The General Assembly wrapped up its 2009 session by passing several pieces of legislation that help advance the issue of affordable housing and respond to the housing crisis in NC. Thank you to our members and the diligent work of Al Ripley and Bill Rowe at the NC Justice Center and Chris Kukla at the Center for Responsible Lending for helping us to achieve the following successes for housing in 2009:
Senate Bill 810, Affordable Housing/No Discrimination, was ratified by the General Assembly and was presented to Governor Perdue on August 5th. This legislation, championed by Senator McKissick of Durham, makes it a violation of the North Carolina Fair Housing Act to discriminate in land-use decisions or permitting of developments based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, handicapping condition, familial status, or the development contains affordable housing for families or individuals below 80% of area median income. The bill does allow decisions to be based on considerations of over-concentration of affordable housing and other considerations like traffic and environmental concerns. This is landmark legislation as North Carolina is the first state in the nation to include affordable housing as a protected class in its Fair Housing law. Led by Bill Rowe at NC Justice Center, this bill had very strong support from the NC Homebuilders, NC Apartment Association, and NC Realtors.
SB 661, Landlord-Tenant Changes, for the first time, sets minimum standards for rental housing across the state. It will ensure that all units to have safe wiring, flooring, roofs, and chimneys; access to water; operable locks; operable toilets; sources of heat; no rat infestation due to defects in the building; and no flooding problems. This legislation will go a long way in helping local governments address the supply of substandard rental housing that is unhealthy for residents and as well as a barrier to economic development in lower income neighborhoods. Big thanks to Bill Rowe at NC Justice Center and the folks at ACORN for their work on this bill.
House Bill 1586, the Community Land Trust Property Taxation bill, passed the Senate on the very last day that they were in session and has been signed into law by the Governor. It helps to ensure the long-term affordability of Community Land Trust homes by clarifying the tax valuation process. Community Land Trusts, such as those in Durham and Orange Counties, provide sustained affordable housing by placing resale restrictions on the homes within the boundaries of the land trust. HB 1586 guarantees that these resale restrictions are taken into account in the appraisal of homes, so that the homeowners are not overtaxed. It will help support the supply of affordable housing in the state and will result in a more consistent, efficient and equitable system of taxing land trust homes. Thanks to Representative Luebke, and Senator McKissick for their tireless work toward the passage of this bill. Special thanks to Andrew Foster and Matt Lipsky at the Duke Law Clinic, Selina Mack from the Durham Community Land Trust, and Christine Westfall from Orange Community Housing and Land Trust for all of their work drafting, editing and advocating for this bill.
House Bill 148, Congestion Relief/Intermodal Transport, was ratified by the General Assembly and includes a special caveat regarding affordable housing. The bill authorizes referendums for a ½ cent sales tax increase for the Triangle and Triad areas for light rail networks and a ¼ cent authorization for all other counties for bus and other public transport expansion. As transportation and affordable housing are inextricably linked, the bill requires municipalities to plan for 15% of the housing around transportation hubs to be affordable to people at 60% of median area income or below. The popularity of light rail will bring significant gentrification and displacement around the stations. This legislation will help to ensure that low and moderate wage workers and transit dependent individuals can access the light rail network when it is developed.
Other important legislative victories for affordable housing in 2009:
Senate Bill 974 – Consumer Economic Protection Act of 2009 - This important legislation offers homeowners greater protection in the foreclosure process. It also protects all consumers from abusive debt buying and debt collecting activities.
House Bill 806 – Notice on liens for HOA Assessments - This bill requires Home Owners Associations to take stronger steps in maintaining the correct addresses of members. It also requires that HOAs must notify a homeowner 15 days before a lien is filed about any alleged debt. The HOA must also notify the homeowner about a lien once it has been filed.
House Bill 1057 – Abolish Certain Deficiency Judgments - This legislation prohibits deficiency judgments on predatory mortgage loans in North Carolina.
House Bill 1058 – Increase Statutory Homestead Exemption - This act increases the homestead exemption so that individuals with debt can keep their homes rather than having homes sold to satisfy a judgment. It increases the exemption from $18,500 to $35,000.
Funding
The 2009 budget process was a very difficult one, with over a $4B deficit just to fund current programs and enrollment growth and Medicaid spending. We worked very hard at the beginning of the session to advocate for more funding for the NC Housing Trust Fund during the time of NC’s greatest housing crisis. While we could not secure any additional funding we were able to protect the recurring funding already in place for the Housing Trust Fund and the Home Protection Program from being cut any further. This was one of the few areas to escape percentage cuts. This means that the Housing Trust Fund received $10M recurring and the Home Protection Program received $3M recurring. The legislature also provided over $1.5M for the HOME matched needed by NCHFA for federal HOME funding.
The big loss was the $7M in non-recurring funds for the Housing 400 program in the Housing Trust Fund. Obviously, we hope to resume this program’s funding as soon as possible, but next year’s budget expects to be just as bad, if not worse, in terms of deficits.
The major opportunity still in front of us is the federal budget process and the potential of funding from the National Housing Trust Fund. Congress will resume housing budget discussions in September, and we will be looking for your help in advocating for increased housing funding.
House Bill 148, Congestion Relief/Intermodal Transport, was ratified by the General Assembly and includes a special caveat regarding affordable housing. The bill authorizes referendums for a ½ cent sales tax increase for the Triangle and Triad areas for light rail networks and a ¼ cent authorization for all other counties for bus and other public transport expansion. As transportation and affordable housing are inextricably linked, the bill requires municipalities to plan for 15% of the housing around transportation hubs to be affordable to people at 60% of median area income or below. The popularity of light rail will bring significant gentrification and displacement around the stations. This legislation will help to ensure that low and moderate wage workers and transit dependent individuals can access the light rail network when it is developed.
Other important legislative victories for affordable housing in 2009:
Senate Bill 974 – Consumer Economic Protection Act of 2009 - This important legislation offers homeowners greater protection in the foreclosure process. It also protects all consumers from abusive debt buying and debt collecting activities.
House Bill 806 – Notice on liens for HOA Assessments - This bill requires Home Owners Associations to take stronger steps in maintaining the correct addresses of members. It also requires that HOAs must notify a homeowner 15 days before a lien is filed about any alleged debt. The HOA must also notify the homeowner about a lien once it has been filed.
House Bill 1057 – Abolish Certain Deficiency Judgments - This legislation prohibits deficiency judgments on predatory mortgage loans in North Carolina.
House Bill 1058 – Increase Statutory Homestead Exemption - This act increases the homestead exemption so that individuals with debt can keep their homes rather than having homes sold to satisfy a judgment. It increases the exemption from $18,500 to $35,000.
Funding
The 2009 budget process was a very difficult one, with over a $4B deficit just to fund current programs and enrollment growth and Medicaid spending. We worked very hard at the beginning of the session to advocate for more funding for the NC Housing Trust Fund during the time of NC’s greatest housing crisis. While we could not secure any additional funding we were able to protect the recurring funding already in place for the Housing Trust Fund and the Home Protection Program from being cut any further. This was one of the few areas to escape percentage cuts. This means that the Housing Trust Fund received $10M recurring and the Home Protection Program received $3M recurring. The legislature also provided over $1.5M for the HOME matched needed by NCHFA for federal HOME funding.
The big loss was the $7M in non-recurring funds for the Housing 400 program in the Housing Trust Fund. Obviously, we hope to resume this program’s funding as soon as possible, but next year’s budget expects to be just as bad, if not worse, in terms of deficits.
The major opportunity still in front of us is the federal budget process and the potential of funding from the National Housing Trust Fund. Congress will resume housing budget discussions in September, and we will be looking for your help in advocating for increased housing funding.
Carley Ruff
Policy and Outreach Coordinator
Policy and Outreach Coordinator
