Budget Cuts:The legislature’s FY10 Budget allocated more than $250 million in funding for state housing programs—nearly $22 million less than in FY09.  Budget cuts included: $3.5 million for the Alternative Housing Voucher Program, more than $7 million from the Department of Housing and Community Development, nearly $3 million in funding for public housing authorities, $2.5 million in funding for Residential Assistance for Families in Transition.  The FY10 budget also reallocated oversight of certain affordable housing programs to the quasi-public Massachusetts Housing Partnership and Massachusetts Housing Finance Authority. On a positive note, most of Massachusetts’ housing programs were spared from an additional round of 9c cuts made by Governor Patrick in 2009 to reduce a $600 million budget gap.

In the face of a rising tide of foreclosure during the recent economic downturn, Federal, state and local governments have implemented measures to help families stay in their homes.

• In October 2007 Attorney General Martha Coakley tightened regulations on mortgage lenders in Massachusetts, forbidding them from making loans unless there is a “reasonable belief” that the borrower can repay.
• In December 2007 theFederal Reserve Bank of Boston  and a coalition of five banks introduced a Mortgage Relief Fund of $125 million to help homeowners refinance their mortgages and avoid foreclosure.  In June 2008 the initiative was expanded to include more than 50 banks.
• In summer 2008, the City of Boston enacted an ordinance that requires loan servicers to register each of their properties with the City’s Inspectional Services Department in an effort to hold owners accountable for the management of foreclosed homes. Over 1,700 properties have been registered.
• In late 2008, the federal government enacted legislation to help cities and states address the problems associated with derelict properties created by the national foreclosure crisis and proves funding through a new “Neighborhood Stabilization Program”.
• Throughout 2007 and 2008, the City of Boston expanded itsForeclosure Prevention Counseling Networkand, in mid-2008, creates the Foreclosure Intervention Team,a multi-agency coordinated approach to targeting City resources in areas disproportionately affected by foreclosures

Massachusetts Foreclosed Property Task Force: the public/private partnership of state agencies, non-profit organizations, local Foundations and quasi-public agencies was convened in 2008 by the Urban Land Institute and the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations to identify strategies to stem the growing stock of foreclosed properties and number of displaces families and tenants.

Affordable housing and Expiring Use Legislation of 2009: Governor Patrick signed the“expiring use” bill in 2009to sustain the long-term preservation of Massachusetts’ affordable rental housing alsong with $150 million preservation loan fund created by the state quasi-public Community Economic Assistance Corp (CEDAC) in partnership with the Department of Housing and Community Development to  pool resources and leverage funding from partner foundations to help secure rental developments that are about to lose their expiring use restriction.

In July 2008 Governor Patrick signed a newhousing bond bill, which, at $1.275 billion, was the largest state investment in housing in Massachusetts history.  This bill included $220 million for the state’s  Affordable Housing Trust Fund, $125 million for the Housing Stabilization fund, to help communities and developers acquire, preserve and rehabilitate affordable housing; $500 million for upgrading and repairing the state’s public housing developments; and $100 to support the Capital Improvement and Preservation Fund, for development and repairs at privately owned subsidized housing units.  However, due to persistent budget shortfalls, many of these programs have been cut or shifted tothe quasi-public Massachusetts Housing Partnership and Massachusetts Housing Finance Authority for administration.

In March 2008, the Boston Zoning Board voted to limit to four the number of undergraduate students that could share an apartment in the city.  With this measure, the City hopes to curtail the escalation in rents in neighborhoods like Mission Hill and the Fenway, where landlords command high rents from multiple students in small apartments.

Following the successful completion of "Leading the Way II" Mayor Thomas M. Menino announcedLeading the Way III. This third major housing strategy outlines plans through the year 2012 to increase the production of workforce housing, stabilize neighborhoods hit by the foreclosure crisis, preserve affordable housing and reduce homelessness by 50%.  The 4-year Leading the Way II initiative exceeded its goal of 7,900 private, market-rate units, and exceeded the planned 2,100 affordable units by permitting 2,213 such units.

Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, signed into law on July 30, 2008, placed the government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, under the conservatorship of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.  The act also established Hope for Homeowners Act, a program administered by the Federal Housing Authority to provide insurance and assistance to distressed homeowners.

Support for Gateway Cities: in November 2008, the Department of Housing and Community Development awarded $1.35 million inGateway Plus Action Grantsto 18 cities to assist urban revitalization efforts through a new state initiative designed to support affordable housing and economic development opportunities for mixed-income gateway communities across Massachusetts

Northeastern University re-named the Center for Urban & Regional Planning theKitty and Micahel Dukakis  Center for Urban & Regional Planning, former Massachusetts governor and current Northeastern University faculty member.

Push to repeal 40B: Massachusetts General Law 40B allows developers of affordable housing to circumvent local zoning regulations in cities in towns if the project has more than 25% affordable units and the municipality has less than 10%.  Drives to repeal 40B through a ballot initiative have repeatedly fallen short due to a lack of petition signatures; however, a renewed push in 2009 has yielded enough signatures to bring the law to vote. 

Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced $40 million loan institutive to restart stalled development projects such as the Filene’s Building in Downtown Crossing and Fan Pier.

July 2007 A seven-year odyssey came to an end this month as the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation (JPNDC) turned over five renovated three-deckers, once the bane of the street, to the 15 families that make up the Rockvale Circle Cooperative. Their journey began in 2000 when residents who were fed up with conditions on the street and threats of eviction contacted the local tenants’ group City Life/Vida Urbana. At that time Rockvale Circle, nicknamed “La Paleta” (The Lollipop) for its flourishing drug trade, was one of the most notorious streets in Boston.

Evelyn Friedman, former Executive Director of Nueastra Communidad, was named as Boston’s new housing chief & director of the Department of Neighborhood Development

Mass Access Housing Registry  launched to increase affordable housing for disabled residents.

In 2008, MACDC launched the Massachusetts Community Development Training Institute to provide high quality, relevant training to community development practitioners, access to comprehensive information on community economic development training opportunities and guidance to community development organizations on incorporating a “learning-friendly” culture into their mission and operations.