Rendell OKs law for housing trust fund
By Anthony S. Twyman
Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted on Fri, Jul. 15, 2005
More than a hundred housing-advocacy groups scored a
victory yesterday when Gov. Rendell signed a bill into law
that will allow Philadelphia to create its first housing
trust fund to help low- and moderate-income residents build
and repair housing.
The law allows the city to double the fees it charges for
recording deeds and mortgages to generate money for the fund.
It will double the current $72 deed, $57 mortgage recording,
and $56 mortgage paid-in-full fees.
The city's Neighborhood Transformation Initiative also is
slated to provide a one-time $1.5 million infusion into the
fund. The fund is expected to generate $15 million a year.
"This is something that's going to dramatically change
the landscape of housing in the city," said Susan
Sierra, policy coordinator for the nonprofit Philadelphia
Association of Community Development Corporations.
Sierra's group and more than a hundred other housing-advocacy
groups had lobbied state and local legislators for the fund.
Although 53 other counties in the state already have housing
trust funds, state law excluded Philadelphia from creating
such a fund.
City Council approved legislation earlier this year creating
the fund, but it could not be implemented until the governor
approved allowing the city to increase the document-recording
fees.
The city expects to start using the fund in 60 days, after it
works out the details of how it will be administered,
according to city officials.
The fund will be used by nonprofit community development
groups to build housing for low-income people, such as a
family of four with an annual income of $20,000 or less.
It also will be used to construct homes for moderate-income
people, such as a family of four with an annual income of
$78,000.
The money also will be used to provide grants for home
repair, for adapting housing for the disabled, and for
providing emergency payments for rent, mortgage and utility
bills.
Al Perry, president of the Greater Philadelphia Association
of Realtors, said his group supports creating more affordable
housing but thinks the money should come from other sources,
such as grants, subsidies and private dollars.
"We're happy that the governor has seen the importance
of having a trust fund, but we were campaigning for a
different way to subsidize it," Perry said.
Philadelphia, Perry said, has some of the highest recording
fees in the nation and can ill afford to tack on an
additional expense for home buyers.
Contact staff writer Anthony S. Twyman at 215-854-2664 or
at atwyman@phillynews.com.