Housing Call: April 4, 2023 – North Carolina Housing Coalition

Federal Updates

Debt ceiling negotiations continue to stall with a budget. House Republicans continue to lack the votes needed to pass a budget, which is further delaying debt ceiling negotiations. President Biden has indicated that he will meet with Republicans to discuss spending once they release a budget.

HUD funding for HBCUs supports diversity in the field of housing research. Last week, HUD announced funding awards for HBCUs that have Centers of Excellence conducting housing and community development research. The funding is part of HUD’s ongoing effort to diversify housing research. North Carolina A&T University was awarded $2.5 million to establish a center with research that will focus on the production of affordable housing, homeownership, renewable energy, sustainable communities, and post-disaster recovery.
New version of Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act

State Legislative Updates

NC House releases budget. Lawmakers in the NC House released a budget proposal on Wednesday evening.
- Language that would in the 2023 appropriations bill exempts NCHFA from the State Budget Act, which will allow the agency to continue to operate as a quasi-state agency and leverage private capital. Thank you again to the organizations that supported the letter we put together addressing the importance of NCHFA’s enabling statute.
- The housing budget includes $130M in unallocated funds in the Housing Reserve. Staff at the Coalition are working to find out more about this decision, which moves the funds away from the NC Housing Finance Agency’s control.
- This N&O article further details other top line priorities included in the House’s budget proposal.

Bill Tracker. Check out our Bill Tracker, which is updated with the latest housing-related bills. A number of bills were filed in the last week:
H537 filed 3/29 Workforce Housing Act

Requires local governments by-right permit multifamily housing in areas zoned for business; allows the state to sell/lease land at below market value for development where at least 50% of units are affordable to 80% AMI households; creates NCHFA revolving loan fund for qualifying first-time and veteran homebuyers; appropriates $35M in recurring funds to Workforce Housing Loan Program.

H551 filed 4/3 Landlord-Tenant and HOA Change

Bans source of income nondiscrimination policies at the local level; regulates service/support animals; allows landlords to charge tenants in eviction cases for landlord’s attorney’s fees, up to a limit, and for attorney fees associated with an appeal.

S420 filed 3/29 Homebuyer Fairness & Protection Act

Prohibits sellers from requiring due diligence fees exceeding 1% of purchase price. Appropriates $10M to the NC Housing Coalition to support homebuyer education services

S422 filed 3/29 Homes for Heroes

Appropriates $200M from General Fund to NCHFA Homeownership Assistance Fund to create a program to assist public servants who are first-time homebuyers with down-payments & closing costs.

S423 filed 3/29 Homeowner Solar Expansion Act

Asserts that deeds cannot ban the placement of solar panels on one’s property. Allows homeowners to conduct 3rd Party sales of renewable energy.

S424 filed 3/29 Restore the American Dream

Appropriates $30M to Housing Trust Fund (HTF) for FY23-24 and creates dedicated revenue stream for HTF

S438 filed 3/30 NCORR Administrative Modifications

Establishes CDBG-DR procurement procedures; shields homeowners from increase in property tax liability resulting from rehab funded through CDBG-DR and Hurricanes Florence & Matthew & Tropical Storm Fred recovery; increases NCORR informal bid threshold for construction and home repair.

S439 filed 3/30 Foreclosure Trustee Auctions

Allows foreclosure sales to occur in public locations within the county other than the courthouse; expands time available for foreclosure sale to commence; establishes procedure for remote bidding.

Rent Control Bill Interview. Check out the Charlotte Observer’s recent interview with NC Sen. Lisa Grafstein regarding SB 225, a statewide bill she is sponsoring that proposes to strike dowl the ban on local rent control. While unlikely to pass during this session, Sen. Grafstein hopes the bill starts conversations around giving local governments more control to find creative affordable housing solutions that work for their communities.

State & Local Updates

Evictions in NC rose by over 70% last year. NC civil court data indicates that last year, evictions rose by at least 70%. Many rental assistance programs that began during the height of the pandemic wound down last year as funding ran dry. This data indicates the need for a permanent statewide coordinated rental assistance program.
Habitat Charlotte hosts coffee and conversation. Habitat for Humanity of Charlotte recently hosted a community conversation to discuss affordable housing in the Statesville, Mooresville, and Lake Norman communities. Habitat Charlotte CEO Laura Belcher emphasized the organization’s efforts to address the community’s need by preserving existing homes through their repairs program and building higher density new housing like townhomes.
LIHTC development opening. The Redhill Pointe LIHTC development opened in Greensboro last week, adding 84 new affordable units ranging from 1-3 bedrooms. Demand is so high that just 10 weeks after developers broke ground, they had received over 1000 inquiries from prospective tenants.

Reports & Resources

[new resource] Housing Mobility Toolkit | HUD Exchange
[new report] Improving America’s Housing 2023 Report | Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University