Housing Call: February 13, 2024 – North Carolina Housing Coalition

NCHC Organizational Updates

Learning Collaborative – Session 3 – THIS FRIDAY – February 16, 2024 – Register here

Through a two-year grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the North Carolina Division of Public Health, NCHC has been engaging stakeholders across the state to address the housing needs for people who are impacted by the justice system and those that are at risk of overdose from opioids.

We are also highlighting partnerships, collaborations, and interventions, to showcase the work that is happening in North Carolina to improve access to housing, reduce barriers, and demonstrate evidence-based practices that are improving the lives of North Carolinians impacted by the Justice system and those at risk of overdose from opioids.

During the remainder of our project, NCHC will be convening a set of Learning Collaboratives for practitioners, advocates, and community members, to provide education, build cross-sector relationships, and coalesce around shared policy goals.

For more information about this project click here.

Session 3 – February 16, 2024 at 10:00am – Register here
Session 1 & 2 – Recording

SAVE THE DATE – Bringing it Home Conference – June 4-5

Save the Date for this year’s Bringing It Home: Ending Homelessness in NC conference on June 4-5, 2024 at the McKimmon Center in Raleigh! For the first time since 2019, we will be back in person to learn, network, and collaborate with industry experts from across North Carolina and beyond.

Bringing It Home: Ending Homelessness in NC is a statewide conference dedicated to ensuring that homelessness in North Carolina is rare, brief, and one time only. The two-day conference will include more than a dozen presentations, panels, and workshops covering a broad range of topics related to homelessness. There will also be opportunities to network and share your own insights with fellow professionals and advocates. The conference is hosted by the NC Housing Coalition, NC Coalition to End Homelessness, and the NC DHHS ESG Office.

Registration will open in March. For updates, check our Bringing It Home 2024 Conference Page, or contact hsolomon@nchousing.org with any questions

Federal Updates

As March 1 approaches (the deadline for the next potential shutdown of the federal government) negotiations are continuing over the final fiscal year FY 2024 spending bills, including the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) bill that funds HUD’s vital affordable housing and homelessness programs. Appropriators must reconcile the difference between the House and Senate draft spending bills which propose 10% and 13% increases to HUD’s budget respectively, however, neither bill provides sufficient funding to renal all existing Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) contracts upon turnover, meaning hundreds of thousands of households could lose their housing assistance. Contact our Members of Congress today! Keep pushing!

This is a friendly reminder that the House recently passed the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 on January 31, and now the Senate must take action. This legislation has two key provisions from the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act (AHCIA 2023) that would expand Housing Tax Credit production. Since the Senate is on recess from February 12-25, many of them will be home. This is a perfect time time to reach out to your Senators and urge them to:

(1) Support these critical Housing Credit resources, and

(2) Express their support to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) or Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), encouraging them to take action on the bill.

(3) Request meetings with Senators or their staff, invite them to property site visits, and write timely op-eds and letters to your newspaper’s editor.

To assist advocates, ACTION created a webpage with links to templates and other materials to help with your outreach. Be sure to share the new support letter and the endorsemen t of the tax package by the National Governors Association with your Senators.

Biden-Harris Administration Partners with States to Address Homelessness | HUD.gov / U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Last Friday, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that in partnership with the U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) they have selected eight states to participate in a new federal initiative known as the “Housing and Services Partnership Accelerator” to help strengthen partnerships across housing, disability, aging, and health sectors; access available federal programs and resources, and maximize federal flexibilities to keep people healthy. North Carolina is one of the states selected.

North Carolina’s effort is led by the North Carolina Medicaid agency, and a state team that includes representation across the North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services, and the North Carolina Interagency Council for Coordinating Homeless Programs. The state seeks to build on current initiatives to improve housing supports and services by strengthening the collaboration between Medicaid and housing resources within the state.

There is a bipartisan piece of legislation titled “Reforming Disaster Recovery Act” (S.1668/H.R.5940) that proposes to permanently authorize HUD’s Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery Program (CDBG-DR). This program provides flexible grants to help presidentially declared disaster areas rebuild affordable housing and other infrastructure, and will help make critical reforms to ensure a more efficient and equitable disaster recovery.We are partnering with NLIHC to collect organization sign-ons from local groups across North Carolina so that we can send a letter to Patrick McHenry who is the Chairman and sits on the House Financial Services Committee which will be considering the bill. When there is an opening on this to apply some additional pressure whe want to be ready so the House can act.

If your organization is interested and able to sign on you can contact Noah Patton npatton@nlihc.org OR contact us and we will connect you with our NLIHC partners regarding the letter and any questions about this bill, letter, and/or request.

Last week, Congressman Patrick McHenry, a chairman on the House Committee on Financial Services, received a letter from Congresswoman Maxine Waters in which she calls for a hearing to address the significant racial disparities in mortgage approval rates recently discovered at Navy Federal Credit Union (NFCU), the largest credit union in the United States.

The National Flood Insurance Program – has an open comment period regarding the revision of the Standard Flood Insurance Policy by adding a new Homeowner Flood Form in order to try and increase options and coverage in a more user-friendly format for homeowners. Comments must be received on or before April 8, 2024

The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Housing – Federal Housing Commissioner is amending the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) requirement for branch office registration. The final rule removes the requirement that lenders and mortgagees register each branch office where they conduct FHA business with HUDs. This is in response to the public comments received about the proposed rule on March 1, 2023. These changes will be effective on March 4, 2024.

Additional source: FHA removes mandatory mortgage branch registration requirement – HousingWire

State Updates

NCDOJ Reaches Settlement with Bank for Redlining Practices – First National Bank of Pennsylvania reached a $13.5M settlement with the US Department of Justice and NC Attorney General’s Office last week for redlining practices in Charlotte and Winston-Salem that took place between 2017-2021. The financial institution avoided providing home mortgage loans in predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods in Charlotte and Winston-Salem, but provided loans in majority-White neighborhoods.
New rules will increase energy bills for NC solar customers. Should the courts step in? Earlier this month, Duke Energy notified the NC Utilities Commission that it no longer plans to meet a state law requiring they slash CO2 emission by 70% from 2005 to 2030, citing increased energy demand.
Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey rejects large rate increase – Last week, Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey rejected the NC Rate Bureau’s request to increase homeowners’ insurance statewide by an average of 42%. Causey’s office received over 25,000 letters, emails, and phone calls opposing the increase. A hearing is set for October 7, but Causey is likely to agree to a private settlement or delay the hearing since it is scheduled shortly before the November election.

Reminder: Early voting starts this Thursday, February 15!

State Legislative Updates

HOA Hearing on January 24th, the NC General Assembly held a hearing on Homeowners Associations. HB 542, which was introduced last fall and remains in conference committee, would limit HOA’s abilities to foreclose on properties for small debts owed. The House Select Committee on Homeowners’ Associations is supposed to meet again TODAY, February 13, 2024 at 1:00pm and then finalize their recommendations. They are no longer accepting public comment.

Relevant NCGA Meetings

House Select Committee on HOA’s – Their rescheduled meeting is TODAY – February 13, 2024 at 1:00pm
Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on General Government – February 27, 2024 at 1:00pm
Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services – March 12, 2024 at 9:00 am
Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Medicaid – March 12, 2024 – at 1:00 pm

Local Community Updates

Charlotte City Council passes several ordinances criminalizing panhandling, sleeping on park benches, and more. The six city ordinances that they voted to criminalize, have several members of the public worried that people who are homeless will be disproportionately harmed. The six city laws address: sleeping on benches, panhandling, public drinking, and more. They will be arrestable offenses starting March 1. Right now they are only punishable by civil citation.
Durham UDO Rewrite – In Durham, the city-county planning department is kicking off the process of rewriting the Unified Development Ordinance. The UDO regulates how land development occurs and is guided by the recently adopted Comprehensive Plan. The process is expected to take about 18 months. A community consultant has been hired to promote equitable engagement and representation from historically underrepresented communities. Check out EngagedDurham.com for information on the UDO rewrite process and to sign up for updates and ways to get involved: New UDO | ENGAGE Durham
Cities across NC are selling publicly-owned properties to affordable housing developers to further the creation of affordable homeownership opportunities.
- Gastonia recently celebrated the completion of 2 single-family homes that will be sold to families earning 80% or less of the Area Median Income.
- In Winston-Salem, Glabex Consortium is building 8 affordable homes for sale on land they purchased from the city for $1 last fall. Last week, the city council voted to give the developer a $240K forgivable ARPA loan to assist with development costs and lower the purchase price of the homes.
“UNITED” pleads for solidarity amidst Crystal Towers crisis – Old Gold & Black Wake Forest graduate student Louie Poore recently released a short documentary on Crystal Towers public housing in Winston-Salem. The 16-minute film follows a grassroots-led tenant coalition called Crystal Towers United as they advocate to the City Council for basic necessities like operational fire sprinkler systems and working elevators for residents with wheelchairs. The film is the first in a series that the filmmaker plans to release on affordable housing.
Last week, Raleigh City Council approved a $700K gap funding grant for an affordable homeownership and rental community in Raleigh’s Idlewild neighborhood. NC Central basketball coach LeVelle Moton’s real estate development and construction firm is working with the Raleigh Area Land Trust to build 18 cottages. 14 cottages will be sold at an affordable price to families earning between 50-80% of the Area Median Income and the remaining 4 cottages will be affordable rentals for families earning between 30-80% AMI. They have also requested an additional $770K in gap financing from Wake County.
Cary mobile-home tenants fear displacement. Could this plan help? Cary is considering a plan to address mobile home displacement and the decline of affordable units in the community. On March 14, the Town will vote on the “Stable Homes Cary” initiative, which would create emergency funding for low-income residents displaced by development.
Last week, Wilmington and New Hanover County officials decided not to move forward with a proposed joint homelessness task force that was under consideration. Housing advocates say the county and city are lacking a comprehensive service delivery approach and that a unified approach is needed to most efficiently address the issue.

Reports & Resources

In Search of Rural: How Varying Definitions Shape Housing Research | Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University
Housing Approaches to Extreme Weather Can Lessen Harms to Community Health | Urban Institute
Health Affairs Journal issue on health and housing
Increasing the Supply of Affordable Single-Family Homes | HUD
The New (and Evolving) Rural America | Housing Assistance Council
Who Owns America? A Methodology for Identifying Landlords’ Ownership Scale and the Implications for Targeted Code Enforcement | Journal of the American Planning Association

Events

[webinar] Housing Supply, Labor Markets, and Economic Growth | Bipartisan Policy Center & Terwilliger Center for Housing, February 15 at 11 a.m.
[webinar] Targeted Homelessness Prevention: Stemming the Inflow | National Alliance to End Homelessness, February 15 from 3-4 p.m.
[webinar] Expanding Homeownership with Manufactured Housing | Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, February 16, 12:15 p.m.
[open house] Stormwater and Sustainable Practices in Affordable Housing | City of Raleigh, February 21 from 2:30-5:30 p.m. at the Walnut Creek Wetlands Center
[in-person] NCWAHN Raleigh Happy Hour | NC Women’s Affordable Housing Network, February 22, 4-6 p.m. at Vita Vite Art Gallery & Wine Bar
[in-person] Cape Fear Housing Coalition Annual Breakfast | Wilmington, NC, March 11, 8-10 a.m.
- The breakfast is hosted by Cape Fear Realtors and features a policy update from the North Carolina Housing Coalition followed by a keynote address from Dr. Gregg Colburn, author of Homelessness is a Housing Problem. Free and open to the public. RSVP required.