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13)    Develop employer-assisted housing options and programs
The region’s employers are well aware that high housing costs and the lack of affordable housing is a major challenge to retaining a high-skilled workforce in Metro Boston.  While there are many public programs and zoning tools that can increase the supply of housing, there is also a role for employers in connecting workers to housing opportunities.  There are many models of Employer Assisted Housing (EAH) programs providing different types of benefits to employees.  They generally involve financing tools such as loans or rental assistance so that employers can increase employee access to housing without directly increasing wages.  They may be private initiatives or public-private partnerships.  

EAH programs in urban areas can also facilitate neighborhood reinvestment efforts by encouraging employees to live in neighborhoods targeted for revitalization.  For example, hospitals or universities might establish programs that encourage residents to live in nearby neighborhoods.  To the extent that such programs facilitate walking or biking to work, they may provide environmental benefits as well.

The University of Massachusetts Memorial Bell Hill-East Side Homeownership Initiative in Worcester provides a good local example of employer assisted housing in action.  The $1 million employer-assisted neighborhood revitalization fund has helped 11 city residents to become first-time homeowners.  The initiative was funded using matching $250,000 contributions from UMass Memorial, the MA Department of Housing and Community Development, the Massachusetts Housing Partnership and the city of Worcester via federal funding.   A successful component to the UMass example was the use of a local center that assisted the first-time buyers with pre-purchase and post-purchase housing assistance.

13.a    MAPC and allied organizations should disseminate “best practices” for Employer Assisted Housing programs

13.b    MAPC and allied organizations should develop an proposal for a regional Employer Assisted Housing program

14)    Increase support for Housing Consumer Education Centers
There are nine Housing Consumer Education Centers in Massachusetts, four serving the MetroFuture region: South Middlesex Opportunity Council, Inc., South Shore Housing Development Corporation, Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership, and Community Teamwork, Inc.  These Centers provide education, outreach and counseling to tenants, landlords, prospective buyers, and homeowners on a range of housing issues.  Their programs create and preserve neighborhood and financial stability.  

Their services are critical to educating first-time owners pre-purchase and post-purchase.  Funding can be used to secure more permanent staff that can assist those in need of services who are not eligible for existing housing resources and to meet the increased demand from people seeking to avoid homelessness or prevent foreclosures. 

14.a    The Department of Housing and Community Development should increase funding for workshops and events that serve tenants and landlords, including landlord/tenant mediation services

14.b    The Department of Housing and Community Development should increase funding for the “Homes for Good” program

14.c    The Department of Housing and Community Development should provide funding to expand and increase first-time homebuyer classes and workshops.

14.d    The Department of Housing and Community Development should provide increased funding to expand and increase emergency assistance programs such as Rental Assistance to Families in Transition (RAFT) program

14.e    The Department of Housing and Community Development should increase funding to the Home Modification for the Disabled program

15)    Prevent foreclosures
In 2008, the foreclosure rate in Massachusetts was the highest in the Commonwealth’s history.  In the first three months of 2008, 7,650 properties statewide were seized by lenders, more than double the number seized in all of 2006.  More homes were in the foreclosure process than in all but nine other states.  The causes are complex: many households find it harder to make payments due to adjustable rates, job losses, and health care costs; and a decline in housing prices means that many troubled homeowners cannot sell their homes or refinance before they are seized.  

Most seized homes or homes in foreclosure are in urban areas, where vacant and abandoned properties can destabilize neighborhoods and depress property values.  However, suburban areas are not immune: over 1,000 foreclosed or bank-owned properties (a quarter of the total) are in the region’s 75 suburban municipalities.   
 
This crisis may continue to worsen.  In recent years, many loans were made with historically high loan-to-value ratios, and subprime lenders sold adjustable-rate mortgages to borrowers with limited or questionable ability to repay.  When adjustable mortgage rates reset, owners must either pay off the loan or make higher (sometimes much higher) monthly payments.  Statewide, an estimated 41% of the subprime and Alt-A adjustable rate mortgages existing in February 2008 were scheduled to reset before February 2010, including nearly 9,000 such loans in the MAPC region.  Falling real estate prices, lack of owner equity, and tightened credit conditions may continue to impact the ability of already stretched borrowers to refinance or sell, leading to more foreclosures.

15.a    The Department of Housing and Community Development, the Office of Consumer Affairs, and the Division of Banks should continue to work aggressively with borrowers, lenders, servicers, and counselors to encourage modification of troubled mortgages to stem the tide of foreclosure.

15.b    The Department of Housing and Community Development, Massachusetts Housing Partnership, MassHousing, and Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation should actively encourage and fund partnerships of municipalities to work together in regional strategies to prevent foreclosures

15.c    Massachusetts should work actively with our Congressional delegation to create a robust federal response to the nationwide foreclosure crisis.

16)    Provide comprehensive, regional responses to homelessness
The Massachusetts Commission to End Homelessness has determined that the Commonwealth must shift resources away from shelters and crisis management to prevention and permanent housing solutions.  One of the current efforts to address homelessness is a Housing First model which provides housing to homeless individuals and families, coupled with a comprehensive array of health and social services.  The work of the Commission and the Interagency Council on Housing and Homelessness (ICHH) should continue in order to adequately advance the recommendations set forth in the Report.

Prevention, intervention, re-housing, and housing stabilization are all critical to ending homelessness.  Funding to develop housing for very low-income households (below 30% of the area median income) accompanied by rental vouchers is needed to move forward with achieving production and rental assistance targets outlined in the Report.

MAPC will work with the Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership as the Convening Agency for the Regional Innovations to End Homelessness grant to explore the models and interventions developed through the regional network innovations program to prevent and end homelessness, funded by the ICHH.  MAPC will work with these partners to implement appropriate models and interventions in the MAPC region.

16.a    MAPC will serve on the Leadership Council and Steering Committee of the regional effort to end homelessness.