CLPHA Press Room

In a new YouTube video, Fannie Mae highlights the Housing Authority of the City of Austin’s (HACA) comprehensive rehabilitation of its Gaston Place community, a 100 unit property for low-income seniors and disabled individuals. HACA partnered with Fannie Mae and Bellwether Enterprise to employ the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program as a tool to help finance Gaston Place’s repair backlog of nearly $8 million. The full-scale renovation of the community’s apartments included asbestos and mold remediation, remodeling kitchens into open floor plan spaces with modern appliances, and expanding accessibility for Gaston Place’s disabled residents.

“[T]he RAD program is one of the best ways to preserve and improve our existing public housing stock,” said Fannie Mae Director of Multifamily Affordable Housing Angela Kelcher. “By bringing these financing tools, we are able to improve quality of life for these residents and create affordable housing that is really the fabric of our society. It’s an investment in our communities that Fannie Mae wants to continue to make.”

Watch the Video

CLPHA is pleased to announce that we have two new members: the Detroit Housing Commission (DHC) and the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA). CLPHA warmly welcomes New Jersey DCA and its Director of Housing & Community Resources Janel Winter to the CLPHA community.

We are also delighted to welcome DHC and its Executive Director Sandra Henriquez back to CLPHA. Ms. Henriquez, who served as HUD’s Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing (PIH) from 2009 to 2014, was on CLPHA’s Board of Directors from 1997 to 2009 while she was the Administrator and CEO of the Boston Housing Authority. She served as CLPHA’s Board President from 2004 to 2009.

CLPHA looks forward to working with our two new members!

On February 27, HUD announced $36 million in funding awards to public housing authorities and other grantees through the agency’s Resident Opportunities and Self-Sufficiency-Service Coordinators program (ROSS-SC). The awards will allow grantees to hire or retain service coordinators who help connect public housing residents with crucial resources like employment training, financial literacy services, educational opportunities, and health and wellness programs.

Nine CLPHA members received awards: the Sacramento County Redevelopment & Housing Agency, Elm City Communities, Housing Authority of Baltimore City, Boston Housing Authority, New York City Housing Authority, Housing Authority of the City of Goldsboro, Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority, Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority, and King County Housing Authority. Congratulations to these PHAs, who together received over $3.8 million in ROSS-SC grants!

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont has named CLPHA Board Member and Elm City Communities President Karen DuBois-Walton as one of four new members of Connecticut’s State Board of Education. The board establishes academic standards and sets policy for the state’s school districts, including preschool, elementary and secondary education, special education, vocational education, adult education, and regional technical high schools. Under the leadership of Dr. DuBois-Walton, Elm City Communities has worked to improve educational outcomes for its low-income residents through strategic partnerships and programs.

In a press release, Gov. Lamont said of the announcement, ““My administration is determined to reform the way all of our education and workforce development organizations operate – our high schools, colleges, and businesses all need to be at the table and work collaboratively so that our teachers know what skills to teach, and our students know what jobs will be awaiting them. And students who live in every community of our state – regardless of their family’s income level or their zip code – must have access to all of the opportunities that will propel them to success throughout their careers. These new members of our State Board of Education have the qualities that are going to help us achieve this goal, and I look forward to working with them as we tackle this mission.”

CLPHA congratulates Dr. DuBois-Walton on this prestigious appointment!

A new HUD and Policy and Economic Research Council (PERC) report, “Potential Impacts of Credit Reporting Public Housing Rental Payment Data,” examines how including public housing rent payments in credit reporting could affect the credit scores of low-income, HUD-assisted individuals. The report details the findings of a joint study that used data from the Seattle Housing Authority, the Housing Authority of Cook County (HACC), and the Louisville Metro Housing Authority. The study showed a significant boost in credit scores for low-income families when reporting these rental payment data and found that many of the participating households would cease being “credit invisible.”

Analyzing credit scores of more than 9,000 households from these PHAs, the study found that reporting these rental payment data led to a significant increase (between 51 and 65 percent) in the number of HUD-assisted tenants with credit scores above 620. Including these data also nearly eliminated credit invisibility among HUD-assisted tenants: in one risk model, the rate of ‘unscoreable’ tenants fell from 49 percent to seven percent, and in another risk model this rate fell from 11 percent to zero percent. However, the study also found that many HUD-assisted tenants still have subprime credit scores that can limit their housing choices and ability to obtain insurance.

“Credit invisibility affects an estimated 54 million persons,” said report co-author and PERC President Dr. Michael Turner in a press release. “Through no fault of their own, families are trapped in a credit Catch 22—in order to qualify for credit, you must already have credit. Without a credit report and score, these families are forced to turn to high-cost lenders. This study shows a path to affordable mainstream credit for many HUD-assisted tenants and renters of all types.”