Director's Message
October 1, 2009

To:       Employees and Partners of Oregon Housing and Community Services

From:   Victor Merced

Re:       Director’s Bulletin

• Housing Opportunity Bill: Citizens Speak
• Recovery Act: $28.6 Million in Gap Financing
• Creekside in Wilsonville Breaks Ground
• Medford Event Addresses Foreclosure Risk

Housing Opportunity Bill: Advocates, Citizens Speak

The Housing Opportunity Bill meetings held in key Oregon cities have drawn helpful comments.

Citizens, public officials and advocates have come together in forums with representatives of Oregon Housing and Community Services in Roseburg, Bend, Pendleton and Portland to discuss implementation of the bill.

It goes into effect this week. OHCS will first see the money from the bill at the beginning of 2010, collected by Oregon’s county clerks. They will assess $15 on the first page of each real estate document recorded, the money dedicated to support affordable housing.

Learn more about the Housing Opportunity Bill Forums, click here.

We heard poignant statements about housing needs and associated human service challenges.

“We need to start addressing these problems in a holistic manner because they are so interrelated,” Klamath County Commissioner John Elliott commented about the proper linking of referrals to services. He spoke at the Bend meeting.

There too, Executive Director Sharon Miller of NeighborImpact, located in Redmond, said: “Any time we can have a longer-term relationship with a household, it improves the success of our programs.”

And in Portland, Executive Director Michael Anderson of the Oregon Opportunity Network, applauded the role of the regional housing centers, suggesting they could expand their role because of their importance in serving people struggling to deal with housing issues. Anderson noted that the homebuyer education offered through the housing centers is successful in preventing foreclosures.

Executive Director Ramsey Weit of Community Housing Fund in Washington County, told the Portland meeting that land acquisition is a worthy use of funds and should be considered for groups like Habitat for Humanity.

One meeting remains: the Salem forum. It will be held from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m., Friday, October 9, in Room 124A of the North Mall Office Building, 725 Summer St. NE.

Recovery Act: $28.6 Million in Gap Financing

The Oregon Housing Council approved reservations last Friday totaling $28.6 million in federal Recovery Act dollars that will aid completion of 17 low-income housing projects.

This gap financing consists of two federal programs, both of which bolster affordable housing by supporting the low-income-housing-tax-credit industry. They are the federal Tax Credit Assistance Program (TCAP) and the Tax Credit Exchange Program (Exchange). See the news release.

Creekside in Wilsonville Breaks Ground

Wilsonville welcomed affordable housing developers, financiers and elected officials early this week for the groundbreaking of Creekside Woods, an 84-unit development for seniors slated for completion toward the end of 2010.

Extending good wishes from Governor Ted Kulongoski, Senior Policy Advisor Danny Santos applauded the tremendous support for the project that came from a host of individuals and entities.

Senior housing has an important legacy in Wilsonville, and Creekside Woods continues that tradition. It is particularly important to the community given last year’s loss of 269 affordable housing units when the Thunderbird manufactured community closed.

Creekside Woods attendees included:

• Wilsonville Mayor Tim Knapp and Clackamas County Commissioner Charlotte Lehan, who provided political support.
• Martha McLennan, executive director of Northwest Housing Alternatives, who developed this much needed project.

When I took my turn at the lectern, I spoke of the many factors that made Creekside possible. It came together at a time when affordable housing finance is under great strain.

But working together, we consummated the deal, including:

• A $5.5 million contribution from HUD toward the $15.7 million project.
• Almost $1.1 million from the city of Wilsonville.
• And substantial tax credits, Trust Fund and weatherization dollars from OHCS.

The rental subsidy from HUD comes to $9 million over the next 40 years. Creekside Woods is a testament to much hard work and dedication.

Medford Event Addresses Foreclosure Risk

Southwest Oregon homeowners struggling to make mortgage payments have an upcoming opportunity to tap into expert information to avoid the tribulations of foreclosure.

Experts in refinancing, loan modification and government housing programs will present the free, daylong Home Ownership Preservation Event on Saturday, October 17, at the Higher Education Center, 101 South Bartlett in Medford.

Participants who are at-risk homeowners will be able to meet one-on-one with HUD-approved counselors. Further, they may attend a workshop to avert foreclosure and avoid foreclosure scams.

The event targets homeowners from Jackson, Josephine, Klamath and Douglas counties.

Oregon Housing and Community Services is among the sponsors, which include, among others, the Oregon Department of Justice and the Department of Consumer and Business Services.

DCBS’s Fernando Velez explains that an important message of the event will be to urge “homeowners to be more proactive in talking to their lenders.”

This, he says, is driven by Senate Bill 628, which requires lenders and loan servicers to meet with homeowners at their request, and, then, to determine if their loan will be modified allowing them to keep the home. It all starts, notes Velez, with the homebuyer, who must ask for help.

Find out more and register at 541-774-4305 or www.access-inc.org.

Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.
~ Mark Twain

Victor Merced, Director
Phone 503.986.2005
Email: victor.merced@hcs.state.or.us
www.ohcs.oregon.gov

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