HomeMy Public PortalAboutCommunity Preservation Committee -- 2016-07-27 Minutes Approved: 08/10/16
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2198 Main Street
,° t—_ Brewster, Massachusetts 02631-1898
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COMMUNITY PRESERVATION COMMITTEE
HOUSING COMMITTEE
Held a Meeting
On Wednesday,July 27,2016 at 8:30 a.m.
At The Brewster Town Office Building, 2198 Main Street,Brewster,MA
Meeting Minutes of J�2016
Present: Chair Paul Ruchinskas, Vice-Chair Jeanne Boehm.
Absent: Jillian Douglass
Also Present: Town Administrator Mike Embury, Town Counsel Sarah Turano-Flores, Town
Counsel Jaime Hoctor, Susan Johnson and Kim Bourgea from Harwich Ecumenical Council for
the Homeless (HECH).
The Chair called the meeting to order at 8:3 5 am
1) Discussion of eligibility criteria and other administrative and programmatic matters related to
the 2016 Homeowners Emergency Loan Program (HELP)and its potential administration by
the Harwich Ecumenical Council for the Homeless.
The chair noted that the purpose of the meeting was to review the requirements that Town
Counsel believes are necessary for HELP to be deemed a CPA eligible activity and then to
discuss with HECH whether those requirements could be met by HECH in a manner that would
enable them to continue to administer the program.
All parties agreed that there needed to be a faster and more efficient process to determine
eligibility and to process loan requests so that homeowners are not waiting an unreasonable
amount of time, that monitoring of income eligibility and principal residency over the term of the
loan was necessary to maintain CPA compliance, and that the administration of the program by
HECH needed to be a break even activity as 14ECH has lost money in the administration of the
2015 program.
After a discussion of the various programmatic components and Town requirements, all parties
recommended the following changes or clarifications be made to the 2016 HELP:
HECH will run the program much like the standard CDBG rehabilitation programs, i.e. it
will determine income and other eligibility criteria,make and record the loans, and
oversee the rehabilitation work. Town staff and/or CPC review and approval of
individual loans and applicants will no longer be necessary.
• The maximum loan(balance(s) of outstanding mortgage(s)plus the maximum$25,000
HELP loan)to value ratio will be 90%. Current value will be determined by assessed
value except that a broker's opinion will be used if there has been a recent sale of the
property or if the loan to value ratio is close to 90%.
• As the HELP loan is 0%, the housing and debt to income analysis will not be necessary.
• Owners with reverse mortgages will not be eligible.
• No municipal or special municipal employees or their immediate families will be eligible
for HELP.
• The loan will be changed to a 0%, 15 year declining balance loan, i.e. for every year the
owner remains in the home and in compliance, 1/15 of the loan amount will be forgiven.
• As long as the Town-approved standard loan documents are used by HECH,Town
Counsel review prior to closing will not be needed. HECH will supply Town Counsel
with copies of the loan documents after closing. Any changes to the standard documents
will require Town Counsel review and approval.
• HECH will monitor for post loan closing income eligibility annually by obtaining and
reviewing a copy of the owners' prior year tax return for the life of the loan or until
repayment occurs.
• HECH will annually monitor the principal residency requirement by obtaining a certified
statement from the owner(s) for the life of the loan or until repayment occurs.
• The term of the grant agreement will be extended to two years rather than one year.
• A requirement to own the home for a minimum number of years was discussed as another
potential requirement but was not adopted.
Next steps:
• Town Counsel will revise the award letter and circulate to Mike and Paul.
• Town Counsel will amend the grant agreement and loan documents as needed
circulate to Mike and Paul.
• HECH will revise the program guidelines and circulate to Town Counsel.
• Once all parties have agreed on the revised agreements and documents, the CPC will
need to review and approve prior to the execution of the grant agreement.
Respectfully submitte
Paul Ruchinskas, Chair
Items used at the meeting:
• May 9, 2016 HECH award letter
• Draft HECH grant agreement
• Draft 2016 HELP program guidelines