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Tuesday, July 7, 2015

How to Become a Community Housing Development Organization

A Community Housing Development Organization, or CHDO, is an entity that is prioritized to receive funding from HUD's HOME Program. States, cities and counties across the country receive an annual allocation of HOME funds from the federal government to produce affordable housing. HUD requires that at least 15% of their annual allocations fund CHDO projects. In this post I summarize the most important steps an organization needs to take in order to qualify as a CHDO.

HOME Participating Jurisdictions (PJs) are responsible for certifying entities as CHDOs in accordance with HUD regulations. In order to be certified as a CHDO, an organization must meet standards in three general areas:
  • Mission- the organization's mission must include the provision of affordable housing for low income households. This mission must be documented in the organization's articles of incorporation or bylaws. In addition, CHDOs must have a policy and process for incorporating input from program beneficiaries.
  • Board Composition- at least 1/3 of the organization's Board of Directors must represent the community's low-income population, either as a low-income resident, a resident of a predominantly low-income census tract, or a representative of a low-income neighborhood organization. In addition, no more than 1/3 of the Board of Directors can be affiliated with a public entity, as an elected representative, an appointed representative, or as an employee.
  • Capacity- the organization must demonstrate capacity to develop housing by documenting financial health, accomplishments and staff qualifications. The organization must also have experience serving in the PJ that is certifying it. A new requirement that came with the 2013 HOME Interim Rule is that CHDOs must have paid, full-time staff involved in housing development.
Feel free to contact me to get more details on becoming a CHDO, or to use my cloud-based checklists for certifying CHDOs.

4 comments:

  1. Hey James.

    Good post but not that relevant for me all the way in Australia.
    Came across your profile and can easily see you know your stuff.
    Been doing more work in the government sector and would to know the best ways to manage the relationship.

    Cheers,

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  2. Hello James, I am wondering if you can help me by any chance you can help by showing me the direction on becoming a CHDO. I have searched everywhere on how to become a CHDO and I have seen everything as far as checklists and requirements but have not found an actual application or website to sign up. I need any help I can get. Thank you in advance for any help you can give me.

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  3. How do I obtain a CHDO certification for our nonprofit CAPK to be able to purchase HUD homes as an FHA Approved Nonprofit to purchase REO homes at a discount?

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  4. I would be interested in getting help purchasing farm for use as a community home for homeless, for young people in rehabilitation from trauma,addiction, etc., i was raised in a community care home run by my grandmother. My mother was a nutritionist and my 4x great grandfather was Clara Bartons brother Stephan Barton. This is right up my alley. I rented a large farm in west river and did this on my own until the roof fell in and we had to move to a small townhouse.
    this would be an animal based program that would allow its residents calming therapy with animals, as well as learning to work with others to be self sufficient. Residents will have chance to get GED training, learn shopping and cooking skills as well as nutrition. a healthy lifestyle will be promoted using yoga and aerobic exercise. There will also be music therapy. all artistic talents will be encouraged.
    Transportation to mental health or doctors appts. will be provided, as well as some personal e vent transport. The overall goal would be to give residents an opportunity to build a strong future,cope in society,and build strong meaningful relationships. Please explain to me how begin the process.

    ReplyDelete