POLICY & ADVOCACY

Policy

ANHD’s policy work is centered-on promoting a progressive, comprehensive housing agenda for New York City’s neighborhoods. Much of our focus is on the creation and improvement of City-funded housing programs and initiatives which address the housing and community development priorities of our members’ neighborhoods.In 2007, ANHD's focus is on reform and expansion of the city's Third Party Transfer program, pushing the city and state to commit to permanent affordability in their production and preservation programs, and the creation of a true statewide affordable housing trust fund.Under the leadership of our member-only Policy Committee, we engage in practical research and analysis, sponsor educational forums and generate position papers and alerts in support of our current advocacy strategies. For ANHD’s Affordable Housing Platform and other policy publications and documents, Click Here
For more information on ANHD's policy and advocacy initiatives, contact Dave Hanzel, Policy Director at davidb.h@anhd.org

Housing Advocacy

In 2008, ANHD will work together with our members to build on recent policy advocacy accomplishments, focusing on:

• Expanding funding for affordable housing and neighborhood-based housing preservation groups
• Preserving HUD-subsidized housing
• Creating new protections against tenant harassment
• Ensuring the long-term affordability of new housing

Taken together, these five campaigns add up to a comprehensive approach to city-level policy change to protect tenants and preserve affordable housing.

Funding for Affordable Housing

ANHD and our members work annually to ensure that there are sufficient resources in the City and State budgets to support the preservation and production of affordable housing.

Funding Neighborhood-Based Housing Preservation

In the spring of 2007, ANHD proposed the creation of a City Council-funded initiative to help communities preserve their rapidly diminishing supply of affordable housing by supporting neighborhood groups to develop a strategic, grassroots-based solution to the particular threat to affordable housing that is most pressing in their individual community. Through our advocacy, we were successful in securing $1.5 million for the Housing Preservation Initiative, which will provide $60,000 to 25 neighborhood-based housing groups.

In the coming year, ANHD will work to extend and expand council funding for the initiative.

Preserving HUD-Subsidized Housing

Project-based Section 8 housing is a crucial affordable housing resource in New York City, currently providing over 47,000 of stable, affordable apartments for working families and senior citizens in neighborhoods all over the city. But many of these projects are at risk, either due to distressed physical conditions, or because landlords seeking higher, market-rate rents are opting out of the subsidy programs that keep them affordable. Preserving these buildings requires intensive tenant organizing to keep the projects affordable, and, wherever possible, transfer ownership to a nonprofit developer committed to permanent affordability.  ANHD is working with member organizations and other allies to develop and carry out building-by-building preservation strategies.  We are also partnering with the New York City Local Initiatives Support Corporation to provide technical assistance, training, and support to enable nonprofit developers to purchase and preserve these properties.

ANHD has also worked to promote policy and legislative reform at the local and national levels, to promote the preservation of HUD-subsidized buildings. In 2008, we participated in a successful campaign to restore full funding to Project-based Section 8 contracts.  With our members and other nonprofit partners, we also helped convince the city to establish a coordination entity to monitor this portion of the affordable housing stock.

An important recent victory was the preservation of Findlay Plaza, a 164-unit HUD-subsidized project for the elderly in the Bronx.  ANHD organized tenants and provided extensive technical assistance to local nonprofit developer and ANHD member Belmont Arthur Local Development Corporation, which successfully acquired the building in Spring 2009 after foreclosure by HUD.

Creating New Protections Against Tenant Harassment

Harassment of tenants paying a moderate rent has reached crisis proportions and is a major factor in the loss of affordable housing. This harassment takes many forms, including baseless legal cases against the tenant, denial of repairs and essential services, and threats based on the tenant’s immigration status. But the goal is always the same – illegally push the tenant out in order to increase the rent from moderate to market-rate. Last year alone, over 13,000 apartments were taken out of the Rent Stabilization and Rent Control system by their landlords using various legal loopholes, and harassment of tenants was a central factor in the loss of many of these 13,000 units. In spite of the scale of the problem, tenants have almost no specific protection against harassment and cannot raise the issue in the most appropriate venue, housing court. This past year, ANHD led a campaign to educate the public about the crisis of harassment.

As a result of this education campaign, Council Speaker Quinn recently introduced landmark legislation to create a new “private right of action” allowing tenants to use housing court to fight against harassment. This new law may be passed in early 2008.

Moving Towards Permanent Affordability

Mayor Bloomberg has justifiably received credit for his “New Housing Marketplace” affordable housing production plan to create 165,000 new affordable units. What has been overlooked, however, is the fact that the affordability of the majority of these units is short-term, expiring when the underlying bond or tax credit financing expires. With the Mayor’s recently released plan for the year 2030 calling on all areas of the government to plan strategically for one million new city residents, the fact that much of the affordable housing now being built will not be affordable in 2030 seems like shortsighted, unsustainable policy. Other cities around the country have successfully addressed the complex legal and regulatory issues surrounding “sustainable affordability”.

ANHD began developing a campaign to address the issue of sustainable affordability with a convening of stakeholders, exploring the numerous financing, legal, and regulatory tools that could be applied to get to sustainable affordability. We are continuing to refine these ideas in smaller working groups. ANHD will produce a policy document and reconvene all the stakeholders to plan a research, media, and organizing campaign that we will carry out over the next two years to win this major city policy change.

For more information about these campaigns, contact Benjamin Dulchin, Executive Director at benjamin.d@anhd.org

Reinvestment Advocacy

THE BANKING/REINVESTMENT WORKING GROUP

ANHD’s BANKING / REINVESTMENT WORKING GROUP monitors the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)-related activities of New York City’s banks including investment, lending, and services; submits comments regarding important bank mergers; fosters relationship building between community-based housing organizations and local financial institutions; and makes policy recommendations for strengthening the CRA. The CRA has been central to the successful efforts of local housing groups to revitalize and stabilize neighborhoods across the five boroughs for over 30 years. Recently, however, as banks have grown to become large, national institutions, their New York City focus has diminished. In 2009, the Reinvestment Working Group is working to ensure banks remain responsive, committed community development partners through.

• Research focused on identifying the unmet credit needs of low- and moderate-income residents and neighborhoods;
• Discussions with bank staff to share best practices in the field and suggest products and programs that would strengthen local community development initiatives;

• Conversations with regulators to stress the importance of examining a bank’s community development lending and investment and the qualitative impact of these activities; and
• Coordination with national advocacy efforts to pass CRA-modernization legislation.

Given the recent economic turmoil and the increased scrutiny of the banking industry, the Reinvestment Working Group believes there is a moment of opportunity for reinvestment advocacy.

Click here for the report, “Community Development At-Risk: The Troubled Future of Bank Reinvestment in New York City.

For more information or to get involved, contact Benjamin Dulchin, Executive Director, at benjamin.d@anhd.org.

TRAINING & TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

The Affordable Housing Institute was created by ANHD in 1990 to encourage best practices in affordable housing development and management among New York City’s community housing groups. Well-trained and capable staff help ensure that community housing assets are preserved for the future.The Institute is the only affordable, comprehensive housing management training program offered by a non-profit for non-profits and which focuses entirely on housing and asset management issues particular to the New York City community housing movement. The Institute offers several multi-session courses each year as well as a roster of half-day workshops.Each course provides small classes (30 student limit), individual attention for our students and conveniently located classes. All instructors are teaching from hands-on experience. Resource materials provide current information. Field trips demonstrate current methods, best practices and new technologies. Each student develops a project related to the course and her or his work.

Upcoming Courses

Upcoming Workshops

Managing Lean and Green Workshop Series - First Wednesday of every month, 10:00am-12:00pm
Co-sponsored by ANHD, The Supportive Housing Network of New York, and Pratt Center for Community Development. A monthly 10-session forum to learn & share information about how to make your existing housing portfolio more energy efficient, healthier, and more financially viable. Groups may sign up for the whole series or individual sessions at a slightly higher rate. These workshops are for affordable housing managers, project managers, developers, senior maintenance and fiscal staff. Cost: $200 for the full series or $25.00 per session. The fourth session (Building Retrofits) is scheduled for 1/06/10. Location: Pratt Center, 144 W. 14th Street (between 6th & 7th Aves.) Advanced registration is required at www.prattcenter.net/events
click here for information about this session.

Unless otherwise indicated, all courses and workshops are held at the ANHD office at 50 Broad Street, Suite 1125, Manhattan. You must be registered in advance to attend any course or workshop. To register, contact Rita Mazza at 212-747-1117, x10, or email rita.m@anhd.org

INITIATIVE FOR NEIGHBORHOOD and CITY WIDE ORGANIZING (INCO)

In the fall of 2003, ANHD launched a new, large-scale capacity building program to strengthen grassroots organizing in low-income neighborhoods around the city. The Initiative for Neighborhood and City-Wide Organizing is a four year, 4.8 million dollar effort designed to increase our members capacity to organize in their own neighborhoods as well as to increase community residents' ability to influence city-wide policy on housing issues. INCO is a collaboration between ANHD and the Neighborhood Opportunities Fund, a consortium of corporate and private philanthropies based in New York City. The Neighborhood Opportunities Fund will provide direct grants of $50,000 a year for four years to fifteen participating neighborhood-based housing groups. ANHD provides overall program management, extensive technical assistance to the groups, and coordination of city-wide policy organizing activities.INCO complements ANHD's advocacy agenda by increasing support for a comprehensive progressive housing agenda. By strengthening the community voices of low-income neighborhoods, we will ensure that our city's housing policy is responsive to the needs and priorities of poor and working people.

The 2008/2009 INCO grantees are:

For further information, contact David Shuffler Jr., INCO Director, at david.s@anhd.orgTop

NEW YORK MORTGAGE COALITION


Mission

The New York Mortgage Coalition is a nonprofit collaboration of banks and community-based housing agencies working together to help low and moderate income families become first-time homeowners in the Greater New York area. Through financial workshops and one-to-one counseling, NYMC provides the important pre-purchase education that converts qualified borrowers into responsible homeowners. Since its founding in 1993 NYMC has provided homebuyer education and counseling to over 30,000 LMI families -- 6,000 of which obtained affordable mortgages through our program. In addition to pre-purchase counseling, NYMC is also significantly involved in foreclosure prevention counseling and loan modifications to help the many distressed borrowers engulfed in the the housing crisis gripping our city. Please visit www.nymc.org for more information on the New York Mortgage Coalition. For specific questions please contact Ken Inadomi, Director, at ken.i@nymc.org or Corrine Balgobin, Assistant Director, at corrine.b@nymc.org.

The eight NYMC community groups are listed below:

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