AHCOPA @ NCRC Just Economy Conference

​Last month, AHCOPA staff attended the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) Just Economy Conference in Washington D.C. NCRC was formed to foster investment in underserved communities and work to increase wealth-building opportunities within those communities. The conference was a gathering of national leaders, researchers, and community advocates. If featured many informative panel discussions and presentations, below are recaps of key takeaways from the panels AHCOPA staff attended by the members who attended the panel. ​

Ken Bigos - Executive Director

The Future of Special Purpose Credit Programs
At the NCRC conference presenters from Inclusive-Partners LLC, Relman Colfax, National Fair Housing Alliance, and Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh discussed the future of Special Purpose Credit Programs. These programs are designed to allow lenders to actively offer lending opportunities for Black and Latino households. Many banks are using special-purpose credit programs to offer down payment assistance to assist these groups in achieving homeownership. Following the decision by the Supreme Court that ended affirmative action there has been speculation whether these programs will continue. Presenters highlighted that the Supreme Court decision focused on situations that have a limited amount of slots available, like college admissions, as compared to mortgage loan applications.
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​Naara Silva - Housing Counseling Community Outreach VISTA

Advancing race-conscious remedies in the era of a "color-blind" Supreme Court
Speakers from The Redress Movement, Stratyfy, National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA), and Public Advocates joined by Author Leah Rothstein discussed the challenges and approaches to undoing residential segregation in light of the Supreme Court's ruling against affirmative action. There was a strong emphasis that because the problem of residential segregation is race-based the solution cannot be “color-blind”. A study by NFHA on Washington State’s Covenant Homeownership Act finds that a race-conscious approach is more effective at creating equity in the housing market. The discussion also outlined the dangers of using alternative language that focuses on zip codes or census tracts. Such language can block BIPOCs from assistance if they choose to move to an area that was not historically redlined, thus reinforcing the race-based segregation those programs claim to work against. 
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Impact of Signature Collapse on Affordable Housing in NYC
NY housing experts from Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation and the Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development (ANHD) explained how Signature Bank’s risky business model and alarming lending practices were the cause for its subsequent collapse. Signature was one of the largest lenders for multi-family homes in NYC, yet failed to follow multi-family lending best practices established by ANHD. The bank’s failure was foreshadowed by various tenant advocacy groups that made several statements against the bank. Signature lobbied heavily against consumer protections such as the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. Signature provided speculative loans to landlords with a history of unfair treatment of tenants and known slumlords, such as Steve Croman. These behaviors were a part of why Signature Bank failed. FDIC became stewards of the Signature loans and worked closely with tenant organizations, like ANHD, to learn the true condition of the properties and find appropriate ways to move forward. Ultimately, Santander will service the multi-family loans from Signature and they hold an Outstanding Community Reinvestment Act rating. Many movements are working to further protect tenants' rights. One example is the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act which allows tenants first right to purchase their building if it is put up for sale by the landlord, and is being proposed for NY. 

​Sarah Kellogg - Communications Manager

Community Land Trusts Building Complete Neighborhoods
Leaders from some of the oldest and most successful community land trusts, including the Urban Land Conservancy, Rondo CLT, Champlain Housing Trust, spoke about how their organizations achieved success. Key takeaways were that a successful model requires creative fundraising, including establishing good relationships with lenders and a real estate lawyer, and access to capital, not just financial but also properties that can be acquired below market value. Another hallmark of a successful land trust is community involvement. Residents of the neighborhood must be a part of the decision making process, as they know what services need to be brought in to support a healthy and thriving neighborhood. 

In the past few decades, land trusts have expanded from traditional housing models to include commercial real estate, allowing small businesses the opportunity to operate in spaces with affordable rents that will not be subject to increases due to gentrification. At Urban Land Conservancy, a commercial kitchen was recently acquired that can be utilized for job training and small business food preparation. 

The work of land trusts is inspirational, particularly because it prioritizes land as a stabilizer, understanding that it is a communal asset that can be used to sustain a community, rather than a resource that can be extracted from for the profit of a few. Land trusts prevent displacement, stabilize communities, and can repair some of the past harms caused by redlining, displacement, and gentrification of communities of color. 

Reclaiming Our Neighborhoods: Improving housing conditions through data and resident mobilization
This very inspiring session went into detail about the multi-year efforts of Reclaiming Our Neighborhoods in Milwaukee, WI to survey all the properties in historically Black neighborhoods to ensure residents have access to resources for home repair, to hold landlords accountable for the quality of their properties, and to collect valuable data that quantifies the scale of repairs needed (estimated $54 million in Milwaukee) and can be used to advocate for additional funding for repair programs.

The coalition utilized a variety of creative outreach strategies, including block parties and clean ups, to recruit residents to become surveyors. Last year, the coalition employed 83 residents, paid $15/hr, to survey 10 square miles, with 20,000 properties. The coalition found that 10% of owner occupied properties and 18% of investor owned properties needed “major repairs”. 

The number of investor owned properties in need of major repairs is concerning, as the majority of BIPOC Milwaukee residents are renters (75%). In addition to being subjected to rent increases, renters are also often living in unsafe conditions, with little recourse to force landlords to make necessary repairs. This means that landlords who are not living in the community are simultaneously profiting from it, while disinvesting in the property itself, thereby negatively impacting the value of the entire neighborhood. 

 Reclaiming Our Neighborhoods is working hard to push for reinvestment in their communities and they are always happy to talk about their strategies with other coalitions across the country! 

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Thank you to NCRC for hosting this important enlightening event! One of the big focuses of the event was NCRC’s efforts to block the Capital One and Discover merger. Check out the keynote speech here!