RD77 - Virginia Housing Commission 2011 Annual Report


Executive Summary:
The Virginia Housing Commission "VHC", a legislatively based commission, works through a year-long process to create and recommend bi-partisan, housing-related legislation to alleviate the Commonwealth's concerns regarding neighborhoods, mortgages, affordability of housing, and other issues relevant to housing.

The Commission is divided into four permanent work groups, Affordable Housing and Real Estate Law, Common Interest Communities, Environmental Issues, and Neighborhood Transitions, as well as three sub-workgroups, Mortgages, Time-Shares, and Water and Sewer, each composed of legislators and interested stakeholders. They are the conduits used to work together to form solutions and good compromise legislation in preparation for the legislative session. All work group meeting agendas and summaries are posted to the Virginia Housing Commission website ( http://dls.virginia.gov/vhc.htm).

The Commission was created by the 1970 General Assembly (HB 1231, 2004) "to study the ways and means best designed to utilize existing resources and develop facilities that will provide the Commonwealth's growing population with adequate housing," and became a permanent legislative commission in 2004. The Commission works to fulfill that initiative while expanding the Commission's scope of topics as the housing needs of the Commonwealth have grown as well.

Chaired by Delegate John Cosgrove, with Senator Mamie Locke serving as the vice-chair, the Commission has 11 members: three members of the Virginia Senate, five members of the House of Delegates, and three citizen members appointed by the Governor. Most have a housing background, and all have a strong interest in housing concerns.

Topics are chosen for study by the Commission chair and with the recommendation of the work group chairs in addition to referred bills from the General Assembly, as well as topics determined by the current housing work group chairs.

The Commission held four full Commission meetings throughout the 2011 interim where speakers from the Federal Reserve Bank, Department of Housing and Community Development, and Virginia Housing Development Authority, among other entities, worked to give the Commission members background information on housing trends and best practices in the Commonwealth. All presentations are available online. In addition to full Commission meetings, work group meetings were held throughout the interim to provide for a more intensive discussion involving interested parties. All meetings were open to the public, and meeting notices were posted on the General Assembly website, and the Housing Commission website.

Eight pieces of legislation were recommended by the Commission for the 2012 Legislative Session and they include the following: a bill on Receivership (HB 491, R. Dance) (SB 122, J. Watkins); three landlord-tenant bills: (HB 502, R. Dance), accounting of rental payments (SB 34, M. Locke), and a prohibition on self-help eviction (SB 35, M. Locke); landlord-tenant issues related to water and sewer services (HB 567, D. Marshall); licensing and registry requirements for mortgage loan originators (HB 570, D. Marshall) (SB 75, J. Watkins); and an owner-financing exemption from mortgage loan originator licensing and registry (HB 572, D. Marshall) (SB 76, J. Watkins). Full descriptions of bill history and content are available in the Housing Commission summaries found online.

The Commission, in 2011, studied, debated, and evaluated issues to determine the necessity for legislative action on many housing issues and remains an active and crucial component in creating a remedy for the housing concerns of the Commonwealth.