Minutes 10-21-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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individual votes. She said it will be unified if everyone does or does not vote for it. She said the charter to will go to all of the managers and legal departments before it is brought forward. Commissioner Price asked about the timeline for the unified charter. Bonnie Hammersley said the managers met last week, and there will be another meeting with Robert Dowling. She said the goal is to have a status report by the November 19th Assembly of Governments meeting. Commissioner Price said this item seems more immediate, and she is concerned if the charter is going to take some time. She said this seems to be an issue that could have been anticipated, and this policy change will keep the CHT alive. She asked if the money gained by selling at 115 percent can be then put back into the efforts of the CHT. Robert Dowling said these two requests are related but not linked. He said the fee simple request is an enticement for banks to make loans to the buyers. He said the CHT has never had a foreclosure, as they would pay off the bank and take the property in order to keep the equity that is in the home. He said the second part of this is leaving in the subsidy in order to widen the window of people who are eligible to purchase the homes. He said there is a struggle to sell homes because the banks will not lend money and because HUD income limits have declined. Commissioner Gordon said she understands that the issue tonight is different from the charter issue. She said what she wanted to articulate was that the managers could expand their discussions to include the related topic. Commissioner Rich noted that Hillsborough and Chapel Hill have already voted in favor of this proposal. She said the charter has been out for about a year, and the Board saw it at a meeting last November. A motion was made by Commissioner porosin, seconded by Commissioner Price to approve the policy changes as requested by Community Home Trust to permit CHT to extend a fee simple interest to mortgage lenders and permit homes to be sold to persons up to 115 percent AMI where permitted by HUD. Robert Dowling said the word "unrestricted' was not used by him, nor was it used by Commissioner porosin in his motion. He clarified that every time HOME funds are put in, the County draws up restrictive covenants against that property, specifying that the home will stay affordable for 99 years. He said "unrestricted" fee simple interest means that the bank wants this covenant to disappear or else it is no good to them. He said this is what is holding some of the banks back. Chair Jacobs asked if this is part of the motion. Robert Dowling said it is not used in Commissioner porosin's wording. Commissioner porosin asked if would be better to amend the wording. Robert Dowling said when this is implemented he wants it to be crystal clear what is needed to entice the banks to lend money. Chair Jacobs said if this change is made, he will oppose the motion. He said the CHT and the Board agreed to the 99 year restriction to make sure the affordability is assured. He said he is fine with making it easier for residents to buy the homes, but doing away with affordability is a much more complicated discussion. Commissioner porosin questioned what would be in place between CHT and a buyer to insure long term affordability if covenants are not in place. Robert Dowling said the CHT holds all of the deeds and would receive notice if there was a foreclosure. He said CHT would step in to pay off the bank and take the property back.