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Title:
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HOME Open Doors Down Payment Assistance Request for Proposals
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Title
HOME Open Doors Down Payment Assistance Request for Proposals
Description
This report requests City Council approval of the Housing Department's Open Doors Down Payment Assistance (DPA) Program Request for Proposals (RFP), and the associated revisions to the Affordable Housing Loan Program (AHLP) Underwriting Guidelines. Further request authorization for the City Manager, or designee, to issue the Open Doors DPA RFP and to begin negotiations with the recommended proposer(s). There is no impact to the General Fund.
Report
Summary
The City receives an annual allocation of federal HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which the City can use to increase homeownership opportunities for low- and moderate-income families. The Housing Department has offered homeownership programs like Open Doors DPA to the community since the 1990's. The Open Doors DPA program is designed to assist eligible first-time homebuyers with the purchase of an affordable home in the City of Phoenix by providing funding for down payment and/or closing costs. Assistance is based on need and is provided to households earning at or below 80 percent of the Area Median Income ($55,300 for a family of four). The most recent five-year Open Doors DPA contract ended in August 2018, and served 89 households to successfully become homeowners. Through the Housing Department, the citywide DPA program will follow the City's AHLP Underwriting Guidelines.
The Housing Department may award to one or more agencies. The award(s) will be for three years, commencing on or about July 1, 2019, with the City retaining the option to renew or extend the agreements for two additional periods of up to one year each. The allocation will not exceed $1.2 million over the five-year period.
Procurement Information
The RFP will be available through the City's website in February 2019. A selection committee will convene to evaluate proposed projects for the RFP, based on the criteria below. The committee will be made up of representatives from City departments and community partners with relevant expertise who are not competing for the funding. Formal recommendation for the RFP award(s) will be presented to the Planning and Economic Development Subcommittee and City Council for approval.
Applicants must meet the following threshold criteria prior to moving forward to evaluation and scoring by the selection committee:
A public agency or nonprofit organization operating within Maricopa County.
Entity is not on the HUD Debarment List.
Three years minimum experience with loan origination programs.
Applications that do not meet the threshold criteria will be rejected and not move forward to evaluation.
Evaluation criteria for selection will include the following:
Experience, Financial Capacity and Qualifications (450 pts) - Evidence of proposers's capacity and demonstrated effectiveness in performing the specified work. Financial stability and years in existence. Qualifications of staff to perform services described and experience in accomplishing the proposed services.
Design (350 pts) - Proposer's approach, methodology and implementation for providing services.
Pricing and Costs (200 pts) - Reasonableness of fees and expenses.
Underwriting Guidelines Revisions
The City first adopted the Underwriting Guidelines (Guidelines) in October 2005. Since then the Guidelines have been periodically updated. The Homeownership Assistance Loan Program section of the Guidelines were last updated in December of 2013. The goals of the Guidelines are to:
1. Provide long-term housing affordability.
2. Provide homeownership opportunities.
3. Create predictable, clear underwriting, and approval process.
4. Manage risk and encourage high performing subrecipient contracts.
Proposed revisions to the Guidelines include:
1. Revised threshold and evaluation criteria.
2. Revised loan forgiveness terms.
3. Revised Period of Affordability to align with current HOME regulatory requirements.
4. Overall updates to comply with current HOME regulatory requirements.
Financial Impact
There is no impact to the General Fund. HOME is a federally-funded program.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Deanna Jonovich and the Housing Department.