Post-purchase Support for Homeowners and Long-term Maintenance of CLT Homes Presenters: Etta Habegger, Thistle Community Housing Emily Higgins, Burlington CLT John Barros and Jason Webb, Dudley Neighbors, Inc. Community Land Trust Conference – Session 4 August 17, 2005

Objectives of this session Provide an overview of:  Post-purchase support of homeowners  Long-term maintenance of homes Convey practices and solutions that may work for your CLT and homeowners Discuss balancing CLTs’ stewardship with owners’ rights and responsibilities Spark ideas that merit in-depth review within your organization, with buyers and owners, and with partners (e.g. other community groups/programs, funders, other CLTs)

Guiding your work Be clear about how your organization sets, reviews and revises policies  Burlington CLT has a Resident Services Committee, made up of homeowners, including several who are Board members  Thistle Community Housing has a CLT Committee, made up of CLT owners and Board members  Both of these committees are overseen by the Board of Directors

Possible areas of support and/or homeowner-CLT interface Maintaining the relationship - proactive, ongoing communication Financial – refinancing, delinquency, foreclosure, lease/membership fees Property Taxes, Homeowners Association assessments – based on limited value

Possible areas of support and/or homeowner-CLT interface (cont.) Condition of the home & land – warranty administration, maintenance & repairs Improvements to the home – whether or not your CLT grants qualified capital improvement credits Occupancy – home is occupied in alignment with agreements

Post-purchase Support for CLT Owners - communication Proactive, ongoing communication is key with:  Individual CLT owners  CLT communities and homeowners associations – e.g. condominium and townhome complexes, cluster of CLT houses, mobile home park  Funders, other partners

Communicating with individual homeowners Annual meetings Social Events – e.g. potlucks Newsletters Workshops – e.g. taxes, maintenance, repairs, etc.

Communicating with CLT communities Homeowner associations (HOAs)  Board of Directors role  Interface with HOA – staff time Support neighborhood events – e.g. cleanups, block parties

Post-purchase support - financial Refinancing – decide if allowed, how much maximum debt can be, process Delinquency – develop relationships with owners and lenders to learn about it as soon as possible; determine capacity to deal with situations, support for owner (internal or through partner agency) Foreclosure – same as delinquency steps, also - funds available to cure (protect asset)

Post-purchase support - assessments Taxes – some CLTs have separate tax bills and property valuation at limited amount – e.g. Portland and Boulder HOA assessments – some association governing docs limit increases in dues and special assessments for CLT owners

Post-purchase support – condition of home & land Warranty administration – deal with this typically on new construction, as the developer or as advocate if “turnkey deal” Maintenance – ongoing work by owner necessary; CLT’s work may include interface with HOAs as well as owners. Maintenance calendar, workshops, newsletter articles are helpful for owners. Repairs/Rehab – CLT (or other agencies) can provide referrals to contractors, tool libraries, resources for rehab $ (from CLT or other entity)

Post-purchase support – capital improvements Decide how your CLT deals with all improvements – when is CLT’s permission needed, e.g. type of project, cost? What are the owners’ responsibilities? Decide if your CLT will allow credit for capital improvements If so, determine:  which type of projects get credit  the valuation method(s) Possible valuation methods include: project value called out in appraisal, actual cost of project or contractor’s bid (all or %)

Post-purchase support – occupancy Owner-occupied Subleasing Non-qualified occupants Adding or removing owner(s) from the agreements with the CLT (when at least 1 homeowner remains) Transfer of the home

Long-term maintenance of CLT homes Why is this important? For owners: affordability, livability, return on their investment For CLTs: sustainability of specific assets and overall portfolio; this includes integrity of physical structures, reputation of CLT, funding options, short-term and long-term affordability

Long-term maintenance of CLT homes Challenges Owner has limited tenure Owner may have limited funds available Owner may want to limit $ put into home because of limited return CLT has limited funds for rehab Home is at end of life cycle Others?

Long-term maintenance of CLT homes Possible Solutions Locate rehab $ that owner utilizes – sources may include reserve fund, revolving loan fund, forgivable loans or grants CLT may buy back home and renovate or redevelop (depending on condition of building and funding options) CLT sells asset on market and reinvests funds from sale into other CLT homes Others?

Where do we go from here? Create more solutions – start/continue discussions and implement action plans for working with your owners, increasing funding and more sustainable building practices Fill out your evaluations – give us feedback on this session and let conference planners know what topics you’d like to focus on in the future Thank you for participating!

Contact information for presenters John Barros, Dudley Neighbors, Inc., Boston, MA Etta Habegger, Thistle Community Housing, Boulder, CO Emily Higgins, Burlington CLT, Burlington, VT Jason Webb, Dudley Neighbors, Inc., Boston, MA