Housing Matters: Policy Update 3-23-18 – North Carolina Housing Coalition

Samuel Gunter, Director of Policy and Advocacy

Federal Update

President Signs Omnibus Spending Bill that Increases Housing Funding

Today President Trump signed into law a $1.3 trillion omnibus spending package with significant increases for affordable housing and community development programs. The bill includes a 12.5% increase in the Housing Credit allocation and a 10% increase in HUD’s budget. The increased appropriations see growth in programs like HOME, CDBG, and tenant- and project-based rental subsidies. For a more detailed description of the budget, click on our alert.

Senate Democrats’ Infrastructure Plan Includes $62 Billion for Housing, Community Revitalization, Disaster Recovery, and Lead Remediation

In response to President Trump’s infrastructure plan released in February, Senate Democrats have released the “Jobs & Infrastructure Plan for America’s Workers.” The new plan proposes $1 trillion in total federal spending, compared to Mr. Trump’s $200 billion. Unlike the President’s proposal, the Democrats’ infrastructure plan includes $62 billion for neighborhood revitalization, lead remediation, affordable housing, and disaster recovery.

Senate Bill Passed that Rolls Back Protections

Earlier this week, the Senate voted 67-31 to pass the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act, legislation that would revise and remove key parts of The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The bill now moves to the House. Among other things, the bill would:

exempt 85 percent of banks and credit unions from Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) reporting requirements, meaning they would no longer be required to report the race, sex or credit scores of applicants, which could increase discriminatory lending;
give manufactured-home retailers the ability to make financing recommendations, which could lead to lending abuses; and
grant Qualified Mortgage (QM) status to loans in the portfolios of banks and credit unions with less than $10 billion of assets, which could be a return to making bad loans.

State Update

NCHFA Releases Site Scores

Final site scores for the 2018 Housing Credit new construction applications are now available. The full application will be available in mid-April. Full applications are due by noon on May 11, 2018

North Carolina Groups receive Capital Magnet Fund Awards

Two North Carolina organizations – Self-Help Credit Union and the North Carolina Community Development Initiative – were recipients of a Capital Magnet Fund award totalling $4.65 million.

Tyran Hill, Local and Regional Policy Officer

Local Update

Raleigh Fair Housing Conference

The City of Raleigh’s Fair Housing Hearing Board, and the Fair Housing Project of Legal Aid of North Carolina are proud to announce the 15th Annual Raleigh Fair Housing Conference. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Eddie J. Glaude, Jr., chair of the Center for African- American Studies and the William S. Tod Professor of Religion and African- American Studies at Princeton University. For more information & to register, click here.

Charlotte Evictions Event

Charlotte-Mecklenburg needs an additional 34,000 affordable housing units to meet the housing needs of our community. Join us on Friday, March 23 to learn what is being done to address this housing challenge. We bring experts and community members together to identify and understand critical needs around access to affordable housing and catalyze innovative entrepreneurial solutions for those problems. You can register for the event here.

Greensboro Housing Coalition Summit

The Greensboro Housing Coalition, City of Greensboro, HUD, Community Foundation of Greater, along with other organizations will hold their annual housing summit on March 28^th to educate, inspire, and challenge each other to substantially increase housing options (policy changes and increased resources for repairing and building different kinds of apartments and houses), to support people accessing and maintaining housing (such as tenant education and rental assistance), and to promote collaboration among leadership. To register for this event click here.

Herald Sun Eviction Study

Rather than go out and report the story we think is happening, we have brought people into our newsroom and met with people outside of it to ask them what they see happening, as a revitalized downtown ripples through the city. You can follow stories in their Facebook group: “The Story of My Street: Gentrification in Durham.”

Durham Human Relations Commission Address Evictions

The commission unanimously approved its 2018 Report on the Evictions Crisis in Durham County during its meeting Tuesday, although its possible the report could see some additional tweaks. It’s a response to the thousands of eviction filings that take place in Durham County each year.”When a person in Durham County loses their home to an eviction, they may lose their possessions, sense of community, and their children may need to change schools as their family is forced to move,” the report begins. “The uprooting of so many residents on an annual bases has the tendency to fracture our community and weakens the cohesiveness of our neighborhoods, religious institutions and businesses. This report is a call to action, not just to our city and county leaders, but to all of Durham.” You can view the full report here.

Fayetteville Equal Housing Seminars

The Fayetteville-Cumberland Human Relations Department is holding equal housing seminars in April as part of National Fair Housing Month. The campaign includes efforts to end housing discrimination and is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. A Spanish-language seminar will be held in collaboration with Fayetteville’s Fair Housing Board on April 18 from 6 to 8 p.m. and an English-language seminar will be held April 25 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at City Hall, 433 Hay St. To RSVP, call 433-1696 or email humanrelations@ci.fay.nc.us.