Oregonian Locked Out Fair/Affordable Housing Series: A 1 Year Update.

It's been a year since the June 2012 Oregonian Locked Out series on affordable and fair housing.  I thought an update on my understanding of progress to date to address issues related to the series might be timely.

LIHTC and QAP (My prior post is HERE).

1. The QAP has a provision for a basis boost for low poverty neighborhoods. 
2. The QAP has  a provision permitting affirmatively furthering fair housing waivers.
3. The QAP has a commitment to facilitate over the next six months a work group to research and recommend Fair Housing policies for program adoption that will be incorporated into Permanent Rules.
4. I successfully merged HUD LIHTC data with ACS poverty data for Oregon projects and recommended that HUD do the same for their national database (Prior post is HERE). I anticipate that OHCS staff will add 2010 Census Track/BG ID's to their LIHTC database to make merging with ACS and other GEO data easier.

Voucher Mobility Agreement with Home Forward and Clackamas County (My prior post is HERE). 

1. Clackamas county has requested from the local HUD Field Office a 120% FMR exception payment standard rents for large bedroom sizes, but I am not sure of the outcome of their request. (My post HERE explains how ANY housing authority may research and, if appropriate, file a request for HUD approval of exception payment standards from 110-120% of FMR).
2. Both Clackamas County and Multnomah County have selectively adopted higher payment standards (up to 110% of the FMR) for different areas.  Home Forward payment standards, which also show Clackamas County zip codes are HERE. I don't have any current information on how many fewer vouchers were issued because of the use of these higher payment standards.
3. I don't have any information on how many Home Forward vouchers are in use in Clackamas County and vice versa. I expect a full update on program outcomes some time after the July 1st anniversary of the agreement.

City of Portland
Has published an annual update to their Fair Housing Plan

Lake Oswego

1. Has repealed the Foothills Urban Renewal plan and $6 million in affordable housing funding. 
2. Is in the process of removing several improvements in their draft comprehensive plan related to housing.
3. Is considering $5 million in fee waivers and other concessions for a 240 unit apartment project in an existing downtown urban renewal area that would have starting monthly rents of $1,500. 

West Linn
Nada; an update to their existing comp plan is delayed indefinitely.

Clackamas County
Published a new Analysis of Impediments.


Washington County

1. For unincorporated areas the County Commission adopted an ordinance that provides, for the first time, property tax exemptions for affordable housing projects. (Staff analysis of the proposed ordinance is HERE. Ordinance 761, adopted March 26, 2013 is HERE).

Metro 

1. Has a lengthy equity planning process, and has recently received applications for an equity working group. 
2. Participated in the development of a national Housing /Transportation affordability portal. (Prior post HERE).
3. An updated Equity Atlas is scheduled to be released in June. 
4. Has funded a mobility pilot program for voucher holders (I don't know current status). 
5. MPAC has affordable housing on the agenda for a June 26th meeting.  
6. Has taken no action to incorporate affordable housing in the evaluation of local applications for the use of Construction Excise funds. (My prior post is HERE).

Did I Miss Something? 
IF I have missed any relevant Fair Housing related actions in the Portland metro area in the last year, feel free to add a comment, with links to relevant documents. 

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Updated: New Jersy Publishes Proposed LIHTC Qualifed Allocation Plan With Changes to Increase Housing Choice.

Updated: I found the reference to LIHTC concentration on page 36 and have bookmarked and highlighted it in the PDF file and have changed references in text below. 
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Readers my recall a prior post HERE with PR indicating the NJ was going to revise their selection criteria for Low Income Housing Tax Credit projects. The PR said the purpose was to:

"..increase the construction of affordable units in high achieving school districts, encourage the development of mixed income properties and limit further development in areas already containing large amounts of federal and state financed low and moderate income housing."

Today NJ published the draft rule in the New Jersey Register and I have downloaded a copy HERE.  Comments will be accepted until August 31st. 

A summary on page 12 of the proposed QAP shows these changes related to schools and jobs/housing imbalances: 

III. add a new N.J.A.C. 5:80-33.15(a)14iii to provide two points for projects that are fully located within an elementary school district wherein 66 percent or more of the students are either proficient or advanced proficient on the most recent NJ ASK 4 in both math and language arts based on the most recent data available from the New Jersey Department [page=1824] of Education as of the application deadline; and IV. add a new N.J.A.C. 5:80-33.15(a)14iv to provide two points for projects that are fully located within a municipality with fewer housing units than total public and private sector jobs and to provide that, in order to confirm that a project satisfies this point category, the Agency will use the annual average of total public and private sector jobs for the most recent full year available as of the application deadline from the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce
Development Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, Municipal Annual Reports, and the number of housing units according to the most recent available five-year American Community Survey, Table B25001, U.S. Department of the Census as of the application deadline;

Page 36 references the (generous) limit on the concentration of LIHTC units.

 17. Projects located in census tracts wherein 30 percent or more of the existing housing units are low income housing tax credit units shall not be eligible for funding unless the following criteria are met:
i. The project must be part of a community revitalization plan;
ii. The project does not add more low-income units to the census tract;
iii. The project plan includes relocation options to higher opportunity areas and mobility counseling assistance for existing residents; and                    iv. The application includes a municipal resolution that references this paragraph (N.J.A.C. 5:80-33.12(c)17) and supports the allocation of housing tax credits for the development.

I didn't readily see any specifics about policies to limit development where there is a documented concentrations of subsidized housing; I am sure others will provide additional insight and comment on the specifics of the proposed NJ QAP and I will do additional posts as that commentary becomes available. 

Oregon's Qualified Allocation Plan for this year is HERE.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Update: Portland Metro Housing Choice Gets Big Boost with HACC and Home Forward Voucher Mobility Pilot.

Update: Home Forward has PR on their website HERE. 

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Home Forward and the Housing Authority of Clackamas County have taken a substantial step to improve housing choice for the 7,500+ HUD housing choice tenant based rental voucher holders in Clackamas and Multnomah counties. 

On June 21st Clackamas County Commissioners authorized the Housing Authority of Clackamas County to enter into a housing voucher mobility pilot MOU with HOME Forward that will begin on July 1. The Board for Home Forward had approved a similar resolution on May 15th.

More background and a version of that MOU can be found in Home Forward YTD Board Packages link HERE in the right pane. (Be patient, the file will take a few moments to view; the MOU is from the May 15th meeting and begins at [current] pdf page 163).   

I would check the Clackamas County Housing Authority and Home Forward websites frequently for updated and complete information about this new cross county effort to improve housing choice. 

My understanding is that, effective for new vouchers issued after July 1 (and for vouchers renewing after Sept 1):

1. Voucher holders in each county will be able to freely use their vouchers in either county. 
2. Each county will keep full funding authority for their vouchers, whether used in their county or in the neighboring county. 
3. The two housing authorities have developed a standardized set of understandings about how inspections, rent determinations, and utility allowances will be determined and who does what. 
4. The housing authorities will conduct expanded outreach to landlords and tenants to explain how the changes will work.

Clackamas County Payment Standards Moving to Zip Code Level to Better Capture Local Market Conditions. 
As part of this pilot Clackamas County is also adopting changes in their payment standards to move them to the zip code level for the first time (Home Forward already uses zip code level payment standards).

Use of more localized payment standards can make vouchers more attractive to landlords as rents will better reflect local market conditions and can also lead to expanded housing choice and opportunity for voucher holders. 

Lake Oswego and West Linn Receive Biggest Boosts to Housing Payment Standards
Readers will recall the recent Oregonian LOCKED OUT story HERE that detailed very little use of HUD housing vouchers in Lake Oswego and West Linn. 

Zip codes in Lake Oswego and West Linn (97034, 97035, and 97068) will move to 110% of the HUD published Portland Metro area Fair Market Rent, the maximum level the housing authority can approve. The 2 bedroom voucher payment standard in these three zip codes will increase by 10% to $980 from the prior $891 payment standard. 

Payment standards are also increasing from their current level in other Clackamas County zip codes; I do not have details so you will need to check with Housing Authority of CC for details in these other zip codes.

Note that voucher rents for individual units in both counties will continue to be subject to housing authority rent reasonableness determinations; this means that a voucher rent for a specific unit will not automatically be at the new payment standard for that zip code, but will also reflect the competitive features and condition of the unit.

Editorial Comment: This is the most concerted and coordinated effort I have seen to date to improve housing choice for HUD voucher holders in Oregon. 

I applaud the staff and leadership in both housing authorities for doing the detailed grunt work required to think through the coordination of work flow and the standardization of procedures and also to the HA Boards for having the confidence to move beyond "turf issues". 

I hope that robust outreach to landlords and tenants will address some of the concerns that landlords have historically had about the use of vouchers and will expand voucher holder willingness to consider opportunity areas outside of their normal comfort zone. 

While there are likely to be hiccups along the way that require program tweaks, this effort will test:

1. How willing voucher tenants are to USE the more robust housing choice offered by this pilot.
2. How willing suburban landlords, especially in Lake Oswego and West Linn, are to USE the largest HUD rental program in Oregon. [The absence of LIHTC projects (who are required to accept voucher holders) may impact this metric].

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

New Lake Oswego Foothills Framework Plan and Affordable Housing, Three Strikes: No Action Items, No Unit Commitment, No Financial Commitment.

LO has published HERE the draft Revised Foothills Framework Plan for review by the Foothills Citizen Advisory Commission [CAC] for a Thursday June 21st meeting.

Following a Foothills Oversight Committee meeting on June 28th, the LO City Council is scheduled to act on this plan on Tuesday July 10th.

The draft revised plan, for the first time, includes an affordable housing section; that's pretty much where the Foothills affordable housing good news ends.

The draft revised plan contains no affordable housing action items, no affordable housing unit goals, and no affordable housing financial commitment.  This is especially disappointing given that a recent front page Oregonian story pointed out that Lake Oswego (and West Linn) had virtually no affordable government assisted rentals and had long delayed implementing prior affordable housing recommendations and production targets. 

Because of these omissions and because the Foothills Plan would increase the total Lake Oswego rental housing stock by 27%, the questions I asked previously remain relevant today: 

• If not Foothills , Where? 
• If not Now, When? 

My detailed comments sent to the City for transmittal to the CAC prior to the meeting are HERE. 

In the absence of any affordable housing production goals in the Framework Plan I constructed a table on the last page of my comments. It shows an estimated number of  affordable rental units by phase at the 60% and 80% median family income levels using the current LO housing needs analysis that indicates that 35% of LO rental housing need is below 60% MFI, and 10% is between 60-80% MFI.

I am hopeful that the Foothills CAC will be as responsive to improvements as has the Lake Oswego Comp Plan CAC, and will be attending the Thursday meeting to try to assist in that process.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.





 

Updated: NLIHC Highlights Donovan Comments on Mobility/Preservation Policy Goal.

Update: 
Ustream video embed of his speech is below; quote starts at 22:48; direct link to video is HERE.
 

Video streaming by Ustream
M2M story is HERE; Sec says this about his goal:

..to make sure that every neighborhood, no matter where it starts, is moving on the path to greater opportunity. That is an important point that is too often lost. While we can have disagreements about means to an end, the end is really to get to integrated, vital neighborhoods of opportunity. It could be a neighborhood today that has opportunity but is closed to low income families and families of color; it is also the reverse, taking neighborhoods that have been cut off from opportunity and that have concentrated poverty that we are moving on the path of becoming a neighborhood of greater opportunity.”

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Oregonian OP ED's, Editorials, and Columns on Affordable Housing/Fair Housing Series, June 2012.

I have created an easy reference to the 8 op ed's, editorials, and columns that have run to date since the publication of the Oregonian's June 2012 LOCKED OUT series on affordable housing/fair housing in the Portland metro area. (The latest ran today from Sam Chase, a Metro Councilperson elect). 

The PDF file, with the author, the date of publication [with link to Oregon Live web post], and the title of the publication is HERE.

Originally created and posted on the Oregonian Housing Blog.

Lake Oswego Mayor Comes out for Mandate on Affordable Housing in Foothills.

Interesting Oregonian column from Lake Oswego resident Steve Duin HERE on affordable housing and loss of families in Lake Oswego. Says that Mayor Hoffman is "with me" on the need for LO family friendly policies: 

LO Mayor Jack Hoffman is with me on this. When the city or its council decides that young families are a priority, he reminds us, there are numerous ways to welcome them: tax breaks, zoning changes, reduced utility rates, a mandate for affordable housing in the Foothills. 

This is good news. 

The even better news is that the opportunity to demonstrate that support for affordable housing will be readily available in a series of Foothills related meetings occurring over the next month. 

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Home Forward Board Packet Has Annual Moving to Work Report, New Payment Standards at Higher Cost.

Right pane link to Home Forward YTD Board Packages has been updated with material for June 19th meeting. 

• The MTW annual report starts on page 30.
• June 1st payment standard changes are reported starting on page 78, with a map on page 85. Projected  3 year cost of this second round of higher payment standards totals $751,284 vs. $1.3 million for previously approved higher payment standards--an increase of 58% because of this second round of payment standard increases. Total increased 3 year costs because of payment standard increases appears to be $2.051 million.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog. 

Oregonian Locked Out Editorial and Home Forward Op Ed.

Sunday Oregonian has editorial HERE following up 4 front page story series earlier this week about affordable/fair housing problems in metro Portland. Editorial calls for regional solution and statewide elimination of discrimination against voucher holders as a source of income. 

Earlier OP-ED from Home Forward Chair and Board member HERE says that vouchers are subject to market forces and indicates need for community wide discussion about role of government in dealing with issues of poverty, race, and ethnicity. 

 

If there are other notable op ed pieces, please feel free to add links as a comment at the bottom of this post. 

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Update-Analysis of Realtor Data: In Blumenauer District, Rate of African American Home Purchase Loans Far Less than Rate of African Americans Getting Rent Help from Home Forward.

Update:  I suppose a simpler short hand way to look at this is that:

• Home Forward is helping 20% of African Americans in Multnomah County (and likely more in this district)
• While all lenders combined are helping 30% of African American households in this district

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Realtors have put up map site HERE allowing pull down of select home ownership information by Congressional District.

Interestingly, the PDF HERE for Congressman Earl Blumenauer, which includes the east side of Portland and Multnomah County:

• Shows a total of 94 home purchase loans to African Americans in 2010 and a 30% home ownership rate for African Americans in this district. .
• While the 2010 ACS estimate HERE for African American households in this district is 16,059.
• That means that home purchase loans went to 5.9 out of all 1,000 African American households in this district in 2010. [94/16,059=.59% x 1,000=5.9 per 1,000].
• If we use the lesser share of only current African American renter households in the district (70%) this would mean that there were 11,241 [16,059 x 70%=11,241] potential African American renter households who could get home purchase loans. This conservative estimate would increase the rate of 2010 home purchase loans to 8.4 loans per 1,000 African American renter households in this district. [94/11,241=.84% x 1,000=8.4 per 1,000].

Home Forward Rate of Housing Assistance Was 24-24 Times The Rate of Home Purchase Loans to African Americans in this District
As a frame of reference, recall that the recent Oregonian Locked Out series indicated that Home Forward rental housing programs helped one in five ( I.E. a rate of 200 out of 1,000) African American households in Multnomah county. That's a rate of assistance 24 to 34 times the rate of home purchase loans to African Americans in this district in 2010.[200/ 5.0=34 X; 200/8.4=24 X].

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

OPB Think Out Loud Program this AM Had Oregonian Reporter Brad Schmidt Explaining Locked Out Series.

Sorry I didn't see this earlier, but OPB web page for program is HERE.  Appears that he was only guest on the program. 

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

My Comments on Oregonian Locked Out Affordable Housing Series, Including Suggested Follow Up Actions.

As readers can imagine, I have been reading with interest the reporting by the Oregonian on the problems with the location of affordable housing in the Portland Metro area.  Whether you agree with the reporting or not, the commitment of four consecutive front pages stories on affordable housing is an unprecedented commitment of Oregonian resources.

Now that the series has concluded, I created a four page MS Word table that lists my comments AND (in the right column) related follow up actions that can help solve the problems identified in the series (and some affordable housing issues the series did not cover).

Because I may change and expand this MW Word document based on future thinking and feedback, I have:

• Included a version date at top of the page; currently that is June 6, 2012.
• Linked the file HERE in the right pane of the blog under the title "Oregonian Locked Out Series Comments and Action Items, June 2012". If I make changes to the current version of this document, I will do a new post pointing out the changes and change the version date at the top of the page. 

Feel free to send me comments on what I am missing or what you think I got wrong in this initial version.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog. 

Multnomah County District Attorney Oregonian Locked Out Public Records Request Appeal Response.

The Oregonian has reported that Home Forward resisted their request for address specific voucher records for their recent Locked Out Affordable /Fair Housing series of reports. Home Forward indicated that privacy concerns led to their initial denial for address specific information. This led to an appeal from the Oregonian, decided by the Multnomah County District Attorney.

I did some digging and found the appeal response HERE on the District Attorney web site; this led to the disclosure of voucher information to the Oregonian, including the charging of appropriate costs.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Oregonian 4th Front Page Focuses on Homebuilder Opposition to Affordable Housing in Washington County Expansion Area.

Wednesday June 6th Washington County front page story is HERE; link to all four stories in series, and background materials, is HERE.

 

Snip of front page is to the left and PDF of front page is HERE.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Lake Oswego/West Linn and Metro Council Make Oregonian Front Page for Exclusion of Affordable Housing, Multiple Planning Failures.

Tuesday June 5th Lake Oswego/ West Linn Portland Metro Council front page story is HERE; link to all four stories in series, and background materials, is HERE.

Snip of front page is to the left and PDF of front page is HERE.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

2nd Portland Metro Affordable Housing/Fair Housing Story Makes Oregonian Front Page Again.

Story, focused on location of housing vouchers, is HERE; link to all four stories in series, and background materials, is HERE.

Snip of front page is to the left and PDF of front page is HERE.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

4 Day Series of Stories on Metro Portland Location of Affordable Housing /Fair Housing Begins in Sunday Oregonian.

PDF of full front page of Sunday Oregonian is HERE with snip of above the fold pasted to the left. 

Initial story in 4 day scheduled "Locked Out" series of stories is now posted on Oregonian website HERE.    

Their web page HERE also has links to all stories in the series, scheduled to run through Wednesday (4 currently posted):

Part 1, Failure to support Fair Housing Act leads to subsidized segregation
Part 2, Portland’s Section 8 clients are shifted east of 82nd
Part 3, Low-cost housing shut out amid riches of Lake Oswego and West Linn
Part 4, Homebuilders block efforts by Washington County leaders to include affordable housing

I will likely have comments once I get a chance to read and fully digest stories, and also look at print copy of the Sunday Oregonian. 

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.