01-28-74 Council Meeting Minutes

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REGULAR MEETING JANUARY 28, 1974 IIREGULAR MEETING - RECONVENED (CONTINUED) To accomplish this objective, HUD wishes to replicate a full -scale national program of housing allowances in the St. Joseph County metropolitan area. This "Supply Experiment" is designed to obtain important information about the effects of housing allowances upon the housing market and to answer such questions as: How and to what extent does the increased purchasing power of housing allowance recipients get translated into increased rents or house sales prices -- by increases in real housing services to the occupant, or, by largely inflationary rent and house sales price rises? When large number of eligible families participate in the program, do they tend to move out of their neighborhoods and, if so, where do they move? Do minority groups seek more dispersed residential locations when broader choices are available to them through housing allowances? How are these housing choices shaped by bankers, realtors,. and others in the residential housing business? What is the impact on families not receiving housing allowances? All groups involved -- landlords, allowance recipients, non - recipients, and others -- will be periodically interviewed to obtain reliable measures of changes in housing quality, prices and other market responses. This information will then be systematically analyzed and evaluated. The City of South Bend (hereinafter called the "City "), in the interest of seeing that housing allowance payments are provided to a number of its residents in need of such assistance and of assisting in an experiment of national importance, fully supports HUD's experimental effort and wishes to cooperate with HUD in undertaking the Experiment within the St. Joseph County metropolitan area. THEREFORE, HUD and the CITY have prepared this Memorandum of Understanding to evidence their understanding, as hereinafter set forth: ARTICLE 1 - HUD 1. HUD agrees to undertake an experiment within the St. Joseph County metropolitan area. HUD will carry out the Experiment (hereinafter called "Experiment ") through a contract with the Rand Corporation (hereinafter called "Rand "), and its sub - contractors and such other organization(s) as Rand may establish as provided below. In so carrying out the Experiment, HUD, through Rand and such other organization(s) will: A. Provide housing allowances to approximately 9,000 to 10,000 households satisfying the income, family size and other program criteria for eligibility; and B. Analyze the results of the Experiment through a sizeable number of survey interviews and other data collection activities. As a part of this work, Rand will survey a sample of residential structures within the metropolitan area and interview the owners and tenants of such structures, at the beginning of the Experiment and annually thereafter. 2. The Experiment is planned to be administered as follows: A. Rental and Homeownership Payments: These payments are planned to be administered through a Housing Allowance Office which.Rand shall establish as a separate non - profit corporation(hereinafter called the "Housing Allowance Office "). It is planned that the Housing Allowance Office will enroll eligible households, administer payments, provide recipients with housing information, carry on administrative, fiscal and other activities associated with the Experiment and shall direct and be responsible for the effectiveness of these activities. The Housing Allowance. Office will be a joint undertaking with the locality as follows: 1. Its Board of Trustees or other policy- making body will include local membership. 2. It is intended that the control of and responsibility for the functions of the Housing Allowance Office will be transferred to the local housing authority(ies) or other appropriate local agency(ies) not later than the termination of the experimental period. B. Home Purchase Allowance Payments: Assistance to recipients in acquiring homeownership (hereinafter called "home purchase assistance ") is expected to be furnished pursuant to some combination of existing HUD assistance programs and will be administered through existing HUD program channels. HUD anticipates that the Housing Allowance Office will assist HUD in the administration of home purchase assistance. C. Survey, Data Collection, Analysis: The Rand Corporation, and its sub- contractors, will have sole responsibility for the survey work, data collection and analysis for the Experiment. 3. HUD will keep interested public officials, community leaders, and groups of the metropolitan area informed of the progress and findings of the Experiment. 4. HUD will designate representatives in its Regional and Area Offices to cooperate with the City in the successful conduct and completion of the Experiment. 5. The Experiment is planned to be set up as follows: A. Eligibility. The eligibility of a household for housing allowance payments will be determined by its income, size, and composition. All households residing in the.area which are eligible and enroll will receive a housing allowance payment provided they reside in standard housing as provided below in Part 3 -D of this Article I.