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HousingPartnershipFinanceSubcommitteeMinutes1994-1996Northampton Housing Partnership Finance Sub-Committee Minutes September 8, 1994 CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 4:40 p.m. Members present included: Clare Higgins, Sarena Neyman. Also present, Peg Keller. SOFT SECOND MORTGAGE PROGRAM Peg gave Sarena the new {September 6, 1994) Notice of Funding availability for another round of Soft Second Mortgage funding. An additional $1 million dollars is available statewide. Sarena will put together the response letter on behalf of the four participating towns by September 30, 1994. 1st TIME HOMEBUYER CELEBRATION Discussion had occurred earlier about the possibility of having a party to celebrate the success of the Soft Second Program and 1st Time Homebuyer assistance. We discussed what we were hoping to accomplish by having the gathering and in view of the fact that party funds were probably unavailable it was decided to accomplish the goals in other ways. Public Education Banker Involvement Realtor Involvement Activity Organize press release with testimonials/describe program and efforts of City, NHP, CDC Press conference at which Mayor thanks bankers for past involvement and announces future funds Ad book -resource book for 1st Time Homebuyers with realtors paying for ads Sarena said she would have some time in October and November to work on the resource book. In addition to the advertising, year end tax deductions would also be appealing. More thought will be given to the banker press corference and Sarena will contact families about their willingness to share their experiences in a news article. SCHOOL STREET Sarena brought with her an application for CDBG funds from the Valley CDC for the School Street project. They are seeking an additional $10,000 grant to convert one of the existing units into a three bedroom utilizing attic space. The request will go before the Project Review Committee for recommendation to the full Partnership. Construction is planned for October. CALL TO ORDER NORTHAMPTON HOUSING PARTNERSHIP Finance Sub-Committee November 1, 1994 The meeting was convened at 8:30 a.m. Members present included: Chuck Johnson, Judy Cernak, Clare Higgins, Nola Reinhardt. Also present: Peg Keller. CRA UPDATE Peg reported that a student intern is working on the CRA project. He has also been assigned other tasks so he is unable to spend all his time working on this, but any progress will at least be a start. Members discussed the new CRA regulations becoming more stringent. There seems to be an increased focus on residential lending and advertising available products. SOFT SECOND Peg said no notice has been received on the Soft Second application request. The most recent award of $45,000 has been allocated. Members discussed the fact that a good portion of Sarena Neyman's salary for 1st Time Homebuyer activity in Amherst, Hadley, Pelham and Belchertown (joint participants with Northampton in the Soft Second Funding application) was funded by the Small Cities Program which Amherst did not receive. Clare suggested we meet with Sarena to evaluate the impact of that loss on the program. LAND TRUST COLLABORATION Members reviewed the tasks outlined at the Partnership meeting that dealt with the Land Trust Model. Peg had received a list of regional banks who have participated in Land Trust projects, from Martin Hahn (ICE). Clare felt that the Land Trust (not the Partnership) should contact those resources and ascertain the nature and degree of their involvements. Judy said that her supervisor, Jeanne Rinaldo has been active with the Holyoke Land Trust and that SIS has participated. Judy offered to find out more regarding the nature of those projects and contracts. Clare noted that the facet addressing local deposits (of municipal funds) should be explored in-house and she offered to begin that process. Having the Mayor speak to the local financial community, should be the final component, with joint Land Trust and Partnership participation. Peg reported that she had contacted Larry O'Connor and Paul Lischetti to review the strategy developed at the Partnership meeting. A meeting is scheduled with Paul November 2nd. NEXT MEETING -update on Soft Second Program-update on Resource Book-discussion of Sarena's 1st Time Homebuyers position Respectfully submitted, ��✓ Peg �er Housing Program Coordinator c:\wp\minutes\finan94.nov NORTHAMPTON HOUSING PARTNERSHIP Finance Sub-Committee Minutes January 3, 1995 Members Present: Chuck Johnson, Judy Cernak, Peg Keller. Guest: Theresa Meckel, representing Habitat for Humanity. Agenda 1.Award of Soft Second Funds:Northampton, Pelham, Amherst, Hadley and Belchertownreceived a reservation of $100,000 (as requested). The awardletter was followed by a notice of funding availability foran additional round. Peg relayed what Sarena had told her which was that Soft Second monies are needed now more than ever. The recently advertised bank products (Easthampton and United Cooperative) are not designed to impact the same income level that the Soft Second Program can. Judy confirmed that these products are not necessarily new. Discussion followed about the MHFA money and how quickly that gets snapped up upon being offered. Judy and Theresa (also a realtor with Holt) both reported mortgage activity to be nil. Peg reported that the CDBG downpayment assistance fund which had been set aside since year 8 still had $15,000 unused. She has had discussions with Sarena about redirecting it. Sarena had suggested interest buy-downs. In response, Judy suggested retaining the downpayment fund because programs will be coming on line in the spring that may be able to utilize it. She (Judy) also commented that interest buy-downs are an excellent method to assist people but she would only recommend it in conjunction with conventional packages. If used with the Soft Second Program, it could place a buyer in jeopardy if their income does not increase with time. Judy said SIS used to have an interest buydown program. This may be a component worth considering in future program design for CDBG funds. 2 2.CRA Monitoring Project UpdatePeg reported that the student intern had learned that thepending legislative changes were meeting obstacles regardingconfidentiality issues. She said it seemed ironic thatinterest groups were objecting to gathering information onrace, sex, etc. when the purpose of the effort is to makesure no discrimination occurs. Judy offered that as she understands it, it is only a matterof time before those changes do get enacted and she has beenencouraging her institution to make the adjustmentsproactively. She said lending institutions will be requirednot only statewide but locally, wherever there is a branch,to increase the market share percentage of activity in lowand moderate income neighborhoods to be equivalent to thepercentage distributed to high income areas. She sees thestumbling block to be the compilation of the data to yieldthat analysis. Local banks will be allowed to set their owngoals, but will need the data in order to set them. Chuck said there may be some time delay with changes at theFDIC level but sees the thrust as moving away from numbersto a more result oriented approach. Peg closed the discussion by reporting that the actual time the intern will have spent on the project will be less than she had hoped but at a minimum has asked that he design the methodology to compare/contrast the information collected. Peg will relay what she learned today. 3.NACLT Strategic PlanningPeg reported that Sarena Neyman (staff to the Land Trust) ismoving ahead on developing the information packet to presentto financial institutions for Land Trust projects. Judy andPeg said they will be interested in seeing what types ofcommitments other lenders have made. 4.Other(a)Peg updated the members on the progress of the CottageKitchen project and a request for interim management fundsfor Valley Programs from the drawdown fund. (b)Peg put forth an idea that Penny Kim had generatedregarding use of drawdown funds to create something similarto the State's HOP (Homeownership Opportunity Program)Program. Judy agreed to speak with bank personnel previouslyinvolved with the program to see if this is a direction topursue. 3 (c)Theresa mentioned that there are already so manyprograms available and so much confusion about what isoffered by who, that it may make more sense to enhance anexisting one rather than create a new one. She also suggested that it would be very helpful to realtors if the availability of products or programs could be distributed either on the first page of the MLS directory which is updated every two weeks or put into the newsletter of the Franklin/Hampshire County Realtor's Association. Focus for 1995 Peg said more thought can be given to an annual action agenda at which time we have everyone in attendance. Adjourn The meeting adjourned at 9:50 a.m. Respectfully submitted, ����Peg �ler Housing Program Coordinator c:\wp\minutes\finan95.jan NORTHAMPTON HOUSING PARTNERSHIP Finance Sub-Committee February 7, 1995 Members Present: Judy Cernak, Chuck Johnson, Nola Reinhardt. Also present, Marty Klein, student intern from UMass, Peg Keller, Housing Program Coordinator. Agenda: CRAReport: Marty presented a draft of the report he has been working on which picks up on the work begun by Laura Baker. Marty completed the interviews that Laura had begun with local banking institutions. The first section of the report describes the CRA legislation and possible activities that can earn CRA credit. Judy said that one of the comments made to her organization (Springfield Institute for Savings) was to do more advertising to educate people about the products they offer. They are to document any form of outreach carried out and are required to be more proactive. Chuck asked Marty which institutions had been interviewed, just banks or credit unions, etc. Marty said that he had not been to the Credit Union, United had just opened a local branch and Bank of Boston only has a limited service branch. Judy mentioned that she was going to get a demographic profile of the area lending activity compiled by the Mass. Mortgage Bankers Association which would be helpful to examine. Nola suggested that a chart of the eight banks interviewed would be informative. Marty said that the individual reports, brochures, profiles will be kept in Peg's office as they are too cumbersome to include in this document. Judy also reported that some of the Federal mortgage programs are now buying mortgages from Land Trust projects that include the deed restrictions. This was big news .to us all and Nola agreed to report that to Sarena Neyman and the Land Trust Board. Jeanne Rinaldo has offered to come and meet with either the Partnership or Land Trust Board and talk about her work with the Holyoke Land Trust and SIS. Jeanne is a Vice­President of the bank and understands the land trust concept. Members decided that it was more appropriate to have her speak directly to the Land Trust Board and Nola said she would relay that information. Very exciting progress in this realm, thank you Judy for the update! Marty concluded his remarks by saying that generally everyone he spoke with was very interested in enhancing or expanding their local CRA activities and looked forward to a dialogue about meeting needs identified by the community. Marty emphasized that it is critical for the community groups to get together and make their needs known because these entities seem willing to listen and act according to their capacities. pg.2 Judy noted that her organization has attempted to become more proactive in reaching people and were, for example denied access by the Housing Authority to their properties, as did the Meadowbrook owners. They did get permission to do outreach in Hampton Gardens and held on-site counseling sessions and posted bi-lingual educational materials. She also said that institutions are scrutinized by Federal regulatory agencies based on the amounts of the assets; smaller banks therefore receive less scrutiny. Members were asked to review the draft report and make any suggestions to Peg by the end of next week, as Marty's internship is coming to a close. Project Updates: South Street/ The Valley CDC is going to request a $150,000 loan and this will be reviewed at the Project Review Sub-Committee meeting this Thursday. MHFA Program Rep./ Judy offered to contact the MHFA rep. JeffMcQueen to see if he would be interested in coming to a Partnerslup meeting to educate us about the programs offered by that organization. Peg said that would be helpful so we know what is available as tools for the development of affordable housing. Oak Street/ Peg mentioned that Habitat for Humanity is looking for sites in Northampton to devel<?P for either single family or duplex housing. They are currently investigating the Oak Street lot that was purchased by the City for possible school construction years ago. This is a parcel that could possibly be offered as an in-kind donation via an RFP for the construction of three bedroom units. Nola was interested in the information for possible Land Trust projects. Adjourn: There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 5 :45 p.m. Respectfully, �¼t,{u Peg Keller NORTHAMPTON HOUSING PARTNERSHIP Finance Sub-Committee February 7, 1995 Members Present: Judy Cernak, Chuck Johnson, Nola Reinhardt. Also present, Marty Klein, student intern from UMass, Peg Keller, Housing Program Coordinator. Agenda: CRA Report: Marty presented a draft of the report he has been working on which picks up on the work begun by Laura Baker. Marty completed the interviews that Laura had begun with local banking institutions. The first section of the report describes the CRA legislation and possible activities that can earn CRA credit. Judy said that one of the comments made to her organization (Springfield Institute for Savings) was to do more advertising to educate people about the products they offer. They are to document any form of outreach carried out and are required to be more proactive. Chuck asked Marty which institutions had been interviewed, just banks or credit unions, etc. Marty said that he had not been to the Credit Union, United had just opened a local branch and Bank of Boston only has a limited service branch. Judy mentioned that she was going to get a demographic profile of the area lending activity compiled by the Mass. Mortgage Bankers Association which would be helpful to examine. Nola suggested that a chart of the eight banks interviewed would be informative. Marty said that the individual reports, brochures, profiles will be kept in Peg's office as they are too cumbersome to include in this document. Judy also reported that some of the Federal mortgage programs are now buying mortgages from Land Trust projects that include the deed restrictions. This was big news to us all and Nola agreed to report that to Sarena Neyman and the Land Trust Board. Jeanne Rinaldo has offered to come and meet with either the Partnership or Land Trust Board and talk about her work with the Holyoke Land Trust and SIS. Jeanne is a Vice­President of the bank and understands the land trust concept. Members decided that it was more appropriate to have her speak directly to the Land Trust Board and Nola said she would relay that information. Very exciting progress in this realm, thank you Judy for the update! Marty concluded his remarks by saying that generally everyone he spoke with was very interested in enhancing or expanding their local CRA activities and looked forward to a dialogue about meeting needs identified by the community. Marty emphasized that it is critical for the community groups to get together and make their needs known because these entities seem willing to listen and act according to their capacities. pg.2 Judy noted that her organization has attempted to become more proactive in reaching people and were, for example denied access by the Housing Authority to their properties, as did the Meadowbrook owners. They did get permission to do outreach in Hampton Gardens and held on-site counseling sessions and posted bi-lingual educational materials. She also said that institutions are scrutinized by Federal regulatory agencies based on the amounts of the assets; smaller banks therefore receive less scrutiny. Members were asked to review the draft report and make any suggestions to Peg by the end of next week, as Marty's internship is coming to a close. Project Updates: South Street/ The Valley CDC is going to request a $150,000 loan and this will be reviewed at the Project Review Sub-Committee meeting this Thursday. MHF A Program Rep./ Judy offered to contact the MHF A rep. Jeff McQueen to see if he would be interested in coming to a Partnership meeting to educate us about the programs offered by that organization. Peg said that would be helpful so we know what is available as tools for the development of affordable housing. Oak Street/ Peg mentioned that Habitat for Humanity is looking for sites in Northampton to develop for either single family or duplex housing. They are currently investigating the Oak Street lot that was purchased by the City for possible school construction years ago. This is a parcel that could possibly be offered as an in-kind donation via an RFP for the construction of three bedroom units. Nola was interested in the information for possible Land Trust projects. Adjourn: There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 5:45 p.m. Respectfully, �¼u,{BPeg Keller NORTHAMPTON HOUSING PARTNERSHIP Finance Sub-Committee Minutes March 7, 1995 Members Present: Judy Cernak, Chuck Johnson. Also present, Peg Keller. AGENDA Downpayment Assistance Program Peg relayed Penny Kim's desire to get this money allocated. $15,000 remains and has not been utilized for over a year. Judy said she would take it upon herself to contact the other banks to make sure they are aware of it as a resource and to identify other programs it may work with in addition to Soft Second. Future utilization of such a funding designation needs to be evaluated and if it does not get used this year, it should be re-allocated. Judy will keep us posted. CRA Report Martin Klein's report was discussed. An additional informational resource is the State and Federal ratings which are published. Those with unsatisfactory ratings ask for ways to improve activities. The strategy of presenting our monitoring results in conjunction with the Consolidated Plan Needs Assessment to the banks was discussed. Rather than being negative, this strategy would allow us to be specific about ways to involve the banks in housing activity. Marty reported that everyone he interviewed expressed a willingness to do more. If they need ideas, it behooves us to develop them. Judy mentioned that if correspondences with specific requests are in the files, auditors will ask them how they responded. ADJOURN The meeting concluded at 5:45 p.m. with plans to organize a CRA forum for the Partnership meeting in May. R���if Peg Ke� Housing Program Coordinator a:\finan95.mar NORTHAMPTON HOUSING PARTNERSHIP Finance Sub-Committee Minutes November 1, 1995 Members Present: Chuck Johnson, Judy Cernak. Also present, Peg Keller. Agenda/ First Time Homebuyer Program Peg updated the members regarding the status of the Federal legislation on this program. Direct housing services had been removed from the list of eligible Block Grant expenditures when the intent was to have it covered under the HOME program. When it was discovered that not everyone receives HOME funds, it required legislative approval to re-incorporate it into the CDBG program. That time period for inclusion expired September 30, 1995. As of yet, no authorization has been given to continue the program. Therefore, although the contract with the CDC to continue administering the Housing Services Program for the City is ready for signature, the authorization to proceed is not there. John Dunne told Peg that calls are being taken at the CDC and people are being instructed to either call banks directly or call back in a few weeks. Sarena has left the CDC and John has not proceeded with replacing her until he knows the future of the funding. A flier was received in the Planning Department about an upcoming seminar sponsored by the CDC for first-time homebuyers. Peg wondered who was conducting it and will call John. No response has been received from EOCD regarding the most recent application to the Soft Second Loan Program (October 16, 1995). Judy said that the Housing Counselor provides a real service to the banks by pre-screening people. Banks will pre-qualify people if they have to but it consumes staff time on loans that they are losing money on anyway. Members then began discussing the impact of mortgage companies in the market. They at present are virtually unregulated as far as CRA mandates. The probably will be doing the lion-share of residential mortgages in the future and have no accountability to the community. Judy will give Peg a list of some of the new entities involved, such as Source 1 and Norwest. Members agreed that a one-on-one approach with local financial institutions including these new mortgage companies ( who function with low overhead) would be the best strategy. Peg agreed to begin work on a informational package that includes community development housing goals to take to these meetings. A Partnership member and staff could go together. This would be more effective than a group setting. Chuck and Judy agreed that the new mortgage companies were a major player on the scene and they need to be educated about first time homebuyer programs. They do offer FHA loans which require low down payments. This may be a place to start. This seems like a good project to undertake this year. It was agreed that the first Wednesday of each month is convenient for meeting. Although Chuck is no longer affiliated with Smith College, he is still active in the financial community and wishes to remain involved. Adjourn The meeting concluded at 6:00 p.m. December 6th at 5:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ?�,{y) Peg Ke�er Housing Program Coordinator The next meeting will be NORTHAMPTON HOUSING PARTNERSHIP Finance Sub-Committee Minutes January 3, 1996 Members Present: Clare Higgins, Judy Cernak. Also present, Peg Keller. AGENDA/ 1.) Update on First Time Homebuyer Program/ Peg reported that there is still no Federal authorization to expend Block Grant funds on such efforts. Now with the Federal furlough, there is no way to know when the authorization may come through. John Dunne has applied to the Office of Planning and Development for an operating grant, which is another way to proceed. Penny is unable to contact Karen Malfy at HUD for approval on this course of action, however, due to the furlough. John says he gets calls daily and can only tell people to check back in a few weeks. Hopefully something will happen soon. Judy said that the banks can function independently to move the Soft Second funds, although the pre-qualifying of the applicants by the Homebuyer counselor was helpful. 2.) Outreach to Mortgage Companies/ Discussion continued with regard to the fact that mortgage companies are doing a high number of residential mortgages and are unregulated by CRA. Judy gave Peg the names of the two companies who are doing most of the business locally. Members discussed a strategy to touch base with the other banks and offer the City's assistance to address the activities of the mortgage companies. An informal meeting was suggested, by invitation of the Mayor, sponsored by the Partnership, with the following: Greenfield Savings United Savings Northampton Coop SIS Florence Savings Easthampton Savings Members explained the trend which was as banks consolidated, they shed their lower level/smaller scale loan activity which was picked up by the mortgage companies. pg. 2 The forum could be organized to stimulate a dialogue about the current state of residential mortgages in the community, and find out statistics, demographics, level of interest in loaning to low and moderate income people, what programs they offer for that income level and how the City can be of assistance. Secondly, we would ask their input on how we can work together to mitigate the impact of the mortgage companies. As a follow­up, we would meet with the representatives of the mortgage companies, outline our needs and ask for their participation in meeting those needs. Clare noted that we should connect with Joe Kennedy's office as he is doing work in the area of CRA and fair lending practices. Participating in a loan pool for lead paint abatement was identified as a tangible way for banks to help the City meet community goals. Peg mentioned that Florence Savings has expressed interest in that program and in the Soft Second Loan Program. Judy said she has sent them information on the Soft Second and that we should ask Sarena how to get them on the official State list. In summary, members agreed that it was a good time to meet with banks, as events (mergers, etc. ) seem to have stabilized for the moment. The event will be planned for March. Peg said that this fulfills the role of the Finance Sub­committee tasks which include banker outreach, identification of new funding sources and CRA monitoring. Next Meeting: February 7, 1996 at 5:00 p.m. Re�¼t[;{?J Peg �er Housing Program Coordinator FINANCE SUB-COMMITTEE September 11, 1996 Minutes Members Present: Chuck Johnson, Peg Murray. Also present, Peg Keller, Housing Program Coordinator. Agenda/ 1.Recap of Past Projects Peg spent some time describing the Housing Partnership and theFinance Sub-Committee tasks to new member, Peg Murray ofFlorence Savings Bank. 2.Work in Progress Peg K. reviewed the efforts that were underway prior to breaking for the summer: -issue with mortgage companies not being regulatedby CRA and how that relates to communityparticipation ( or lack thereof)a forum to facilitate dialogue with financialinstitutions about community needs and prioritiesmonitoring the Soft Second Loan Program activity andthe First Time Homebuyer Program/ Valley CDC Peg M. distributed an overview of the new CRA regulations and the Public Disclosure Report from Florence Savings. Members discussed the status of the new CRA regs and how they require real dialogues with communities in order to meet objectives. Peg M. said that there is a strategic plan component which is not mandatory at this time that involves a prescribed process through which community needs are identified, the bank describes how those needs will be met and then is evaluated specifically on how well the institution met those needs. Chuck thought that such a formalized, accountable process would be the wave of the future. He emphasized that it is imperative to bring the mortgage companies to the table as they are responsible for a ballooning level of activity in the mortgage market. 3. Tasks for the Future Peg M. reported that in the area of homeownership, they aredoing outreach to Hampshire Heights, Florence Heights andHampton Gardens. FSB is working with HAP to conduct a seriesof homeownership workshops targeted at the Hispaniccommunity. HAP has also sent fliers to Casa Latina and to HCAC. Peg M. said that FSB is just getting into the Soft Second Program and they have a First Time Homebuyer product of their own. Members discussed the new Lead Safe Northampton Program and a possible role for local banks. Peg K. said that we should let the program operate for awhile with the current financial resources and see if there turn out to be any gaps. At that point it will make sense to develop a local response. ( the MHFA Get the Lead Out Program, EOCD GAp Filler Program and a CDBG loan program will be utilized ) Members thought about projects to pursue for this season. Peg M.said it is difficult to ascertain what the community needsare and the best way to respond and it would be helpful tohear about the City's priorities and goals. Peg K. agreed to work on the forum as a way to accomplish this. She will develop a work plan and time table. All agreed that this would go a long way towards helping the banks meet their CRA requirements in tangible and meaningful ways. 4.) Other Business Members will meet with other sub-committee members, Yvonne Freccero and Clare Higgins at the Partnership meeting next Tuesday to determine a meeting time for October. s.) Adjourn The meeting which began at 9:00 a.m. concluded at 10:00 a.m. Respectfully submitted, �K�il Peg �ler Housing Program Coordinator FINANCE SUB-COMMITTEE Minutes October 15, 1996 Present: Peg Murray, Clare Higgins. Also present, Peg Keller. Agenda/ 1.Financial Institution Forum/ Members discussed agenda possibilities for the forum that is planned. The major purpose is to impart the community needs that the banks can help to address. Peg gave an update on the status of the CRA regs. She said that banks will be striving for an outstanding rating because there are rewards for that status. Regulated institutions will be rated every 12 mos. The time period between evaluations can be longer with an outstanding rating. Members reviewed a listing of the banks most active in residential lending arena. Peg M. said the state will be publishing exam schedules and the rating results. Peg M. talked about the information that banks need to know in order to be more responsive to the community. Ideas mentioned were: information on local small business programs and offerings, information about economic development and agricultural activity, the relationship between local non-profit agencies, such as the Community Trust and the CDC and how to attract low and moderate income customers. Clare suggested linking up with the Hampshire County Human Services Department to provide a regional perspective. It might make sense to offer a series of small workshops addressing such topics as permanent affordability, residential lending, housing rehab and small business lending. This effort could be incorporated into the HUD grant and banks could provide early banking education to participants of the business development program. It was decided that about 6 weeks lead time was needed to plan the event and mid-February would be a good time (based on the cyclical work loads at banks). Peg K. will begin to work on the logistics, such as finding a site. 2.Adjourn/The meeting, having convened at 5:30 p.m. concluded at 6:45 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Peg Keller