HOUSING HAS ALWAYS BEEN A TOP PRIORITY

From the moment I first ran for office six years ago, and long before it became a popular issue, housing has been a top priority of mine.  This is both a product of understanding of the severe need that faces our City and my own life experience.  I know all too well the difficulties of working more than one job, of feeling poverty, and of the need for a good place to call home.  

What was printed in Sunday’s newspaper is a very narrow side of the story.  

I want to set the record straight because the people of Miami deserve to know that their government has not failed them.

WHEN WE FIRST ARRIVED, WE FOUND A MESS

When I first came to City Hall and looked at our housing department, what I found was a complete mess.  A department under the watch of HUD, a horrible loan portfolio filled with unpaid loans dating back decades, deals with community agencies that promised a lot and delivered nothing, and houses that went un-built.  The sad reality was only 100 affordable housing units were being developed in 2001 and that the City’s past investment in non-profit agencies, totaling $14 million, yielded a handful of homes.

WE HAVE FIXED A LOT AND CONTINUE TO MAKE IMPROVEMENTS                     

Faced with this mess, and with a huge unmet need, a decision had to be made as to where to focus resources.  Do we devote our time to fixing the mess? Or do we try to devote our time to building houses?  We did both.  Working with the City Commission, we encouraged joint ventures between for-profit developers and non-profit agencies, took politicians out of the contract award process, put a professional loan committee in place, brought in major, private affordable housing developers, and continue to work closely with HUD to ensure programmatic compliance. 

AFFORDABLE HOUSING PRODUCTION SINCE 2000 – $557 MILLION, CLOSE TO 3,600 UNITS BUILT:

Commitment to develop $1 billion in affordable housing projects by the end of this decade. To date, approximately $557 million has been leveraged through the city’s direct investment in affordable housing projects resulting in the development of 3,591 affordable housing units and downpayment assistance to 478 buyers. 

Given our need, we demanded our fair-share of resources from the State and successfully increased the allocation of tax credit supported units for Miami-Dade County.  Last year, our efforts resulted in the best allocation year on record- 10 projects, representing 1,104 units and over $277 million in additional affordable housing projects.  

Combined with our production to date, these tax credit projects will increase our total production to 4,698 units, 478 buyers assisted with a down-payment, and $834 million in total investment leveraged, well within reach of our $1 billion goal. 

No post-2001 loan is in default due to improved underwriting standards. 

Renewed confidence among private sector developers, lenders, and investors in the management of the city’s housing program. 

Restored historically difficult relationship between the City and HUD. 

HOUSING REFORMS SINCE 2000:

2000

Took politics and politicians out of affordable housing arena by creating the City of Miami’s Housing & Commercial Loan Committee - a group of citizen-professionals with solid credentials in law, finance, and development – which is the sole authority to fund and restructure all city housing projects and commercial loans. 

2001

Started to aggressively pursue defaulted loans, collecting $25 million to date in defaulted loans, liens and other debts as documented in U.S. Dept. of Housing & Urban Development’s (HUD) system.  Continue to provide HUD with quarterly reports with regard to the status of our collection efforts. 

2002

Strengthened loaned documents and added penalties for non-compliant developers. 

2003

Created new unit within Department of Community Development to conduct affordability monitoring. 

Shut down Miami Capital Development Inc., source of most defaulted loans. 

2004

Stopped the practice of funding administrative expenses of non-profit groups.  

2005

Land acquisition became an ineligible activity. 

Restrictive covenants not removed from city assisted purchased land for entire affordability period. 

2006

Created penalties for developers who sell subsidized land for a profit, including charging them the highest interest rates allowable under state law, barring them for doing business with the City for five years, and refusing to remove affordable housing restriction on the property. 

2007

In 1998, the OIG reported that the City loan portfolio had a default rate of 36%.  As of May 30th 2007, the City loan portfolio default rate is 14% or $10.2 million, attributable in its entirety to loans funded between 1984 through 1998. 

HOUSING INITIATIVES SINCE 2000:

In-fill-housing- Virtually eliminated the city inventory of available vacant lots by designating them for development as affordable housing. 

Agreed to transfer in-fill lots for  $1 to developers who agree to build affordable housing. 

Generated $15 million in contributions from private developers to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. 

Worked in partnership with Habitat for Humanity to build over 100 homes in Little Haiti, Overtown and Highland Park. 

Agreed to waive City of Miami liens on land to be developed for affordable housing. 

Assigned an exclusive in-house permit expediter for affordable housing projects. 

Agreed to deferral of impact fees for affordable housing project. 

Increased subsidy limits for first-time home buyers to $40,000. 

Allowed for reduction in parking requirements for affordable housing projects. 

I am proud of our accomplishments to ensure that affordable housing will continue to be produced in historic numbers, and I think we have shown results.  It comes from the leadership of  the City Commission, the Housing and Commercial Loan Committee, affordable housing developers, and city staff.  

We are committed to continue reforming a once broken system and staying focused on our goal of a $1 billion of affordable housing by 2010.