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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 10-03-2005-5lORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: October 3, 2005 Action Agenda Item No. ~~. SUBJECT: HOME Program -Affirmative Marketing Plan DEPARTMENT: Housing and Community PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No Development ATTACHMENT(S): Affirmative Marketing Plan INFORMATION CONTACT: Tara L. Fikes, 919-245-2490 PURPOSE: To adopt an Affirmative Marketing Plan far use in the Orange County HOME Program. BACKGROUND: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations require all HOME participating jurisdictions to adopt affirmative marketing procedures and requirements for rental and homebuyer projects containing five or more units. This Affirmative Marketing Plan outlines strategies for advertising the HOME projects available and underway in the County in order to make the general public aware of the housing opportunities created by these projects. HUD further requires that this Plan be formally adopted by the local governing board. A draft Affirmative Marketing Plan has been prepared with a copy provided with this abstract. Further, the HOME Program Review Committee has reviewed this Plan and recommends Plan adoption. Once adopted, this Plan will be applied to all future housing projects funded with HOME dollars such as the Rusch Hollow subdivision in Chapel Hill presently being built by Habitat for Humanity. FINANCIAL IMPACT: Adoption of this Marketing Plan is a requirement to continue to receive the approximate $737,000 in HOME funds that the Orange County HOME Consortium receives from HUD each year. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board adopt the Affirmative Marketing Plan for use in the Orange County HOME Program. 2 County of Orange HOME Affirmative Marketing Plan The County of Orange has an adopted the following HOME Affirmative Marketing Policy for use in the Orange County HOME Program in accordance with 24 CFR 92,351, The policy applies to all rental and homebuyer projects containing five or more HOME- assisted units, 1. Methods for informing the public, owners, investors and potential tenants about fair housing law and afermative marketing policy. a, Application or proposal packets for HOME projects will include a fair housing brochure and language that discrimination in housing is prohibited, A copy of the County's Civil Rights Ordinance (that includes Fair Housing} and the Affirmative Marketing Policy will be available upon request. b. All newspaper advertisements and brochures used to publicize the HOME program and solicit participation from the public will display the Equal Housing Opportunity logo, In addition, an Equal Housing Opportunity Paster is on display in the Housing and Community Development office and discrimination complaint forms are made available to the public. 2. Requirements and practices that owners must follow to comply with affirmative marketing. Any method used by an owner to advertise a unit for sale or rent must indicate the owner's adherence to fair housing practices. This could be demonstrated by using the Equal Housing Opportunity logo or phrase. 3. Procedures to be used to inform and solicit applications from persons in the housing market area whom are not likely to apply. a. The Housing and Community Development Department will conduct outreach to very low income and minority neighbonc~ods. Flyers and brochures will be distributed to community centers and community based non-profit organizations, Applications will periodically be taken at sites within the neighborhoods to give homeowners with transportation difficulties the opportunity to apply for HOME assistance. Special presentations regarding the HOME projects will be made periodically to churches and community groups and other similar groups. All rental vacancies on HOME assisted units must be reported to the County's Housing and Community Development office to be posted and made available to the public. haw-income persons applying for or receiving housing assistance use the property listings to locate housing units, Since the County receives referrals from other social service agencies, this should assure that very low income, minority or homeless families would have the opportunity to be informed of available rental units, 3 4. Documentation by County and owners to assess results of efforts to affirmatively market units. a. The Housing and Community Development Department will maintain an Affirmative Marketing File in which all notices to the media, public service announcements, news articles, and paid advertisements are kept. b. The Housing and Community Development Department has developed a rental rehabilitation application form to be used by landlords in accepting applications from prospective tenants, The purpose of this farm is: 1, To assist the landlord in gathering information such as rent history and employment, etc. 2, To provide notice that the owner adheres to fair housing practices and to encourage citizens to report any discrimination to the Housing and Community Development Department. This will be another means of notifying the public of their fair housing rights. 3. Data concerning the family's race, ethnic grotap, sex and age of head of household will be requested with an explanation that the information is being collected voluntarily to assure non-discrimination in leasing the unit. 4, To provide the owner a means of documenting compliance with affirmative marketing, the owner will be required to retain these applications and submit them to the Housing and Community Development office as each vacancy is filled, c, Owners are required to submit a copy of all published rental or resale advertisements as documentation of compliance with the Affirmative Marketing Plan. 5. Description of how an owner's efforts will be assessed and what corrective actions will be taken when an owner fails to follow affirmative marketing. a. Initial leasing of all units will be monitored closely to assure that lower income families initially occupy all units and that affirmative marketing was used, In those units leased to tenants unassisted through Section 8 vouchers, the rental application forms will be reviewed to determine the effectiveness of advertisements and outreach attempts. Annually, the tenants in each HOME rental rehabilitation unit will be recertified as an eligible low or moderate-income household, First time homebuyers assisted through the HOME program will be required to comply with all fair housing practices in the sale of their property, Homeowners will be monitored annually during their periods of affordability for compliance with all HOME program requirements, 4 b. Each owner's affirmative marketing attempts will be assessed annually. If a blatant disregard of the policies has been demonstrated, the Housing and Community Development Department will refer the matter to the Department of Human Rights and Relations to be considered as a possible violation of the County's Civil Rights Ordinance. As a last resort, after counseling and continued lack of compliance, an owner may be required to repay, upon demand, the HOME assistance received from the County. The owner's agreement will clearly state the procedures and reasons for the County to declare an owner in default of the terms of the agreement thereby calling the promissory note due far immediate payment.