September 2020: Federal Eviction Moratorium

This was originally published on October 1, 2020 in the OCDCA Newsletter.

Federal News

Important Eviction Moratorium and Rental Assistance Information

From the National Low-Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) . . .Evidence is growing that corporate landlords are trying to rush evictions through court systems before renters learn about their rights under the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) eviction moratorium. These are the same corporate landlords who repeatedly attempted illegal evictions under the more limited CARES Act eviction moratorium. This is outrageous and truly despicable.

The CDC eviction moratorium protects eligible renters that have signed a declarative statement, but most renters remain unaware of the moratorium and the steps they must take to protect their homes! Help get the word out!

To be protected by the CDC's eviction moratorium for nonpayment of rent, qualified renters facing eviction should immediately provide a signed declaration to their landlords! Details about the moratorium and a sample declaration is on NLIHC's National Moratorium webpage that includes materials developed by NLIHC, NHLP and other national partners, including:

Overview of National Eviction Moratorium
National Eviction Moratorium: FAQ for Renters (translated into Spanish)
Sample declarative statements in English, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Arabic.

Please do all you can to get the word out about the moratorium and declarations to all renters! Urge your members of Congress and policy makers at all levels to inform struggling constituents of their protections under the CDC order.

Then, continue to urge Congress and the White House to #GetBacktoWork to enact the essential housing provisions included in the HEROES Act and passed by the House four months ago!

The federal eviction moratorium is essential relief for struggling renters, but it merely postpones evictions - it doesn't prevent them. Renters are accruing more debt than they can possibly pay off, and small landlords are increasingly struggling to pay their bills without rental income. Congress must provide at least $100 billion in emergency rental assistance to keep renters stably housed during and after the pandemic and to ensure we don't lose any of our country's essential housing stock.

Take Action

1. Share information with renters about the federal eviction moratorium and the steps they must take to be protected!

2. Contact your senators and representatives: Demand that Congress and the White House restart negotiations and pass the essential housing provisions of the HEROES Act. Find the phone numbers of your members of Congress here or send an email!

Thank you for your advocacy!

State News:

JobsOhio Launches Vibrant Community Program

The Vibrant Community Program recognizes that distressed communities may not have adequate resources to develop and implement economic development projects that can attract private investment and create new jobs in the community. The program was established to assist distressed small and medium sized communities with the implementation of catalytic development projects that fulfill a market need and represent a significant reinvestment in areas that have struggled to attract new investment. For more information click here.

$650 Million in Coronavirus Relief to Local Governments

The General Assembly approved $650 million to Ohio cities, townships and villages to cover their coronavirus-related expenses, in a move that would allocate the state's final share of emergency local-government funding. The article lists awards by county and local government. All of these resources must be spent responding to the pandemic and members should reach out to their local governments to learn of opportunities.

Frontline Examines Child Poverty in Ohio Communities

PBS Frontline examines issues surrounding child poverty during the pandemic by visiting three Ohio communities in their documentary film called Growing Up Poor in America. Click here to view.

May 2020: OCC Issues Final CRA Rule in the Face of Massive Flaws and Opposition

This was originally published on May 29, 2020 in the OCDCA Newsletter.

Federal News

OCC Issues Final CRA Rule in the Face of Massive Flaws and Opposition
On May 20 the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced a final CRA rule with a list of CRA qualifying activities. Comptroller Joseph Otting, the Trump appointee who slammed through the rule, has resigned and will be leaving his post today in the middle of a national economic crisis. Surprisingly the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) decided not to join the OCC. The Federal Reserve was already in disagreement.

Reaction from advocates has been clearly negative. Jesse Van Tol, CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) said "This is an awkward, disjointed and rushed move by a single agency that couldn't get agreement from the two other agencies that regulate banks within the same administration. The OCC should have been able to agree and work with the other two agencies that oversee enforcement of the same law. It couldn't. It failed. That's an administrative fiasco.... He (Otting) just made a regulatory mess and he isn't sticking around to fix it."

Comptroller Otting also took the highly unusual step of privately lobbying the country's largest financial institutions to support his crusade. Think about that - the regulator lobbying the regulated.

"I'm not at all surprised by the reckless speed at which the OCC finalized the rule," said NACEDA Executive Director Frank Woodruff. "Comptroller Otting has choreographed the illusion of rulemaking since day one, putting forward his misguided single ratio approach over the objections of communities, advocates, banks, and his fellow regulators. I find it exceedingly hard to believe the OCC has carefully considered over 7,500 comments in 41 days while simultaneously managing our country's financial health during a global pandemic."

"The OCC's approach to CRA reform was always misguided, secretive, and suspect. The fact that the OCC would issue a new rule in the midst of a global pandemic and just a few weeks after the overwhelming majority of the 7,500 comments raised a myriad of serious concerns, directly illustrates that this effort was never about bolstering access to capital in low-income communities. It was always about gutting this most important law while dismissing our beloved communities," said Nate Coffman, Executive Director of the Ohio CDC Association.

This is not over. NCRC and partners have pledged to file litigation. Practically rolling out the new rules will take a couple of years or more also creating potential opportunities for legislative and/or administrative solutions. Although the OCC may have ignored the overwhelming dissent in the public comments, the comments remain valuable to future litigation and legislative/administrative advocacy. OCDCA greatly appreciates the many members that have advocated against this harmful rule.

Advocate for #RentReliefNow

Earlier this month Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Representatives Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Denny Heck (D-WA), introduced "The Emergency Rental Assistance and Rental Market Stabilization Act" to create a $100 billion federal Emergency Rental Assistance program to keep low-income, unemployed tenants safely housed during the pandemic. Over one-million Ohioans applied for unemployment benefits within the last few weeks with 650,000 of those being renters. The Act was included in the recently House passed HEROES ACT (pandemic relief) to be negotiated with the Senate.

Our friends at COHHIO have explained that with landlords and tenants joining forces, momentum for emergency rental assistance is growing.

Sen. Rob Portman, who introduced the Eviction Crisis Act in December, understands the need for rental assistance and could provide crucial support in the Senate. Please take a moment to ask him to support an expanded version of that bill that would provide enough funding for rental assistance ($100 billion) to respond to the new realities facing renters as a result of COVID-19.

Thank you for your advocacy! When these phone calls add up, they really can make a difference.

HUD Distributes $1 Billion Second-Round CDBG-CV Funds

HUD's Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) posted the second round of CARES Act CDBG supplemental funding, CDBG-CV, on May 11. The CARES Act provides up to $5 billion in CDBG supplemental funding. Of that amount, the first allocations of $2 billion were announced on April 1 and were distributed to states and entitlement jurisdictions using the same statutory formula used to distribute the regular annual FY20 CDBG allocations. The remaining portion of the $5 billion is to be distributed directly to a state or unit of local government, at HUD's discretion, according to a formula based on factors to be determined by HUD. These allocations can be made on a rolling basis based on available data.

State News

Brownfields Bill Passed, Awaits Gov. Approval

Ohio lawmakers unanimously passed HB168, with the Senate passing the bill on May 6 and the House of Representatives concurring to changes made by the Senate on May 13. HB168 is a bill that the Greater Ohio Policy Center has championed as a means to encourage brownfield redevelopment through regulatory reform. The bill provides an affirmative defense for legal liability protection to prospective purchasers of a brownfield who take all appropriate steps to assess the property. An amendment accepted near the end of the bills deliberations clarifies that the affirmative defense offered by the bill is retroactive to January 11, 2002, when companion federal legislation look effect.

Having passed both the House and Senate unanimously, the bill now heads to Governor Mike DeWine's desk for approval.

You can read more about HB168 and what BFPD will do to encourage more brownfield development on the GOPC blog.

Planning to Apply for Housing Development Gap Financing?

OHFA is accepting a Notice of Intent to Apply and Exception Requests for the 2020 HDGF program. If you are planning to submit a Notice of Intent to Apply for the HDGF program, please contact Karen Banyai before submitting the materials to OHFA. Karen will work with applicants on where and how the materials should be sent to OHFA in order to ensure all materials are received and reviewed in a prompt manner. The application window will close on July 30, 2020 or after all funds have been reserved.