Housing Call: April 16, 2024 – North Carolina Housing Coalition

NCHC Updates

May 3, 2024 – 10:00 am – Learning Collaborative Session #5 – To register: Click Here

Session five of our Learning Collaborative Series on Housing Barriers for Justice Involved populations and individuals at risk of overdose will feature colleagues working within Managed Care who are working to support some of the most vulnerable citizens of our state.

Topics covered will include the Transitions to Community Living Initiative, Reentry supports and services for those exiting institutions, and other issues related to those seeking housing and behavioral health supports.

May 17 – Learning Collaborative Session #6 – Registration will open soon.
June 4-5, Bringing it Home Conference; The Bringing It Home 2024 agenda is now available! Highlights include Insights from the NC Balance of State CoC Lived Expertise Advisory Council, lunch remarks from Dr. Lorenzo Claxton, North Carolina Field Office Director for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and more than a dozen breakout sessions on a variety of homelessness services topics. Review the agenda on our website and register today!
September 5-6 – North Carolina Affordable Housing Conference

Federal Updates

ACTION ALERT: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the case Johnson v. Grants Pass on April 22. The case, which is the most significant case about the rights of people experiencing homelessness in decades, will ultimately decide whether people can be ticketed and arrested for sleeping outside when they have no other safe place to go. Our partners at the National Low Income Housing Coalition have created a National Week of Action Advocacy Toolkit that can be used to plan events and take action during the week of April 22. We’ve linked it in the call notes.
- Suggestions include:
- Meeting with your local, state, or federal elected officials to discuss the real solutions to homelessness.
- Hosting a roundtable or other gathering where people with lived experience of homelessness can share their stories with elected officials.
- Hosting a teach-in, film screening, or other educational event.
- Writing an op-ed or letter to the editor.
- Amplifying social media from the National Homelessness Law Center (@homeless_law) and others.
- Bringing your elected officials on a site visit to an affordable housing development or other program in your community.

Participate in local rallies hosted by homelessness advocates. Local actions will be announced on www.johnsonvgrantspass.com.

We encourage you to check the advocacy toolkit out to learn more about what you and your organizations can do to oppose the criminalization of homelessness and advance long-term solutions.

Want to learn more? Check out the more than 40 amicus briefs submitted by over 1000 organizations opposed to the criminalization of homelessness: Johnson v. Grants Pass Amici

NLIHC Statement on HUD’s Notice of Proposed Rule Making Eliminating Unnecessary Barriers to HUD-Assisted Housing for People with Conviction Histories | National Low Income Housing Coalition

State Updates

State Legislative Updates

Short session begins on April 24, 2024 – We will continue to monitor the bills we have in our bill tracker. Stay tuned for the updated link.

Emerging issue? Don’t spend Charlotte tourism funds on housing and transit, industry leaders say

INSURANCE UPDATE –
Insurance companies ask for rate hike for next three years | NC DOI The NC Department of Insurance recently announced that they received a request from the Rate Bureau, which represents insurance companies, to increase mobile home fire policies statewide by an average of 83% over a three-year period. They have also requested a 50% increase in mobile home casualty policies over the same three-year period. Unlike homeowners insurance, mobile home fire and casualty policies include flood coverage. The proposed increase would affect over 148,000 policyholders. This announcement comes on the heels of a request from the Rate Bureau to increase homeowners insurance policies by an average of 42% statewide. Commissioner Mike Causey rejected the increase and a hearing is scheduled for October 7.

As for the proposed mobile home insurance increases, the public will have an opportunity to comment on the insurance companies’ proposal. There are two ways to provide public comment:

Emailed comments should be sent by April 30 to 2024MH@ncdoi.gov
Written public comments should be mailed by April 30 to Kimberly Pearce, 1201 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, N.C. 27699-1201.

Local Community Updates

Charlotte wants to change triplex rules nearly a year after UDO implemented Charlotte planning staff are requesting amendments to the city’s triplex regulations that went into effect with the new UDO last year. Requested changes would only allow for triplexes on corner lots. Currently, duplexes and triplexes can be built anywhere zoned single-family. Ultimately, the proposed changes would keep new triplexes out of lower intensity neighborhoods and allow for an increase in the number of units allowed in higher intensity areas by also allowing townhomes and stacked quadruplexes. A vote is expected this July.
City discusses 5 affordable housing projects | Last week, Charlotte Housing and Neighborhood Services presented their affordable housing recommendations to Council. Staff recommend allocating almost all of the remaining $8.9M unallocated Housing Trust Fund dollars on 5 affordable housing developments that would add 259 affordable units for households earning between 30-80% of the Area Median Income. Council is expected to vote on the decisions later this month.
Saving lives: Local organizations in Greensboro are asking city council for money to curb evictions | Housing advocates with Greensboro’s Keep Gate City Housed movement are requesting that the City allocate $440K in the upcoming budget towards Tenant Education Advocacy Mediation (TEAM), an organization affiliated with UNCG’s Center for Housing and Community Studies that provides eviction diversion assistance. In addition, the advocates are requesting $1.5M in rental assistance funds for families facing eviction. Last year, there were almost 16,000 eviction filings in Guilford County. Households that worked with TEAM experienced a 30-50% reduction in evictions.
Greenville council offers support and funding for affordable housing project | Local News | reflector.com | Greenville City Council recently voted to support two LIHTC applications for the upcoming cycle. The City agreed to fund each project at up to $500K if they are awarded tax credits. LIHTC applications are due to the NC Housing Finance Agency on May 10.
Housing frustrations in Dare County boil over at contentious commissioners meeting | Dare County Commissioners held a special meeting on housing last week, where they voted to return $35M in funding allocated by the General Assembly for affordable housing, citing a stipulation in the state budget that exempts affordable housing projects funded with state dollars from local zoning regulation. House Speaker Tim Moore confirmed last fall that the provision was added at the request of legislators from the area to overcome issues with municipalities using zoning to effectively block the creation of affordable housing. The decision to send the funding back to the state comes after recent reports that the developer had selected potential properties for development in Kitty Hawk and Manteo and was moving closer towards development.

Events

[webinar] Preserving Owner-Occupied Affordable Homes | National Council of State Housing Agencies, April 17, 12:30 – 5:15 p.m.
Fair Housing in Durham: The ‘Act’ in Action | Legal Aid of North Carolina, April 17, 5 – 7 p.m. @ the NCCU School of Law
- An evening with Leah Rothstein, author with her father Richard Rothstein of Just Action: How to Challenge Segregation Enacted Under the Color of Law, and Stella Adams, Civil Rights and Fair Housing Expert and Advocate.
- This event is FREE, but registration is required.

[virtual] Empowering Women Entrepreneurs in Affordable Housing Panel | NCWAHN, April 18, noon – 1 p.m.
[webinar] 2024 VAWA and Survivor Housing Community Conversations: Building a Better Emergency Transfer Plan | HUD, April 18, 1 – 2:30 p.m.
[webinar] Coordinated Entry: Best Practices in Centering Equity and Ensuring Effectiveness | National Alliance to End Homelessness, April 18, 3 – 4 p.m.
[webinar] Historic Properties in Flood Zones | HUD, April 18, 1:30 – 3:30 p.m.
[webinar] |Advancing Homelessness Solutions| Tuesday, May 21, from 2 to 3 pm ET. Register for the webinar here.
Bringing it Home: Ending Homelessness In NC Conference – Raleigh, NC June 4-5. To register click here.
CAHEC Partners Conference – Raleigh, NC – June 4 – 5. To register, click here.
Women’s Affordable Housing Network National Housing Summit 2024 – Atlanta, GA – June 9-11. To register, click here.