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Information Packet The Enon, Beverly, MA An Affordable Housing Lottery Facilitated on behalf of HKL Realty, LCC This packet contains specific information on the affordable housing program and application process for the affordable rental apartments being offered at The Enon in Beverly, MA. The Enon invites you to read this information packet and submit an application. Please hold onto this packet until you have leased an apartment as it will be a useful guide throughout the entire process. The affordable apartments will be ready for occupancy immediately following the lottery and all applicant screenings. Application Deadline: December 3, 2024 at 2:00 pm Applications must be completed online, delivered, or postmarked by this date. Applications postmarked by the deadline must be received no later than 5 business days from the deadline. Households may complete the Application online, here: Additional Applications available at www.sebhousing.com For Affordable Unit Information call (617) 782-6900 (x1) For TTY Dial 711 Free Translation Available Traducción gratuita disponible Information Packet created by: SEB Housing, 257 Hillside Ave, Needham, MA 02494 ---PAGE BREAK--- 2 Table of Contents General Overview and 3 Eligibility Requirements…………………………………………pg. 4-5 Income (Maximum) and Minimum Income + Assets.………...pg. 4 6 Household Size and Composition…..…………………………..pg. 7-8 Step-By-Step Process and Timeline……………………………..pg. 9 Step 1a: Program Application……………………………...……pg. 10 Step 1b: The 10 Step 1c: Waiting 11 Step 2a: Lease Application and Unit Selection………………...pg. 12 Step 2b: SEB Final Review of Program Eligibility……………..pg. 13 Yearly Eligibility and Rent 14 Local Preference Information………………………………….. pg. 15 Information Session There will be a Public Information Session on November 6, 2024 at 6:00 pm via Zoom where questions about the lottery and the development can be addressed directly. Go to zoom.com/join, or call (646) 558-8656 and enter Meeting ID: 818 9317 7595, Passcode: 088159. Attendance is not required at Info or Lottery sessions. To view the recorded sessions at a later date, please search for The Enon on the SEB Housing YouTube channel. ---PAGE BREAK--- 3 GENERAL OVERVIEW AND RENTS The Enon is rehabilitation of an existing property on 8 Enon Street in Beverly. This property is in close proximity to public transportation, Wenham Lake, various restaurants, coffee shops, and grocery stores, and provides easy access to Route 128. There are a total of 13 units in this development. There will be 2 affordable apartments within 8 Enon Street that will be rented to households with incomes at or below 60% of the area median income through this application process. One unit will feature 1BR and 1 bath, and the other will feature 2BR and 1 bath. These units are expected to be ready immediately following the lottery and all applicant screenings. The unit mix of the affordable units is as follows: # of Units # of Bedrooms # of Bathrooms Ave. Size (subject to change during construction) Rent* 1 1 1 348 square feet $1,427 1 2 3 581 square feet $1,524 * The rents are set annually using a calculation that determines the “affordable” rent, which is based on the Area Median Incomes for the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy HMFA, therefore the rents of units are subject to change. Tenants are responsible for paying the full amount of rent each month. Rents are not based on each applicant’s income (unless they already have a Section 8 voucher already or similar). Tenants will be responsible for paying for electricity (cooking/heating/hot water), cold water and sewer. One parking space per unit is available for residents and is included in the rent. Pets are permitted, subject to restrictions. Since it is possible that there will be more interested and eligible applicants than available units, the Developer will conduct a lottery to rank the eligible applicants for the program. The application and lottery process as well as the eligibility requirements are described in this information packet. The Enon does not discriminate in the selection of applicants on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, gender or gender identity, familial status, disability, ancestry, age, marital status, public assistance status, sexual orientation, veteran history/military status, genetic information, or any other basis prohibited by law. Persons with disabilities are entitled to request a reasonable accommodation in rules, policies, practices, or services, or to request a reasonable modification in the housing, when such accommodations or modifications may be necessary to afford persons with disabilities an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the housing. To request a reasonable accommodation, please email [EMAIL REDACTED] or call [PHONE REDACTED] x1 or postal mail SEB Housing, 257 Hillside Ave, Needham MA 02494 Q: How long will the designated apartments remain affordable? A: As a current resident only, you are considered income eligible for an affordable unit as long as your household earns an income that does not exceed 140% of the current applicable income limit for a household of your size (see Yearly Eligibility and Rent Review for more details). If the AMI increases or the utility allowances decrease, the rent may increase as further described in the Regulatory Agreement. ---PAGE BREAK--- 4 ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS Q: Who is eligible to apply for the affordable apartments at The Enon? A: In order to qualify for an affordable unit: Households must have income and assets that qualify within the parameters as highlighted in this section. Household priority will be given based on household composition. For questions on household size and composition, please read “Household Size and Composition”. Households cannot own a home upon move-in. All homes must be sold before leasing a unit. Households, or their families, cannot have a financial interest in the development and a household member cannot be considered a Related Party, which includes employees of the management or development companies. Q: What are the income eligibility requirements? A: To be eligible to lease an affordable apartment, annual household income must be within a particular range, set by maximum and minimum income levels as follows: Maximum Income Household Size Maximum Income Limit 1 $62,538 2 $71,472 3 $80,406 4 $89,340 To be eligible to apply to lease an affordable apartment, the combined annual income for all income sources of all income-earning members in the household must be at or below sixty percent (60%) of median income for Boston- Cambridge-Quincy HMFA. All sources of income are counted, please see details below. ---PAGE BREAK--- 5 Minimum Income (and Assets) Per the Leasing Office’s policy that is also in place for market-rate apartments, the rent to income ratio required to lease a unit is 40% (i.e. applicant’s income must be approximately 2.5 times the rent). Applicants may make less than the minimum incomes shown below if they have sufficient savings from which they can draw down otherwise, applicants will not be found to be eligible for a lease if they make less than the incomes shown below. Applicants who receive a housing subsidy (like Section 8) are not subject to the minimum income requirements but, like all other applicants, will also have to pass reviews on credit scores, tenant history, and criminal background checks in accordance with EOHLC’s requirements regarding same. Applicants with a housing subsidy are encouraged to contact the housing agency who issues their housing subsidy to confirm that the rents are within the agency’s payment standards so as to ensure that they will not be prohibited by the housing agency from using the housing subsidy at this property. Please see “Leasing Office Review” in the step-by-step process for more details. Again, these minimum incomes are not required by the affordable housing program, they are just estimations of minimum incomes required by the leasing office. Unit Size Approximate Minimum Income (plus assets) required for households without a housing subsidy 1BR $42,800 2BR $45,700 Q: How is a household’s income determined? A: A household’s income is the total anticipated amount of money received by ALL members of the household over the next 12 months (starting from the date of application and projecting forward 12 months) based on their current income and assets. In an effort to provide as accurate an income estimation as possible, the Lottery Agent will also review historical income data to provide a basis for future income estimates. Any monies you anticipate receiving in the next 12 months will be counted as income and monies received over the previous 12 months will be analyzed to help estimate future income. This includes, but is not limited to, Social Security, alimony, child support, overtime pay, bonuses, unemployment, severance pay, part-time employment, matured bonds, monies to be received in court settlements, and actual or imputed interest and dividends on bank accounts and other assets. ALL SOURCES OF INCOME ARE COUNTED with the exception of income from employment for household members under the age of 18 and any income over $480/year for full time students who are dependents (but note that all such income must still be documented even if it is exempt from the household income calculation). It will be assumed that all applicants will continue to receive any monies they have received over the past 12 months unless supporting documentation proves otherwise. It is also not up to the household to determine what monies received over the past year should and should not be counted as their calculated income. Therefore, all monies should be listed on the application and the inclusion of these monies in determining a household’s eligibility will be based on affordable housing guidelines. ---PAGE BREAK--- 6 Allowable Assets There is no asset limit for applying households for this development. However, the higher of the actual income earned from assets, or the imputed income of 0.06% of all assets, will be counted as income. Household Assets are calculated at the time of application. Assets may include cash, cash in savings and checking accounts, net cash value of stocks, net cash value of retirement accounts (such as 401k), real property, bonds, and capital investments. If any household member currently owns property, the total amount of equity in the home shall be added to their total value of assets. Example: A household has $8,000 in savings, $30,000 in a retirement account that they are not drawing down from ($20,000 net cash value) and a home assessed at $300,000 on which they currently have $278,000 remaining on the mortgage ($22,000 in equity). Their assets total is: $8,000 + $20,000 + $22,000 = $50,000 Actual Income from assets is: $300 + $0 + $0 = $300 Imputed Income at 0.06% is: 0.06% of $50,000 = $30 For this household, $300 would be added to their income they receive from all other income sources (employment, Social Security, Alimony etc.) as the program takes the greater of actual income from assets OR imputed income from assets. Q: I cannot withdraw money from my 401k or retirement fund, do I have to include it when I list my assets? A: Yes. You need to include the net cash value of all your current retirement funds. We realize that most retirement funds assess large penalties for early withdrawal but this does not technically mean that you “cannot” withdraw your funds. The post-penalty amount is what you need to provide along with supporting documentation. Q: If I cannot qualify for a Lease based on my own income or credit history, can I have a co-signer on my Lease? A: No. Only people who will live in the apartment can sign the lease. Applying households must be able to meet the income qualifications on their own. If someone outside the household is going to help pay the rent, the amount to be paid must be listed as “Periodic Payments” on the Income Table in the Program Application. These payments will be counted towards the applying household’s income. Q: Do I have to be a resident of the City of Beverly to apply? A: No. All households that meet the income guidelines specified above may apply for an affordable apartment, however, for one of the affordable units, households who qualify for local preference will get priority on the waiting list for that unit. ---PAGE BREAK--- 7 HOUSEHOLD SIZE AND COMPOSITION Q: How is appropriate household size determined? A: According to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) guidelines: Within an applicant pool, priority as set forth below, shall be given to households requiring the total number of bedrooms in the apartment based on the following criteria: 1. There is at least one occupant and generally no more than two occupants per bedroom (based on State Sanitary Code). 2. A married couple, or those in a similar living arrangement, shall be required to share a bedroom. Other household members may share but shall not be required to share a bedroom. 3. A person described in the first sentence of shall not be required to share a bedroom if a consequence of sharing would be a severe adverse impact on his or her mental or physical health and the lottery agent receives reliable medical documentation as to such impact of sharing. TYPE II (Priority for a 2BR unit and 1BR unit) • 4 person household: all types • 3 person household: all types • 2 person household: 2 heads-of-household under criteria 3 (described above) • 2 person household: 1 head-of-household plus one member • A 1 or 2 person household where there is a disability or medical need for two bedrooms. TYPE I (Priority for a 1BR unit) • 2 person household: 2 heads-of-household • 1 person household Households with a total number of members which exceed the Massachusetts State Sanitary Codes for that particular sized apartment will not be allowed to rent an apartment. In “The Lottery” in the Step-By-Step Process, you will find a detailed explanation on how priority is given to certain household sizes and compositions. ---PAGE BREAK--- 8 Household Size and Composition Frequently Asked Questions Q: Does the unborn child of a currently pregnant household member count towards our household size for income eligibility purposes? A: Yes. A household may count an unborn child as a household member. You will have to submit proof of pregnancy with all the income and asset documentation that needs to be submitted with your application. Q: Can a Type I Household apply for a two-bedroom apartment? A: Yes, however a Type I Household will not have priority for a 2BR apartment. Please see “The Lottery” in the Step-By-Step Process for how order will be given from the Lottery Results. Q: If I am currently going through a divorce/separation or planning on being divorced / separated soon, can I still apply? A: You will need to provide proof that the divorce process has begun or has already been finalized. If no divorce has been initiated, then we would need you to certify and document that your spouse has a separate address. The Certification Application will guide you through the documentation that you will need to provide. ---PAGE BREAK--- 9 STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS AND TIMELINE Q: What is the application, selection, and move-in process for the affordable apartment at The Enon? A: The process is essentially a three-step process. The first step is to qualify for the Lottery, which includes being given a position on the Waiting Lists. The Lottery Application must be completed but no supporting documentation is required at this step (it will be required in later steps). The second step is to be found Lease Eligible and reserve a unit (and unit availability will be determined by your position on the Waiting Lists). The third step is to be found Affordable Housing Program eligible (which involves submitting all required income, asset and tax documentation). Step 1a: Applying for the Housing Program December 3, 2024 at 2:00 pm (application deadline) Step 1b: The Lottery December 18, 2024 at 6:00pm via Zoom. Go to zoom.com/join or call (646) 558-8656 and enter Meeting ID: 857 2736 5609, Passcode: 276410 Step 1c: Waiting Lists and Lottery Results Established night of the lottery Step 2a: Leasing Office Review and Unit Selection 1-30 days after SEB Pre-Approval Step 2b: Final SEB Housing Certification of Program Eligibility Within 15 days, applicants must submit all income, asset and tax documentation, as required. Yearly Eligibility and Rent Review 30-90 days prior to lease renewal Information Session There will be a Public Information Session on November 6, 2024 at 6:00 pm via Zoom where questions about the lottery and the development can be addressed directly. Go to zoom.com/join, or call (646) 558-8656 and enter Meeting ID: 818 9317 7595, Passcode: 088159. Attendance is not required at Info or Lottery sessions. To view the recorded sessions at a later date, please search for The Enon on the SEB Housing YouTube channel. ---PAGE BREAK--- 10 Step 1a: Applying for the Affordable Housing Program Applicants will need to fill out a Lottery Application for every person that will be residing in the unit. Supporting income and asset documentation is not required with the Lottery Application (but will be required later). The Program Application must be received by the Lottery Agent by the date on the Lottery Application. Applications must be filled out entirely as incomplete applications will not be accepted for the lottery. Please see the cover page of the Lottery Application for locations for drop off and mailing address. Once the Lottery Agent has received the Lottery Application, they will determine initial compliance for the lottery. Households without housing subsidies who fall well below the minimum income limits and households who submit applications indicated they are above the maximum allowable income limits will not be entered into the lottery. Entrance into the lottery does not guarantee final income certification approval (see the following steps). Once a Lottery Application is received and SEB Housing determines the household is eligible for the lottery, the applicant will receive an Application Number that solely designates the order that their application was received. The purpose of the Application Number is simply to keep all household names unknown when the Application Numbers are drawn at the lottery. Step 1b: The Lottery The Lottery will be held on December 18, 2024 at 6:00pm via Zoom. Go to zoom.com/join or call (646) 558-8656 and enter Meeting ID: 857 2736 5609, Passcode: 276410). Households do not need to be present for the Lottery drawing. All Households will be notified of the results by the Lottery Agent. There will be two drawings in the lottery, an Open/General Drawing and a Local Preference Drawing. A representative from SEB Housing pulls Application Numbers from a box or uses a computer to digitally randomize an order of application numbers. The randomly drawn Application Numbers are then placed in the order drawn on a Lottery Result List. * A third minority drawing will be required to add non-local preference minority households into the local preference drawing if the representation in the local preference pool is not 33.4% or higher. Please see the bottom of page 15 for those details. ---PAGE BREAK--- 11 Step 1c: The Waiting List The Waiting Lists will be compiled immediately after the lottery. The separate Waiting Lists created from the two Lottery Drawing Results Lists illustrate the order households will get to choose units based on unit size and local preference. The position each household has on the Waiting Lists is determined by the order in which their Application Number is drawn relative to households of similar qualifications (i.e. larger households will have priority for the 2BR unit) Waiting List for ONE 2BR apartment (Local Preference) Top Tier: All Type II Local Preference Households Second Tier: All Type II Non-Local Preference Households Third Tier: All Type I Local Preference Households Bottom Tier: All Type I Non-Local Preference Households Waiting List for ONE 1BR apartment (Open) Top Tier: All Households ---PAGE BREAK--- 12 Step 2a: Lease Application Invitation and Unit Selection Households with high enough positions on the Waiting List to warrant an immediate invitation to go to the Leasing Office to complete a Lease Application will be given at least 5 days to schedule an appointment and complete the Lease Application. The Leasing Office may contact the several applicants from a Waitlist simultaneously, in which case, even if a household lower on the Waiting List completes a Lease Application before a household higher on the Waiting List, the Waiting List order will always be preserved in determining the order that the unit gets selected and reserved. The Lease Application review will be the same review that applicants for market-rate apartments undergo, where factors such as Employment history, Credit score/reports, Former lease history, Criminal Background Screening and sufficient income are considered. The Leasing Office can provide more details on their screening process during this step in the process. Co-signers and/or guarantors are not allowed (see page Background checks will meet EOHLC’s Model Policy Regarding Applicant Screening on the Basis of Criminal Records. In any instance where policy and procedures in the Management Company’s Policy differ from the policy and procedures in the Model Policy, the policy and procedures of the Model Policy will be followed. For specific questions about credit and background/criminal issues, households can contact the leasing office. Failure to complete a Lease Application by the given appointment date will result in the removal of their Application Number from the Waiting List. Households with positions lower on the Waiting Lists will have to wait for the removal of households with a higher position than them before being given an opportunity to lease an apartment. Households with lower positions will be given at least a 5 day notice of their upcoming appointment dates if there is going to be an apartment available for them. Households are removed from the Waiting Lists if the Leasing Office deems that they are not eligible for a lease based on their Lease Application, if a household fails to meet future deadlines for documentation submittal and lease signing, or if a household notifies the Leasing Office that they are no longer interested in leasing an apartment. Q: If I cannot qualify for a Lease based on my own income or credit history, can I have a co-signer on my Lease? A: No. Only people who will live in the apartment can sign the lease. Tenants must be able to meet the income qualifications on their own. Please see pages 4 and 5 for more details. ---PAGE BREAK--- 13 Step 2b: SEB Final Review of Program Eligibility After a household has reserved an Affordable Unit, the Leasing Office will notify SEB Housing of the reservation. The household with an Affordable Unit reservation will then need to submit to SEB Housing all the income, asset and tax documentation to SEB Housing for Final Review and Approval. Upon initially receiving their Application Number prior to the lottery, all households will want to review the Documentation Requirement Guide for details on everything that will be required to complete this final review of Affordable Housing Program Eligibility. Any household who is contacted but fails to submit all required documentation (and if their initial submission is incomplete, any and all missing documentation) within 10 days of reserving a unit will be removed from the Waiting List and will lose their reservation. Similarly, any household who is over the income limit will also be removed from the Waiting Lists. SEB Housing will notify the household and the Leasing Office if the household is missing documentation, or if the household is ineligible or eligible for the Affordable Unit they reserved. An eligible household will be able to sign a lease and move into the Affordable Unit on the date initially established with the Leasing Office. ---PAGE BREAK--- 14 Yearly Eligibility and Rent Review After a household has moved in, and approximately 90 days before lease renewal, tenants of affordable apartments will need to submit updated income and asset documentation to the Leasing Office so they can ensure continued eligibility under the affordable housing guidelines. Tenants will not be able to renew Leases until all required documentation has been submitted. Records of taxes, pay-stubs, bank statements and asset statements should be maintained while living in the affordable apartment. Q: How long can I lease my affordable apartment? A: As a current resident only, you are considered income eligible for an affordable apartment as long as your household earns an income that does not exceed 140% of the current year’s income limit for a household of your size. Using the Current Income Limits as an example: According to the table above for the years shown, if a household’s income exceeds the Income Limit for Current Tenants at the time of their renewal, their apartment shall still remain affordable until the next available market rate apartment with the same or greater number of bedrooms is rented at an affordable price to an affordable program-qualified tenant, at which point the apartment of the tenant with earnings exceeding the Income Limit for Current Tenants will be rented at market rates. The household with earnings exceeding the Income Limit for Current Tenants can choose to stay in their apartment yet would then have to pay the market rate rent. Q: Will my rent increase each year, and if so, by how much? A: Rents may increase if Local Area Median Income increases or the costs of the applicable local utilities decreases. Q: Who is entitled to request a reasonable accommodation? A: Persons with disabilities are entitled to request a reasonable accommodation in rules, policies, practices, or services, or to request a reasonable modification in the housing, when such accommodations or modifications may be necessary to afford persons with disabilities an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the housing. To request a reasonable accommodation, please email [EMAIL REDACTED] or call 617-782- 6900 x1 or postal mail SEB Housing, 257 Hillside Ave, Needham MA 02494. Household Size Current Income Limit for New Applicants (80% AMI Units) Income Limit for Current Tenants (140% of Current Income Limit) 1 $62,538 $87,553 2 $71,472 $100,061 3 $80,406 $112,568 4 $89,340 $125,076 ---PAGE BREAK--- 15 LOCAL PREFERENCE INFORMATION Q: What is Local Preference? A: The City of Beverly has established a local preference for 70% of the affordable apartments (which is limited to one of the two units in this lottery). Local Preference will be given as described in the step-by- step process. An applicant qualifies for local preference if the applicant or a member of their household fit into one of the following categories: • a current resident of Beverly • an employee of the City of Beverly (including Beverly Public Schools) • an employee of a business located within Beverly • A parent or guardian with children attending the Beverly Public Schools Q: Do households which meet all Local Preference criteria get priority over households which meet only one? A: No. As long as a household meets any one of the Local Preference criteria, they will qualify for Local Preference. Q: What if a household does not qualify for Local Preference? A: Households without Local Preference will be entered into the Open Lottery and will be given positions on the Waiting Lists based on where they are drawn in the Open Lottery drawing. Non-Local Preference households will also be given positions on the Local Preference Waiting List to ensure that unit size needs are appropriately addressed (see Waiting Lists on earlier page of this Information Packet) Adjustments in the Local Preference Pool As stated by the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, “If the percentage of minorities in the local preference pool is less than the percentage of minorities in the surrounding HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) defined area, the following adjustments will be made to the local preference pool. The Developer will hold a preliminary lottery drawing comprised of all minority applicants who did not qualify for the local preference pool and rank the applicants in order of the drawing. Minority applicants should then be added to the local preference pool in order of their rankings until the percentage of minority applicants in the local preference pool is equal to the percentage of minorities in the surrounding HUD-defined area.” The Percent Minority for the Metropolitan Statistical Area of Boston- Cambridge-Quincy is 33.4%. This is the minimum percentage of minority applicants that must be in the local preference pool. Minority applicants are defined as a person who is a member of the following groups: Black or African American; Asian; Native American or Alaska Native; Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander; or other (not White); and the ethnic classification Hispanic or Latino.