Affordable housing is a critical issue facing the Commonwealth. Recent studies point out that Massachusetts families and workers must find affordable housing if they are to continue living and working in the state.  According to the 2000 census, the average home in Massachusetts is approximately $75,000 a year more than the national average. In addition, the Greater Boston area is one of the five highest priced housing markets in the country. We must make it a priority to offer affordable accommodations for people who live and work in Massachusetts.  

Helping employers provide housing assistance to their employees

I am refilling a bill to create a public-private partnership in providing housing assistance to low and moderate income workers. Called Employer Assisted Housing, this bill would require the state to match $1 for every $2 a business provides to its workers to secure housing.  This program would cost the state $5 million and would give many employees an opportunity to buy or rent a home. This legislation, which is supported by both the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and the Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association, is unique in that it builds a public/private partnership in addressing the need for affordable housing in the state

Encouraging Investment in Neighborhood Housing

I am also refiling the Housing for Neighborhoods Act (formally known as the Community Reinvestment Act for Mortgage Companies).  This legislation requires mortgage companies to fulfill the same obligation as banks and credit unions in providing affordable mortgages in low income and minority neighborhoods. The CRA for banks has been a great success in rebuilding neighborhoods in our cities.  In the last ten years, however, the housing market has become dominated by mortgage companies who are not covered under the CRA.  As a result, opportunities for low income and minority communities to receive competitive mortgage loans have decreased. A recent study by Jim Campen at UMass Boston has shown that black and Latino borrowers with the same earnings as their white counterparts are far less likely to qualify for market rate loans.  This legislation would provide more mortgage competition in these neighborhoods.
 

Extended Real Estate Tax Breaks to Owners of Cooperative Housing

Last session a bill I introduced to give homeowners in cooperative housing a break from their real estate taxes was included in the Municipal Relief Package. Cooperative housing is becoming increasingly popular as affordable housing in many of the Commonwealth’s larger cities. Yet because of the unique nature of this housing, individuals and families who purchase shares in cooperative housing are not granted a real estate tax break.  This law allows cities and towns to grant the same tax breaks to owners of cooperative housing as granted to those who own condominiums or houses.

Regulated Eviction Storage Companies

Last session a bill I introduced, which protected people who are evicted from their homes from dishonest eviction storage companies, was signed into law. Until this law was passed, eviction storage was essentially unregulated in Massachusetts.  This gap gave rise to documented abuses by unscrupulous eviction storage companies. Under the new law, tenants must be provided with a list of items being stored and charged a reasonable fee as approved by the State Department of Public Safety.

Extended Tax Credits to Encourage Development of Affordable Housing

It is essential that we provide developers with the incentive to build affordable housing for low income citizens. To ensure continued planning of affordable housing projects, I authored an amendment to the Disability Bond Law to extended Low Income Housing Tax Credit for additional five years, until 2010. 

Passed in 1999, the Low Income Housing Credit program has provided incentives to create 1,797 homes, more than 1,100 of which meet state affordability requirements.  The program grants a tax credit to developers that provides equity to boosts the production of more affordable housing for low-income residents.  To date, the state Department of Housing and Community Development has committed credits to thirteen developments in nine communities -- Abington, Boston, Brockton, Fall River, Franklin, Lowell, New Bedford, Raynham, and Walpole.

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