Homeowners Need to Understand how County & City Inaction may reduce their property values

Tavares, FL            May 23, 2016

Lake County, FL Homeowners & Realtors: If you own a house on 1/4 acre or more in a zoned neighborhood, a new Obama Federal program (AFFH - Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing) may require your County or City in 1-5 years to build HUD defined lower income, high density housing in your community, ignoring any zoning you count on to protect the value of your home. The Lake County, FL Board and many cities have ignored the implications included in new requirements for HUD grants they get for housing.

 

Lake County, FL Residents need to understand that if the County Board, and the local cities keep taking HUD grants that require AFFH compliance, they are obligated to implement AFFH, and could be sued later by local activists or HUD like Westchester County, NY experienced to create HUD defined low income housing within higher income neighborhoods. Westchester County, NY is now having to build 750 low income units spread among 31 predominantly wealthy neighborhoods based upon AFFH required studies. The same is happening in Baltimore, MD. 

 

AFFH is just like Common Core, where states agreed to conditions requiring Common Core implementation to get Race to the Top funds.

 

Recommendations:

 

1. Read my AFFH Factsheet that I updated today. It won't happen now, but maybe in 1-5 years, starting first in larger cities and zoned neighborhoods with wealthy neighborhoods.  

 

2. Citizens need to demand local and state governments stop taking Federal HUD grant funds with conditions like AFFH. Ask your County Board member or City Council member to READ my AFFH factsheet, then hold a public hearing to discuss why they continue to accept HUD grants with AFFH conditions.

 

3. Demand HUD grants be dropped from agency budgets.  Each year an agency renews their HUD grant application.  The grant dollars received each year add up to justify lawsuits that may require the funds be paid back if AFFH is not implemented.  Don't let County or City officials renew the HUD grants or include HUD grant revenues in their annual budgets, which are being planned now. 

 

4. Voters need to ask candidates for County & City positions what they will do about it, and to agree to drop all HUD grants or any other Federal funding requiring AFFH compliance. 

 

If you don't get local officials to discontinue HUD grants with AFFH conditions, and you own a home on 1/4 acre or larger in a zoned neighborhood, you could find a high density, low income affordable housing building in your neighborhood like is happening now based on lawsuits filed in Westchester County, NY and Baltimore, MD (read this recent settlement agreement which is scary and COSTLY).  

 

"In June 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that federal housing law allows people to challenge zoning laws and other housing practices that have a "disparate" or harmful impact on minority groups, even if there is no proof that the discrimination was intentional."

 

Oh, and if you vote for Hillary or Bernie, this will definitely happen faster.

 

Vance Jochim

FiscalRangers.com