Lending a collective voice to providers of affordable housing and the people they serve, NC Housing Coalition provides the statewide and federal voice for low-income North Carolinians. The Coalition monitors programs and legislation, and is leading a grassroots campaign to build an endowment for housing in North Carolina.

2010 Legislative Wrap-up

State

• Homeowner and Homebuyer Protection Act (SB 1015)

SB 1015 has been ratified and awaits the Governor’s signature.  This bill, Sponsored by Sen. Josh Stein, prohibits foreclosure rescue scams in which a homeowner is persuaded to sell property for less than fifty percent of its fair market value to avoid foreclosure.   It also adds needed consumer protections for “rent to own” transactions and contracts for deeds.  It requires that such contracts be in writing, include specified minimum contents, be recorded, and give purchasers under the contract notice of and the right to cure any default, among other stipulations.  These scams and unscrupulous real estate transactions have been used to exploit and manipulate families struggling to pay a home loan or families who are having trouble obtaining a loan to purchase a home. 

• State Foreclosure Prevention Program (SB 1216)

SB 1216, Sponsored by Sen. Dan Blue was passed by the House and Senate by large margins and is on its way to Governor Perdue. This bill extends and expands the State Foreclosure Prevention Program that is administered by the Commissioner of Banks office. The program, which was set to expire in October, was put into place in 2008 to address the influx of foreclosures due to subprime lending. Since its creation, the program has connected thousands of North Carolinians facing foreclosure with HUD-certified housing counselors and helped over 4,000 people avoid foreclosure.  The program will now be extended until 2013 and opened to all types of home loans, not just subprime. The program will be funded by a fee on foreclosure filings.  The funds will support the administration of the program by the Commissioner of Banks, housing counselors, and nonprofit legal services.  Any unused funds will be added to the NC Housing Trust Fund.

• NC Sustainable Communities Taskforce

The General Assembly included the creation of the NC Sustainable Communities Taskforce within the budget this year.  The NC Sustainable Communities Task Force will bring together leaders from the Departments of Commerce, Environment and Natural Resources, Transportation, Administration, Health and Human services, and the NC Housing Finance Agency to focus on developing and sustaining healthy, safe, and walkable communities accessible to all North Carolinians. This interagency collaboration will increase North Carolina’s competitiveness in receiving federal moneys for sustainable development. This Task Force will also foster regional collaborations and will help local governments invest more efficiently in affordable places where people can live, work and play. The taskforce will begin in 2011.

• Budget (SB 897)

Although North Carolina faced an $800 million budget shortfall this year, there were no cuts in recurring funding for the North Carolina Housing Trust Fund. State funding was cut for the NC Home Protection Program in anticipation of the $159 million the state will be receiving in federal “Hardest Hit Funds” for foreclosure prevention. Much of this federal funding, which will be administered by the NC Housing Finance Agency, will be used toward an expanded version of the Home Protection Program.   

Lawmakers anticipated receiving $500 million in federal assistance for Medicaid (FMAP) when putting together the budget, but questions still remain as to whether Congress will actually approve this funding. Thus, the NC General Assembly created a contingency plan to fill this potentially large budget gap and these cuts could affect funding for the state Housing Trust Fund. If Congress does not provide FMAP funding by Jan. 1, 2011, the following cuts will be triggered: 

• $30M from the Disaster Relief Reserve Fund;
• $35M in unclaimed lottery money;
• $50M in interest earnings from state funds;
• $23.5M from General Fund; 
• 1% cut in Medicaid provider rates ($26,618,975);
• $37M from the “Rainy Day Fund;”
• Reduction in the contribution rate to state employees’ retirement ($139,000,000);
• 1% flexibility cut will be imposed on all state agencies ($177,500,000).

Federal

• Financial Reform (H.R. 4173)

The U.S. House and Senate have passed the conference report on H.R. 4173, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.  The conference report that was adopted will primarily reform the way financial institutions are regulated, including through the establishment of a consumer protection agency to ensure consumers get accurate information about mortgages, credit cards, and other financial products. In addition, among the bill’s provisions are several foreclosure-related items especially important to housing advocates. The bill also extends the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act, provides $1 billion in additional assistance for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, establishes a new program to help out of work homeowners, provides for a grant program to support the provision of legal services in connection with foreclosures, and requires the HUD Secretary to develop a program to refinance troubled multifamily mortgages.  This legislation was signed into law by President Obama on July 21.

• American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010 (H.R. 4213)

Negotiations are underway between Senate leaders and individual Republican Senators to reach the compromises necessary to get the 60 votes needed to pass H.R. 4213, the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010 (the extender bill).  If passed, the following housing provisions will be enacted:  

Extension of the LIHTC exchange program created in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) through 2010.  This program allows state housing agencies to exchange a portion of their allocation of 9% LIHTC for cash that can be used to invest in qualified housing projects.

$1 billion allocated for the National Housing Trust Fund and $65 million for project-based vouchers.

• To learn more about the Coalition's role in State & Local Advocacy and read our 2010 State Legislative Agenda click here.
• To learn more about the Coalition's role in Federal Advocacy and read our 2010 Federal Legislative Agenda click here.
• Messaging & Strategy - If you are looking for information on how to effectively message and communicate the need for affordable housing click here.  This page also has a link to our Communicatinos Manual which was designed to provide affordable housing advocates and concerned community leaders the tools to conduct a meaningful and successful public education initiative about affordable housing.