Thursday, March 18, 2010

CHFA Promotes Jaime Gomez to COO

(DENVER) - Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) is pleased to announce that Jaime Gomez has been promoted to chief operating officer (COO). Gomez has been CHFA’s commercial lending director since 2003. As COO, Gomez will serve on CHFA’s four-member executive team and oversee the authority’s single family and commercial lending divisions, nearly 57,000 unit asset management portfolio, and marketing and strategic development.

Cris White, CHFA executive director/CEO said, “Jaime Gomez is a well-known and respected leader in Colorado’s affordable housing and economic development communities. His experience and relationships with our local government, nonprofit, and private sector partners will continue to be instrumental to CHFA.”

Gomez has worked for CHFA since 1999. He first served as director of business finance and was promoted in 2003 to develop and lead the authority’s first commercial lending division encompassing CHFA’s multifamily and business lending teams, low income housing tax credit allocation program, and CHFA’s Western slope office.

Prior to CHFA, Gomez worked for Lincoln Trust Company, and was the managing examiner in the Consumer Affairs Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (Denver Branch). He was recruited by the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (OED) where he served as director of finance and business development for six years (under Gov. Roy Romer). Following his work with OED, Gomez was hired by US West Dex as manager of strategy development and planning. Gomez currently serves as a member of the Downtown Denver Partnership, Inc. board of directors and Housing Steering Committee. He is a voting-member of the Governor’s Financial Review Committee, and Mayor Hickenlooper’s Community Development Task Force.

All 2009 4th Quarter vacancy surveys now available

All the vacancy surveys for the fourth quarter have now been posted at the permanent location: http://dola.colorado.gov/cdh/vacancy/index.htm

The Denver Metro multifamily vacancy survey for the first quarter will be released near the end of March with the other reports following every other week or so.

New Division web page on Fair Housing now live

The Division of Housing's web site features a new section on Fair Housing. Included is information on:

HUD's Fair Housing Planning Guide Vol. 1 (Volume 2 is out of print) PDF

Fair Housing for HOME Participants PDF

CDBG Toolkit on Cross-Cutting Issues - Fair Housing Module PDF

Group Homes, Local Land Use and the Fair Housing Act

Colorado Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing 2005-2010

División de Colorado de Cubierta Superación de Impedimientos a la Cubierta Justa


The site is here.

Subsidized rental housing vacancies fall to 6.7 percent

Click here for full report.

Statewide vacancies in all subsidized, deed-restricted units fell to 6.7 percent during the fourth quarter, while vacancy rates in non-subsidized, market-rate units were at 7.9 percent. According to a report released today by the Colorado Department of Local Affairs’ Division of Housing, fourth quarter vacancies were unchanged from the third quarter rate, and were down from a rate of 6.9 percent reported during the fourth quarter of last year.

The overall vacancy rates measure vacancies among all subsidized units at all income levels. However, among units available to residents earning 30 percent of area median income or less, the vacancy rate was 2.5 percent, with no area reporting a vacancy rate above 4.2 percent.

As expected, deed-restricted units reported overall lower vacancies than market-rate units in all metropolitan areas except Loveland where deed-restricted vacancies were 8.4 percent, and market-rate vacancies were 6.6 percent.

The largest gaps between market-rate vacancies and deed-restricted vacancies were found in Grand Junction and Pueblo. In Grand Junction, deed-restricted vacancies were 4.1 percent and market-rate vacancies were 13.2 percent, and in Pueblo, deed-restricted vacancies were 4.7 percent, and market-rate vacancies were 12.2 percent.

The deed-restricted vacancy and rent survey and the market-rate vacancy and rent survey are available at the Division of Housing web site: http://dola.colorado.gov/cdh/vacancy/index.htm

The Colorado Division of Housing monitors vacancies in subsidized and rent-restricted units on a quarterly basis.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

New foreclosure filings rise 6.5 percent in February

Click here for full report.

New foreclosure filings rise 6.5 percent in February

Foreclosure filings in Colorado’s largest counties rose 6.5 percent last month as compared to February of last year. According to a report released today by the Department of Local Affairs’ Division of Housing, foreclosure sales at auction rose 14 percent from February 2009 to February 2010, but remain down 14 percent compared to February 2008. New foreclosure filings were also down 14 percent compared to February of 2008.

Foreclosure filings are the initial filing that begins the foreclosure process, and foreclosure sales totals are the total number of foreclosures that have been sold at auction at the end of the foreclosure process.

“Early last year, Fannie, Freddie and some major services joined in a moratorium on foreclosures, so it’s not surprising that this year, with no moratorium in place, numbers are higher,” said Ryan McMaken, a spokesperson for the Division of Housing. “Yet the overall trend shows that new foreclosure filings are flattening out for now.”

Foreclosure activity varied by county. The counties with the largest decreases in filings activity from February 2009 to February 2010 were El Paso County and Larimer County, where filings decreased by 16 percent and 24 percent, respectively. The largest increase was in Mesa County where filings increased 223 percent year-over-year.

Foreclosure sales activity decreased in Adams, Denver, El Paso, Jefferson and Weld Counties during February of this year compared to February of 2009. The largest decrease was in Weld County where sales decreased 20 percent year-over-year. The largest increase was found in Mesa County where foreclosure sales increased 363 percent from February 2009 to February 2010. However, measuring changes in foreclosure sales activity since 2008, some counties reported substantial decreases with Adams, Arapahoe and Denver Counties all reporting declines of over 40 percent.

The county with the highest rate of foreclosure sales was Weld County with a rate of 639 households per foreclosure sale. Adams County came in second with 714 households per foreclosure sale. The lowest rate was found in Boulder County where there were 1,896 households per foreclosure sale. The largest increase in foreclosure rates since 2009 was found in Mesa County where the foreclosure rate more than quadrupled year-over-year.

The Division of Housing’s monthly foreclosure report surveys foreclosure activity in the twelve largest counties of Colorado. The report is a supplement to the Division’s quarterly foreclosure report that includes all counties in Colorado.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

RFP for Housing Conference workshops

Housing Colorado is seeking proposals for workshops at its October conference. See here for the submission form.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

City of Longmont receives $133,246 for down payment assistance

The Colorado Department of Local Affairs has announced that $133,246 in HOME funds has been awarded for increasing the availability of affordable housing in Boulder County.

The City of Longmont will receive a HOME grant of $133,246 to continue the Boulder County Down Payment Assistance Program. The program would help first-time homebuyers. All buyers would be at or below 80% AMI, and would be required to attend CHFA-approved homebuyer classes as well as one-on-one counseling, all of which is provided by the Boulder County Housing Authority free of charge.

Slides for Aspen/Rural Resort Economic Summit

The slides have been posted from the Aspen Economic Summit held in Aspen on March 3. The slides cover foreclosures, jobs and lending in Colorado and the rural resort region.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Sign up for the Division's email updates

We send out updates once or twice each week when the blog is updated. At the top of the right-hand column on this page is a link to the sign-up form for email updates. You will only receive updates, and we won't fill your in-box.

5-year Consolidated Plan posted

The 2010-2015 Consolidated Plan has been submitted to HUD. HUD approval is pending.

2010-2011 ESG Request for Proposals

COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF LOCAL AFFAIRS
DIVISION OF HOUSING (DOH)
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

The Colorado Department of Local Affairs, Division of Housing (DOH) is requesting proposals for its 2010-2011 Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) funding for homeless shelters, transitional housing providers, homeless prevention programs or local government pass-through programs in the State of Colorado. Approximately $946,000,000 in Emergency Shelter Grant funding will be available on a competitive basis to meet homeless shelter and service needs. The average grant an agency receives is $15,000 and eligible applicants must have a 501(c) (3) designation. To receive an ESG application kit, please contact Shannon Picaso, 303-866-5306 or [email protected]. All applications and copies will be due to DOH by Thursday, April 1, 2010.

Friday, March 5, 2010

PUBLIC NOTICE AND NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

The Colorado Department of Local Affairs, Division of Housing (DOH) will be submitting its state Public Housing Agency (PHA) Plan to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, on April 16th, 2010. The PHA Plan documents statewide housing needs as it applies to the Housing Choice Voucher Program (a.k.a. Section 8). DOH uses information from the Colorado Consolidated Plan, housing providers, public hearing input, and special needs population market information to develop the objectives of the plan.

A public hearing has been scheduled for the purpose of accepting testimony on the rental assistance housing needs in the State of Colorado. DOH will conduct the hearing on March 30, 2010 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at:

Colorado Division of Housing
1313 Sherman Street, Room 518
Denver, CO 80203

If special accommodations are needed, please call
Autumn Gold at (303) 866-2034
The Department of Local Affairs TDD Number is (303) 866-5300

The PHA Plan will be available for public review at http://www.dola.colorado.gov/cdh/html
by March 5th at noon.

A hard copy of the PHA Plan is available for review through April 13, 2010 at DOH. Written comments are welcome and must be received by April 13, 2010 at the same address listed above.

CHFA Board Announces Executive Director/ CEO

(DENVER) Colorado Housing and Finance Authority’s (CHFA) board of directors today announced the appointment of Cris A. White as the new executive director and chief executive officer. Mr. White’s appointment becomes official following the state mandated notification period.

CHFA Board Chair Joel Rosenstein said, “CHFA provides critical services to Coloradans, especially now. In Cris, we’ve found a mission-driven leader who will partner with CHFA’s board of directors and staff to ensure Colorado’s families and businesses have opportunities for success.”

Mr. White has been with CHFA for over 20 years and has worked in a number of positions, most recently serving as the interim executive director and chief operating officer.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

CARHOF Offers Grants for Workforce Housing

CARHOF (Colorado Association of REALTORS® Housing Opportunity Foundation) is sponsoring a Workforce Housing Initiative and is making available $100,000 in grants. Nonprofit and employer housing programs that support workforce housing by offering down payment assistance to help workers purchase homes in their communities can apply.

CARHOF has instituted some guidelines that will help sustain the workforce housing program. Grant recipients must demonstrate an on-going financial and operational capacity to continue the program. The down payment assistance, which is given as a loan to buyers, must comply with all state and federal regulations and be reasonable with the conditions of the market.

For consumers to be eligible for the loans, they must be employed a minimum of 30 hours per week in their community and they must complete a HUD or CHFA certified home buyer counseling program. The loan will be repaid and the monies will be used to help future workers purchase a home.

The funding for this initiative came from National Association of REALTORS® Ira Gribin Workforce Housing fund to assist a broader range of working people including, retail sales workers, restaurant workers, technicians, office workers, etc., in addition to occupations that provide the bulk of vital services.

Nonprofit housing agencies and employers can apply for these funds by submitting a proposal directly to CARHOF at 309 Inverness Way South, Englewood, CO 80112. Applications must be received by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, August 2, 2010 to be considered. The application and guidelines can be found at www.CARHOF.org.

Developer's Toolkit Workshop coming April 22-23 -Sold Out

The Developer's Toolkit has sold out, but is now accepting applications for the wait list:

Click here for brochure.

Join the DOLA/Colorado Division of Housing for an exciting two-day
workshop designed to enlighten participants about the art and science of
affordable housing development. Through role-playing, participants will
attempt to solve the housing challenge facing a typical Colorado
community. Hands-on exercises will provide a working knowledge of the
critical steps necessary to develop an affordable rental housing
community.

DOLA/CDOH will be presenting the Developer's Toolkit on April 22 - 23 in Boulder,
at Boulder Housing Partners, 4800 N. Broadway St., Boulder.

The brochure/registration form is attached.

Please forward this to anyone you think might want to attend. Registrations are due on March 31st. This class often fills up, so register soon! Mail your check and registration form to Antoinette Johns at DOLA/CDOH:
1313 Sherman Street. #518
Denver, CO 80203

Unfortunately, we cannot accept payment by credit card.

Please contact Denise Selders (303-866-4650) or [email protected] with any questions.

Monday, March 1, 2010

February 2010 Housing Snapshot now available

Housing Snapshot is a 4-page summary, in graphs and short articles, of the housing economy in Colorado.

In this issue:

Foreclosures
Home prices
Apartment vacancies
Unemployment
The housing CPI
Single-family vacancies

Click here
for the Housing Snapshot.