities. 

Designing the Nuts and Bolts of Accessible Housing

Image Credit: ADA 

This past week, the Department of Justice and HUD released a joint statement summarizing the new accessibility guidelines for compliance with the Fair Housing Act. The Act's accessibility guidelines affect multifamily dwellings with four or more dwelling units that were constructed for first occupancy after March 13, 1991. See 42 U.S.C. §3604(f)(3). The Fair Housing Act guidelines, distinct from the similar Americans with Disabilities Act criteria, are aimed at providing easily accessible rental housing to Americans of all physical abilities and curbing ability-based housing discrimination. The current joint statement provides clarity for developers, designers, and managers of these dwellings and encourages compliance with the Act's disability provisions. At its core the HUD and DOJ guidelines articulate the seven requirements of (1) an accessible building entrance on an accessible route; (2) accessible and usable public common areas; (3) usable doors; (4) accesible into and through the covered dwelling unit; (5) light switches, electrical outlets, thermostats, and other environmental controls in accessible locations; (6) reinforced walls for grab bars; and (7) usable kitchens and bathrooms. The core requirements, which apply differently to various buildings based upon features such as elevators and garages, focus on accessibility and usability of housing units and common areas and are supplemented by instructions relating to additions, alterations, and renovations of buildings covered by the Act. The statement offers a relatively succinct wealth of information about compliance with Fair Housing accessibility regulations and also provides more resources about the specific regulations concerning design and construction practices that are consistent with fair housing policies.