|
Affirmative Minority Marketing Required for FHA Financing
At a time when the nation’s housing market is shifting dramatically to the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), NAHB is reminding builders and developers that they are required to affirmatively market their housing to minority populations in order for their homes to qualify for FHA financing.
To ensure that specific steps are followed, as described in 24 CFR 200.620, the regulations require multifamily builders and developers to file an Affirmative Fair Housing Marketing Plan (AFHMP).
As an alternative, NAHB’s Voluntary Affirmative Marketing Agreement (VAMA) provides multifamily builders with an off-the-shelf version of the AFHMP. Under VAMA, the participating builder promises to conduct affirmative marketing and report these activities annually. In return, they do not need to file a literal AFHMP and have it approved by a HUD official.
This saves HUD staff time, and it provides builders with certainty that their multifamily units will meet the affirmative marketing requirements. Once signed, the optional VAMA can be used on all projects to show affirmative marketing compliance with the FHA requirement.
Since 2001, single-family builders haven’t needed a VAMA or an AFHMP. To satisfy the requirement for FHA financing, they can self-certify that they will undertake the actions outlined by Box 11(d) on the HUD Site Certification plan (HUD Form 92541).
Failure to follow through on the promises made by a builder who signs a VAMA can lead to revocation of their ability to use this agreement. Provisions in the agreement basically concern training, marketing and reporting; and an Equal Opportunity Officer should be appointed to oversee the marketing program and ensure that these provisions are met.
Builders will need to read the agreement to see all of the requirements, but here are some of the highlights:
Training
- Train employees not to discriminate in sales or employment, and make it clear that your company doesn’t discriminate.
- Post signs reminding employees of your non-discrimination policy.
- Encourage employees to attend equal opportunity workshops when available.
Marketing
- Advertise in media available to all households, like a general circulation newspaper.
- Make some additional effort to market to minority households, such as advertising in an African-American or Spanish language newspaper, or on radio or TV stations aimed at minority audiences.
- Try to notify community groups and minority organizations of the housing opportunities available from your company.
- Display the HUD Fair Housing poster in all places of business, like offices and model homes, and display the Equal Opportunity logo in all advertisements.
- If you show people in your advertisements, make them representative of the diversity of the local population.
Reporting
- Keep records of all your company’s affirmative marketing and non-discrimination training activities. This includes a description of the training; a list of who took it; a list of where you placed advertising; and samples of the advertising, posters and signs you used. If you made an effort to do something and it didn’t work out, document those efforts.
- Report your activities using, if possible, one of the forms available at nahb.org/vama (this link is for NAHB members only) under the description of “affirmative fair housing marketing reports.” The form is straightforward and it provides a useful checklist. Which form you use depends on whether you sign the VAMA through your home builders association or directly with HUD. (An article on VAMA and HBAs will appear in the upcoming Nov. 3 issue of Nation’s Building News.)
- File your report every year with either the HBA or HUD, as appropriate.
If your HBA participates in the VAMA, then you must sign the VAMA through the association. If your HBA does not participate, then you must sign directly with HUD, sending your reports to the regional HUD Fair Housing Hub.
In either case, you can use the form on the last page of the Builder’s section of the VAMA at nahb.org/vama.
For a list of the hub offices, click here.
For more information, e-mail Andrew Holliday, NAHB federal regulatory counsel, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8305.
 Want to Know the Housing Forecast for the Top 100 Metros?
Find out in HousingEconomic.com’s 2008 to 2009 Metro Forecast (free preview).
Get the metro forecast with in-depth analysis, overviews and downloadable Excel tables.
To learn more, visit www.HousingEconomics.com.
 Free NAHB Kit Gives Builders Back-to-Basics Tips to Navigate the Slowdown
What was once expected to be a relatively mild housing slump following three years of record new home construction and sales has given way to a significant downturn.
To help members navigate the uncharted waters of this slowdown, NAHB has compiled a comprehensive “Back to Basics” online toolkit — the best of the basics, the tried and true and the truly new. To access the toolkit, click here.
To access the “Back to Basics” toolkit, you must be an NAHB member and have a login to www.nahb.org. To create a login, go to www.nahb.org/login or click on the log-in button on the main menu bar.
For assistance, call the NAHB Member Service Center at 800-368-5242.
|
